Despite originally panning this off when I first heard about it and saw it as looking like a "kinda crap, generic open world experience", after actually playing it I'm annoyed.

Annoyed that it's associated with a person whom I do not agree with their views nor support in any way because it's actually a very enjoyable game. The world is the perfect size for an open world game, giving you the freedom to explore it from the get-go, side quests unlock as you progress the story and there's a decent amount of them to do, but collectibles are pretty much all there from the start (not all, as some require things that are unlocked again as story progresses), but, I spent a good few hours right away ignoring my main "quests" just running around collecting. In fact, that's basically how I played the game, because it almost encourages you to do so.

The combat at a glance looked to me like it would be cumbersome and irritating, however actually playing it - it was fun. Being able to choose from a decent array of spells and mix and matching them during fights to keep the combo going - lifting enemies from the ground and just wailing on them to keep them in the air until they're down without you taking a single hit (whilst also timing perfect blocks/parries from other enemies around you) just felt so satisfying.

Hogwarts itself being fully explorable with hidden secrets around was also good, having changed it up from the layout you'd be expecting as portrayed in the movies it kept it fresh and exciting to find every part of the castle and its grounds.

The story is the one aspect I didn't care for that much. It's not that it was bad in any way, it's just that the side stories and the rest of the gameplay overshadowed it to me.