Review: Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix (GBA)

Crikey, Harry. I mean it’s 2007, and GBA games are now as rare as Phoenix feathers. Is this the last GBA release ever?

Gamestyle is well aware that all systems are covered for the Harry Potter 5 games, where ‘all formats’ really does mean all formats. Many of you might be unaware that the GBA is still going, after being overtaken by the touchy-feely DS. It isn’t the last GBA release ever (a licence of the new Pixar film Ratatouille is imminent).

There’s something pleasing about playing on something that originates from a book on a handheld system, ignoring the minor fact of being via one of the most expensive movies ever made. Gamestyle has just, like many others, finished reading the seventh and final Harry Potter book, and greatly enjoyed it. Isn’t it wonderful that in this web 2.0 digitised world, that there is such excitement generated by a good old novel.

In truth, Gamestyle doesn’t expect too much from the Order of the Phoenix. The first disappointment comes from reading the games’ manual, where there is far too much Delores Umbridge™, Accio™. Magic Wand™ etc. What kind of over-trademarkery is this? Gamestyle also doesn’t expect state of the art graphics on this version and so the narrative here is progressed by still frames of key moments, with varying standards of movie accuracy. Imelda Staunton’s game debut is not flattering.

Most of your time is spent navigating around Hogwarts, going to classes, meeting friends and drumming up members of Dumbledore’s Army. The school is as labyrinthine as it is described in the books, the grand staircase providing the main route through the school. It does become tiresome quickly, and is not helped by the view for the action coming from a fixed camera point, like in the old Resident Evil games.

You control Harry, followed around the place by Hermione and/ or Ron, through the connecting screens. A little too often you’ll try to go forwards and find yourself flicking back to the previous screen, as the direction that you pressed isn’t forwards anymore. This is annoying, but this graphical style is still probably the best to use on this system, so the result is a pseudo-3d affair instead of a more limiting 2d adventure, like the old Ocean movie tie-ins of yore. Due to the GBA’s technological deficiencies, there can be no fancy graphics that can match the Xbox 360 and Wii versions, so what is here is pretty good, but in a lo-fi way.

Navigation isn’t helped by Hogwarts being really, really dark. Okay, Gamestyle is playing on an original GBA, but even still, finds Harry going around and around in circles as the route is too dark or the entrances well hidden. There is a helping hand given, an arrow will appear to tell you which direction to head, and you carry on until you find a problem to solve, a pupil to assist or a doorway being ‘locked’ to ensure you find the relevant place. Sometimes the game warps you from your Griffindor HQ to a classroom, thus saving you the effort of getting there. Whilst this is thankful, implicitly it recognises that whilst you are made to explore every inch of the school, without a map it’s not so fun exploring.

The pace of the game is affected by warping to a classroom, where you’ll learn, via a mini-game, subjects such as Potions, Herbology, Astrology etc as Harry heads towards his OWL exams. After these you’ll join the DA and learn spells which will enhance your duelling skills. You’ll meet Draco Malfoy and his cronies in encounters so Final Fantasy-lite, that the “battles” must evade copyright.

The spellcasting and minigames are quite creatively varied, if recognisable. Potions is a lot of work for little reward, but the rest are fine, although it’s a shame that ‘Astronomy’ is reduced to merely joining the dots, in a dumbing down move that isn’t in the manner of JK Rowling’s books.

One of the reasons for the success of the books and films is that people enjoy hanging out with Harry, Ron and Hermione. Here, of course, they can’t really do much, just follow Harry about, and the interactions are limited to exposition or bland and repetitive speech bubbles.

Gamestyle feels quite old playing this version, which is pretty much only for young Potter fans. We’re not concerned that the system isn’t at the forefront of technology, so what is here isn’t bad; it just hasn’t got the charm of the books or the magic of the movie. And Harry Potter without magic doesn’t make sense.

Rating: 5 / 10

Words by Chris Faires