Hogwarts Legacy has certainly wreaked havoc on gaming audiences within its very early days, but a great deal of controversy continues to engulf it. The sole trans character was revealed just as the game was released, and given a laughably bad name that never should have made it to publisher.
The whole experience and discourse surrounding Hogwarts Legacy has become a dangerous battleground for queer people in gaming. J.K. Rowling's transphobic shadow is still very much around the game, but there is hope in the form of excellent games that depict trans people in great light.
The Elder Scrolls Online is a fantastic MMORPG that showcased a groundbreaking trans character that remains a fan favorite.
The quest "Manor of Masques," introduced in the 2017 expansion Summerset, reveals the player character to be a traveling performance organization headed by Alchemy. Later revealed to be a trans woman, the entire quest develops a character who feels real in a fantastic setting.
Alchemy's quest includes a lot of dialogue that explains the broad strokes of Tamriel's transition as well as the exact same stigmas that exist in our real world. The quest involves Alchemy's re-associating with her long-lost sister.
The character of Alchemy is fun, out-of-the-box, and based on the beauty of life rather than the morals. She reappears in the main narrative as an ally to the player character.
Alchemy isn't a Buffalo Bill. She isn't a predator. She isn't weak. She isn't shown as being comedic because she's trans. She's Alchemy, strong in conviction, a believer in second chances, and also not a damsel in distress.
Every time I play the Summerset expansion, I make sure to get the most out of the quest every time. The greatest gaming stories make you want to replay them, and it's a credit to Zenimax Online Studios for putting a story this moving – and it's only a side quest.
Sirona Ryan, who is a misogynistic character in Hogwarts Legacy, seems to be nothing more than an attempt to reclaim some local interest in the game, while The Elder Scrolls introduced one and won recognition and an award for its own.
There are a variety of reasons to this, and if you want to support queer stories in a fantasy setting, go to Tamriel and The Elder Scrolls Online.