Whether You’re a Newbie, a Speedrunner, or a Completionist, We’re Breaking Down How Long It Takes to Play the Popular WB Open World Game
Whether You’re a Newbie, a Speedrunner, or a Completionist, We’re Breaking Down How Long It Takes to Play the Popular WB Open World Game
Main image courtesy of Hogwarts Legacy on Steam.
Harry Potter fans waited for a game like Hogwarts Legacy for a long, long time. Who wouldn’t want to step into the magic of the Wizarding World with an immersive, open world RPG? Since the game finally rolled out (after multiple delays) in 2023, people have been heading to Hogwarts to do everything a young witch or wizard could ever dream of doing – getting sorted into their house, learning the ins and outs of magic, and of course, chasing world-altering adventure.
But before you start your first (or next!) playthrough, you might be wondering: how long is Hogwarts Legacy?
We’re going to take a look at everything you need to know about the playthrough time for WB’s spellbinding adventure game, including:
So without further ado, let’s revelio! the answers to all of these questions and more 🪄
PS – Like any of our articles, you might find spoilers ahead. I tried to keep them pretty minimal for this article though.
I wouldn’t call myself a new gamer – but I definitely have my niche where I’m most comfortable. I like cozy games, I like old school games, and I’ve dabbled in some RPGs, but I’m by no means an expert.
Difficulty: Normal - seemed like a good place to start
Approach: I didn’t really go in planning to 100% the game, but I had a lot of fun doing side quests, getting to know characters, and exploring the world. Definitely went out of my way to do those things, even when it meant putting off the next chapter of the story for a little while.
Challenges: When I wrapped up the main story, I had completed 81% of the Challenges
How long did it take: According to the in-game timer on my save file, I finished the game with roughly 60 hours of gameplay.
Rating: 9/10! I didn’t even grow up on Harry Potter, and I had a blast. I got a handle on the mechanics pretty quickly and found them pretty intuitive. In terms of quests and tasks, there were still some challenging bits. The fact you have to wait for a load screen entering/exiting every building in Hogsmeade got pretty old until I learned how to plan for it, and there were a couple of side quests that were just… not something I look forward to doing again (LOOKING AT YOU, FASTIDIO.)
Bottom line? This game really sucked me in, so I finished in like two pretty dedicated weeks. It was a fun adventure, and I’m currently cleaning up the rest of the side quests to wrap up my first save file.
Like any good open world game, Hogwarts Legacy lets you choose your own adventure. There are 13 main story quests, but there’s a lot of additional content available as well – to the tune of 58 side quests.
If you wanna finish all of it – every side quest, get every achievement – you’re looking at a 70 ½ hour time commitment. Or if you’re a record-breaker like allineediscake, the time to beat is 5h 25m 27s in Story difficulty as of this writing. Right now there aren’t any times logged for the same accomplishment on Hard mode.
My completionists should look away for this part. If you just want to do the required parts of the Hogwarts Legacy game without messing around with side quests, gear upgrades, and all the other stuff that can slow a run down, playing just the Hogwarts Legacy story will take about 26 ½ hours.
Why so long? Well, you can’t progress through certain parts of the story until you level your character up to a certain point. At minimum, you’ll need to reach Level 24 to finish the main story, which does take some time.
As of this writing, the fastest recorded run for finishing just the story on PC sits at 13h 07m 30s, a record set by ComplexBeaver.
There are two of what I would call any% routes in the Hogwarts Legacy speedrunning community: Kill Ranrok or simply Any%
As the name implies, the Kill Ranrok run takes you through the final boss fight of the game – killing Ranrok.
The Any% run involves some extra grinding, namely, making it to the end of your school year.
But in either case, it doesn’t matter what percentage of items you collect or side challenges you complete along the way, just so long as you meet the main objective of that route.
As of right now, here’s what the any% records look like:
It depends. If you’re trying to set a record, cutting side quests is the easiest way to trim down your run time to the competitive level. Some people have criticised the side quests in Hogwarts Legacy as being generic fetch quests – meaning you go retrieve something for an NPC, and it doesn’t add much to the gameplay.
That being said, I found the side quests to be a fun way to flesh out the world of Hogwarts Legacy. I liked exploring, interacting with the NPCs, and getting some of the gear and upgrades you can only get by completing side quests.
A few notable perks to doing side quests:
With many of the side quests simply there for aesthetic upgrades like wand handles and gear appearances and adding depth to the world, you might be wondering which side quests actually add the most to the game.
There are several that consistently make lists of the best side quests in Hogwarts Legacy, so when you see these ones pop up, you definitely don’t wanna miss them:
This side quest gives some important perspective to how House Elves are treated in the Wizarding World. After you follow Deek’s request to check on his friend Tobbs, you’ll understand why Hermione Granger founded the Society for the Promotion of Elvish Welfare (SPEW) in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
This side quest is pretty time consuming. It involved tracking flying keys around Hogwarts to unlock 16 different cabinets, which give you tokens that unlock a chest in your house common room. This is the only way to get the Relic House Uniform, one of the best cloaks in the whole game.
These quests come from the owner of Spintwiches in Hogsmeade, Albie Weekes. You’ll complete several broom-based challenges, but you’ll earn upgrades to make your broom faster and more stable.
In order to get the Alohomora spell, which allows you to unlock locked doors and chests, you’ll need to start this quest with Hogwarts caretaker Gladwyn Moon. You’ll collect demiguise statues for him, and in return, he’ll teach you stronger versions of the spell to unlock level II and level II locks you’ll encounter throughout the game.
If you’re looking for adventure befitting a Hogwarts student, you should really pal around with Poppy. Her quests will take you all over the map involving poachers, centaurs, and even dragons.
There are a few characters with relationship quests that make great B Plots to the main quest – like Natasa Onai and Poppy Sweeting. But the relationship quests with Sebastian Sallow are some of the best in the game – some people even think they rival the main story. Not to mention, playing through these side quests is the only way to unlock a few secret areas within Hogwarts as well as the three Unforgivable Curses. Whether you’re a Dark Wizard in training or you just want to experience everything the game has to offer, it’s a great story line that makes these quests worth completing.
Hogwarts Legacy has honestly gotten some mixed reviews – a 1/10 from WIRED, an 83% from PC Gamer, 94% from Google Reviews, 4.5/5 from Playstation, and Very Positive on Steam. However I think for the average player, it’s a foray into a magical world that’s lots of fun to explore.
You can expect to put at least 26 hours into a Hogwarts Legacy run, but if you want to explore it all, a single run can mean 70+ hours of entertainment.
And to me, that’s well worth the price tag and time commitment.
Mischief Managed ✨
