Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions improves the wizarding sport’s weird rules but still feels badly imbalanced

As a dedicated gamer with years of experience under my belt, I must say that my journey with Quidditch Champions has been a rollercoaster ride. Coming fresh off the broomstick from the magical world of Hogwarts, I was eager to dive into the thrilling gameplay promised by this title. However, the harsh reality of level disparities among players left me feeling like a Muggle trying to cast Avada Kedavra.

2023 saw Hogwarts Legacy launch to great acclaim, but fans lamented the absence of their beloved sport, Quidditch, for students within the game. Later on, it was revealed that a standalone Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions multiplayer title would eventually offer us the immersive magical sports experience we had been missing out on.

I’ve invested several hours into Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions to familiarize myself with its controls across both solo and multiplayer settings. While it may not reach the lofty heights of Hogwarts Legacy and has some significant flaws, it can still offer an enjoyable experience for die-hard Harry Potter enthusiasts.

Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions — What is it?

This is an action-packed sports game where you can jump on a broom and participate in the most popular sport from the magical world depicted in the Harry Potter novels.

Gameplay: Players design their unique characters and manage multiple team members. Points are earned by Seekers capturing the swift Snitch or Chasers tossing a larger Quaffle ball into hoops, each score being worth 10 points. Additionally, Beaters can hurl Bludgers to disrupt opponents, potentially knocking them off their brooms. The Keeper position involves protecting the team’s hoops from scoring and coordinating other teammates. This game offers a single-player mode against the computer, player vs. player (PvP) online, or cooperative play online. A team can consist of up to three players.

The standard edition of Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions, priced at $29.99, is available at most major retailers. If you’re looking for something more exclusive, the Deluxe Edition costs $39.99 and includes 2,000 Gold, along with a cosmetic pack for each of the Hogwarts houses: Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin.

Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions — What I like

In the Quidditch Champions game, they skillfully guide new players through the mechanics of control. The initial tutorial, for instance, showed me how to maneuver my broomstick, and made it easy to grasp by having me navigate through hoops. What makes this tutorial enjoyable is that it takes place at The Burrow, the Weasley residence, and features the Weasley family members, including Molly. Notably, their distinctive blue car can be spotted outside their run-down house as well.

After becoming adept on a broom, the game guided me sequentially through every Quidditch position, teaching the particular controls for each. In the process, I designed personalized characters until I assembled a complete team of distinct fliers.

Generally speaking, the primary controls for flight are user-friendly and straightforward to grasp. Yet, instead of commanding a single character, each participant in a 3v3 game simultaneously manages two characters.

In summary, the main controls for flying are straightforward and user-friendly, but an interesting twist in gameplay is that each player in a 3v3 match assumes control over two roles simultaneously: Keeper and Chaser, Beater and Chaser, or Seeker and Chaser. When I switch to one of my characters, the other character is autonomously controlled by the game system.

I discovered that playing the Beater role is significantly more challenging than both the Seeker and Keeper roles. Here’s why: Unlike Seekers who are only active when the Snitch is in play, or Keepers who need to focus mainly when a goal is about to be scored, Beaters must stay engaged throughout the game. This uneven workload doesn’t seem fair and it feels like the tasks aren’t evenly distributed.

In a different vein, any sports enthusiast would agree with me that Harry Potter’s Seeker role appears to have some flaws in it. I was glad to discover that the scoring rules for Snitches have been modified within the game. For those who might be unaware, in the stories and films, catching a Snitch awards 150 points (equivalent to scoring 15 Quaffle goals) and usually results in the team winning the match. It certainly raises questions about the significance of other players on the field.

In the updated game setup, snagging the elusive Golden Snitch now earns just 30 points rather than the previous 150. This change aims to create a fairer and more equitable playing field for all participants.

It’s advantageous that Quidditch Champions gives Seekers just 30 points for catching the Snitch, which helps maintain fairness in scoring. Notably, the Snitch doesn’t always appear on the pitch initially, preventing Seekers from instantly pursuing it. In Quidditch Champions, the Snitch can be captured several times during a game, but first, the Seeker must navigate through enough golden hoops correctly to fill up a gauge and make the Snitch catchable. These modifications ensure that all players on the field, including the Seekers, play significant roles.

Quidditch games take place at four different venues: The garden belonging to the Weasley family, the field at Hogwarts, Triwizard School grounds, and the Quidditch World Cup stadium. Characters like Lee Jordan, Fred and George Weasley, and Rita Skeeter provide commentary during these matches, adding an additional layer of excitement to the competition.

In the realm of online gaming, it doesn’t take much time to get a match underway. Prior to the actual game commencing, I find myself on a practice field for a warm-up. Teams engage in play until either the timer runs out or one team reaches 100 points. Upon completing a game, I am rewarded with Experience Points (XP), which can help me advance levels and unlock Season Rewards.

Each member of my team possesses individual skill progression paths, and allocating skill points enhances their abilities in various ways such as boosting their speed while carrying the Quaffle, increasing throwing velocity, and more. The game also offers an array of equipment, including diverse brooms with unique statistics. These brooms can be upgraded using Moonstones to enhance speed, maneuverability, or durability. Consequently, higher-level players enjoy superior character and gear attributes, enabling them to effortlessly outmatch lower-level opponents.

In Quidditch Champions, there are numerous entertaining cosmetic features, but you’ll need Gold and Winged Keys to access them. Unlike certain multiplayer games, these currencies cannot be bought with real money; instead, they can only be acquired within the game. Characters like Hermione Granger, The Weasley Twins, and Draco Malfoy can be obtained using this digital currency. Furthermore, players can also buy hats, clothing items, emotes, brooms, hoop scoring effects, and various other items with it.

Apart from the enjoyment of daily gameplay, there’s an additional incentive: a Challenges section offering Daily, Weekly, or Long-term objectives. Completing these tasks awards you with XP and Winged Keys.

Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions — What I don’t like

In the game Quidditch Champions, as a novice player, I quickly realized the significant difference in levels between players. At level 6, I was astonished to encounter opponents who were at levels 25, 38, and even 42. This gap in our progress made my broom and character substantially slower and less equipped with perks, which led to a lopsided playing field. Putting it mildly, the gameplay felt unfair, and I found myself losing control of my broom quite frequently.

A more suitable option for this game would have been to implement matchmaking based on skill level (SBMM), but given the current number of players (approximately 909) at the moment, it seems challenging to integrate such a feature due to the relatively small player base.

A point of frustration for me is that the game demands an internet connection, even when you’re playing offline against a computer opponent. Unfortunately, I discovered this inconvenience due to an outage in my area. During a game, a message appeared on the screen stating, “Login Failed – You are not connected to the server. Please verify your network and try again later. For additional assistance, reach out to WB Games Support at Support.WBGames.com.

Following my removal from the multiplayer version of Quidditch Champions, I tried playing a solo match against the computer offline. However, it turned out that you can’t play this game unless you’re connected to the internet. It seems odd for a game to demand an online connection unless you plan on participating in online multiplayer. Consequently, I was unable to resume playing for quite some time until my internet issue was resolved.

Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions — Should you play it?

As a tech enthusiast, I must say, I’m thrilled with Unbroken Studios’ revamp of the classic Quidditch rules. They’ve skillfully tweaked them to ensure a fair, balanced gameplay experience for everyone on the Quidditch Pitch. It’s a joy to engage in the game, knowing that unlocking cosmetics and characters is purely based on our skills, without any pressure to spend real-world currency. To top it off, for fellow Harry Potter fans like me, it’s an absolute treat to relive iconic characters and locations from the series within this game.

As a tech enthusiast, I must admit that I find it challenging to wholeheartedly endorse Quidditch Champions due to its noticeable imbalance in gameplay. The issue lies in the vast disparity among player levels, which can lead to an unfair experience. Additionally, the roles within the game don’t seem to evenly distribute tasks among players, which is a concern that needs addressing. With some careful fine-tuning and adjustments, I believe this game has great potential to deliver a more enjoyable and balanced experience for all players.

Is Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions on Xbox Game Pass?

Can I play Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions on Steam Deck and gaming handhelds?

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2024-09-14 17:09