This is Harry Potter: Wizards Unite

A few weeks after knowing that the game would arrive in summer, the first tests of some media with Harry Potter: Wizard Unite are already leaking. And things are promising. Of course, if you think you are facing a new Pokémon GO, we already told you that the experiences of those who have been able to try it say that, although similar, the magical world of this game is much deeper and is full of activities. Something like what was expected of Pokémon GO at its launch: a complete game, with more resources and possibilities than just going for a walk with your mobile in hand .

The Harry Potter Story: Wizard Unite

According to the first impressions of media such as The Verge, who have been able to test the game at the Niantic offices in San Francisco, the title has a plot arc located after the book Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows The main argument is that a magical event has brought to light different beings and elements of the magical world. That is why the Ministry of Magic has recruited witches and wizards from all over the world (players) to try to collect these items and keep the wizarding world away from Muggles.

In short, the perfect excuse to meet again with characters like Harry Potter and other well-known personalities from the J.K. Rowling. They will be around the game and there will even be situations in which we have to interact with them.Always seeking to restore the security and anonymity of the magical world to ordinary people.

Magical World of Augmented Reality

In what does resemble Pokémon GO, this Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is in the general approach and in the mechanics that blur the real world and the virtual worldFor example, in this Harry Potter game we will see a map that accurately reflects our environment. Of course, instead of monuments and historical places, there are magical virtual points where you can restock and get special items. Something like the poképaradas that we all know. Of course, with an aesthetic much more akin to the witches and wizards franchise.

But we will not only walk through the real world imagining that we are walking through magical streets. Augmented Reality is also present in minigames and specific confrontations. So, just like when we catch Pokémon in AR, we'll be able to see the real world in the background while saving Harry from a Dementor attack, for example.Or we know a magical creature to help in the park next to our house, or even inside one of our rooms.

In this virtual world, through the mobile screen, we find hostels and other types of establishments where we can restock on magical objects and potion productsAll this in a more or less random way, and with a 5-minute counter to be able to go through the same point again and fill our bag. Of course, according to what they say, it is likely that the type of product that we find is related to the real area in which we find ourselves. For example, it is likely that we will find learning elements near schools.

There are also random encounters with beings to help or enemies to attack. There will be a good collection of activities, but they are all usually solved with some on-screen interaction like following the drawing of a spell to cast it.The combats also add the possibility of protecting oneself. All of these encounters have AR version, so they promise to blend in with the scene or location the player is in.

By the way, apparently the state of the weather and the time of day in the real world will also have direct repercussions with the game's mechanics and encounters .

An RPG with depth

Apparently, what has most caught the attention of those who have been able to try this demo of Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is the depth and complexity of the mechanics in the title. And it seems that walking and collecting objects is only a matter of Pokémon GO. In HPWU the mechanics incline toward the RPG or role-playing game, where the player improves and develops their skills around a tree of possibilities and professions. That is to say, something much more elaborate and deep than the level system of Pokémon GO that has no direct implication (only finding stronger Pokémon) with the mechanics of the game.

Starting with the variety of collectibles in the game, which seems to be overwhelming, it must be said that they are recorded in a book. In this one it is possible to review all the objects and creatures with which we have come across. Even unlock bonuses and prizes by achieving all the stickers and encounters of a being like Buckbeak the hippogriff, for example. Of course, each character and creature has its rarity and category system. Same as items found throughout the map.

Creating and managing potions are another strong point. And it seems that the demands of the fighting and confrontations are high. So it will be necessary to collect a good number of objects and create these juices to use them in combat, healing ourselves or others. Whether you use the recipes or follow your intuition to mix elements is up to you.

Those who have tried the demo also talk about the portkeysSome objects that work like the incubators in Pokémon GO, but that are used to teleport to rooms or famous places in the Harry Potter universe to find special objects. They are charged with the distance travelled, and can be found in various types.

But the really interesting part of the game is the role-playing section of Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. Players will be able to choose between three professions: auror, magical vet and teacher Well, each of them is a complete tree of skills ready to be unlocked. All of them directly related to the player's statistics, which are really important to face the situations and encounters of the game. So you better work on leveling up and unlocking these items to improve in combat.

Apart from this we can customize the appearance of our character. We still don't know if the different robes will have powers or involve skill development for the character, but there will be visual differentiation between them.

Team play

Watch out for the strengths. They are the Harry Potter: Wizards Unite equivalent of Pokémon gyms where raids take place in Pokémon GO. That is, the part of joining other players and fighting as a group.

The idea is to gather up to a group of five players around one of these fortresses to fight. To do this you need to have runes, a new item in this game that appears in regular encounters and exists in 10 different types, each with its own scale of rarity (again, a depth of items not seen in Pokémon GO).

Apparently there are as many strengths as types of runes, thus finding different types of activities and challenges in each of them. When accessing, each player will choose which enemy to fight, thus taking advantage of their evolution within each of their professions.Something that helps a lot to propose strategies and give a much deeper value to these combats. And not just click on a button and have previously chosen the type of Pokémon as happens in Pokémon GO.

When will Harry Potter: Wizards Unite arrive

It is the question that remains unresolved. One of those responsible for the franchise already spoke a few weeks ago about the possible summer season. But no date yet. Those who have tried the demo cannot affirm a much shorter exit window either, although their bets are for even before the summer. So we will have to be patient to see when this game lands on Android and iPhone At the moment, there are no clues as to whether it will reach one platform before another. What you can do is pre-register in the Google Play Store so that the system notifies you when it will be available.

What is known is that it will arrive in 17 languages, including Spanish. So it is assumed that the launch could be worldwide or at least widespread. No waiting between countries. At the moment, only the language information is confirmed.

And any complements? In TechCrunch they talk about a possible wand as an add-on to the game. Something like the Pokémon GO Plus bracelet, but related to the Harry Potter universe. According to his text, those responsible for the demo only acted nervous before the question, without confirming the existence of an object of this type. It remains to be seen if, coming from a franchise that likes to get economic juice from books and movies so much, they don't add physical elements to interact directly in the game.

It is known, however, that although the game will be free it will have paid content. That is, in-app purchases where you spend real money to get certain items that help with the mechanics. What remains to be seen is whether this will make it a Free-to-play game (only with integrated purchases that do not imply differentiation between players) or Pay-to-win (with purchases that help evolve more quickly).