BENGALURU : Wizards might Unitedly disagree… But give the game a shot anyway. We have waited for ‘Harry Potter: Wizards Unite’ for long enough – and it is finally here. Wizards Unite is the location-based augmented reality, mostly free-to-play game based on the Harry Potter universe. The game’s concept and gameplay logic somewhat mimics what exists in Pokémon Go.
In the game, we assist the Ministry of Magic, given the choice of one of three professions from Auror, Magizoologist and Professor. The story is a neat extension of the established magic universe — where an event called the Calamity has struck. Our role is to ensure that the traces of magic which exist in the Muggle world through ‘Foundables’ and ‘Confoundables’ are dealt with and pushed back to the magical realm, so that the Statute of Secrecy (keeping Magic secret from Muggles for the sake of humanity) is not broken.
There are also inns where you collect energy, greenhouses to grow the random seeds you find on the street, Fortresses where you take part in Challenges, potion ingredients to brew potions, the occasional Portkey, opportunities to increase your professional skills, and the ability to choose your own Hogwarts house AND Ollivander Wand type!
If you did not understand anything in the previous paragraphs, don’t take notes because this game is not for you. Wizards Unite would probably flop if it were a standalone videogame without the Potterhead pleasing features. And this is because the game requires minimum skill and maximum patience. Spellcasting is the most difficult portion of the game, requiring some hand-eye coordination because you have to trace your finger along its path (this itself is a step above Pokémon Go, which only required a unidirectional flick to throw the Pokéball)
However, it is assuredly better than previous mobile game in the Potterverse — does anyone even remember ‘Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery’!? All it had was hours of expository conversations and point-and-click animations. As a Potterhead (and less a gamer), the only realshortcoming in Wizards Unite was walking around the streets with my slow internet attempting to download the graphics heavy animations. But as my wise Potterhead friend Sandhya says, “For the greater good, you only have to get a better data pack”.