This data does not include digital sales, so it’s essentially useless. Not saying MW3 is likely or deserves to be higher, but this article is misleading.
Because MW3 is just… garbage. It’s a cookie that was made with a cookie cutter. It doesn’t bring anything new or interesting to the table in terms of gameplay, or truly novel developments in the game universe.
HL, despite the Rowling-oriented issues with the franchise, frankly knocked it out of the park, and moreover pretty squarely addressed the Feminist/Trans kerfluffle Rowling kicked up - the gender selection during character creation is “witch” or “wizard”, and it simply determines whether or not you can go into one half of your dorm area, and all the lines that refer to your character use “they” - never a gendered pronoun. The second part was a deliciously holistic “fuck your bigotry” move, and it was very obviously directed at Rowling.
Is it good? I heard the gameplay was pretty bland, though serviceable for HP fans. I'm not a big HP fan, but I know my kids would love watching my play it. I have plenty of games that fit that, so I'm only really interested if the gameplay is interesting.
I found the stories to be extremely wholesome,
The puzzles to be a fun break from combat,
The combat to be wildly satisfying,
And overall I just thoroughly enjoyed existing in the world.
Note that I'm not a huge HP fan. A little bit, sure, but not much.
I agree with the other poster, I've really enjoyed Hogwarts Legacy.
And I find the gameplay to be pretty good; the combat can be approached in multiple ways due to spell variety, there are a decent variety of puzzles to do (though some only become accessible fairly late in the game), and I enjoy the different side stories throughout the game. Also Hogwarts castle is gorgeous, and lots of fun to explore.
The enemy variety is mediocre, but there aren't that many 3D games with compelling magic combat, and Hogwarts does a decent job of it. I would have liked to see a little more variety in the spells/upgrades and the gear, but the decisions they made do fit the theme and work pretty well.
Oh so good. The combat was amazing for someone who was concerned how dueling would be integrated into a video game. The puzzles great. Story great. Cut scenes great. Flying on the broom with absolutely beautiful views. But I like Harry potter. But the game is it's own beauty. I put in around 200 hours before beating it almost 100%.
And it's funny you mentioned kids, I played this with my 5 year old daughter and maybe that's why I enjoyed it so much because she enjoyed it. It's not really a pg game, but I tried to keep it friendly for her when she watched.
Especially considering platform availability. I think it says more about ToTK being 3rd on a single platform vs the other two being available on multiple platforms.
I mean, Mario Kart 8 has become one of the best selling video games of all time. Even if you remove the WiiU version, the sales numbers of the Switch version rival Red Dead 2.
The Switch has been an absolute sales machine for Nintendo IP
Call of Duty has been a sales juggernaut for the past two decades, despite it's annual release nature. At one point it used to absolutely smoke any and all competitors.
It being beat out by a licensed game and being closely followed by a Zelda game (which is only available on one platform) is VERY surprising.
I literally never hear anything about hogwarts legacy except for how well it's sold. None of my friends who are into the series ever even mention it. I realize all I really have to go off of is a personal anecdote, but I would not be surprised in the slightest if those numbers ended up being heavily inflated.
As for modern warfare, I've never played it and I've never been a fan of cod. I'm just surprised the series is still going, I thought people would be burnt out on it by now.
I bought Hogwarts Legacy when it releases. The magic combat is pretty fun and can get pretty tricky to handle very quickly. The "puzzles" are probably one of the weakest aspects of the game, which kinda sucks because they make up so much of the side content (like about 80%). The story is fine, but it kinda falls apart towards the ending. Some of the pacing for some of the mechanics seems a little off as well.
The main draws to the game are the exploration, customization, and the world. Getting to explore every nook and cranny of Hogwarts was honestly an actual dream come true ever since I watched the movies as a kid (I never read the books), and the rest of the game world is massive. Flying around on a broom is actually really fun in-game, too. The customization options in the game are pretty robust; there are hundreds of different clothing and accessory items to find throughout the game world, and customizing the Room of Requirement can be a good time sink similarly to settlement building in Fallout 4.
Aside from some QoL things that probably should be in the game, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the game. Just treat it as Harry Potter RPG Lite.