Hogwarts Legacy On PC Vs. Console: Which Is Better?
Is "Hogwarts Legacy" best played on PC or console? The new game set in the world of Harry Potter is quickly shaping up to be one of the biggest RPGs of the year, earning $850 million in just the first two weeks and breaking records on Twitch in spite of the controversies surrounding the IPs creator. But although there are millions of people who are already playing it, there are still numerous gamers who've yet to get their hands on the new title. Many of these players haven't had the chance to delve into the mysteries of Warner Bros. Games' magical adventure and may be wondering which platform will offer the best gaming experience.
The options are somewhat limited. "Hogwarts Legacy" has yet to make its way to the PS4 or Xbox One, and its release on last-generation hardware was recently pushed back to May 5, 2023. At launch, it was only available on PS5, Xbox Series S/X, and PC. These modern consoles are pretty powerful when compared to past generations, and this has led many fans to question whether PC or console is the superior option for new players seeking to explore the grounds of the infamous school of witchcraft and wizardry.
Graphics depend on hardware
The first thing that most players will want to know is whether the graphics in "Hogwarts Legacy" will look better on PC or console. Unfortunately, there isn't a clear-cut answer to this. While the specs found within consoles are very similar to each other, the expected performance varies wildly between different gaming PCs depending on the components that they are made from.
The PS5 and Xbox Series X/S all have powerful graphics hardware, with the Series X technically being the most powerful by a narrow margin. They are all able to generate 4K images with impressive framerates and can even display advanced lighting techniques like ray tracing. They are generally considered comparable to the Nvidia GeForce 2080 Super or the AMD Radeon RX 6800 in terms of raw power. All three of these systems generate beautiful images and lighting effects that do a great job showcasing the grounds of Hogwarts.
That said, two generations of graphics cards have been released since then and consoles will have a hard time standing up to the higher-end 30 and 40-series cards from Nvidia or the new 7900 cards from AMD. These are capable of generating significantly higher-quality graphics – though they come at a substantial premium.
So in short: Performance per dollar definitely goes to the consoles, but "Hogwarts Legacy" looks best on a high-end gaming PC.
Hogwarts Legacy has a vibrant modding community
One major advantage of playing "Hogwarts Legacy" on PC is that players will be able to take advantage of the incredible number of mods that have been created for it. Several of them were designed to touch up the game's visuals, giving it a better production quality than the unaltered game offers on its own. In fact, the most frequently downloaded file on the popular mod-sharing platform Nexus Mods is one called Ascendio, which was designed to help reduce the FPS dips that many players have been experiencing in the game as well as tweak the Unreal Engine that "Hogwarts Legacy" runs on in order to make it perform better. Another mod called HogWarp is even promising to add multiplayer to the game.
Some mods alter the game's mechanics in smaller, more conservative ways, like getting rid of spell cooldowns and changing the broom mechanics. Others can get pretty outrageous, allowing the player to do things like using a handgun as a wand, using a life-sized model of Shrek as a flying broom, or replacing the talking portraits in the school with pictures of Nicolas Cage.
Of course, many people may prefer to play the game unaltered and mods like these may not interest everyone, but there is definitely a significant group of people for whom a good modding community can tip the scales.
The PS5 has a few significant advantages
The PS5 might not be winning any races in terms of its graphics or raw performance, but there are a few reasons why players might prefer to play "Hogwarts Legacy" on it rather than its marginally more powerful competitors.
To start, the PS5 has the DualSense controller, which has some special features like its adaptive triggers and haptic feedback. Not only does "Hogwarts Legacy" take full advantage of these features, but these advanced mechanics associated with them are only available on the PS5 version of the game. Even those who wish to use a DualSense controller with the PC version will not get to enjoy its finer qualities for an extra-immersive experience.
Players who buy the game on PS5 are also granted access to an exclusive quest: The Haunted Hogsmeade Shop. This special quest allows players to purchase and explore the secret catacombs beneath Madam Mason's shop and uncover the mysteries that lie below, as well as garner a unique outfit.
That means that there are some content and mechanics that are only playable in the PS5 version of the game. Some might not find these features to be enough to sway them from whichever platform has the best visual performance while others might be more enticed by content than frame rates. It all comes down to personal preference.