Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Let it be known that I am a Harry Potter fan. I have followed the series since the first book was released, and I have continued to read the latest books to this date, all while eagerly anticipating the next – and final – installment. I cried alongside the other fans when Cedric died, and I cried about the two deaths in the next two books. I have watched all the movies released thus far, and while they have really begun to improve over time, they are still nothing compared to the books. I am a Harry Potter fan.

Thus, it leaves me greatly disappointed that EA took little to no time to make Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire as true to the book, or even the movie, as it could be. Minor inconsistencies, such as Hermione’s defense stats compared to Harry’s in the character selection screen, and characters appearing where they should not be, make the game a pain to play. Can anyone tell me how it is even possible to think that Hermione is a better Defense wizard when Harry is the only wizard at Hogwarts who can cast a Patronus – he cast it the previous year – and had private defense lessons with Professor Lupin? Apparently, the developers behind Goblet of Fire do not seem to realize any of this, nor take into consideration many of the things written clearly in ink.

There is a level in the game where you will need to chase the golden egg through the sewers below Hogwarts before you “lose” it. How is it even possible for an egg that size to fit through the drain in the Prefects’ Bathroom’s shower? This should not even be a level, as this did not even happen in the book or in the movie for that matter. I understand that EA tried to make the game longer by creating levels out of the most trivial of things, but they should have at least left Hermione and Ron out of it. Harry is the only one who was given permission to enter the Prefect’s Bathroom, and that was only because of Cedric’s tip-off. Hermione and Ron helped him sneak out of the common room, but they were nowhere near that place. But nonetheless, they tag along in the game and go with you into the sewers, where repetition and tedium sink in.

If there was ever a gripe I have with the game is that the levels are repetitive, tedious, boring, and far-fetched. They are made longer for no reason, and they drag on so badly that it is unfortunate that they could not add other parts of the book instead. How can a level that is only supposed to last a couple of minutes drag on for more than thirty? That, as they call it, is repetition, and repetition is boring.

Even during the first Triwizard Tournament task, with the Hungarian Horntail, you will be painstakingly annoyed. Sure it is fun the first couple of rounds, but when you start realizing that the dragon is still behind you and that you are not going anywhere, you will wonder when the level will be over, or why you are playing it at all. Oh, yay, look, the golden egg is ahead. Finally!

It is not over yet, Hermione is supposed to be the cleverest witch in Hogwarts, yet for some reason, she never seems to respond to you when you clearly yell, “Help me!” Maybe she is still mad at you and Ron about the whole date thing of the Yule Ball, but seriously, come on! The AI of the enemy and of your allies is horrendous. You will need to reposition yourself around an object if you need your friends to help you lift it or else you will be lifting it alone for quite some time. Even though you continuously press the “Help me!” button, they will never come. So sad. This applies to enemies as well, as they make no effort to even hurt you slightly; they simply repeat their attacks without added technique or intelligence. These sure are smart magical creatures.

That is not to say that everything about Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is disappointingly bad. The graphics and audio are both acceptable, especially during the 3D enemy battles. Once you trigger these duels, you will need to take out your stylus – your wand of sorts – and get ready for battle. You will need to tap patterns, slide your stylus around, and drag things across the screen in order to succeed. These battles can be fun, and the graphics add a slight touch of realism to the mode, as if you are actually battling these creatures. What is the downside to this? The downside is that the battles in this mode are all partially the same. Even the final battle in part takes place in duel mode, but there is hardly a difference between Lord Voldemort and a Salamander, which is a real shame. If they were going to add this feature to the final battle they could have at least made it more intense and worth playing.

As nice as some of the sprites and animations are, however, there is a major technical problem with them. It is the latter levels of the game where you will inevitably come face to face with the most horrible thing imaginable at Hogwarts: slowdown. You press the button, attack, try to dodge attacks, and everything happens about two seconds later. It is a mess. A magical mess that was unexpected and disappointing. This happened for an entire level, too, so it was not as if it was sudden or unexpected; you could see it, all right.

In an attempt to change things up a bit, the developers incorporated some Dance Dance Revolution tidbits, and put them into the Yule Ball. As Harry, Ron, or Hermione, you will need to synchronize button presses with a target on the screen and with the music. This can be bad because the music used for the Yule Ball in this game is amazingly laughable and annoying, that you will want to turn the volume down. There are other little mini-games scattered throughout the game, and you will meet up with a Weasley sibling in the oddest of places in order to trigger them. These mini-games are nice additions, but even they get annoying and redundant after the first couple of levels, and you will most likely never come back to them in the future.

The most significant mini-game incorporated into the game is a little Nintendogs-like pet simulation in which you will need to tend and play with a pet Niffler. “Care of Magical Creatures,” as it is called, is a great addition to the game. It is a completely different form of gameplay in the game that adds an interesting appeal to the title. However, it does not come without its faults. If it were to be truly called “Care of Magical Creatures,” then where are the rest of them? It is only a Niffler, and it is a huge disappointment.

It is truly sad that such an amazing book was not given justice in the movie or in the game. Many levels could have been avoided, and there are too many inconsistencies to count. The great little added moments fell short of their potential, and the gameplay just suffers dramatically because of the repetitious levels. Even the multiplayer portion is severely fragmented, requiring a copy of the game for each of the players, apart from being a sub-par experience. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is a huge disappointment that had the chance of being greater. The touch screen was not exploited to its fullest potential, nor was any other unique feature of the Nintendo DS. hgfhfghdfhgfhgfh