One of the core parts of the Hogwarts experience rests with your chosen house. Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff are all very distinct from one another, with each catering to a very specific type of student and each with its own deep lore, magical artifacts, spectral mascot, and hidden secrets. Early on in Hogwarts Legacy, you undergo the Sorting Ceremony, where the Sorting Hat probes your brain to decide whether you’re brave, smart, cunning, or loyal.
We’ve gone into how to get into the house you want here (though don’t fret as the game ultimately lets you choose whatever you like regardless of what you say to the Sorting Hat), but many players will be naturally wondering if each of the Hogwarts houses has its own story content, if the choice locks you out of any quests, and whether it’s worth replaying the game as each of them.
Is there House-specific content?
Fortunately for gamers who want the whole experience without replaying, we can confirm that 99% of Hogwarts Legacy remains the same regardless of which house you’re sorted into. The core plot will proceed without any changes, you can specialize in whatever magical skill tree you like (e.g. be a Dark-Magic-using Gryffindor), and there are no stat bonuses or perks associated with each house.
This even extends to the many characters you’ll meet. Even if you’re a sinister-looking, dark-haired, pale-skinned, vampire-lookin’ Slytherin, you’ll have no trouble interacting with the other houses, taking on various quests revolving around specific houses’ lore, or simply forming relationships with other students.
What does change?
The list of stuff that’s tied to your house choice is mercifully short. The biggest change is one mid-game quest tied to each house that can’t be experienced by other houses. Your house also governs the colors of your starting robes, though you’ll be ditching your starting gear very quickly once you find better equipment. You also get access to a Floo fast travel point in your house’s Common Room, but this area isn’t particularly useful in the wider game.
Perhaps the biggest change is that each house has its own student characters to form relationships with. It’s easier to develop these with students in the same house as you’ll be seeing them more often, though you’re by no means locked out from any other of the other characters.
Notable companions you won’t want to miss out on are Garreth Weasley and Natasi Onai in Gryffindor, Ominis Gaunt and Sebastian Sallow (who has a great storyline) in Slytherin, Amit Thakker and Samantha Dare in Ravenclaw, and Adelaide Oakes and Poppy Sweeting (another questline to make sure you complete) in Hufflepuff. But, to underline, all this content can be experienced no matter which house you sign up to.
Your house will occasionally be referenced in dialogue during the main quest and some side quests, though we’re a decent way into the game and it hasn’t been even close to a deciding factor on whether we can proceed or not.
A missed opportunity?
The late 1800s setting gives the game’s writers a lot of leeway in how to present the Wizarding World. At this point in time, it seems as if relationships between each Hogwarts house are far more friendly than they’d become by the time Harry, Ron, and Hermione showed up. As a measure of this, there’s even a Slytherin student (a direct descendant of Salazar Slytherin no less) decrying discrimination against Muggles and criticizing members of his family as “pure-blood maniacs.”
That said, it perhaps would have been nice if the game had a little exclusive content tailored to the houses that let you explore what it’s really like to embrace their radically different philosophies. Maybe that’ll come in DLC, though right now, the game feels determined not to lock any player out of the full experience.
We would have also liked to see some minor skill development changes dedicated to each house, as it seems like a no-brainer for Slytherin students to quickly grasp darker magic and Gryffindors to master the same kinds of spells we saw Harry and friends use in the movies. Oh well, we’ll see what expansions are coming down the line.
Hogwarts Legacy is released on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S/X, and PC on Feb. 10, with PS4 and Xbox One releases on April 4, and the Nintendo Switch on July 25.