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Growing up in the early 2000s, Quidditch was the single sport everyone seemed to want in schools (some actually receiving it). Of course, traditional schools couldn’t actually have children soaring through the skies on brooms made from twigs, so they improvised with an altered version of soccer. The Quidditch World Cup from 2003 was a close version of what fans who aren’t very athletic wanted, but it’s been over 20 years since its initial release. Now, we have what is considered the second game in the Quidditch spin-off of games: Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions.
The game is Unbroken Studios’ attempt at creating a real product about the fictional sport, paying close attention to the aspects that couldn’t be shown on the big screen. Despite the fun of flying across a field while beating other players and scoring goals, Quidditch Champions is not without flaws.
How Do I Control This Thing?
For the uninitiated, the game of Quidditch revolves around two teams of six players, each consisting of three Chasers, one Seeker, one Keeper, and one Beater. The goal of each match is to score the most points by shooting the ball, called a Quaffle, through the opposite team’s goalpost. Thing is, you’ll also need to avoid getting absolutely badgered by other players or the Bludger, a hellish ball meant to, you guessed it — bludgeon and knock you off balance. There’s also a golf ball-sized golden ball that flies around the arena for each team’s Seeker to chase after, even if it sends them straight to Medical.
So, up first, let’s start with the controls. Sadly, straight off the bat: they’re pretty frustrating and hard to get used to. See, the only thing I can compare the overall feel of Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions to is an incredibly niche and isolated experience. I’ll do my best to make the sentiment come across: before The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword came out for the Nintendo Switch, I had installed a ROM to play the Wii version of the game on my PC using a GameCube controller. Everything was fine and dandy until I needed to fly a Loftwing anywhere. Then, it was suddenly a war between what my brain wanted to do and what my controller output was.
No, the output in Quidditch Cup didn’t make me go left when I had meant for it to go right, but I felt I was learning to use a controller for the first time. If I wasn’t accidentally switching to the Keeper, I was accidentally doing an emote. I even noticed that different players had different button controls for the same actions, making things even more confusing in the heat of gameplay. As a result, I never switched to anyone other than the Chaser or Seeker, even when playing through more challenging difficulties. Before anyone asks, I played multiplayer with friends, and the feeling was mutual.
Rewards, Challenges, and Unlockables
You can expect to play as either characters you create yourself or the many characters within the Harry Potter universe. The same goes for the arenas you play in; expect there to be familiar locations. I’ll admit that I found that aspect to be incredibly boring, especially since the entirety of the franchise is rather self-contained. I don’t care anymore about playing as Harry, Ginny, Hermione, or even that they’re involved in the game at all. The game is about the sport of Quidditch, of being a champion; in that context, the characters in the Harry Potter series of films shouldn’t be that important. It felt as if I was playing an NBA 2K game, and the game kept talking about how I could also play as Michael Jordan and Larry Bird. Just why?
Sure, I enjoyed the different cups (the Hogwarts House Cup, the Triwizards School Cup, and the Quidditch World Cup) but even they felt incredibly limited to what fans already know about the series. I think I was expecting for the game to embellish more on the world of Quidditch and its players, and it never did. However, I’m sure that’s great for those who are fans of popular characters and want nothing more than to be in their shoes while being bludgeoned by Beaters.
“Are You Getting On Soon?”
It’s clear that Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions is meant to be played over a long time. You go through the game’s Career Mode and level up your personal Level and Seasonal Level, earning rewards along the way. With those rewards, you can purchase character bundles, brooms, wands, and more, expecting more to be announced as time passes. Besides the broom being used, almost everything else, including the character, is cosmetic. There was little motivation for me to use my rewards on anything besides just not wanting my team to all look like one another.
I was also not a huge fan of the sameness that came with every match, especially since there are a few differences between the film version of the game and Quidditch Champions. Instead of the Snitch winning your team the game, it grants you 30 points, and instead of there being two Beaters, there’s only one. These differences made me eat my words a bit when challenging well-practiced opponents because of how genuinely difficult and engaging it is.
However, these same changes can make matches drag on longer than needed, especially when you start out. The early Challenges ask you to win matches as different Hogwarts Houses, but I felt that the number of times that it needs to be done was a little too much. For context, you will go through five total matches every time you start the Hogwarts House Quidditch cup in the campaign. To have access to the Triwizard Schools Quidditch Cup, you need to have to complete 21 matches as each of the Houses for a total of 84 matches.
How do you expect me to find joy in that when every arena and set of players is exactly the same?
Conclusion
I won’t sit here and say that I didn’t have my eyes glued to the screen every time a match went on. I loved the rush of trying to race through hoops as the Seeker so that I could grab the Snitch before my opponent did. Unfortunately, I just don’t see myself doing it for the number of times that a game with seasonal rewards would expect of me. I get the feeling that Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions won’t be around for a very long time, as sadly, unlike the source material it’s inspired by, it lacks any genuine magic to spark much interest.
Review copy given by Publisher.
Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions (PC Reviewed)
Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions tries to mesh the concept of fictional sports games with live service design, creating a mundane overall experience.
Pros
- You can play as your favorite characters from the Harry Potter films.
- Create a team that's as visually unique as you'd like.
Cons
- There isn't much variation in arenas or character customization.
- Repetitive, boring gameplay.
- The controls are pretty frustrating.
