LEGO Harry Potter Years 5 - 7

Harry Potter Years 1-4 is my favorite Lego game. I really enjoyed playing the entire game using the stylus. That being said, why they didn't stay with a good thing for this 2nd Harry Potter, I can't figure it out. This Harry Potter Years 5-7 has poor graphics and what little touch screen that is used is kinda confusing. I'm somewhat disappointed and don't even feel like finishing the game. It's probably an okay game, lack-luster compared to the first Harry Potter.

If you loved the first DS Lego Harry Potter game (as I did), prepare to be disappointed with this one. I just got this game today and have just started, so perhaps I should give it more time, but thought I would give my first impressions. This game seems inferior in every way to Harry Potter Years 1-4. It is hard to believe that it is put out by the same company. The graphics aren't as clear and the controls are horrible. What I thought was fun with the first game was being able to do spells with the stylus. In fact, being able to use the stylus for everything. With this game, for example, you have to hold the Y button to "charge" your spell, then the A button to use it. You move the characters around with the control pad, not the stylus. The whole reason I use the DS gaming system is because I like using the stylus, it is what makes the games unique, in my opinion. I remember I heard about the first game, and it seemed like it took forever to come out, but it was worth it when you played it. This game seems rushed, like they wanted to get it out by Christmas or something, so they just threw it together for the DS without using any of the components unique to the DS. It might be a great game for Playstation. Again, I have just started playing this so maybe it will get better, but I wish I had read a review or two before getting it. I would have gotten it used instead of buying it new.

Let me start by saying that I loved Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4. Using the stylus like a wand was genius. My 3-1/2 year old daughter saw me playing one day and wanted to play too, and she ultimately took over and played through the entire game with very little help from me. (Not to say that the game was so overly simple that a three-year-old could play it; just that the controls were very intuitive and fun for all ages, including a very smart 3 year-old.) We conveniently finished the main storyline of years 1-4 just a week before years 5-7 was released. The day it came out, we bought it, excited to continue our Lego Harry Potter adventure together. I thought the sequal would be similar in play to the first. I was very, very wrong.

I was/am *massively* disappointed in the sequal. Here's just a few things that are wrong with this game:

1) There's pretty much NO stylus use in this game. (I must have wasted 5 minutes trying to cast my first spell with the stylus, as you did in the first game, before I figured out the hold-charge-release button technique required to cast spells.) There is no fun in casting spells in this game. Just push and hold a button and the computer does the rest. BORING. And I'm very sad to say I don't think my daughter will be able to play this one, since the controls are NOT intuitive or easy to navigate. I suppose it's similar in control to the other Lego games (like Indiana Jones), but after playing through using the stylus for everything on the first HP game, this seems like a major step backward.

2) I miss having a map on the top screen and playing/controlling on the bottom screen. The new bottom half just displays your spell options and seems a waste of the second screen.

3) The cut scenes are so blurry and fuzzy you can't hardly tell what's going on (the first game's cut scenes were low res too, but not this bad!) I realize the non-DS games have hi-def movies, but just because this one's a hand-held system with limited memory doesn't mean the videos have to be completely unviewable. Maybe I'll try renting the PS3 version just to compare the play controls and cut scenes quality.

4) I've yet to completely understand how the saving works. It seems to take FOREVER to finish a level and get back to the main Hogwarts room. The game also seems to jump around to different scenes a lot, rather than a level being just one location (like Hogsmead). One minute you're playing in Hogsmead, then you "warp" to Platform 9-3/4, then another warp to the Room of Requirement, then another warp somewhere else, etc. all in one "level." I haven't been playing for very long, but I'm a little confused at the sequence of events so far. Again, not intuitive play through. I like having shorter levels so I can play for a few minutes and save/quit.

All-in-all, this is a HORRIBLE DS game, and I truly hate to say that since I love the Lego games in general and the Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4 is my very favorite. I don't know what the developers were thinking with years 5-7, but they've taken a major leap backward in my opinion. It's really not fun to play, which is such a shame, since 1-4 was such a fantastic DS game. I would love to see the developers re-do Years 5-7 and rerelease it where it makes better use of the DS's dual screens and stylus. I still just can't believe how awful this game is compared with the original! =(

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