Finally all fans of the famous saga will be able to try their hand at Niantic's new title: Harry Potter Wizards Unite. A mobile game that fully takes all the know-how of the company experienced with previous releases. But does he really succeed in convincing and making everyone point the wand in the right direction?
Harry Potter Wizards Unite
A new emergency shakes the wizarding world. The Special Unit of the Statute of Secrecy has just been created to deal with a mysterious Calamity. This threat is likely to reveal the wizarding world to muggles, an unacceptable eventuality for the Ministry of Magic, which then ran for cover. Throughout the world, due to this Calamity, they manifest themselves “Soqquadri”, events that keep all kinds of witch, wizard, artifact or creature trapped, which dangerously expose the universe of magic to non-magicians. As a new employee in the Special Unit of the Statute of Secrecy, we should defeat the Soqquadri and hostile creatures to restore order, freeing the "Lost", people, objects or creatures blocked by the Soqquadri.
Niantic joins the dots with the wand
Niantic has now cleared customs for the use of augmented reality in mobile games. Initially with Ingress, the software house performed a test aimed at a niche audience, which was able to evaluate features and defects in more detail than the "main stream" users on a global level. From the experience he had, in addition to continuing support for Ingress, he was released Pokémon Go, now in its third anniversary of age. Again Niantic continues support for the game which still enjoys extreme popularity.
It seems that with Harry Potter Wizards Unite, the Californian house, wanted to combine all the points of its path, with particular attention to the salient points of the working mechanics and the "disappointments" perceived by the fans. At first glance, the game comes with a very similar, if not ideally identical, structure to Pokémon Go, but looking more closely at the gameplay and content, one realizes that it is not a readjusted copy-and-paste to a new hype.
Harry Potter Wizards Unite: the plot convinces for a mobile game
One immediately catches the eye narrative depth and a rather full-bodied background structure to be a mobile game. The title is based on events created ad hoc, subsequent, at a temporal level, to the well-known saga of the magician with glasses. The context as a whole holds up and offers gradual pills of curiosity, attracting the user to the plot that surrounds the mystery of the Calamity. We are not dealing with a mobile game where the intro tells the whole story and there is no further insight into the game. We are faced with an opening that creates anticipation, and then builds a puzzle where the narrative pieces are released gradually. The further appeal lies in the fact that these expedients are also exposed by the well-known protagonists, with whom, even only in terms of passive dialogue, we could interact, following explanations of both mechanics and history. The previous title set inPokémon universe, relied solely on the pre-existing fan base, in fact not contemplating anything related to background and history.
Download
QR-Code
Harry Potter: Wizards Unite
Developer:
Niantic, Inc.
Price:
Free+
Download
QR-Code
Harry Potter: Wizards Unite
Developer:
Niantic, Inc.
Price:
Free+
Game mechanics
In the role of a young wizard or a young witch we find ourselves acting directly on the field, therefore we will not support the cycle of canonical studies, it is assumed that it has already been completed. In the initial stages of the game you perceive the depth of the details and the numerous aspects that can be explored, everything is at times unsettling, it is not a casual game but it requires more effort to understand the features and to move easily within the game screen.
Essentially everything is focused on moving in the real world with the GPS of the smartphone active, and selecting the events that appear on the screen.. The possible events are divided into 3 broad categories: Soqquadri, resources to collect and places.
As regards the luoghi, we have the opportunity to meet Greenhouses, in which to collect resources periodically, Inns, in which to recharge our energy, and Fortresses, thanks to which it is possible to face challenges alone or in a group.
Le resources to be collected, scattered around the world, can be useful ingredients, or Portkeys containing bonuses.
For the Soqquadri instead the subject is more complex. The Soqquadri appear on the map identified by the category to which they belong, for each category there is a dedicated section in our inventory, designed to store a sort of collectibles for each lost item successfully freed. Thanks to this system it is possible to complete and level certain sections, choosing the corresponding symbol when we find the icon on the map. Once a page of collectibles is completed, it will be possible to reset the saved objects, each object collected later will reappear in our register, but the experience derived from its release will be greater.
The Soqquadri can present themselves under different perhaps, from simple events (a wizard stuck in a block of ice) to hostile creatures, or malevolent spells.
These core mechanics are supported by the crafting of potions useful in the research phase of the Lost or in combat, thanks to the resources collected. A further addition is also the challenges and events, particular objectives that can only be achieved through Fortresses, or waiting for the organization of particular moments on a global scale by the software house.
A special mention goes to the defined part "Profession". In this case the game pushes itself to the limits of an RPG, in fact, here are stored all the information relating to our specialization, and the decision on how to grow our avatar through the skill tree. It will in fact be possible to opt for 3 categories, at the moment, Auror, Magizoologist, Teacher. Each of these specializations is attributable to the famous roles of a classic RPG (eg: caster, tank, restore etc. etc.). The level of expandable features and skills is surprising and is much deeper than I expected.
Each activity carried out gives rewards in terms of objects or experience that will be useful to us in the evolution of our character's sheet.
[Character customization
The section dedicated to personalization of your character, in addition to the photo or background level, our document as a member of the Special Unit of the Statute of Secrecy, can be refined in many details. There is no shortage of the most classic of the home and the wand, up to reaching achievements, statistics and medals.
At the level of descriptive detail the work is commendable: in the choice of one's wand it is It is possible to decide the composition of the wood, the soul, the length and the flexibility. Each of these parameters is not (alleluia!) Introduced by a long and tedious explanation, indeed it is not really introduced, if the user is interested in learning more, he can access the dedicated handouts and indulge in the immersion of details and curiosities.
The graphic customization of the avatar is also appreciable, but at the moment I have found the impossibility of viewing the avatars of others in the network of friends, the icon in fact remains anonymous. A real shame because sharing your profile decays a bit.
Download
QR-Code
Harry Potter: Wizards Unite
Developer:
Niantic, Inc.
Price:
Free+
Harry Potter Wizards Unite and that wonderful soundtrack
Fortunately, the technical implementation is flanked by a noteworthy audio sector, but what is most appropriate is the marketing. The soundtracks that accompany us during the adventure are the same as those of the films, immediately recalling that magical spirit that has now impregnated the general culture of children and non-children. Personally, I would have been very disappointed if it hadn't been.
The dubbing, entirely in Italian. It is not always obvious that this is the case even in PC or console video games.
The heel "is like Pokémon Go"
That Niantic has now run in an excellent game engine with which it is churning out solid titles, is beyond a shadow of a doubt. However, the titles until now have always leaned to important hype, it would be interesting if it carried out an experiment with a new hype and the usual game engine that, with Harry Potter Wizards Unite, is probably giving its maximum. A subsequent title always oriented to the usual mechanics would undoubtedly be too much. However, there are many things in common with Pokémon Go, we could in fact assert that it is now a genre in itself, and it is not surprising that the main mechanics have therefore been readjusted. Instead of Pokémon to be captured there are objects and figures to collect, as an alternative to potions there are also other types of extracts and compounds here, and the list can continue in other aspects typical of the gameplay.
Undoubtedly the foundations are the same, as with many other more titled videogames on consoles or PCs, which have been using the same engine for years (do we know anything about EA??)
What convinces instead is the depth that was created starting from the usual foundations. There is narrative, there is immersion and there are many dynamics to be explored, giving you several hours of play without even realizing it.
The real difference is with Hogwarts Mystery
The previous playful title in the JK Rowling saga was a disappointment. The repeated dynamics, and the “pay-to-win” imprint have made all hope collapse: the Harry Potter Wizards Unite title itself was greeted with a bit of coldness. Many blame the mistrust as they assume a revised copy of Pokémon Go, I am of the opinion that most fans have moved with caution precisely because of theenthusiasm destroyed by Hogwarts Mystery. Impossible to play, endless to try without paying and not up to the level of a fanbase that was ready to relive the adventures in the magical universe.
Niantic hits the bull's-eye, and delivers a coup by combining solid gameplay, a standing storyline and a depth of detail worthy of the saga.
The numbers are surprising but not enough for now
Although Harry Potter Wizards Unite is winning the trust of the public at the moment in terms of numbers Pokémon Go is still in the lead, time to time the future is to be discovered. However, there are doubts and some problems that could block the growth of the title. First of all the longevity: typically a mobile game does not have a long duration like other platforms, what will establish its life will be the management of events and the implementation of features as well as the development of a beautiful storytelling. In the absence of these three elements, collect figures and objects of the Lost it could turn into a repetitive and boring action, especially since there is the possibility to “reset” the page to get more experience points. Currently there is no lack of glitches and application crashes, albeit rare, but in this case the flaws are solely due to the massive launch which obviously involves stabilization with some updates. On the other hand, the stability of the servers and the responsiveness of the world are surprising, which manages to make the gaming experience and exploration fluid. There distribution of resources, fortresses, refreshment points and Soqquadri is still weak, if you are not in a city you risk not finding enough material to continue.
It convinces, excites, and the foundation is solid.
Please Niantic, do not spoil it, the fear of it happening is great and unfortunately the possibility is very real.
Harry Potter Wizards Unite
Pro 
- Good fluidity and gameplay
- Amazing depth and texture
- It is not a pay-to-win
Cons 
- If you don't live in the city, loots may be scarce
- Some doubts about the events, awaiting developments
- Longevity at risk
- Never ending game? The plot could be affected
