It's actually quite a nice little thing. This is my first Game Boy Color game, and my first JRPG in general (although the genre can only be applied to the game to some extent), and it was quite interesting to play through this version and compare it with the versions on home platforms.

First of all, I love how complete the world is in this version. Hogwarts here is noticeably larger and more intricate compared to the PC and PlayStation versions, where, although it was somewhat open, it was not as much as here. I like that the interior design has its own logic - here is a classroom on the floor, and next to it is the teacher’s office; there is room for a music class or an art class, a Muggle studies class (with even a TV), a bunch of secret passages between floors and various service rooms (and all this is quite useful to check, for example, the best spells can be found in the library, and they are actually very easy to miss). Although this was done partly for the sake of the genre features of the game (you still need places to grind for experience and money, although it is almost optional here), but this is structurally the most interesting Hogwarts of the three versions of adaptations of the first film (or book, which this version is actually closer to). Yes, at first it’s hard to navigate, but towards the end you remember all the stairs and it even becomes quite cozy (which is also helped by good music and visuals, the game looks great).

In addition to the locations, this is also the most complete version of the first year in terms of plot. Which is of course not surprising, mechanically this is the simplest version and it was quite easy to stage all the episodes of the story here. However, this is still enjoyable, I especially like the segment with lessons - each of them represents a small side quest, and almost each has its own interesting small mechanics (and you choose the order in which to complete them). Other episodes are also not bad, although again, due to the genre, the number of similar battles can be tiring (especially at the beginning, when you are also defeated quite often). The only sad thing is that there is no Quidditch at all, which is strange, because there are episodes with flying and somehow they could have thought about adding Quidditch, but apparently the developers didn’t want to or didn’t have time.

Gameplay-wise, this seems to be a simplified version of a JRPG - experience is not deducted for defeats, and by the middle of the game it becomes quite easy, except perhaps for the bosses at the end, in battles with which you need to think (and without skippable spells from the library, it will be very difficult to defeat them). Also here you can buy or find stronger equipment, prepare potions (which you almost never use, but it’s good that there is such an opportunity) and collect a bunch of wizard cards (and even use different combinations in battle, which I almost didn’t do since at the end of the game I still didn’t have any cards for interesting combinations; it seems that for this purpose you can exchange cards with other players through the gameboy connection function).

It’s hard for me to compare this version with others, because it is even more distant in genre, but it's a fun game in its own right. It’s hard to recommend if you can’t stand the monotony of the genre (and I myself played most of the time while listening to a podcast in the background, to be honest), it has a number of strange decisions (like sometimes strange character sprites in dialogues), but overall it’s a good attempt to retell the book in a simple game form, and if you, like me, take the crazy path of going through all the game adaptations of the story about the boy who lived, this sweet, simple version is quite worthy (and probably more worthy of many that will come next) of your attention.