While not the most critically acclaimed games of our time, the Harry Potter games franchise had a pretty strong legacy of good-to-great games over the course of 8 titles. Each game has had a pretty distinct identity as each game has tried experimenting with mechanics, gameplay systems and some have been far more ambitious than others.
A vast majority games haven’t had the biggest of budgets, but the individual studios involved were able to craft experiences that have not only held up surprisingly well but have provided die-hard fans with beautiful renditions of the Hogwarts castle and memorable moments from the books and movies. Now with Hogwarts Legacy on the horizon, it is about time we take a look at the Harry Potter games of the past and see how each one of them has fared in retrospect.
Harry Potter: Ranking the in the Series from Worst to Best
8) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I and II
The last entry in the Harry Potter franchise had the enormous uphill battle to fight as these games would be taking away perhaps the most crucial and enjoyable aspect of the games – Hogwarts itself. The game follows the movie adaptation quite closely and takes place outside of Hogwarts as the band flees the clutches of Death Eaters to hunt down Voldemort’s horcruxes.
While there is a gameplay opportunity in a purely combat-focused Harry Potter game, there is a clear delineation between these two games and the rest of the franchise. This game resembles a Gears of War title more than an HP title and often feels like a rather elaborate mod for a very weak third-person shooter. While there wasn’t much the studio could do in terms of reshaping the story, the uninspired combat and rough-around-the-edges feel of the game takes away from the experience in a massive way.
While the second part eventually returns to Hogwarts, it is mostly a game that doesn’t quite hit the landing as the castle grounds aren’t exactly open for exploration, and they couldn’t have been, given the story. Largely, the games suffer from the lack of an explorable Hogwarts, but that isn’t something the studio could have done a lot about.
7) Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The game picks up right where the last entry in the series left off and doesn’t do much to reinvent the wheel. While it does bring back broom mechanics into the mix, the game is largely derivative of Order of the Phoenix and doesn’t do much to innovate and is rather content with simply retreading ideas from previous titles.
The high points of the game comes from a largely improved combat system, which adds a smidge more polish to the affairs as compared to Order of the Phoenix. Ultimately, the game doesn’t really have an identity outside of its predecessor’s and falls into the trap of forgettable complacency.
The game really doesn’t provide much of an incentive to players for exploring the castle grounds or completing the minimal side objectives in place – which is a major letdown. The previous game in the series did quite well to set the foundations in place for Half-Blood Prince to really run away with it – but it loses momentum just as quickly as it gained it and falls short of providing a memorable experience to players.
6) Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Every previous title in the series followed a rather simple third-person action-adventure formula that made for some rather enjoyable experiences. Goblet of Fire really took the established formula and pummelled it into the ground until it resembled something else entirely. The game is a isometric action-adventure experiences that is broken up in a rather Metroidvania fashion with some rather large levels separated by a Menu.
While this does technically make the game feel a lot more “gamey” than the previous entries in the series, it sacrifices a lot of the series’ playful charm. This is a vastly darker experience that feels more in line with conventional action games of the time. While the combat feels pretty shaky, it does a decent job of adding a bit more kinetic energy to the proceedings.
Ultimately, the game strays so far from the established formula, it ends up becoming one of the lesser enjoyable entries in the series. The game’s best parts are the Triwizard Challenges that do a great job in recreating the enthralling tournament and provide players with action-packed sequences replete with Dragons, mermaids, and a rather menacing maze.
5) Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
The second game in the series and one that had the unenviable task of following up on a surprise hit of a game. Chamber of Secrets sees Harry going up against some of the most interesting villains in the series, including a rather memorable boss fight in said Chamber against the Basilisk.
The game does a lot to improve upon the core gameplay loop from Sorcerer’s Stone and adds a little flair to proceedings with Harry being able to cast spells on the move. The best addition, however, was that of including the Quidditch League, which sees the young Seeker come into his own and duke it out with the other 3 houses in a fun little competition.
While Quidditch isn’t nearly as deep as one would prefer, it is still a pretty solid deal that the game was able to accomplish the feat with a relatively small budget. While the game itself is pretty fun to play, it is far from the series’ best.
4) Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
This is a particular favourite of mine and it is not entirely down to the gameplay. While admittedly, I am a little biased towards this game, with Prisoner of Azkaban being my favourite book and movie in the series, the game itself does a great job of recreating and improving upon some moments from the movie and book.
While the game is a little light on the gameplay side of things as it entirely removes Quidditch from the equation, it makes a lot of headway in terms of polishing the existing gameplay systems and ramps up the pacing of the action quite a bit. There are some really emotionally potent scenes in the game, including a powerful scene with Sirius, Harry, and Hermoine that will leave players in awe of what the studio was able to accomplish with the limited tech on hand.
The game succeeds purely on the strength of its incredibly strong story and drops little nuggets of massively enjoyable gameplay sections. While a strong showing for the franchise, Prisoner of Azkaban would provide the building blocks for later games in the series.
3) Harry Potter and the Quidditch World Cup
This clearly shows my bias towards HP games with Quidditch but regardless of how much you love this fictional sport – the quality of this game is simply undeniable. The sheer level of depth to proceedings is something that hardcore Potterheads will enjoy as they control each member of their Quidditch team – from Bludgers to Seekers and lead their team to victory.
The game starts with the players in Hogwarts, with them getting to choose from any one of the 4 houses. Eventually, players graduate to the World Cup where they can from several countries, including Australia, Bulgaria, and Spain. The game is immensely deep as players can purchase better brooms, execute highly satisfying Team Special Moves and Bludgeon the opposing team off their brooms using a well-placed Bludger.
The sheer level of arcadey fun on display is something to marvel at and it is a real disappointment that this game isn’t talked about nearly as much as it should be. HP and the Quidditch World Cup is everything you’d want from a game centered around the fictional sport and it is worth revisiting in 2022 as it has not lost any of its charm from back in the day.
2) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
The game that kicked things off for the game franchise is one that is just enjoyable as it was in the early 2000s. The game isn’t exactly very deep or even polished, but the nostalgic charm of wandering through the castle and encountering all sorts of secrets is something you can’t get enough of.
While yes the game isn’t exactly varied in terms of gameplay systems, there are a collection of extremely well-crafted levels, including a stealth section in the Restricted Section of the Library. This memorable bit has players using the Invisibility Cloak to wander through the Restricted Section and somehow find their way out of the place and avoiding the menacing Argus Filch and his loyal cat Mrs Norris.
The Quidditch section are extremely sparse and nothing to write home about but it will catch players off-guard just how well the game has aged. This is a game well worth revisiting, if for nothing else but for that extremely tense stealth section.
1) Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
While this might be a slightly contentious pick, Order of the Phoenix is everything I love about Harry Potter games, minus the Quidditch. The sense of exploration in this game is perhaps the best it has ever been in the series as players can now roam about the entire map of the Hogwarts Castle and Grounds – from the Owlery to the Divinations Tower.
This semi open-world map of sorts is exactly the kind of playground players love and the new duelling mechanics make for some of the most fun I’ve had in an HP game. While the game really brings down the pacing in a massive way when it tasks you with recruiting each member of the Dumbledore’s Army – it makes up for it by providing interesting gameplay opportunities.
The game is perhaps the most complete HP experience that doesn’t rely too much on combat and duelling to sell the Wizarding World to the player. Order of the Phoenix is my personal favourite in the series and one I could really use a remaster of.
