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Hogwarts Legacy fans have been arguing with an Elden Ring meme account about the number of spells available in each game.
Last week, a range of Hogwarts Legacy previews revealed that the game would feature 26 spells for players to choose from. Over on Twitter, meme account Slow Estus said that wasn't very many for a game all about going to Wizard school, especially not when compared to the 171 spells that Elden Ring players can add to their builds.
That hasn't gone down very well, with many responses quickly jumping to the 'quality over quantity' refrain. Elden Ring might have many more magical abilities, but several of them are enhancements of lower-level spells that are upgraded throughout the game - the line that starts with Glintstone Pebble, for example, grows in size and damage, with different spells in the line having different uses throughout the game, but each one is still primarily based around throwing a magical rock at your enemy.
Several more of Elden Ring's spells, players point out, are personal buffs - abilities cast on the player rather than out towards enemies. Given the sheer number of debuffs you can suffer from in Elden Ring, a suite of spells that help you overcome status effects seems necessary, but that necessity might not carry over into Hogwarts Legacy.
Several responses point out that the Harry Potter franchise doesn't introduce that many spells. There are plenty of magical abilities existing in the background, but Hogwarts students themselves seem to only use somewhere in the region of a few dozen spells throughout the books and films. To that, however, Slow Estus suggests developer Avalanche Studios should just "make shit up."
While Hogwarts Legacy might not have as many spells as Elden Ring, you should be able to use all the tools at your disposal however you like - even the three Unforgivable Curses.
Although she is not involved in the development of Hogwarts Legacy, GamesRadar+ acknowledges the role of J.K. Rowling in the creation of the Wizarding World, as well as her publicly-stated, harmful views regarding the rights of transgender people. If you'd like to offer your support to the communities affected by Rowling's rhetoric, consider donating to the National Center for Transgender Equality in the US, or Mermaids in the UK.
