Harry Potter: Wizards Unite has been released in the US & UK!

[professor plum]

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The new Harry Potter mobile game by the creators of Pokémon Go has been released a day earlier than scheduled!
Unlike the other mobile game, which is set prior to the events of the first book, this game is set after the Battle for Hogwarts.

Like Pokémon Go, Wizards Unite is overlaid on a Google Maps-like interface. At first glance, the game doesn't look too different from its Pokémon-themed predecessor. But calling Wizards Unite a reskin Pokémon Go would be a mistake; the two games are developed by the same company, and have location-based gameplay, but the experience is wholly different.

Instead of Poké-stops and gyms, magical buildings are overlaid on the map: greenhouses, inns, and fortresses. Each of these is embedded with its own little minigame — the greenhouses operate with a social potion-growing game, while the inns pass out food dishes that will, naturally, replenish spell energy. Ingredients needed for potion-making are scattered around the map, too, mixed in with different landmarks tied to magical items, ones that need to be hidden from the muggles around.

Magical traces often pop up around these landmarks, which adds to the treasure hunting elements of the game; you'll know you can collect certain items near a corresponding landmark: a golden snitch by the magical games and sports landmark, or a flesh-eating slug at the dark arts monument.

At the moment, one's Hogwart house is largely cosmetic - it doesn't really make too big of a difference. However, the game does have the following 3 Professions:

Auror is a combat focused profession that specializes in dealing with dark wizards, spell casting and dealing straight out damage. Aurors are lead by the legendary Harry Potter. The official in-game description states that Aurors are combat veterans who defeat Foes by Combining their innate leadership with a litany of debilitating spells. Aurors are most effective against Dark Forces.

Magizoologist is a support oriented profession that specializes in providing buffs, dealing with magical beasts and similar affair. Magizoologists are lead by Hagrid. The official in-game description states that Magizoologists focus on healing and helping their Teammates. Magizoologists are most effective against Beasts.

Professor is a balanced profession, adept at dealing damage and providing various utility effects. Professors are lead by Professor McGonagall and use their deep magical knowledge to debilitate Foes while also supporting their Teammates. Professors are most effective against Curiosities.

Each profession features a skill tree that can be progressed separately from the other profession. The further you progress down a tree, the more powerful abilities you unlock. In order to level up your profession's skill tree you need Spell Books which can be earned from encounters, leveling up and completing other in-game challenges.

Check it out on the Apple App Store or Google Play Store!

Are any of y'all planning on playing this? I downloaded it to just check it out - I enjoy Pokémon Go and Harry Potter - so why not?
I'm trying to decide between Auror and Professor tbh.

Edit: For those not in the US/UK, apparently it will be rolling out for the rest of the world tomorrow - source.

 

[Juno]

lowkey kinda excited to try it now - I didn't have super high hopes for this with how that other Harry Potter mobile game turned out, so I did dismiss this as a cashgrab PGO clone when I first saw it (they played a short version of the ad like crazy whenever I watched YouTube videos on my phone), but the description you gave there sounds like it could be fun. I do wish that trailer showed more of what gameplay would actually be like instead of all the flashy theatrics, unless this app is really going to let me Apparate and all that

Since you got this a bit earlier than us, keep us posted on your thoughts in this thread!! I'll be downloading it tomorrow when it's out here, but curious to know what you think :fufu:

 

[Arcaneum]

I mean.......mobile games.......PoGo clone.........IDK I'm going to see how this develops before really putting any thought towards getting it really. I feel it's just a Harry Potter fad at the moment which will fall flat on its face. If it does go well however, will be interesting to see how it develops and how PoGo fares against it.

 

[professor plum]

lowkey kinda excited to try it now - I didn't have super high hopes for this with how that other Harry Potter mobile game turned out, so I did dismiss this as a cashgrab PGO clone when I first saw it (they played a short version of the ad like crazy whenever I watched YouTube videos on my phone), but the description you gave there sounds like it could be fun. I do wish that trailer showed more of what gameplay would actually be like instead of all the flashy theatrics, unless this app is really going to let me Apparate and all that

Since you got this a bit earlier than us, keep us posted on your thoughts in this thread!! I'll be downloading it tomorrow when it's out here, but curious to know what you think :fufu:

So the worldwide release is apparently happening over the next few weeks. The source that said it was today was apparently wrong :sadcat:
I really like it so far! The only thing that bothers me is what they've done re: the """catching""" mechanic. (I use catching loosely)

In Pokémon Go, you of course catch Pokémon via Pokéballs - standard, great, ultra, etc. In Wizards Unite, however, you're casting a spell at an enemy that pops up, and it uses 1-2 energies. You usually have to trace a specific pattern that the game predetermines for you, and it's not too difficult...but it's a bit more frustrating than standard PokéBalls. Whatever - it's literally Day 2 - I'll get used to doing that.

The problem is, though, the availability of Energy.

In Pokémon Go, you have can get Pokéballs at PokéStops, Gyms, gifts, etc.
In Wizards Unite, you can really only get them at Inns.

When creating Pokémon Go, Niantic created two types of Points-of-Interest - Gyms & PokéStops.
When creating Wizards Unite, Niantic created three types of Points of Interest - Fortresses, Green Houses, and Inns.

Most gyms in Pokémon Go, for me, are now Fortresses. And most Pokéstops are mainly Green Houses and a few Inns. Here's an example from a park near me:

1 Gym, and 3 PokéStops. 4 chances to get PokéBalls.

Here's the same park in Wizards Unite:

1 Fortress, 2 Greenhouses, and 1 Inn. Only 1 chance to get 1-2 bits of energy every five minutes. And the max default energy as far as storage goes is 75. So there's not really an easy way to go get energy. :/

Here's a thread on reddit about it

I mean.......mobile games.......PoGo clone.........IDK I'm going to see how this develops before really putting any thought towards getting it really. I feel it's just a Harry Potter fad at the moment which will fall flat on its face. If it does go well however, will be interesting to see how it develops and how PoGo fares against it.

I will say that I do like the RPG-lite elements of it that I mentioned in the first post. I wound up going with Professor out of the two as it's a mix of attack & support.

Edit: Wow, the dev team has already announced an upgrade to the way people get spell energy - see here.

 

[Juno]

I mean.......mobile games.......PoGo clone.........IDK I'm going to see how this develops before really putting any thought towards getting it really. I feel it's just a Harry Potter fad at the moment which will fall flat on its face. If it does go well however, will be interesting to see how it develops and how PoGo fares against it.

IMO the last few Harry Potter things that came out in recent years were cash grabs with little love or thought put into them, which was why I was skeptical of this at first. I am excited to try it still, and I mean even PGO was really not great when it first came out, super bare-bones, but they have definitely refined it into something more fun with a ton more features, so I can see them doing something similar here and polish it as they go along.

So far it sounds a bit rough and unpolished with a somewhat messy launch, so it shares that with PGO lol

 

[colours]

My co-worker actually showed me this since he downloaded it and honestly it doesn't look too bad at all! Still thinking about trying it myself, though.

 

[professor plum]

Okay, so I played the game most of the weekend, and I gotta say..it's pretty fun! (Even moreso with a group of friends)
There are minor things I'm not happy with - I still feel like energy should be easier to obtain, and I wish we had adventure sync..but other than that, it's a pretty solid game :) I had a lot of fun taking on fortresses with my sister and her kids.

 

[Juno]

It's been reeally laggy for me but that might be a problem with my phone and maybe not the app. I haven't played it too much yet, just literally when I'm sat at home and remember to check if there's a Hufflepuff trapped in my room or something.

My IGN is Trenchcoat if anyone wants to add me! I tried breadfruit which was my PGO IGN and was really surprised it's taken given that's such an odd combination of words, so the next logical choice was Trenchcoat apparently

 

[professor plum]

It's been reeally laggy for me but that might be a problem with my phone and maybe not the app. I haven't played it too much yet, just literally when I'm sat at home and remember to check if there's a Hufflepuff trapped in my room or something.

My IGN is Trenchcoat if anyone wants to add me! I tried breadfruit which was my PGO IGN and was really surprised it's taken given that's such an odd combination of words, so the next logical choice was Trenchcoat apparently

you have to add people via friend codes!

 

[Cid]

I'll try to install both this and Pokemon GO in my phone again! This feels like it has the potential to be even better than PoGO. :)

The launch trailer is really fun. I'd watch a movie based on those characters, haha.

 

[Janp]

I wonder if Niantic just put another layer of code to Pokémon GO code, which in turn was just another layer of Ingress code.

But it looks okay. I'll try it over the weekend.

 

[colours]

Has anyone been actively playing this? I haven't yet, but I'm curious to see whether or not it's still fun to try out. =o

 

[Kitty]

I wonder if Niantic just put another layer of code to Pokémon GO code, which in turn was just another layer of Ingress code.

man i hope they put it on the layer of ingress when it wasn't at prime... then it'd still be kinda great :'D

i haven't tried this game because it just eerily reminds me of go, which felt like a reskinned ingress @_@

 

[professor plum]

okay here's an update
i got burned out by overhyping myself for the game and then playing too much at launch, and just...fizzled out! surprise, surprise lmao.

i didn't even complete the last event, and i just hit level 10 today.

buuuut, i'm downloading the latest set of assets and plan to complete current event. i want to start catching up again.

as someone who played PoGo at the launch, I can say that this launch is a lot better, and it's awesome they're already planning a Community Day for the 20th:

Community Day bonuses include:

Foundables more frequently appearing around you
Free store pack featuring Spell Energy from the Diagon Alley shop
Baruffio Brain Elixir potions consumed during this limited-time period will grant 3× Wizard XP
Dark Detectors used during this limited-time period will last twice as long as they normally do when placed on Inns
See below for when this Community Day event will take place in your region:

Asia-Pacific region: July 20, from 1:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M. AEST (UTC +10)
Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India: July 20, from 10:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. UTC
Americas and Greenland: July 20, from 11:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. PDT (UTC -7)

hopefully i'll be able to participate even though i'm spending most of the 20th in transit.

 

[Sheep]

I really briefly downloaded this to mess around, but didn't end up sticking with it since I can't handle playing another GO-esque game at once. Impossible to switch between both. The graphics are nice though, but I'm not big enough into Harry Potter to actually keep it around. :droplet: