aI recommend to Quidditch World Cup fans when on sale for $10 or $20 after a 6v6 update.
TLDR: It feels like a mobile reboot with it's soul ripped out. But you get PVP with bots to play a Quidditch-like game. 4/10 not the worst game ever but below average for the $30 price range.
Fans of HP Quidditch World Cup YOU ARE NOT the target audience of this game.
Fans of Hogwarts legacy YOU ARE NOT the target audience.
Fans of any Harry Potter game YOU ARE NOT the target audience.
Honestly feels like their isn't a target audience which means it was made with no one in mind which very much describes the vibe.
Edit: Figured out the Target audience It's for non quidditch fans. seriously look at the long positive reviews they will all say quidditch needed to be changed that quidditch isn't fun. Maybe Quidditch wasn't for them. but i guess now quidditch isn't for the quidditch fans anymore.
Doesn't mean you won't enjoy it. but lower your expectations.
Edit 1: There are no Micro Transactions - Honestly thought there was for the first 4 hours of playing because when i see season rewards and stores with multiple currencies I don't pay it any attention i click away. I don't blame anyone who thinks there are micros in the game because the devs made it look like there are. Like the Homepage looks like the typical launcher for a free multiplayer game. play - season - store. honestly kinda a negative that their isn't because this review would be positive if the game was free to play or cheaper with micros lol.
Edit 2: If you think the complaints are about DEI then you are an Idiot. DEI doesn't ruin games. The people that prioritize DEI over making the best game possible ruin games. Anyways this is gonna be the only time I mention it in the review because DEI aside the game sucks and this is why.
Edit 3.
Harry Potter World Cup came out 21 years ago not 11 i make that mistake alot so im not gonna fix it sorry.
check out the link of the guy trying to gatcha - look at the crowd and look at the players faces - obviously the general graphics are better - but the crowd looks better in the 21 year old game and the faces of the big characters are more recognizable even with less polygons. So yes are a graphics downgrade thanks for the link loser. (anyways the bar was raised with Hogwarts Legacy this is a huge downgrade from that.)
The Review.
First just wanna say that the game feels like an alpha build. If this was an alpha release this would be a positive review "great core game can't wait to see what they add and polish." But the devs feel as if this is good enough to release so let's review it as is.
Imagine making a game that is only Quidditch and then it not getting the quidditch right. Catching the Snitch gives ya 30 points and doesn't end the game. Game ends after 5min or a team gets 100 pts. feels like HP Champs is the XFL where HP World Cup is the NFL. Similar but different rules which creates different vibes. Sure people might say "do you really want the game to end when someone catches the snitch" YES because that's quidditch. It makes the value and importance of catching the snitch. now it's more of an annoying interruption when your making a play.
Also how is winning the House Cup more satisfying in a game made 11 years ago? The campaign in this game is a lazy bracket screen then you get a png of your opponent and one line. That's the entire vibe of this game, menus and directly into quidditch. No walking onto the pitch, no fan interactions (because the fans are literally downgraded from 11 years ago lol). Bracket -> Picture with 1 line-> Game -> Repeat. That's what I mean by the game feels lazy and lacks soul.
The Arena's are shorter than what you'd expect going into them. Height restriction is just above the goals. often find yourself bonking your head off invisible walls. annoying and limits vertical play.
Bots being in PVP feels really bad. so how the game works is it's 3v3 everyone controllers both a chaser and one of the other 3 roles. When you are playing as one of the characters the other is controlled by a bot. Overall Vibe feels like PVP lite. IDK when im Qued for PVP i don't wanna be passing to Bots and shooting a bot keeper. Feels like laziness or cheaping out on servers that can handle 6v6.
let's talk start with the Seeker role because they wrecked it. After a certain period of time in the match the snitch will become available then the player can switch to the seeker and fly through rings behind the snitch to fill up a bar and once the bar is full then you can grab the snitch - doesn't feel like a race what so ever. maybe a race to collect rings but not a race for the snitch. then you get 30 points for catching the snitch and the quaffle gets reset to being thrown from center field. no ending the game no 150 points, nope 30 points and a center field toss up. Time wise the game seems to allow two snitch catches maybe more as player lvl gets higher. So the seeker player can play catch the rings for half the game and score 60pts. 8hr update: General Seeker tip. When you see the snitch fly into the corner don't chase it but setup to follow it as soon as it leaves the corner, the arena is small so the path is predictable and you can cut it off to get directly behind it. the rings will give you more catch rate the closer you are to the snitch when you grab them. so combine this with the skill that makes rings disappear after you fly through them, and you will be catching two snitches a game while the opposing seeker is struggling to catch a single ring. Wish the arena was bigger so the snitch could be more unpredictable but it essentially just flys in a loop. like the rest of the game it's so close to being good just needs more polish.
Loved the Keeper role at first but with the inconsistency of the keeper not catching the quaffle thats flying under his armpit keeper has pretty much become kick the people in the face when they get close. because trying to block is a coin flip if you character will actually try to block. I recommend all the skills the improve the Keeper's kicks.
Chaser's are alright can feel like getting bullied from time to time but that's quidditch baby.
Beater's I never play, they just look boring to me but I assume that's a preference. Not everyone is gonna enjoy every role nothing wrong about that ill stick to keeper.
Graphics look like a premium phone game and everything feels like this is a 5 year old mobile game ported over to PC. It''s evident that they were unable to use the likeness of the characters from the movies as Hermione and Ginny both look like their faces got smushed. Didn't even recognize Cho until i her name was underneath her. all the characters get a semi similar squished face. Really just looks like a fan made game that's trying to avoid copyright issues.
Honestly the entire Vibe of the game feels soulless, doesn't feel like a harry potter game. alot feels lazy dev work, alot of visual bugs, mobile game graphics, 1/3rd of the cut scenes are animated while others are just talking pngs no consistency. House Cup is now just brackets with no other heart put into it.
I Loved QWC. and the expectations for this game were raised when Quidditch wasn't in Hogwarts Legacy. So me like many other people were hoping for a Quidditch game with the quality or refinement of Hogwarts legacy. What we got was a slight improvement to graphics and an improvement on broom handling from the 11 year old game but a downgrade from broom handling and graphics from hogwarts legacy. just disappointing.
We were shown the potential for a great game, what we got was a mediocre reboot that looks like it was made with the intent to port to mobile and I would not be surprised if we either see a micro transaction update within a year that or the servers will get shut down. hopefully the devs prove me wrong and pull a No Man's Sky but i doubt it.