We have bought all the Lego games on various formats and have been happy with them all. Harry Potter years 1-4 is just as entertaining as the rest. As with the others, it isn't extremely challenging for older audiences but for younger children it's perfect. It is fun for all ages. The story being told throughout the game is really cute and funny too. It follows the general storyline of the movies but adds its own humorous twist to certain parts. Any child, who has been a fan of the Harry Potter books and movies will be very entertained by this game.

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Lego Harry Potter definitely shocked me. I've enjoyed the Lego games over the years (Lego Star Wars, Lego Batman, Lego Indiana Jones), but I would never label them as unbelievable games. This, however, rings true for Harry Potter. It's very immersive and the environments are incredible. For a Lego game, it's extremely well detailed and the graphics are very smooth.

In all of the lego games you get a hub, or a headquarters, with which you base your "operations" from. You go here to purchase new Lego characters, bonuses, look at videos, or if you just want a break from the action. In Star Wars, it was the Tatooine Cantina. In Batman, it was the Batcave. In Harry Potter, it's the Leaky Cauldron and Diagon Alley. Trust me the hub in this game makes it all worth it (especially if you're a Harry Potter fan). You can go in a room in the Leaky Cauldron, you can check out Ollivander's Wand Shop, Quality Quidditch Supplies, Madame Malkins (where you can purchase new characters or create one of your own), or Gringott's bank. This right here is truly what makes this a Harry Potter fan's dream.

The action in the game is all very fun. You can go to classes to learn spells, you can brew potions in Snape's dungeon, or you can play around on the Quidditch field. You do all of this while following the events of the 4 movies. The boss fights are fun and much better than previous entries in the Lego Franchise.

All in all this is a great family game. It is also (in my opinion) the best Lego game yet released, and by far the best Harry Potter game ever made. If you're a fan of either Lego or Harry Potter, you're doing yourself an injustice by not purchasing this game.

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Its such a great game! This is the first Lego Game I have played. I'm a huge Harry Potter fan and its nice that they fallowed the movies pretty well.

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My 5 year old son has played all of the LEGO games and loves them. He was so excited about this game because it is a LEGO game (of course) but also because he has new characters, new abilities, and a new world to explore. I was a little worried that he might have to read to understand what to do - but he hasn't even asked me to help him through any parts yet (and he has been playing the game for 2 days straight). I did join in for a few minutes and had some fun - but my 5 year old is more skilled at video games than I am (I was just slowing him down).

I do highly recommend this game. If your child loves the other LEGO games, this one will not disappoint!

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I picked this game up a few days ago and have been playing it non stop, its fun to play through but requires more than one complete play to unlock and get everything in the levels.

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To escape the dragon room glitch:

1) Play as Hermione and select her cat on the spell wheel.

2) Head over to the far left corner.

3) Jumping into this corner will kill your character, but while jumping into the corner, rapidly tap the "release pet" button.

4) It may take a few attempts but the pet will appear in the classroom area.

5) From here, the player can leave the classroom and continue the game.

[...]

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So I've read the reviews here and I have to say I'm mystified! I bought this game via pre-order and was glued to it the moment I brought it home. I've gotten 100% which means my boyfriend can now exchange it for the next sports game he decides to buy. I went through all levels of the game without freezing, having to reboot, getting stuck etc. I will admit there were times that I found myself stumped but it wasn't the game's fault, it's just the challenge of the Lego series to solve the puzzles which are sometimes less obvious and conventional. Collecting all the gold bricks, red bricks, character tokens, house crests, students in peril, and true wizard levels was a blast and I found this to be my all time favorite of all the Lego games so far. I can't wait for the sequel and hope that Lego will continue this awesome franchise with "The Lord of the Rings", "The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe" and hopefully even the "Twilight" series.

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I've been a big fan of the Lego games since playing my first "Star Wars" video game a few years back. At first, I really thought as an adult that the Lego games were just for kids, not challenging nor fun. Boy, was I wrong. The Lego video games are an engaging series infused with what I call a "Lego" sense of humor that permeates through the game. From Star Wars to the challenging Batman game, to my personal favorite, Indian Jones, they all have been pleasurable experiences. When I heard about Harry Potter coming out as a video game, I was elated. And truth be told, this game is as good as all of the others in the series. At first it seemed as if Harry Potter and Lego have somehow parted ways. There weren't any Lego sets released with the last movie, and nothing much on the Lego website about Harry Potter in general. However, the two have united again in a very fun video game, "Harry Potter: Years 1 -4". While I just purchased it this morning, I've taken a break after several hours of playing to write up this quick review.

Since I'm a casual adult gamer (I play video games but won't spend days playing a game straight without a break), my review comes from that perspective. First, the creators of the game have gotten so much right about this game. From the infusion of the magical components of the game to the story to the characterization of the people, it all works brilliantly. The game starts as Harry is whisked from his sad existence at Privet Drive to Diagon Alley, accompanied by a lovable Hagrid. This section is designed to teach you everything there is to know about the game. However, if you've played any of the Lego video games before, it's all very instinctive and natural. There are some specific controls that you need to learn to move things and cast spells, but it all feels very natural. Just in the first level alone, you can make things fly, move, and animate with a flick of the wand. It's all very entertaining!

When Harry reaches Hogwarts, I was impressed with the both level of detail in the design of the game, as well as Lego components that are infused in the place. It feels very natural and yet very Lego! For those of you like me who adore the coin collection part of the game (it's rather an obsession of mine), Lego has that back and allows you to collect to your hearts content as you smash your way to wealth! Another one of the better additions to the game is also the use of "Polyjuice Potion" to be able to change characters through the game play to make your way through the levels.

If you are a Harry Potter fan, you'll be purchasing this game immediately. I've played the other games and loved them for their realism and attention to detail. This one? It's just plain fun!

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This is what is wrong with Amazon reviews when they are not monitored. Yes people, there is a tricky part at the end of the game that requires a complex way to get out. Is this really a glitch? There are numerous posts on the internet as to how to win the game and get around this problem. However, rather than trying to use these solutions, many people have chosen to knock the game and give it a random 1 star because they are unable to execute the solution. Hard is NOT broken. I am sure at some point there will be a solution to make it easier to get out of the basement, until then try to figure it out the way the rest of us have.

To the rest of the world ... Play the game. Rate the game honestly. I know at least two 10 year olds that have already played the game to 100% completion. They loved it. Anyone who is a fan of LEGO games and Harry Potter (which I suspect includes a lot of kids between the ages of 10 and 18) will love this game. The addition of the multiple spells feature has really upped the challenge level and increased the playability and enjoyment for older teens and those ready to move to more advanced RPG type games.

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If you are a HP fan you will love this game. They do take a some liberties when retelling the story but nothing major. My son, 7 loves the game and it is a blast to play co-op.

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Really enjoy this game, the 2 player mode is really fun. It is challenging, makes you think, but still really enjoyable and relaxing to play w/ my hubby.

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I am not really reviewing the game at this point. I just wanted to put a warning on here to anyone thinking you're getting an online co-op option with this game. I pre-ordered it and after putting it in the PS3 yesterday...low and behold no online co-op available. Amazon has made a change in the description to reflect the omission but it was there all this time up until the release date. This used to be the description before it's release date yesterday. "Conjure up fun with a friend and play through Harry's first four years at Hogwarts as a team with Drop-in, Drop-out co-op play; online co-op available on PS3 and 360."

I know I am not the only one who got duped, it was false advertising and we have yet to receive any explanation. It is unacceptable to hear a rumor about some upcoming patch where it will be made available. If you're looking for a cute HP game and do not care about playing online with friends, this is for you. If you're wanting to play online I would wait until we get an official explanation.

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At first Lego Harry Potter struck me as "off" for reasons I couldn't quite put my finger on, but then somewhere around the halfway point it dawned on me that there's very little for the player to actually "do." I'd say 80% of the game is spent watching the cinematic scenes that basically act out the entire Harry Potter movies in Lego cartoon format (cute as they may be), and another 10% is spent wandering randomly around the halls of Hogwarts smashing up items, collecting studs, and learning new spells which gets redundant really fast. That leaves a mere 10% left for actual "levels," which usually only consist of making use of props and your environment to figure out how to get from one place to another. All the action takes place in the cut scenes that after seeing once you'll want to skip over anyway.

Don't get me wrong, the graphics are amazing and the feel of the game is very true to the films, with some creative license taken from book elements as well. Plus there are literally hundreds of characters, bricks, special abilities, and bonus areas to discover, so a good amount of time could be spent playing this to completion if you're so inclined. But as far as playing in terms of advancing the story along, I was hoping it would be more fun and engaging like the other Lego games. This release almost seems directed at a much younger audience than say, the Batman or Indiana Jones games, as the whole thing plays out like one long tutorial, performing a slew of inane tasks, but without ever fully building up to anything worthwhile. The Harry Potter fan in me wants to love this, but even as just a casual gamer I couldn't help but be slightly (and surprisingly) disappointed at the lack of actual gameplay and critical thinking involved.

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The game is better than all the lego series and the most fun one too, but the one spot you get stuck at the dragon in one of the class rooms basements was agrivating. People get getting stuck at the same spot report it to the company and they do nothing about it because they don't want to lose money.

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Don't waiste your money or time on this game. It would be great if not for the one major glitch. I am surpised they even released this game knowing of it. They better fix it or they are going to lose a lot of money from returns.

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