Playstation PSP Item ID: #433LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4Product Information:LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 Explore iconic settings from Diagon Alley, the Forbidden Forrest, Hogsmead and, of course, Hogwarts castle. Hogwarts castle is a grand, immersive 3D environment and the largest, most detailed LEGO game location every built. Item DescriptionLEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
Build the adventure from Privet Drive to the Triwizard Tournament and experience the magic of the first four Harry Potter stories - LEGO style! Explore Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, learn spells, brew potions and relive the adventures like never before with tongue-in-cheek humor and creative customization that is unique to LEGO videogames!
Rating:  List Price: $ 29.99 Price: $ 27.99
Item Reviews5 Responses to “LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4”Leave a Reply |
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(out of 5 reviews)
US $2.05
Review by Ragingbear for LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
Rating:
I haven’t completed the game (and most likely won’t), but I’ve found very little to enjoy in what I’ve played so far and not much promise of improvement.
Unlike the PSP versions of the Lego games through Batman, this one is not a port of the console versions, but an appallingly simplistic and dumbed-down version of its own (or perhaps, it appears, a port of the DS version). The camera is frozen in an isometric position and zoomed in, which would put you close to the action if there was any action to see. Instead, the environments are drab, lifeless, small and virtually free of enemies or destructible elements (there ARE some – just very few). There’s often little to do but collect studs, most of which are laid out in patterns rather than hidden in objects, so that it often feels more like I’m playing Pac-Man than a Lego adventure.
The gameplay consists almost entirely of casting spells on clearly highlighted objects, but this is robbed of any enjoyability by the obscene level of hand holding. If you have to, for example, light a torch, “Light the torch” appears as your objective, the torch is marked by a waypoint on your map, and when you approach it, you press a single contextual button that chooses the incendio spell for you, and in many cases, this would all be after a character tells you “Maybe you should light that torch!” Speaking of which, the fact that characters talk at all (in the form of text windows) is another unwelcome change, and would be even if they didn’t constantly tell you flat-out what to do. If you need to use another character to interact with something, that character’s portrait appears as a hint, effectively removing the last possible scrap of guesswork. There’s no platforming to speak of, except where a particular prompt lets you jump at scripted points. The only bright points are some of the minigames, like potion brewing or the transfiguration spell, but even there, transfiguration presents you with identical puzzles so often that it loses its novelty quite quickly.
In the other Lego games (that I own on PSP, at least – Star Wars II, Indiana Jones, and Batman; identical to the console versions save for graphics, as far as I know [and from having played/seen footage of the console versions, I should add]), goals were sometimes obscure, but figuring them out was the bulk of the experience and challenge. And even after you’d played a level and knew all the objectives, there was great fun to be had in wandering the expansive environments smashing things, collecting studs, fighting enemies, solving puzzles and experimenting with the abilities of the cast of characters. With virtually all of that removed, the remaining husk of a game plays like it was designed for preschoolers.
I want to be generous and allow for the possibility that it will get better, at least with revisiting levels in free play with new characters, but from what little of that I’ve done so far, it’s similar to story mode, in that rather than having the pleasure of experimenting with combat or movement abilities, it’s all a matter of choosing the character who can interact with certain very obvious objects, and being plainly told who to use anyway. Why bother?
I feel foolish for not being more vigilant in seeking out PSP-version-specific reviews, but given the record of the series, I had no reason to think it would be different from the console versions. I’ve learned my lesson. I would like to play a proper version of this game, but since that would amount to paying $50 effectively to upgrade this one to what it should have been in the first place, it’s not happening.
Review by Maryann Tatro for LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
Rating:
I’ve played all the previous Lego games on both PS2 and PSP, and they were excellent ports. Upon starting this game, I was both confused and disappointed by the completely different style of play, pathetic graphics, and overall poor quality. A quick visit to Youtube for gameplay video comparisons yielded the answer to why this game was so appallingly different from the other wonderful games in the series. Apparently since there was no PS2 version for Lego Harry Potter, Traveller’s Tales ported the DS version to the PSP. The result is a disaster. The cutscenes are glitchy. The graphics are crap compared to the wonderful graphics of previous versions. Perhaps gameplay would be more fun if I had bought the title for my DS, but–since any controls that would have used the stylus have to be mapped to the PSP’s buttons–it feels awkward, childish, and unlike the natural gameplay of other Lego PSP titles. Basically, Traveller’s Tales cheated the PSP owners. Go onto Youtube and watch gameplay and walkthroughs from the other versions before wasting your money on this abyssmal failure of a game. Lego Harry Potter for the PSP isn’t magical by a longshot. Had I known it was a DS port, I wouldn’t have wasted my money. I’d have just gotten it for my PS3. Shame on you Traveller’s Tales! You owe PSP owners both a refund and an apology.
Review by batty13 for LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
Rating:
My first impressions of the game were above average with only mild disappointment and I’m hoping the game will get better as it progresses as I’ve only just recently arrived at Hogwart’s.
However after reading bugbears review and searching on youtube for gameplay video’s It’s clearly
obvious that he is correct. The psp version is definitely scaled down version of the higher end platforms.
It has a fixed (looking downwards) camera angle that never changes, The text boxes are a tad Nintendo 64ish.
I also agree with the other review that this game (dont know about the other platforms on this aspect) has
too much hand holding throughout the quests and puzzles and leaves no room for trying to figure things making it
seem more like following directions rather than solving a game on your own.
One of the major differences that ruins the psp version for me is that you only ever have one character that you see on the screen
and cycle through them using the “R” button whereas the Xbox/PS3/WII versions are confirmed at having multiple characters
on the screen at the same time. This alone is a deal breaker for me as I would much rather run around Hogwarts/Hogsmead etc
as a group and see that Hermione/Ron etc are with Harry for the adventure.
Instead on the psp you only see the one character you are currently playing so it is completely missing one of the stories main
element that friendship and love are best. e.g. at the end in OotP, He feels pity for Voldemort because will never know what
he’s missing. Who ever made the choice (or why) to drop that defining quality from the psp version must not have known anything
about the books.
Another point that really stinks about the psp version I discovered the gameplay video’s (linked below). While walking around Hogwart’s
I noticed the paintings didnt move and had thought how awesome it would be if they did. Well in the XBox version they definitely do.
Not only to the paintings move but you can interact with them with spells etc, as well.
Here are a some comparison vids on youtube (psp vs xbox)
PSP Gameplay Video on youtube titled “Harry Potter Lego Years 1-4 Gameplay PSP”
[...]
Now check out this awesome footage of the xbox platform titled “LEGO Harry Potter Exclusive Gameplay”
[...]
I think the comparison of the video says it all and the psp version is an entirely different game as stated by the other reviews here and not worth the price. I really wish I had spent the extra 16 bucks for the xbox version. So dont short yourself what seems to be an amazing game by getting it for the psp.
Review by Sara2by4 for LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
Rating:
I was very disappointed with this game. I have played Indiana Jones and Star Wars on the PSP – - both of which I enjoyed very much. This game was very different, boring and designed for a much younger audience. The graphics are bad and there are lots of glitches in playback.
Review by go vegan for LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4
Rating:
I own both the PSP and the Nintendo DS and I bought the PSP version of this game because of the bigger screen. But it’s very hard to control the characters with the PSP and I think using the DS’s stylus would be much better. I thought that the game was defective because I couldn’t move a crate using the directional buttons, until I accidentally pressed two buttons at the same time.
The game is also very dark, even on the brightest setting, and the instructions are practically non-existent. You also can’t save manually and the game only saves at the end of a level.
So far it seems like a children’s game (I’m an adult). The “Simon Says” minigame only consisted of four colors to duplicate one time. Mine were green, green, blue, blue. And Harry has to run around collecting “studs” which are the game’s money. So far the quests are stupid and simple, like saying “Hello” to three people that are right there in the room with you. Big deal.
I’m from the old school of DOS adventure games for the PC. How I wish that LucasArts would make their Monkey Island games for these handheld platforms. Those are what games should be like.