Hogwarts Legacy's Most Annoying Quests
"Hogwarts Legacy" has made its way into the hearts of many aspiring witches and wizards, despite the controversy, allowing them to explore the Wizarding World firsthand. After all, even relatively critical reviews of the game admit it has fun combat, stunning visuals, and an engaging narrative. No one can deny that the spells, combat, level of customization in the character creator, and the ability to explore Hogwarts and the surrounding area are undoubtedly the best of the best. After all, who wouldn't love roaming around the grounds they read about as a child by soaring through the sky on a hippogriff? In a beautiful setting that closely resembles the Scottish countryside where the fictional Hogwarts is based, it's hard to deny the appeal.
Chock full of quests, including some house-specific ones, there are bound to be a few duds mixed into the lot. The following quests are arguably more annoying than they are fun, with one, in particular, taking the annoying cake.
The Merlin Trials
There's nothing wrong with putting puzzles into an RPG. Some of the best RPGs have them — but too many puzzles can very, very quickly become tedious. That's how many players find the Merlin Trials in "Hogwarts Legacy" — fun at first, but then they become repetitive and boring. These trials are scattered all over the map, likely in an attempt to let players stumble across them as they go about traveling and doing other quests. For completionists, this is a complete nightmare: There are a whopping 95 Merin trials.
At around the halfway point, at 52 trials total, the industrious witch or wizard who has completed the Merlin puzzles will have their inventory expanded by 20 slots. While having an increased capacity to carry is vital in just about any game, but especially in one that quickly overloads players with gear, the sheer volume of puzzles, all so similar, is understandably grating. Add an unskippable cut scene? Yeesh.
Hufflepuff's Prisoner of Love
There are plenty of reasons to choose to be sorted into Hufflepuff house. Not only does it prove that the player's witch or wizard demonstrates loyalty, but it's the only way to visit Azkaban and see a Patronus used in action. During Prisoner of Love, the student will enter Azkaban with an ex-auror, and then the two will be swarmed by dark and menacing dementors. As visually stunning as the quest is, that's pretty much all there is to it. There's a lot of walking from point A to point B, some conversation, and then more walking. Then more conversation. Then more walking. And then one small puzzle that Revelio quickly takes care of, then more walking, and — yes — more conversation.
While some could argue that the plot alone makes the quest worthwhile, there's nothing truly transformative or engaging about the actual gameplay. Mostly, it's just a sad tale of lost love and wrongly accused murder that descends into madness and despair. Honestly, it's a bit cliché and forced, especially considering there's a way to access a person's memory in the Wizarding World, so there's really no reason for someone to be unjustly imprisoned.
San Bakar's Trial
Ah, there's nothing quite as fun as the glorified fetch quest. Going and getting something — the thrill of bringing it back to one's original location: Not tedious at all. Of course, there's a hefty dose of sarcasm there, as fetch quests are pretty notoriously obnoxious. In "Hogwarts Legacy," the bulk of San Bakar's Trial side quest is what boils down to a fetch quest with a sprinkle of combat thrown in for some spice. The student has to go find the mysterious and dangerous Graphorn, battle it, and then bring it back to their original location. If students are unprepared for the combat aspect, it can absolutely be a challenge. However, with the right combination of potions (namely Maxima, Edurus, Focus potions, and something offensive or stunning like mandrake or Thunderbrew), the Graphorn can be tamed in what feels like seconds.
While some players may have initially enjoyed the act of riding the giant flaming beast that is the Graphorn, it quickly loses its novelty — especially as students don't gain this mount until very near the end of the game. There's precious little time left to enjoy riding it, and flying by broom or fast travel is more expeditious, so the whole point of the quest is a touch redundant.
Man Behind the Moons
Many young witches and wizards agree that, by far, the most annoying quest in "Hogwarts Legacy" is hunting down those pesky glowing moons in Man Behind the Moon. Not only is it a fetch quest of sorts, but it's also one that's beyond tedious to accomplish. Like the Merlin Trials, there are too many moons to make it fun, and so many of those moons are locked behind the different levels of Alohomora that the student unlocks as they go. Find a moon on the map? Fantastic! Just hope that it isn't inaccessible behind a level of Alohomora one doesn't yet have.
Not only are the mechanics frustrating, but each of the characters the player encounters is annoying at best and criminal at worst. Caretaker Moon is exposed as a bully — and a cowardly one at that, who can't even deal with his tormentor directly but relies on a student to do so. Then, the big reveal leads players to an equally irritating individual who has planted all of these demiguise moons, mystifyingly inside other people's homes, no less. Why would a demguise statue placed in a random cottage in Hogsmeade affect Caretaker Moon? One can only speculate. Regardless of why, many witches and wizards find the whole thing an annoying mess, and for good reason.