Has anyone else tried the new mobile Harry Potter game, Hogwarts Mystery? It has an interesting storyline, but I was expecting a little bit more from it. It's one of those "freemium" games. I was really hoping for a Sorting Hat quiz rather than just getting to pick my house, but I guess that's what Pottermore is for.

I started playing it but quickly got bored because I kept having to wait for my energy to fill back up. Once I start spending money on these kinds of games, I start spending a lot without even realizing it. So for me, this just isn't worth it. I was expecting more too. It also seems like it's set up for someone who chooses Gryffindor. I chose Slytherin and the story didn't really fit.

Looks like I don't have enough knowledge of the series to recognize the differences like Hal. Am I going to miss a lot of things like that? Most mobile games have the energy fill system which is not very fun but prevents us from playing for too long at once.

@Hal: Like helping out the cowardly Gryffindor and befriending the popular Hufflepuff? I wonder if any parts of the storyline are different depending on what house you choose.

 

@North: I don't think that you would miss a lot of things if you aren't terribly familiar with the series. There are some little "quizzes" that you might not pass (and that's not a big deal) but I don't think it would affect you too much overall. That's very true! Waiting for the energy to fill really helps you not waste too much time on it.

I ended up downloading the game out of curiosity. I was actually expecting more action, but it's understandable since we start as the new student. The fight with the 'first monster' could be more interesting if we could use more spells and gestures, but I don't mind. The plot is quite intriguing, so I'll keep on playing for now.

Yeah, that first duel really isn't all that interesting. It gets a little bit better as you keep learning more spells and whatnot. I've only just finished the first year so I haven't seen a whole lot of changes, but it seems like it's going to keep building to make things more interesting. The plot is the best part by far.

The duels do get better as you get older. They're never terribly exciting, at least not for me so far. It's really important to have your traits as high as possible and to complete all of the classes you can before each duel.

I passed my first duel with less than half health remaining. I could get so unlucky with this kind of games sometimes. Maybe we were meant to also analyze the opponent's pattern, but it was pretty hard to do. The action element was very minimum, but I was still nervous when I was about to lose!

I agree that the plot is the best thing so far, though I fail to see Merula as a proper antagonist.

I did way worse than that on my first duel, @North! I always seem to have rotten luck with those kinds of games too. I didn't see anything that we could really analyze but maybe I'm missing something. Yeah, Merula really isn't all that imposing. I wish she had a bit more bite to her. She's just snark.

@North, Merula is pretty weak as far as antagonists go. Then again, Draco Malfoy wasn't always the best antagonist either. I think she's trying to emulate him - but not doing a stellar job of it so far. So far Snape has been the most antagonistic character.

I didn't see anything that we could really analyze but maybe I'm missing something.

Each character has their own personality which translates to their choices in duels. For example, Merula mostly chooses offensive attacks while Ben always goes defensive. We follow their pattern to end the duel quickly. I think that's the only strategic element of duels so far.

@Hal, ugh, Snape. Don't even get me started on him! I didn't like him in the books and I like him even less in this game. He's just hateful. I agree with you, he's definitely worse than Merula.

 

@North, yeah, that's the only pattern I've been able to make out as well. I wasn't sure what to make of Penny or Bill during the duels though. Bill especially managed to surprise me.