hogwarts legacy

I have finally gotten my hands on that platinum trophy. Blame having to run though the first three hours of the game four times. (it's only three hours if you skip all the dialogue)
If anyone who reads this decides to play it (i think maybe two of you are still lurking i hope), allow my experience to guide you on the only real choice you get in this game, apart from inaction.

HOUSES:
Each of the four houses of Hogwarts changes two major things, plus a few (very few) lines of dialogue scattered about and your uniform colours.
Note that I started with Ravenclaw, and would do the same thing again in a sequel.


MOST IMPORTANTLY, each house gets one (1) unique quest.
1. Slytherin
This quest takes the top spot due to being the only way to get an answer to the burning question: what happened to Scrope's ear? It's not much of a quest aside from that. You fight dugbogs, which is more action than the other three. It's also the only one of these quests that has an actual resolution, in regards to the person who gives you the quest. If you want to do a one-and-done playthrough and somehow aren't sure which house to pick, pick Slytherin.

2. Hufflepuff
You get to go to Azkaban. It's kind of weird, but cool. Azkaban in this game consists of one corridor and two cutscenes. Simply amazing. It's the quest that paints Jackdaw in the worst light, and you have to assume he went and fixed his fuck-up because it and the auror lady are never mentioned again. If you like your quests to have endings, don't pick Hufflepuff. It's nice that the quest starts in your common room, making it the only one to do so, and involves talking to a portrait. Not enough talking to random Hogwarts portraits in this game, really.

3. Ravenclaw
This one's a bit frustrating due to the fact that the resolution to the quest is at the end of the game with one line where Olivander thanks you for finding out what happened to his family's wand. Not that you ever told him, because as soon as your character finds the pages, he/she forgets completely about everything that led up to this moment. The owlry puzzle thing is fine. Barely a puzzle, but whatever. It's probably the quest that has the absolute least amount of unique content. If you're planning to bumrush three more playthroughs after your first for that platinum trophy, I'd recommend starting with Ravenclaw. It would be so anti-climactic to speed through three hours of intro for this.

4. Gryffindor
The most annoying quest. Who the hell is that voicing Nearly Headless Nick? He's supposed to be charming, not smarming. This quest, of course, cannot resolve, due to Nearly Headless Nick still trying to get into the Headless Hunt in the 1990s. It's nice to have a ghost get his own quest (the only one to, aside from Professor Binns), but did it have to be this one? The hide-and-seek with Jackdaw's head sucks. It's not hard, it's boring. Yes, seeing the Headless Hunt is kind of cool, but the novelty wears off when the only one you talk to is an asshole. I do not recommend picking Gryffindor. Boring quest for the most boring house choice.



Next and most obvious is your common room. The other three are completely locked to you, even if you know how to play the Hufflepuff song. I'm not going to spend too long on this, since you spend a total of ten minutes of a 40-hour playthrough in the common room.
1. Ravenclaw
2. Hufflepuff
3. Gryffindor (it looks like the movies, which is great and all, but a bit boring)
4. Slytherin (boring interior, worst layout)

Your clothing is the last bit, and that blue and bronze Ravenclaw look is simply 10/10, any way you slice it. In this regard, Ravenclaw > Slytherin > Hufflepuff > Gryffindor
Note that I dislike the colour red.


Finally, one last note:
Professor Weasley gives you a choice on whether to be escorted to Hogsmeade by Sebastian or Natty. For the sake of the story, it makes far more sense to go with Sebastian, both in terms of what your character would choose in the moment, and what makes sense with the plot afterward.
At this point, you have had an in-class moment with both. However, Sebastian has already invited you to his secret dueling club, and if you've done that side quest, you've teamed up with him already. In the future tense, asking Sebastian to help you get into the Restricted Section makes more sense when he's mentioned it twice, and after you've already bonded three (3) times. Also, Sebastian is the only one of the two that actually matters to the plot, what with the triptych and all. Natty only figures into, what? Two required quests (three if she takes you to Hogsmeade)? Sebastian figures into at least half a dozen.