Hogwarts Legacy shows off free-roam broom and hippogriff flight

Hogwarts Legacy
(Image credit: WB Games)

As part of a new gameplay showcase for Hogwarts Legacy, the developers showed off how flight on brooms and hippogriffs works in-game.

You can hop on your broom at seemingly any time to zoom around the open world. Since Hogwarts Legacy is set in the past, the brooms aren't quite so advanced as they are in the present day, so you won't be flying at max speed to near-infinite heights. You can boost indefinitely when you're close to the ground, but as you fly higher, your boost will be governed by a meter that appears in the lower right of the screen.

The devs hope that this gentle restriction will encourage players to stay near the ground and fully explore the world, rather than just zooming from objective to objective high above it all.

You will be able to upgrade your broom for more versatility, however. A broom shop in Hogsmeade will let you buy various brooms with cosmetic differences, but developing a relationship with the shopkeeper will open the option for you to buy upgrades. That includes options that'll let you continue boosting at higher altitudes.

Flight isn't just limited to brooms, however - you can also ride a flying mount. The onyx hippogriff mount was previously revealed as a Hogwarts Legacy pre-order bonus, but here the devs showed it off in action. The devs say each mount option will be a bit different from the brooms to ensure everything has its own identity.

Once you gain access to the open world, you won't be limited in where you can go, either. You might run into challenges too tough for you if you run far afield early on, but there won't be any artificial restrictions on your exploration.

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.

Dustin Bailey
Staff Writer

Dustin Bailey joined the GamesRadar team as a Staff Writer in May 2022, and is currently based in Missouri. He's been covering games (with occasional dalliances in the worlds of anime and pro wrestling) since 2015, first as a freelancer, then as a news writer at PCGamesN for nearly five years. His love for games was sparked somewhere between Metal Gear Solid 2 and Knights of the Old Republic, and these days you can usually find him splitting his entertainment time between retro gaming, the latest big action-adventure title, or a long haul in American Truck Simulator.