Hey all, I’m back with a review of a title that focuses on one of the most famous fictional sports ever created. It’s my Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions review.
Gameplay: In the Hogwarts Legacy game from last year, we got to see Quidditch fields and even ride brooms through obstacle courses. But actually being able to play Quidditch competitively was outside of the scope of that adventure.
Now, Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions pretty much solely focuses on the sport of Quidditch, which is well-known from the Harry Potter movies and books. Having such a singular focus is both a good (mostly) and also a bad thing. The only bad thing is that when you aren’t playing a match, then the game is generally quite dull. Yes, there are some things you can do, like upgrade your broom’s performance or use skill points to improve some basic skills to let you more easily fulfill one of the various positions in the sport. Or you can customize the look of the clothing or wands of the custom characters. That last activity is a bit confusing because I don’t really ever see wands actually being of any real use in Quidditch Champions, so the only reason they’re around is because your custom characters hold them in maybe one emote.
But that is just the bad parts of the title, and when you are actually playing a match of Quidditch, it very much hits the high points in both depth of gameplay and fun. In Quidditch Champions you can play as one of four positions, all of which are well-known from the books: Chaser, Beater, Keeper, and Seeker. Unlike the books, though, each of those has its purpose and are essential to the sport, rather than being useless except for the Seeker position. That means there were some changes in the game’s version of the sport to make Quidditch actually fun to play, and Quidditch Champions handled those changes very well.
For example, there is only one Beater on each team in Quidditch Champions, and each match lasts about eight minutes or until a team scores 100 points. Also, the Seeker catching the Snitch only awards their team 30 points, which can still spell the difference between defeat or victory, but it’s not the 150 points from the books that causes the match to immediately end in victory.
There is a solo mode where you can play against various computer opponents in a series of four cups, the tutorial Garden Cup at the Weasley Burrow, the Hogwarts Quidditch Cup, the Triwizard Cup, and the Quidditch World Cup. But that mode is not nearly as fun as the competitive online player versus player (PvP) mode in my opinion.
The Chasers (a Quidditch position every player probably ought to play decently as it’s the constant one every player takes on in PvP) are tasked with getting the Quaffle and throwing it into one of the three opposing teams hoops at the end of the pitch. You can steal the Quaffle from the opposing team or pass to your teammates, which is a choice that is very much something that should be done because there is a noticeable speed penalty when holding the Quaffle. Scoring a goal earns 10 points.
The other three positions in the sport are the secondary ones that each player can choose to have when they play in PvP but will lock out the ability to play the ones not chosen for the match. So, a player can choose to be a Chaser and Keeper, a Chaser and Beater, or a Chaser and Seeker.
Keepers are essentially the goalies of each team. It’s fun to play as Keepers because in addition to preventing the other team from scoring, you can also set boost recharging rings for your Chasers down on the field. This does have a rather large cooldown, so you can’t litter the field with them. The recharging rings don’t stick around forever, but it’s a really helpful tool for your team, nonetheless.
Beaters, which is the Quidditch position I actually enjoyed quite a bit more than I expected, are tasked with intercepting the Bludgers, iron cannonballs that you can aim at the opposing team to stun them, and if you do it quick enough you can even knock them off their brooms. Or you can tackle other players if you get close enough to them. This can spell the difference between victory and defeat because it’s a highly useful thing to focus on the enemy Seeker while they’re chasing the Snitch, and if you actually can knock them off you will prevent them from chasing after the Snitch for a rather large amount of time. You will have plenty of time to allow your own team’s Seeker to grab it.
And then there’s the Seeker, which is the position that’s changed the most from the books. They only come into play once the Snitch spawns on the map, and they are then tasked with spotting it, which is not exactly hard, but not easy either. Then they chase it relentlessly. Once a player chases after the Snitch from a close distance for long enough to charge their gauge, they can close further in on the Snitch to grab it. Generally, each match will only have the Snitch appear twice at most, so it’s not something a player can dedicate an entire match to, but it is rather fun to play as the Seeker.
Overall: Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions is a very fun title for anyone who read the books or watched the movies and wanted to actually play that fantasy sport. Just know that Quidditch Champions is laser focused on playing those matches without a lot to do outside of that.
For those who like: Sports, Quidditch, competitive online multiplayer, and team play.
Not for those who don’t like: Playing Quidditch.
Developers: Unbroken Studios
Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Steam, Xbox One, Xbox Series X