Over the years, there have been many successful fantasy movie franchises. However, very few have been as massively important to pop culture as the Harry Potter series. These films tell the story of a gifted young wizard who becomes the key to defeating the tyrannical Lord Voldemort. The franchise was so incredibly successful that it expanded into all other kinds of media — including, of course, video games.
There have been plenty of games set in the Wizarding World, but the most notorious are the tie-in games that were released for each of the eight Harry Potter movies. Each game was released for multiple platforms, and each of these versions is vastly different; but when seen as a whole, it’s rather clear which ones are better than the others.
8 ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1’ (2010)
Developed by EA and Full Fat
Nowadays, it’s common for big adaptations of popular books to be split into two or more parts. However, it was Harry Potter that started that trend back in 2010. The Deathly Hallows, the last installment in the series, was split into two parts for the adaptation. The first one follows the Golden Trio as they leave Hogwarts to embark on a mission to find and destroy Voldemort’s remaining Horcruxes.
No Hogwarts to explore, no intelligent AI to face off against, no interesting levels.
The video game tie-in for Deathly Hallows, Part 1 took the series into the third-person shooter genre (for some reason), and both critics and audiences responded poorly to the shift. With no Hogwarts to explore, no intelligent AI to face off against, no interesting levels, and some of the clunkiest controls and performance in the whole franchise, it’s very easy to call this the worst Harry Potter game of all time.
7 ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2’ (2011)
Developed by EA and Full Fat
In The Deathly Hallows, Part 2, the Trio are closing in on Voldemort. With the help of all their allies, they face him one last time in the climactic Battle of Hogwarts. It makes for an epic fantasy movie (one of the most thrilling of all time), but apparently, not for such a good game. Though definitely a slight improvement over its predecessor, the video game adaptation of the final chapter in Harry’s story is an all-around flop.
It’s clear that some effort was put in to improve upon some of the previous game’s flaws, but not nearly enough was done to make the experience truly magical. Though there are cool new characters and spells and the shooting mechanics are slightly more functional, this is still a boring shooting gallery with very little to offer anyone who’s not a die-hard completionist fan of the franchise. It’s sad that the series ended on such a low note, but fortunately, there’s still much to love about the franchise’s past.
6 ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’ (2005)
Developed by EA and Magic Pockets
The Deathly Hallows games, mostly because they’re an entirely different genre from the rest of the franchise, definitely stick out like a sore thumb. Of the more traditional Harry Potter games, though, it’s easiest to call The Goblet of Fire the definitive worst one. Ditching most of the exploration aspect that made the previous three games so beloved, it went for a much more linear experience that was too short and too boring to navigate.
The game has some of the stupidest AI in gaming history, wastes a bunch of characters, and doesn’t bring anything fresh or exciting to the table. It looks good and has the benefit of being the only game in the series with local multiplayer, but even those two factors aren’t enough to save it from fans’ disdain. Just because gamers might have an attachment to a particular license doesn’t mean that a dysfunctional tie-in video game will appear any less dysfunctional.
5 ‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince’ (2009)
Developed by EA
In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry discovers an old book marked “property of the Half-Blood Prince”, which leads him on a path of alarming discoveries about Voldemort and his past. It was a big change in tone for the series, making it darker and more mature than it had ever been before. The video game adaptation did just the same, even if the results didn’t work entirely in its favor. It’s a decent gaming experience overall, but it’s unfortunately tainted by a myriad of problems.
The game features some of the most fun spells in the series, as well as a return to form as far as cool Hogwarts exploration is concerned. However, its cons largely outweigh its pros. Its story isn’t all that interesting, its collection of minigames gets a bit repetitive pretty quickly, and it doesn’t give its players nearly as much freedom as it likes to pretend it does. It’s light years ahead of the worst games in the franchise, but also light years away from the best.
4 ‘Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix’ (2007)
Developed by EA, Rebellion Developments, and Visual Impact
In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry and Dumbledore are targeted by the Wizard authorities as an authoritarian bureaucrat slowly seizes power over Hogwarts. Though it’s many fans’ least favorite Harry Potter movie, it’s still a solid story that makes for a relatively solid video game tie-in. The Order of the Phoenix game has its setbacks, but it was also a vast improvement over Goblet of Fire. Though it did away with the local multiplayer, it compensated that with much better performance, a better story, and much more fun gameplay.
The movie made some changes that didn’t fare well with fans. On the other hand, the game adaptation sticks surprisingly close to pretty much every detail of the film. While some fans may find this enjoyable, others may think it makes for a trite, unimaginative experience. The game has fun exploration aspects and a delightful recreation of Hogwarts, but its many performance issues and tedious missions bring it way down.
3 ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’ (2001)
Developed by Argonaut Games and Warthog Games
While the last five video games in the Harry Potter tie-in series are generally a lackluster mess, the first three are classics that go way beyond the nostalgia that most of its player base still holds for them. Sorcerer’s Stone may be the weakest of the three (largely because of how dated much of it feels), but it’s still a phenomenal game where fans were introduced to the characters and world that they immediately fell in love with.
The sixth-generation remake of the game is vastly different from the fifth-generation original, but all in all, they’re still the same game at heart. Those who aren’t fans of the franchise aren’t likely to enjoy Philosopher’s Stone, but those interested in a magical Hogwarts adventure with a fun story and cool mechanics are bound to love this one.
2 ‘Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban’ (2004)
Developed by EA, KnowWonder, and Griptonite Games
What many people would refer to as the single best installment in the Harry Potter movie franchise, Prisoner of Azkaban follows Harry, Ron, and Hermione as they dive into a mystery involving an escaped prisoner who supposedly poses a terrible threat to Harry. Thankfully, such a good film was met with an also-good-but-not-really-as-good tie-in video game.
Prisoner of Azkaban is one of the only two Harry Potter tie-in games which one could argue would be solid experiences even without the movie’s existence. It’s not really a challenging game, nor does it ever pretend to be. It’s charming, magical Hogwarts fun with satisfying spells, entertaining missions, and a nicely-written storyline. Bigger and more expansive than its two predecessors, with just as fun of an exploration system and just as straightforward of a gameplay loop, it’s a masterclass in tie-in video game-making.
1 ‘Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets’ (2002)
Developed by EA, Eurocom, Argonaut Games, KnowWonder, Griptonite Games, and Westlake Interactive
It may not be many people’s favorite Harry Potter movie, but Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is definitely the best tie-in video game in the series. It follows the same story as the movie: A message on a Hogwarts wall announces that the sinister Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Harry, Ron, and Hermione realize that, in order to save the school, they’ll have to show more courage than they ever have before.
With great visuals, a fantastic adaptation of the movie and book’s story and characters, phenomenal music that pays constant homage to the magic of John Williams, and the most entertaining and impressive exploration in the series, Chamber of Secrets is an all-timer through and through. Though some aspects of its controls and performance haven’t aged great, that’s to be expected. In every sense that matters, this is a perfect Harry Potter game. Never has a movie tie-in game been this magical.
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