Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions is the first Harry Potter game that isn’t based on any of the books or has connections to the world of magic the way 2023’s Hogwarts Legacy has. If you are fan of team sports games like Rocket League, this game is well worth the price of admission and is something I have been dearly waiting for.
To preface this title, back in 2003, we saw the release of Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup on the PC, GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox. It was still a time when online gaming was still relatively niche, and this game was one of my favorite ‘sports’ titles as someone who never pays attention to the annual FIFA, NBA or other major sports titles.
2003’s Quidditch World cup was a favorite of mine on the PS2 and I spent hours mastering the game and wishing for a remaster. 21 years later, my wish came true with this title that manages to take me back to those days, but also has room for improvement.
Gameplay
If you know how Quidditch is played, you can freely choose the role of beater, seeker, keeper, and chaser. You can give your specific role talents and equally give skills to your broom as well to play offensively or defensively, depending on your style.
Beaters are players who have weapons and can directly other opposing players with the bat directly or divert projectiles towards them, keepers protect the goal, chasers job is to score goals with the quaffle, and the seekers job is to be an assist to the other roles until the snitch spawns, and capture it for giving your team a 30 point boost.
Each role has its own moveset that can be used defensively or offensively, there is also a boost meter that you can use strategically, and also a health bar which can be depleted by offensive attacks from beaters and other players.
The gameplay loop is your traditional game of Quidditch. However, unlike the aforementioned Quidditch World Cup there are two exceptions - the golden snitch now gives 30 points instead of 150 points, and the game ends when either team reaches 100 points. In the 2003 game, points would be unlimited and the game would end when the golden snitch would get caught.
This was a mixed bag for me, as catching the snitch twice can still lead to you losing the game if you decide to take your luck with random players, but if you have a good squad that has familiarity with Rocket League and FIFA, you can easily make some one-sided matches in this game relatively easily.
With the ability of adjusting your role and broom, this is one game I strongly recommend playing with friends so that you can syergize your builds and strategy to make sure you always come ahead of the competition.
Presentation
The game definitely looks like a PS4 game, and there is nothing wrong with that. It still looks splendid and when its in motion the PS4 and PS5 version are near identical and its only when you slow down can you notice the differences between the two versions.
Unbroken Studios has done a great job with the PlayStation version and really helps combine the elements of the fictional sport and bring the magic to modern consoles.
Whatever role you play, you will feel the Quidditch feel like a real playing field as you would in other sports games, the environment, world, and characters are all well-done in every aspect, and this is easily one of the best sports games I have played in a long time.
There is a good assortment of arenas to choose from, and you can either play in the iconic houses of Hogwarts or go global and represent your country in the online world as well. Each of these has a unique aesthetic to it while still keeping the fields simialr enough where it doesn’t impact your game.
Feedback
The game has its flaws, with some stats not accurately tracking, and a couple of crashes for me on the PS5 playing the PS4 and PS5 version, but once those problems sorted themselves, I still pleasantly enjoyed Quidditch Champions. I thoroughly hope Warner Bros. continues to support the game, and the game has a free battle pass currently, but the game does not need the pass to be enjoyable at all, as all of the rewards are cosmetic, or victory poses.
Verdict
All in all, Quidditch Champions lives up to its name - it is easily the best casual sports game I have played in a long time. If are an avid fan of wizard soccer like I am, bring friends along for the ride. The game is currently free on PlayStation Plus Essential Tier which means you can easily play it with friends with no trouble.
I can see myself playing this with friends for a while, but I would hope that content updates for the game bring variety in the form of ranked, other game modes, and the such.
