Hogwarts Legacy: Ultimately underwhelming but I think much of the criticism is a little too harsh

Just finished Hogwarts Legacy, and despite the fact that there have been several discussions about it here lately, thought I'd add an alternate view:

Spectacular environment: If there's one area where this game knocks it out of the park it's the meticulously crafted environment; particularly Hogwarts castle itself and Hogsmeade. The level of detail speaks to how much care and love for the franchise was put into crafting every room, hall, secret area and outdoor space. Even the surrounding countryside and smaller towns have a hand-crafted feel without a lot of the environmental cut and paste that's common in some other open world environments. And to add even more, there are some well thought out seasonal variations including holiday decorations that are fun as well. For those who take the time to explore, there are many little environmental stories; ghosts, armor sets and paintings doing silly things; and fun little character conversations that occur in-world as you're running about toward your next quest marker, and things to read. There's much to love and uncover for fans of the series.

Story: Unfortunately, the story, side-quests, and many of the characters are underwhelming. The main quest itself is mainly an excuse to send you adventuring throughout the countryside and through a few dungeons. The Slytherin character side-quest is arguably the best story in the game and even that feels a bit shallow when compared to the books themselves or other open world games. (I even built a slytherin character - Prissy McSassypants - in order to better immerse myself in this quest and do what was in my own best interest as any respectable Slytherin would do)

Combat: Combat in this game is far more difficult than I had expected given its target audience. Some love it. I thought that the controls were needlessly complex with so many spells falling into 4 main types that often must be used against specific enemies within the same battle. In addition there are block and roll defenses that must be used depending upon enemy attacks. And that's in addition to the move buttons. I often found myself mashing the wrong buttons at the wrong times to devastating effect. It can be such a mess that there are numerous key remapping guides online that attempt to correct for it.

Opportunities for improvement: The lack of good story telling and samey-samey puzzle filler content throughout this world ultimately make it feel empty (although my character seemed oddly excited every time she came upon a Merlin puzzle). But the bones are there. This game screams out for co-op modes (or even better an MMORPG which would fill the school with real students all interacting, dueling, puzzle solving, trading, learning, competing for house points, etc). The game also needs some well-thought out DLC's. One recently added quest has you purchasing a retail establishment in Hogsmeade, and exploring an extra-dimensional chest that leads to a horror-filled funhouse-type environment with a creative final boss battle. It's excellent. Much, much more of this, please!

I've always enjoyed the books and movies but I wouldn't consider myself a true fan. For fans of these books, this game must be both an incredible exercise in exploration and ultimately a disappointment. But so much could be built upon an lovingly crafted framework that already exists that this game could be revived into something fantastic.