Here’s everything Hogwarts Legacy’s map and gameplay has shown us so far and the locations to expect

Expect to see Hogsmeade and the forbidden forest in greater detail

Thursday 19 May 2022 16:16 BST

The world is likely to be vast in scope (iStock/The Independent)

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Hogwarts Legacy is an open world tie-in to the wizarding world of Harry Potter. Developed by Avalanche Software and published by Warner Bros. Interactive this game will take students not just into the famed school but also the wider magical world that we’ve come to know so far.

During the game’s State of Play event, fans caught a quick glimpse at just how big the game could potentially be. We can almost certainly expect to see areas such as the forbidden forest and the great lake but also references to Diagon Alley and it’s many shops as well as other infamous magical locales.

As Hogwarts Legacy is set before any of the books or films, the main cast of characters will remain absent but a handful of familiar faces are set to make an appearance, including Nearly Headless Nick and Peeves the poltergeist.

The wizardly role-playing game was finally given a release date of “Holiday 2022” so we hope to see it arrive later this year. But while we wait, we’re likely to hear more details about the game’s vast open world. In a recently released video, we’ve had a much better look at some of the game’s exterior locations, with over twenty minutes of footage.

Here’s everything we know about the map of Hogwarts Legacy so far and the areas we can expect to see.

New ‘Hogwarts Legacy’ locations revealed

On the official Hogwarts Legacy YouTube channel, a 20 minute video has been uploaded showing new footage from the game.

Titled “A Rainy Spring Night [ASMR] [4K]” it’s not the most exciting in-game footage that could have been shown off, but it does give us a much better idea of some of the game’s locales set to make an appearance.

The first ten minutes of the video gives us plenty of wide shots of the school’s exterior as part of a timelapse, with the looming architecture looking more detailed than we’ve seen previously. But not only does the dark and rainy shots give us a look at the school grounds, it also hints at a dynamic weather system within the game.

The second half of the ASMR video goes a bit further afield, with some more shots of the nearby village of Hogsmeade. In the background, we can see The Three Broomsticks Inn, which acts as a social gathering point for students and locals and will likely play a central location when visiting the village in the open world.

In the foreground, we can see a signpost, indicating two nearby locations as well: Hog’s Head and Zonko’s. Hog’s Head refers to the other, more ill-reputed inn located in the village and Zonko’s refers to Zonko’s joke shop, the local purveyor of novelty tricks.

Later on in the video, a signpost for the Magic Neep, the local greengrocer, can also be seen located on the village’s outskirts with a further look beyond Hogsmeade’s winding streets.

‘Hogwarts Legacy’ map details

Hogwarts Legacy - Official Behind the Scenes

In an official behind the scenes trailer shared by Warner Bros, we have a much better idea of what the game will look like as well as the scope of its open world.

During the video (at approximately one minute and fifty seven seconds if you want to scroll ahead) we get a brief glimpse of one of the areas in a game from a bird’s eye perspective. What’s most striking about this screenshot is: Hogwarts itself is nowhere to be seen and based on the numbers that we can see marking each area, this might only be a fraction of the entire map.

The abundance of trees, rivers, mountains and lakes also eludes to the fact that this area is much less densely populated than other areas, which would suggest that there are great tracts of wilderness that will be open for exploration. It’s difficult to hazard what might be appearing in those areas but based on the gameplay trailer that we have already been shown, there could be plenty of local fauna and flora to discover to craft potions and spells.

While there are no major settlements like Hogsmeade, there are smaller buildings visible such as the structure located in the middle of the lake. But even that is comparatively small compared to the rest of the area.

Of course, this is just a quick look for now, and we hope to have more in depth details soon. The moment any new information crosses our desk we’ll be sure to let you know faster that you can say “wingardium leviosa”.