#followed a gem tutorial for the right one and it looks way nicer

[cryptixcreations]

WIPs

weird design challenge, idk if i can even pull it off but at least the rocks look nice?

[under-the-lake]

A Hogwarts Mystery update...

Hello and welcome back! This might look a little familiar to the regular readers and you would be right. We have touched upon this topic previously and here is a link to the previous article: A Hogwarts Mystery…

Moving on, another update has hit Hogwarts Mystery and there are supposedly some interesting changes with additional content. However, the updated version is 1.1.3.1 and comparing it with the previous version 1.1.2.1, it does not seem like it is a major update according to the version numbers.

Firstly, we shall take a look at the notification the developers sent out to all players containing information about upcoming content in the above image. A few things that pop up are the addition of Slytherin allies and the rebellious Ravenclaw. It is interesting to see which direction the developers will take: are they going to follow the stereotypical generalizations that have plague Slytherins or perhaps they would move away from that and reflect a better understanding of the different houses? The usage of the word rebellious to describe a Ravenclaw is rather interesting as well. Perhaps a character that is similar to Luna Lovegood will be added to the game.

The only issue I have with this is the absence of the date in which the update will be released. According to the information on the Google Play store, it supposedly went live on 16 March 2018 but I only checked if there was an update on 20 March 2018, so in the gaming news world, this article is considered late.

Now that we got that out of the way, let’s dive into the new update!

A notification from the developers with a good chunk of free gems (as shown in the above image) is displayed and after you collect the 250 gems, you’ll be taken to the character creation page.

As expected, the changes were mainly on the UI (user interface) and as shown above, there are new systems for the Spell Collection and Character Progression. A short side note, there are still a few graphical bugs around but those are totally understandable as the game is still in the development stages. I am fairly certain that they will be fixed when the game is fully released.

The first thing I noticed was the slight UI change in the tutorial section. The instructions are now displayed in a blue banner (that is in stark contrast with the background in some areas) in the middle of the screen, possibly to ensure that the player is reading them through. I think it’s a good change because it is now more obvious that the player is going through the tutorial.

Also, another point about the tutorial, instead of being a whole section on it’s own, it is integrated within the story and the instructions will only appear when the player is doing something for the first time. By using this method instead of teaching the player everything in the beginning, it allows the player to continue to discover more things as they progress in the story. In some ways, it sort of mimics the learning process in a school, essentially having the player learn the game mechanics while the character learns more.

As shown in the above two images, this was slightly further into the story and because this is the first time we see a choice, the tutorial instructions pops up onto the screen and teaches the player.

Also shown in the above image, there are colours given to the different attributes. Green for courage, pink for empathy and blue for knowledge. I think this change does help with the differentiation as it makes it easier and perhaps quicker for the player to match attributes.

Another side note before I delve further into the game: I had not noticed if this was in the previous build but during the sorting (as shown in the above picture), there is a student with pink hair on the right. If this student was not in the previous build, could this be the rebellious Ravenclaw that was mentioned in the major update notification? I have not played far enough to see if I am correct in my guess but regardless, that student looks pretty badass. I hope she is not a filler character and would actually be in the story.

Edited to add: Hogwarts Mystery Facebook page has posted that the student with pink hair is actually a young Tonks! I can’t believe I think didn’t about her! Well, in my defense, I had totally forgotten that the first wizarding war had just ended. I am pretty curious as to how the storyline will interact with her.

Apart from the UI change in the tutorial, there is another UI change with the mission objectives. It is probably a small graphical change but it is still a change nonetheless. As shown in the above image, there is a golden speech bubble beside the words “Visit Your Common Room”. Before, the update, I believe the speech bubbles were white but unfortunately, I had not taken any screenshots of those so there is a possibility that I am mistaken about this. Also, it appears that the interactable icons that navigate the game are slightly bigger compared to the previous build. However, the settings icon appears to be slightly smaller.

The above image shows the new UI for the objectives. You can see an example of the tutorial as well. The Microsoft Word clipart looking hand points to the next objective, showing the player where they can click to progress to the next level accompanied by the instructions in the blue banner as mentioned above. This is a rather poor example of the contrast with the background as the objectives menu uses a similar colour scheme but even so, I think the new UI makes it slightly more obvious that it is a tutorial compared to the previous build.

Also in the above image, the UI for the objectives has changed. Before, it was mainly text-based but the new build includes a sidebar that contains the lessons required to move on to the next chapter. An image is also added to represent the type of spell or potion the player is supposed to learn. Besides this simple UI change, I believe it is the Spell Collection change that was talked about in the welcome message.

How it works in the current version is that the player will have to unlock the ability to learn those spells or potions. It is why there is the “Ready” factor in the Lumos part of the lessons and it being blank in the Cure for Boils part of the lessons, although I think it is because that part of the chapter has not been unlocked yet.

The above image shows a little more about what the Spell Collection and Character Progression change entails. In the previous build, the player can choose whether to train up their attribute or progress with the story objectives. In this particular example, the player needs to obtain a total of two stars to unlock the spell Wingardium Leviosa. Once it is unlocked, the player is able to take the class and learn it to continue the story. So in some ways, it forces the player to level up the attribute instead of powering through the story chapters.

I have also noticed a change in certain wand movements for the spells. I think Lumos, Expelliarmus and Wingardium Leviosa were changed. Perhaps the developers are adding a bit more flair into the movements instead of keeping them straightforward.

Another game mechanic change that I have noticed is the energy limit. In the previous build, the player gains an energy limit after every level up. However, in this current version, it seems like the only way you will gain additional limits is through the rewards. This will definitely slow down the story progression or encourage people to spend money if they are impatient. I was able to speed through a few classes in the previous build because I had, at one point, 23 energy limits within the first year at Hogwarts. Now, I am stuck at 18 and it seems like for the first year at least, the maximum limit is 20.

The UI for starting lessons has also changed as shown in the above image. Before, it did not include the center portion (it used to be blank) and the player does not know what reward will be given after completion. So I think this is a good addition and I am fairly certain they will make it look nicer in future builds as at the moment it kind of looks like a placeholder. The addition of the statistics at the bottom is also a good idea. The player gets to see how much energy they have and decide if they can complete the lesson within the required time frame. In this example, it is to obtain five stars in one hour.

The spellbook also has a rather nice change, as shown in the above image. Before, it was just text in smaller boxes and minimal graphics but now, the graphics are much better and would probably get better, perhaps they would become moving ones in the final build.

Speaking of moving ones, perhaps this was already done in the previous build but I had not noticed that the characters were moving as shown in the above gif image. It might be that it only moves in specific story-related objectives but I hope they continue with it as it helps make the game a little more immersive.

Even the graphics for the house points have changed. The house crests are a new addition and they look really crisp and detailed. The gems themselves are also looking a bit more defined and detailed. Also, I believe these were the same crest designs as the Warner Brothers store and even though they are rather small, the house mascots are still quite clear for Slytherin and Ravenclaw. Not entirely sure the same can be said for Gryffindor and Hufflepuff though. I think you can just about make out the animal but the border designs in my opinion distract the viewer’s eye.

Let’s move on to dueling. The first obvious change is the increase in stamina. In the previous build, the player only has a stamina of fifty while in this new version, the player has a stamina of one hundred. After playing through the dueling tutorial, I think it is a good call to increase the stamina because the dueling seems to feel a little more challenging. I could be wrong and had a bad run with the randomizer but it is lucky that my attributes were much higher and the opponent’s stamina was much lower.

Unfortunately, my progress for this update is slower than usual and therefore I am unable to tell if there are other changes. It is interesting to see the improvements between the two versions although I would like to suggest adding one component. Multiplayer dueling. Hint hint, wink wink, developers. Please?

Regardless, I am still very excited for this game, even though I have been playing it for a while now. The mystery has not been solved and I am dying to know what’s going on at Hogwarts. I give this a I-am-so-excited-I’m-going-to-die out of a oh-my-god-it’-so-pretty.

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