Since the release of its Deluxe Edition, a lot of PC gamers are having difficulties running Hogwarts Legacy. And, to a degree, we can understand them. As we’ve reported, the game is incredibly CPU-bound.  The game also has traversal stutters. However, almost no one talks about its impressive graphics, and that’s a bummer. Because like it or not, Hogwarts Legacy is one of the best-looking games on PC right now.

During my playthrough, I was constantly capturing new screenshots. This is one of the rare times I captured as many screenshots for our PC Performance Analysis. Seriously, Hogwarts Legacy is a PC graphical showcase.

In order to capture the following screenshots we used an Intel i9 9900K, 16GB of DDR4 at 3800Mhz, and NVIDIA’s RTX 4090. We also used Windows 10 64-bit, and the GeForce 528.49 driver. The game was set on Ultra Settings and we used these tweaks to improve its Ray Tracing effects.

Hogwarts Legacy gave me a lot of “Assassin’s Creed Unity” vibes. Although it does not have RTGI, its pre-baked Global Illumination is among the best I’ve ever seen. Furthermore, it has an amazing view distance, incredible RTAO (when tweaked properly), stunning 3D models, and gorgeous environments. This is the game you can show to your friends in order to impress them with its graphics.

At this point, I should note that the game DOES justify its high VRAM requirements. Hogwarts Legacy has highly detailed textures. Not only that, but PC gamers can adjust the quality of Textures. I seriously don’t know why some PC gamers are not lowering that particular setting.

And what happened to the “We are not getting any Crysis-like games anymore” mantra? Okay, I’m slightly exaggerating here. This isn’t the next Crysis. However, it’s certainly the best-looking rasterized/ray-traced hybrid game.

As I said, the game does have some optimization issues, especially when it comes to its Ray Tracing effects. The RT Shadows, for instance, are awful. However, and even without them, the game looks stunning.

I’m genuinely impressed by what Avalanche has managed to achieve. And I also find it funny when someone says that this looks like a “PS3” game. This is one of the few games that push the graphical boundaries of PC graphics.

Enjoy the screenshots and stay tuned for our PC Performance Analysis!

John Papadopoulos

John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved - and still does - the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the "The Evolution of PC graphics cards." Contact: Email