"What Awaits You In the Forbidden Forest?" -- ‘Hogwarts Legacy’ Continues to Tease That It's Part-Horror

Hogwarts Legacy (2023) will be hitting shelves in February 2023, and though some fans are threatening to boycott the game due to all the JK Rowling controversy from the past couple of years, it’s likely that Warner Bros. will have yet another huge Wizarding World hit.

The game allows players to customize their character, pick their house, learn how to brew potions and master spells, befriend fellow students, and explore the Wizarding World (the only thing you can’t do in the game is play Quidditch, though you can still learn how to fly a broomstick).

So, what famous Wizarding World locations will players be able to explore in the game? Well, obviously, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry will be the main hub, and from there, you’ll have the opportunity to venture to places far beyond, including the Scottish countryside.

Along with never-before-seen places, the game will feature well-known areas from the Harry Potter books and movies, such Hogsmeade Village and the Forbidden Forest. And now, Hogwarts Legacy has revealed a special look at the Forbidden Forest in the form of some eerie footage.

Check out the below video shared by the official Hogwarts Legacy Twitter account:

“What awaits you in the Forbidden Forest?”

What awaits you in the Forbidden Forest? #HogwartsLegacy pic.twitter.com/L3IxRz7DTV

— Hogwarts Legacy (@HogwartsLegacy) October 12, 2022

While very atmospheric, the short video doesn’t really reveal much, though there is something very unsettling about it. It’s likely that Hogwarts Legacy is teasing Forbidden Forest-based quests, much like the PlayStation-exclusive “Haunted Hogsmeade Shop” quest.

Check out the “Haunted Hogsmeade Shop” trailer below:

Needless to say, the quest looks very horror-esque (something the Harry Potter franchise is hardly a stranger to), but will Forbidden Forest-related quests follow a similar path? After all, it is home to the likes of giant spiders and other terrifying magical creepy-crawlies…

In the Harry Potter books and movies, the Forbidden Forest is a vast wooded area that borders the edges of Hogwarts. It’s home to all sorts of Fantastic Beasts — some friendly, some not so much. It also has many dark secrets, which will undoubtedly feature heavily in the game.

Despite there being no Quidditch (is it possible Warner Bros. is planning a separate Harry Potter-themed Quidditch game?), it looks like Hogwarts Legacy will have everything a Harry Potter fan would want from an open-world game.

Check out the official trailer for Hogwarts Legacy below:

As per the official Hogwarts Legacy website, here’s the synopsis for the game:

Hogwarts Legacy is an immersive, open-world action RPG set in the world first introduced in the Harry Potter books. For the first time, experience Hogwarts in the 1800s. Your character is a student who holds the key to an ancient secret that threatens to tear the wizarding world apart. Now you can take control of the action and be at the center of your own adventure in the wizarding world. Your legacy is what you make of it.

The Wikipedia synopsis, however, speaks more to some of the aspects of the gameplay and the characters you’ll encounter:

Hogwarts Legacy is set in the late 1800s and follows a student starting at Hogwarts in their fifth year. The player character, who holds the key to an “ancient secret that threatens to tear the wizarding world apart”, is capable of manipulating a mysterious ancient magic, and will need to help uncover why this forgotten magic has suddenly made a resurgence and the ones that are simultaneously trying to harness it.

The player is able to interact with characters previously seen within the Wizarding World franchise including Nearly Headless Nick, The Fat Lady, and Peeves. The player character will also be introduced to new characters such as Professor Eleazar Fig, acting as a mentor figure to the protagonist. Antagonists featured in the game include Ranrok, the leader of the Goblin Rebellion, and Victor Rookwood, the leader of a group of Dark Wizards.

Hogwarts Legacy is one of many upcoming open-world titles based on major blockbuster franchises. Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora (TBA) is due out some time next year (possibly 2024), and there’s even an open-world Star Wars video game in the works.

Hogwarts Legacy will be released on February 10, 2023, on all major gaming platforms — Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. The Nintendo Switch version release date, however, “will be revealed soon” according to Portkey Games.

Do you solemnly swear to get up to no good in the Forbidden Forest in Hogwarts Legacy? Let us know in the comments down below!