OotP Video Game - Your Thoughts?

OotP Video Game - Your Thoughts?

This topic serves as an archive of a thread from the Harry Potter Lexicon Forum as hosted on World Crossing which ceased operation on April 15, 2011. Elanor

Kip Carter - Jul 24, 2007 2:11 pm
co-Host with Steve on the Lexicon Forum, but he has the final say as the Owner!
Edited Sep 26, 2007 3:01 am
Kevin Corbett, one of our members, asks to have a new thread on the Order of the Phoenix Video Game. I am sure that there are others who have the same thoughts as his; therefore I will share what he is looking for in this thread.

"I would really like to hear from anyone else who might have played it if it is any good and to discuss it merits with anyone who might have a shared interest. I actually think that that game, in spite of the liberties it will certainly take, could be a bit more of a fulfilling visual experience for me than the films, given that a game can clock in at 30 to 40 hours and no one's fussed."

I am sure he, as well as other gamers, look forward to everyone's thoughts and evaluations.

geauxtigers - Jul 24, 2007 2:21 pm (#1 of 24)
Yum!
I thought it was a good game, but it was entirely too short. I had it beaten in the first 2 days I had it. Then I was like, "That was it?" I felt like all there was to do was walk around Hogwarts and find things for people. If it wasn't on the Wii, I think I'd have been really bored with it. THe Wii is what made it fun. I just wished there were more things to do. Like fighting Dementors, sneaking around at night and quidditch even though it wasn't in the movie. Other than that it was pretty good. I liked how it was the endless day and no loading screens. Thats always such a pain.

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Kevin Corbett - Jul 24, 2007 5:27 pm (#2 of 24)
Really? Short as all that? Do you know how many hours you put in? And is the the Wii functionality...um...I mean, is it just a gimmick, or does it really make the game that much better?

Right now, were I to pick it up, I'd have to try it on the 360, which would probably reduce loading times...though no wand stuff. The last HP game I played was PoA, and I was reasonably satisfied with it, so I had at least some hopes for this ones...I don't see how it could displease me more than the movie did.

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geauxtigers - Jul 24, 2007 9:01 pm (#3 of 24)
Yum!
Well what I mean mostly, there was an awful lot of watching "clips" versus playing the game. FOr example instead of fighting the dementors, you watch a clip. THere wasn't a whole lot to do except find things which wasn't all that challenging. ANd within hours we were at Voldemort in the DoM. All you get to do is be DUmbledore and fight Voldemort. No fighting in the DoM ect. Thats what I mean by short. I dunno if it was different for the Wii because of the controls, but if it was, I would gotten it for PS2 instead. I was just a bit disappointed in the lack of things to do. I'd say we put about 6 or 7 hours over 2 days into it, but I don't know for sure.

The Wii is really fun, it was cool doing the spells like you had a wand, that in itself was the most challenging thing. Getting it to do the right spells. I love my Wii!

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Kevin Corbett - Jul 24, 2007 9:10 pm (#4 of 24)
6 or 7 hours...dang...PoA was at least 15, and I didn't do most of the sidequests.

What I wouldn't give for a Wii. I was looking for one all spring, I eventually gave up and now I can't really even afford it.

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geauxtigers - Jul 25, 2007 2:09 pm (#5 of 24)
Yum!
6 or 7 hours...dang...PoA was at least 15, and I didn't do most of the sidequests.

Thats what I mean by short, Kevin. The Camber of Secrets one took me a week or two and that was with hardly any of the side quests and such.

This game we've done almost all the side quests as well.

The only thing we haven't figured out, hopefully someone here knows, is how do you find Snape's potion book for his "homework"? All Hermione says is that its in the potions section of the library. Now we've gone up and down every single row in that stupid library and there is nothing to indicate a potions section much less a book that you can take from the shelf. No one in the library says anything. I've checked behind that wardrobe thingy, movied it and still nothing. Any takers?

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vanessa cave - Jul 26, 2007 5:40 am (#6 of 24)
Hi I have finished this game 3 times now twice on normal mode and once on hard mode. I found it fantastic, not long enough but great all the same i'm quite obsessive so i loved finding every single detail and completing every room 100% including chess games, gobstones etc. The potions book for snape is at the very back of the restricted section of the libary on the left hand side you have to be up close to it before it allows you to access it. I have the game on the 360 and the graphics are amazing the no load times and endless day is great also. I got really excited when watching the Order of the Pheonix film because the gryffindor common room was identical to the game, the paintings, everything such attention to detail. I have played and finished all previous harry potter games and this was by far the best for me.

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So Sirius - Jul 26, 2007 7:54 am (#7 of 24)
As I've found all the Potter games thus far quite easy, I assumed this one would be equivalent, but with all the hype from the developers, I really thought this one would be challenging and better.

It was by far the worst of then all. LAME. Horrid. It might be better on Wii, but I played it on PS2 and it was beyond childish. The controls were ridiculous and the game play was even more ridiculous. It gave you everything you needed, there was no challenge and it was horribly boring. I'm very sorry I shelled out full price for it and didn't just rent.

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geauxtigers - Jul 26, 2007 4:33 pm (#8 of 24)
Yum!
Mrs. Sirius, thats how I felt about it. I think if I hadn't gotten for the Wii, it'd have been terrible.

Thanks about the potions book! I'll be getting that soon, then no more tasks for me! LOL

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Kevin Corbett - Jul 26, 2007 5:37 pm (#9 of 24)
Is there anything with Occlumency? I thought there was supposed to be...though with all of these glowing recommendations, I'm not sure even that would tempt me.

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geauxtigers - Jul 27, 2007 11:32 am (#10 of 24)
Yum!
haha, the occlemency was just plain wierd. All you have to do is "Keep Snape's wand in the 'middle'". On the Wii, you have to like bat the remote towards the center or "Snape will break into a memory!" **gasp** LOL I'd assume on a regular console such as a PS or XBOX, you'd just tap the arrow keys. It was really wierd.

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Viola Intonada - Aug 5, 2007 9:34 am (#11 of 24)
We have the old XBox, so this will be the first Harry Potter game that we couldn't get. I have yet to get an updated machine. (not sure I have time right now, but am considering a Wii)

I have gotten the Nintendo DS version. I have to say that I am rather disappoined in it. The only challenge to the game is that after you finish all of the "tasks" you can go back and collect more items. Finding all of the extras has been a challenge as has getting "O's" in all of the lessons (I'm finding it next to impossible to get "O's" in Potions and Astronomy.)

My favorite Harry Potter game so far is Chamber of Secrets for Gameboy Advance. I feel that it was the best designed game, you could spend hours and hours completing tasks and was just plain fun. It was the type of game that I really enjoy.

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Puck - Aug 5, 2007 8:39 pm (#12 of 24)
Mommy, Queen of Everything
I just got the game for my Wii yesterday and started playing today. I'm finding it just the right amount of challenge. Then again, I'm not much of a gamer, so I don't want anything too complex. I get frustrated easily if I can't find stuff. This is just at my level. My arms may be sore tomorrow, as it took me a while to incendio all that devil's snare.

Any tips on controlling my "Wingardium Leviosa"? I'm seeing why Ron had such a hard time with it.

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geauxtigers - Aug 5, 2007 9:19 pm (#13 of 24)
Yum!
Puck, we had a lot of trouble with controlling "wingardium levisoa" too. What we've come up with is that the joystick on the nunchuck doesn't do much, at least I don't think it does, and the tilting the remote back and forth moves it around. Don't be tempted to raise the remote trying to get it up, doesn't do anything (except make you loose control). usually, if you are close enough to where you need to drop the object, it'll float over and land there, even if you aren't exact. LOL Should have seen us doing that one! Ginny seems to think jumping and yelling work...

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Puck - Aug 6, 2007 6:13 am (#14 of 24)
Mommy, Queen of Everything
Thanks, Tori! I promised myself I wouldn't play today until I get some work down, though I am tempted....

My in-laws have a Wii, and we're leaving to a visit with them one Wednesday. If I take my game with me, will all my saves be on it, or is that on the hard drive of my machine? Is it enough to just take the game disk, or do I need a memory card or something, too?

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geauxtigers - Aug 7, 2007 10:23 pm (#15 of 24)
Yum!
Hmm, I dunno if this'll get to you in time as its after one your time the night before...but, do you have a camera memory card? Guess what?! That works for the Wii! Its super cool, if you have a digital memory card you can see if its the right size for the slots on the front of the console. Make sure the chip is blank. (Flip open that little door thingy on the front and you'll see the memory card slots) It sounds like you have the game saved already on the Wii itself. To be honest, I've never actually used my memory chip, everything saves on the console.

A couple of cool things, you can save your Mii to a remote and then take your remote with you and you can get your Mii on another Wii with all of your stats ect. Never done this because no one else I know has a Wii, so I have no idea how to do it! But its in the instruction manual.

You can also insert your camera chip with pictures into the Wii and then you can for instance, take a picture of your face and then draw on it. We wasted no time in drawing Harry glasses and a scar on ourselves! LOL You can acess this front the main menu, it'll have one of the boxes showing that your pictures are there (I can't remember if its pictures or just something along the lines of "Photos" but you'll see it)

Hope that helps!

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Verity Weasley - Aug 14, 2007 3:53 pm (#16 of 24)
Geauxtigers, that photo function on the Wii sounds cool! My two sons both have birthdays in August, within four days of each other, so this year they got a joint birthday present of a Wii and the OotP game. I haven't had a chance to play it yet but it certainly looks like fun. Using the remote as a wand certainly makes it interesting.

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zelmia - Aug 14, 2007 8:38 pm (#17 of 24)
Oh! And that's a bad miss!
I finally broke down and got the OP game (PS2 format). The last HP game I bought was CS, which I was greatly disappointed in because after busting my hump to get all the frog cards, the "big reward" at the end was just a bunch of concept art

One of the things I will complement the game developers on, though, is that with these HP games, I actually quite like the way you can really move around in the game environment. Most games have all this detail in the background that is really nothing more than "scenery". I like how in HP you can go just about anywhere and really get a good look at, and manipulate most of, all of the different elements in the game (i.e. curtains, portraits, furniture - even background characters).
I also really like the sort of "free form" format, where the game outlines the various tasks you are meant to accomplish and you can complete them - or not - in any order that works for you, including the "mini games" and "side quests" that occur within the game as part of that list of tasks (chess, etc). I find that to be far more interesting than just a straight linear plot.
But what I especially like is how the developers make a point of not relying solely on the film for game content and go back to the original novel. Harry acknowledges that Ron and Hermione were both made Prefect, for example; Peeves has a presence, and people are shouting to Ron about "Weasley is our King" and so on.

On the other hand, the game developers really don't design these games with adult players in mind. The target player seems to be about 8 years old. I agree that the cut-scenes tend to occur where most people would expect to find some challenging and intense game play (i.e. the dementors). I also do not appreciate that one of the "rewards" is the credits of the game developers. While I certainly appreciate all of their dedication and hard work, I do not consider being able to see their names on screen a "reward" for my work during the game

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Puck - Aug 18, 2007 4:38 pm (#18 of 24)
Mommy, Queen of Everything
Thanks, Ginny, but alas, it was too late. We have those memory cards, but it has saved on the console. Now, I have a more than half completed game on the in-laws console, but at least I've learned more about the game and can get trhough things more quickly. (Not being a gamer, it's just the right amount of challenge for me.)

I did find a couple of gliches. Dean Thomas wouldn't allow me to leave the clock tower to work on another task when I was having trouble with his. I actually had to turn off the game and re-enter. Another was that a portrait wouldn't let me through the passage. (My "Harry" kept asking if this portrait knew another's password, instead of just gving the password to get through the place he was at.) I also had trouble with the foot prints at times. Mostly, I'm having fun.

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zelmia - Aug 19, 2007 1:05 am (#19 of 24)
Oh! And that's a bad miss!
Puck, I think I had that same problem with that particular portrait at first too. But I just went away and came back to it and it worked okay.

This might seem like a dumb question, but how do I get the Slytherin Portrait hole password? I have tried wearing the invisibilty cloak and waiting for someone to go in, but the background characters just act the same as if Harry isn't wearing the cloak so I don't think that works. I've tried just sort of standing around when Slytherins are talking to each other, hoping they'll say it... I can't think like this game, for some things. Help, anyone?

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journeymom - Aug 19, 2007 7:41 pm (#20 of 24)
Zelmia, I wish I could help!

Does anybody know where the Shepherdess portrait on the second floor landing is? Yes, I know, it's on the second floor landing. Is this the Grand Staircase? There is a portrait there, but it's the same guy who tells Harry that he needs the shepherdess portrait on the second floor landing.... Is her portrait on another second floor landing?

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zelmia - Aug 19, 2007 9:41 pm (#21 of 24)
Oh! And that's a bad miss!
Journeymum - I don't remember exactly where it is on the second floor, but I think it's on the other end from the moving staircase. What I can tell you for sure is that it's the one who says "I like your hair today" when you walk by. When you hear that, turn around and click your "talk" button and she'll tell you what you want to know.

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So Sirius - Aug 21, 2007 1:56 pm (#22 of 24)
Zelmia, when the portrait says that there are people around, he can't tell you the password, turn Harry and point your wand and each of the kids there and they will leave, then he'll tell you.

journey, I can't find that one either. there's a portrait on the landing down somewhere, I think it was on the viaduct landing (although I'd have to go back into the game to be exact) with a girl and some sheep, who spoke and I thought this was right, but nothing came about from talking to her, so I assumed I had to speak to someone else first, not sure.

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zelmia - Aug 21, 2007 2:00 pm (#23 of 24)
Oh! And that's a bad miss!
Thanks So Sirius. I'll try that next time. Who is "three faces"?

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zelmia - Sep 2, 2007 10:47 am (#24 of 24)
Oh! And that's a bad miss!
I noticed that there a place in the Slytherin area where there is a staircase that heads away from the camera and toward a black hole. When I send the Trio down those stairs, they just stop at the bottom. Does this ever open up?

In fact, all of the HP games I've played have some section like that. Where it looks like it might open up later - and sometimes does - but just as often it doesn't. I wonder what the game designers were thinking.