Harry Potter LEGO - Years 5-7 PS Vita Review

Harry Potter LEGO - Years 5-7 PS Vita Review

Released by Warner Bros and TT Games
Platform: PS Vita

LEGO makes its debut on the PS Vita - and along with it, a certain wizard.

The charm of the LEGO strand of games has really, if we're brutally honest, been about the kiddy friendly look and the slightly goofy humour.

Harry Potter LEGO carries on some of that charm as it transfers to the portable format - and to be honest, very little is changed in terms of playability and what's expected of you. You're still given a wand to blast LEGO studs out of various objects and collect them to become a True Wizard; there's still puzzles aplenty and situations that require a bit of strategy rather than simply blundering in and there's still plenty of goofy cut scenes to keep you amused as the different parts load up.

That said, there's also a few other little niggly issues on the VITA which don't quite make this the fully playable experience you'd want - but these are only minor moments. The graphics of the gameplay are quite good but the cutscenes see a lot bit of the quality and sharpness drop making them occasionally feel blurred and a bit faded on the crystal clear screen of the VITA ; also, in terms of the gameplay, there's still way too many moments where instructions on what button to press and what to do mean you don't really have to pay any attention or engage the grey matter too much to solve a puzzle. That's a criticism I'd level at the last few releases of LEGO though and it's not something which is particularly new to the VITA format release.

Having said that, you can use the touch screen to help cast spells (which takes a little bit of getting used to) and the characters respond very nicely to the analogue sticks and use of the "L1/R1" sticks at the top of the controller; there's plenty of bits to unlock in the game and also plenty of costumes and characters to collect at the expense of a lot of studs.

There's a quite nice touch as well which sees you take part in duels against the other students as you cast wands, block spells and try to beat your opponent by batting magic back and forth.

I think at the end of the day this is really one aimed at the kids - which is a bit of a shame; that's not to say that the adults won't have a bit of harmless fun on the game as they play it but many are likely to find it too superficial to spend heaps of time on. However, I reckon a kid would love it to pieces and would play it frantically and until it's completed as well.

Overall, Harry Potter LEGO has its share of hits and misses; it's playable enough but it feels in some parts as if it's simply been ported over to the format rather than showcasing the very best of the tech on offer to the VITA.

Here's hoping future LEGO VITA releases slightly up the game in terms of quality to match the brilliant playability of the series..

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