Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone [Windows/Mac]

While I've always loved the Harry potter franchise, I have to say my love for the series comes more from the books and the first few films as everything else related to the franchise is mediocre at best such as this game and a cheap cash in on the franchise at worst.

This game follows the plot of the book rather than the film, right down to having Harry and his fellow students wearing the outfits they were describes wearing in the books rather than the modern style school uniforms they wear in the film. This also means that peeves finally make his on-screen debut in this game as Harry finds himself fighting the poltergeist many times throughout the story likely to make up for the fact he wouldn't be seen again even in future game tie ins from the franchise. One thing that's very different from the books and the film is how much more combat oriented the story is as Harry first spell is flipendo, a knock back jinx this game introduces that eventually becomes cannon to the franchise as he incidentally teaches this spell in the order of the phoenix which was the first book released after this came out. Other spells used in this game are from the books, although some of them don't work the way they did here as incendio is now a plant spell whilst Lumos can create platforms of light rather than simply provide a light source. I bring up these elements as they're far more interesting than the gameplay itself which tasks Harry with running around the castle and its ground whilst collecting beans and wizard cards which can be missed as levels are divided up into stages that can't be revisited once they've been cleared. Secrets are uncovered by casting a spell on certain objects, Harry needs to aim where he wants to cast the spell with the appropriate spell costed where it's applicable within any additional mechanic to ensure he's using the correct one. At least each of them is as useful as each other as both alohomora and wingardium leviosa work as they should in this game whilst Lumos, incendio and flipendo are each highly useful for their respective situations. I just wish Harry wouldn’t announce the name of each spell every time he casts one as it gets old real quick due to how often he casts them, especially with the bad voice acting on display as it appears nobody from the films reprised their roles here leading to some bad line reads from inexperienced actors. The main problem is that despite deviating from the source material, it's a pretty standard puzzle platformer with hideous graphics and an uninspired score, the latter is disappointing considering how iconic the film score remains to this day.

It's a decent tie in game for sure, just not one worth revisiting too often due to how generic it is compared to other titles. Despite this, it's by far the best game in the series as it at least resembles a good puzzle platformer of its time rather than the sequels which clearly just did the bare minimum in making a game based on the franchise.