Kevin's Watch

Started playing this game for a much needed respite from serious stuff (in the world, not in gaming) and ran into problems following about 2 hours gameplay.

I got through the initial opening scenes, got in a bit of reasonable game play and then the main title appeared. Then (it turned out) that even though I'd loaded from a disk, there was still stuff that had to be downloaded from the Internet, before you could play the game. And the main screen told me that this was 66 percent downloaded, but I'd just have to wait until it was ready to play before continuing. It wasn't moving - that download bar thing - so I put it into rest mode and returned the following morning.

Still the same.

By luck I spotted a little arrow flashing and clicking on it, discovered that the game was coming down but at serious dribble speed. Like filling a tank of water with a dripping tap. Three frikkin days later it reached 100 percent (and my Internet speed is not bad by any means) but it was worth the wait.

The game is good (so far - I'm not that far into it) but the castle and map is brilliant! I've spent hours just wandering around Hogwarts itself, just exploring. The interiors are rich and varied, there is so much to see, to simply look at, and to discover. The open world beyond the castle is not huge, but it's good and open, with so much to discover within its confines. I haven't scratched the surface yet.

Your character can traverse and climb pretty freely, and there's always something new to find. Hogsmead is quaint and well laid out, with really interesting shops and characters to interact with. The graphics are first class and really eye catching.

Negatives are the lack of interaction with npc's; you have limited capacity to 'talk' to your schoolmates. This would be problematic if the environment weren't so arresting, but it doesn't really bother me at all. And to be honest, that's about it. The game is just that - a game. It doesn't take itself too seriously and it's about as diverting as game playing can get (in a particularly nice way). I'm excited about getting into the forbidden forrest and encountering centaurs and unicorns (I've spotted the former from a distance, but haven't got close to them yet). There's a range of different activities and collectables, and I'm just enjoying playing around with them as I wander around the school. So often something appears that stops me - a mini orchestra of invisible players on visible instruments, a garden of moving topiary, statues that move in your side vision - that it takes me ages to get anywhere. And the oddities and rich decorations....it's truly a work of art, both as a building and as a map and realised world.

I love it.

I quite enjoyed it, probably got about 100, 120 hours out of it (including menu time) although I had some problems on PC, including one that was self-inflicted because...I'm a sucker for mods.

Very nice map, and I've always enjoyed the HP world building, which was mainly why I went for it. Combat is quite fun too, story itself a bit meh, but we don't really care about that.

--A

You and your mods Av!

Agreed on the map. It's a good looking game indeed. I've just gotten as far North as you can get, but I understand that part of the map is unavailable until you have a broom (which as yet, I don't).

I take my time in a new game and consequently don't tend to progress very quickly. I'm twenty plus hours in but still pretty low level (15). I haven't got my 'room' as yet, nor any lock and door opening skills. Thus much of the content is still beyond my reach. I'd like more npc's to interact with but aside from that I'm happy.

Looking forward to finding unicorns and centaurs! It's just like the real thing!

peter wrote: ↑ You and your mods Av!

Hey, if users are going to go to the time and effort of improving aspects of the game for others, I'm going to take advantage of it. (It was a camera mod for what it's worth, giving you greater control over how far and at what angle the camera is from your character.)

As soon as I installed the new Total War game the other day, I went and immediately browsed through the workshop and added things like improved camera's, desaturated unit skins, better unit spacing, before I even started the game for the first time. Mods are amazing. Whether a game supports modding is a big factor in whether I will buy it these days.

--A

A mod that stops him from shouting "Revelio" every five seconds whenever you want to see what's about you would be enough for me!

Hahaha, I'm sure one exists, but I didn't use it. My favourite that I never used was one that replaces the wand with a Glock.

--A

Just discovered that the extreme south of the map is almost exactly like a Cornish cliff terrain. Makes me feel right at home it does!