Player Review: Personal Foreword: With the reviews of these 4 maps, I can finally check off all currently public HP2 maps with playthroughs on your channel (that are not specifically designed for speedrunners, like e.g. MaxG’s Puzzle Map). I have already played a few other HP2 maps not on your channel (e.g., Hogsmeade Station by Elizabeth, Ivan’s Alohomora Challenge which you’ve played but not yet uploaded, as well as John56’s large School Map which you’ve also played but not uploaded), and while I plan to rate them, I won’t write reviews for them yet since I’m unsure where I’d publish them if not here, where thousands of interested viewers on such stuff can see them. For now, I’ll try to continue with HP1 and HP3 maps if I can get them to run. Now to the maps from this video: 1. Hogwarts Express: Somehow kinda cute. The train is made of clunky wooden-wall blocks, but the interior and the rushing outside world are nice ideas. You can see the effort and creativity behind it. However, the map is too small and/or poorly polished for a tutorial-style level. Apart from the fact that you can casually jump out the window, the cutscenes overlap in an unpleasant way. It’s a fun little gimmick for 5 minutes, but not really a proper level. I think a rating of 5/10 is fair, placing it in the fourth tier. A recommendation with asterisks, but no replay value. 2. Guest Challenge: The best map of the four, I think. The lighting and ideas are very basic and disconnected, with the explaining voice lines that enforce that it’s a tutorial map-and it definitely looks like one. Still, it has a few nice ideas, like the star in the sinks, and stays true to the base game. Even so, the map is fun, playable, and all secrets are fair, including the ones behind the transparent paintings. Just for fun, I even challenged myself with speedruns on this map: 100% PB was 1:54, any% was exactly 1:00 xD. I’d give it a 6.5/10, that's even in the third tier at least. A good short tutorial map with a bit of a challenge. 3. Flipendo Challenge: A somewhat bolder map from the same creator. The use of room templates or references like from coldcards or HP1 was really cool, and both visually and in terms of the tasks, it offers a nice variety for such a short map. Of course, this map also has issues with polishing, lighting, etc., showing that it wasn’t made by an experienced mapper-which isn’t necessarily a bad thing since such maps can still be fun. What soured the experience for me, though, were the secrets. The concept of randomly casting on spots for stars is already questionable, but the secrets here were a joke. One was in a completely unsuspicious spot on a shelf, which I found only by chance. I didn’t figure out that the wall with the Gryffindor crest was transparent since I wasn’t lucky with the camera like you were, so I ended up missing two secrets. The Spongify in the outside area, which is supposed to work without casting, didn’t function for me-this has happened before in a custom map, so it’s probably an issue with my game. Still, it was a secret that was only accessible via debug for me. The map is okay, but nostalgia was unfortunately the best it had to offer. For me, it’s a 6/10 so on the bottom of the third tier, and I’d be unlikely to replay it. Still, a small recommendation, much like the creator’s previous map. 4. Transfiguration Challenge: Cool cutscene at the beginning; the rest was pretty standard and not very intriguing. Even the concept of a Transfiguration Challenge doesn’t come across at all, as more than half of the map consists of creature-pushing. The only creative idea aside from the intro cutscene is the block you push down from above; the rest feels very default and like a test level-but perhaps that’s what it was. This time, I can’t really recommend the map, as you’re not missing out on anything. Polishing is so-so. I’d have to place this actually only in the fifth tier and give it only 3/10 points. In all four reviews, I didn’t consider points like difficulty, recognition value or immersion. All the maps are relatively easy, except for the secrets in the third map, and the other points are barely present due to how random or underdeveloped they feel. Still, it’s a cool concept to group such maps together so they can receive some attention.
I have so much admiration for people that have those great ideas first of all and then sit down and bother dealing with the clunky level editor to actually make them come to live! And as you said, many of those great creative minds in this community.
something tells me there was suppose to be a part 2 too the spell challenge map, because that was just you learning the spell at the end, kinda like how the PS2 games would have you learn it from a book
After rewatching the end of that map again I kind of feel like you are correct about it, great observation! I really hope that they just haven't build part 2 yet and that it wasn't just me not having it installed...
Player Review:
Personal Foreword: With the reviews of these 4 maps, I can finally check off all currently public HP2 maps with playthroughs on your channel (that are not specifically designed for speedrunners, like e.g. MaxG’s Puzzle Map). I have already played a few other HP2 maps not on your channel (e.g., Hogsmeade Station by Elizabeth, Ivan’s Alohomora Challenge which you’ve played but not yet uploaded, as well as John56’s large School Map which you’ve also played but not uploaded), and while I plan to rate them, I won’t write reviews for them yet since I’m unsure where I’d publish them if not here, where thousands of interested viewers on such stuff can see them. For now, I’ll try to continue with HP1 and HP3 maps if I can get them to run.
Now to the maps from this video:
1. Hogwarts Express:
Somehow kinda cute. The train is made of clunky wooden-wall blocks, but the interior and the rushing outside world are nice ideas. You can see the effort and creativity behind it. However, the map is too small and/or poorly polished for a tutorial-style level. Apart from the fact that you can casually jump out the window, the cutscenes overlap in an unpleasant way. It’s a fun little gimmick for 5 minutes, but not really a proper level. I think a rating of 5/10 is fair, placing it in the fourth tier. A recommendation with asterisks, but no replay value.
2. Guest Challenge:
The best map of the four, I think. The lighting and ideas are very basic and disconnected, with the explaining voice lines that enforce that it’s a tutorial map-and it definitely looks like one. Still, it has a few nice ideas, like the star in the sinks, and stays true to the base game. Even so, the map is fun, playable, and all secrets are fair, including the ones behind the transparent paintings. Just for fun, I even challenged myself with speedruns on this map: 100% PB was 1:54, any% was exactly 1:00 xD. I’d give it a 6.5/10, that's even in the third tier at least. A good short tutorial map with a bit of a challenge.
3. Flipendo Challenge:
A somewhat bolder map from the same creator. The use of room templates or references like from coldcards or HP1 was really cool, and both visually and in terms of the tasks, it offers a nice variety for such a short map. Of course, this map also has issues with polishing, lighting, etc., showing that it wasn’t made by an experienced mapper-which isn’t necessarily a bad thing since such maps can still be fun. What soured the experience for me, though, were the secrets. The concept of randomly casting on spots for stars is already questionable, but the secrets here were a joke. One was in a completely unsuspicious spot on a shelf, which I found only by chance. I didn’t figure out that the wall with the Gryffindor crest was transparent since I wasn’t lucky with the camera like you were, so I ended up missing two secrets. The Spongify in the outside area, which is supposed to work without casting, didn’t function for me-this has happened before in a custom map, so it’s probably an issue with my game. Still, it was a secret that was only accessible via debug for me.
The map is okay, but nostalgia was unfortunately the best it had to offer. For me, it’s a 6/10 so on the bottom of the third tier, and I’d be unlikely to replay it. Still, a small recommendation, much like the creator’s previous map.
4. Transfiguration Challenge:
Cool cutscene at the beginning; the rest was pretty standard and not very intriguing. Even the concept of a Transfiguration Challenge doesn’t come across at all, as more than half of the map consists of creature-pushing. The only creative idea aside from the intro cutscene is the block you push down from above; the rest feels very default and like a test level-but perhaps that’s what it was. This time, I can’t really recommend the map, as you’re not missing out on anything. Polishing is so-so.
I’d have to place this actually only in the fifth tier and give it only 3/10 points.
In all four reviews, I didn’t consider points like difficulty, recognition value or immersion. All the maps are relatively easy, except for the secrets in the third map, and the other points are barely present due to how random or underdeveloped they feel. Still, it’s a cool concept to group such maps together so they can receive some attention.
the gnome at 10:35 saying auf wiedersehen
Oh my god it really does sound like it 🤣Never knew the Gnomes in this game were German but that's a great catch!
HP swimming never fails to make me laugh
And it never fails to make me upset 😀 I'm seriously so happy they never got the idea to Implement it into the actual game, it's so scuffed haha
It's proofed by science: HP PC Enthusiasts have the highest definition of creativity!
I have so much admiration for people that have those great ideas first of all and then sit down and bother dealing with the clunky level editor to actually make them come to live! And as you said, many of those great creative minds in this community.
something tells me there was suppose to be a part 2 too the spell challenge map, because that was just you learning the spell at the end, kinda like how the PS2 games would have you learn it from a book
After rewatching the end of that map again I kind of feel like you are correct about it, great observation! I really hope that they just haven't build part 2 yet and that it wasn't just me not having it installed...
Good stuff!