{"id":1004176,"date":"2025-02-01T09:08:44","date_gmt":"2025-02-01T15:08:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jbsgame.com\/?p=1004176"},"modified":"2025-02-01T09:08:54","modified_gmt":"2025-02-01T15:08:54","slug":"best-harry-potter-video-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jbsgame.com\/best-harry-potter-video-games\/","title":{"rendered":"The 12 Best Harry Potter Video Games of All Time, Ranked"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Harry Potter video games let you step directly into the Wizarding World and become a part of the magic. With these titles, you can enroll in Hogwarts, learn spells, play Quidditch, and experience the most iconic moments from the books. However, not all Harry Potter games were created equal. Let\u2019s take a look at the franchise\u2019s best moments that occurred on console.<\/p>
Harry\u2019s departure from Hogwarts at the end of the Half-Blood Prince<\/em> was a major turning point for the series, and to match this change, EA flipped the formula for its Harry Potter video games completely upside down. Though the prior games had largely relied on casual exploration and adventure, the Deathly Hallows <\/em>games were effectively third-person shooters. The gameplay loop in both of these entries was repetitive and lackluster, but it was occasionally fun to play through the most iconic duels from the book. The ability to apparate during battles and the big cast of playable characters made the second Deathly Hallows<\/em> game mercifully better than the prior one.<\/p> Quidditch Champions<\/em> is reasonably enjoyable sports game that\u2019s somewhat akin to Rocket League, but it\u2019s bogged down by how grindy its currency and hero skin unlock systems are. The rules of the Quidditch matches here don\u2019t actually line up with the source material, and while these changes are largely meant to keep things fair, they end up making Quidditch Champions <\/em>feel especially distant from the books and movies. The ability to switch between chaser, beater, keeper, and seeker at will is at least brilliant. You can pick up and play these positions with relative ease, but mastering them takes serious work.<\/p> The top down look at Hogwarts from the Goblet of Fire <\/em>video game had some interesting ups and downs. On one hand, it made the three tasks from the Triwizard Tournament suitably dangerous and challenging. On the other, it severely limited exploration and made trivial, non-combat spell casts unnecessarily difficult. Though the movie series had at this point already shifted towards a darker tone, the video game was oddly comical in some of the story\u2019s most serious scenes, such as the graveyard at the end. Plus, Ron\u2019s constant obsession with collecting jelly beans sometimes makes you want to turn off the sound.<\/p> Quidditch World Cup<\/em> was short, whimsical whirl of a game that came out in 2003, between the Chamber of Secrets<\/em> and Prisoner of Azkaban<\/em> films. It had straightforward mechanics that quickly got repetitive, but the campaign mode was at least enjoyable. The nine national teams that you could play as, plus their uniquely designed stadiums, felt like a reasonable expansion of the Wizarding World. Each international squad had its own special combo move, and chasing down the golden snitch was definitely thrilling. This one won\u2019t keep you glued to the screen for nearly as long as the much more recent Quidditch Champions<\/em>, but what the game does have to offer can definitely be fun for fans of the series.<\/p> The video game adaption of the first Harry Potter<\/em> movie set up EA\u2019s basic formula for the initial three games in the series. To cast magic, you\u2019d simply need to point your wand at the spell symbols on the sides of moveable objects or locks. This system worked reasonably well, except in Sorcerer\u2019s Stone<\/em>, it required you to stand in place while you were casting a spell. And about 90 percent of the time, that spell was Flipendo. There were several book moments in the video game that didn\u2019t make it into the film, such as Harry and Hermione\u2019s nighttime journey up to the astronomy tower, and the final potions challenge that was guarding the Stone.<\/p> The expansive version of Hogwarts available in the Half-Blood Prince<\/em> video game is a ton of fun to explore. The recognizable characters make the castle feel welcoming and homey, and the awkward romances from the book and the movie make for funny breaks from casting spells. The Quidditch matches and potion-mixing challenges are also enjoyable. Where the game falls short is in its dueling system, which is easily exploitable if you\u2019re mashing your controller\u2019s buttons fast enough. In addition, there could have been a wider array of collectables to find. The reduction of everything to house crests and mini-crests was a step back from the variety found in Order of the Phoenix<\/em>.<\/p> In Prisoner of Azkaban<\/em>, Ron and Hermione are just as much the protagonist of the game as Harry himself. The members of the trio each had their own spell and spell challenge, and group casts were essential for solving some of the puzzles. The extra candy-based currencies made collecting wizard cards more enjoyable, and the platforming was solid. What held this one back was the uselessness of the added spells compared with the prior game. The ability to freeze water with Glacius was lackluster, and transforming statues into rabbits and dragons was too niche to feel useful.<\/p> 11. Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions<\/strong><\/h2>
10. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire<\/strong><\/h2>
9. Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup<\/strong><\/h2>
8. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone<\/strong><\/h2>
7. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince<\/strong><\/h2>
6. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban<\/strong><\/h2>
5. LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7<\/strong><\/h2>