New Hogwarts Legacy teaser sparks fan backlash

Those looking forward to Hogwarts Legacy in February have been disappointed to discover that one of the features outlined for potential improvement looks just the same as it did in an early trailer.

This would be the heads up display, or HUD, that was spotted for the first time in a trailer from July. It showed a hexagon that might have been a minimap, magical power or possibly health in the top left, and four spells in the bottom right corner arranged in a diamond, with one spell on a cooldown. Now, it's not an insult to say that it looked minimalistic, which suggested that this HUD was a placeholder from a previous build. Unfortunately for fans, it's seeming like this is the final version.

Check out the themed common rooms for Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff in Hogwarts Legacy below!

Deduced from the video that the official Hogwarts Legacy Twitter account posted about Imperio, this icon for the spell slots conveniently into the diamond array that was seen in the trailer. "I love the icon for Imperio, it looks very clean. I wouldn't mind the HUD being the same, but from the few frames we saw, it looked very 'testy' and gimmicky," said Reddit user Ciniqs. "Though unless some sh*t happens behind the scenes, it only makes sense that the rough idea for the hud would stay the same after a couple of months," replied -AtomicTom-.

Without new gameplay to affirm or deny this, it's tough to tell if that diamond is actually what the players will be using. Furthermore, as the release for Hogwarts Legacy approaches, it becomes clear that the purchase of the game might be a prickly issue for fans.

Author J. K. Rowling has no involvement in the development of the RPG, however, it's not known whether she will receive royalties from its sales. She has made statements criticising transgender people in the past and members of the films' cast have taken to social media to distance themselves from her stance.

"The reason I felt very, very much as though I needed to say something when I did was because, particularly since finishing Potter, I’ve met so many queer and trans kids and young people who had a huge amount of identification with Potter on that," said actor Daniel Radcliffe in a recent interview with IndieWire.