Thomas the Tank Engine steams straight into Hogwarts Legacy
Locomotis ridiculum!
As is tradition, one of the first mods for Hogwarts Legacy adds Thomas the Tank Engine. Created by Showie, the ThomasBroom mod turns the Moon Trimmer broomstick into the cheery blue locomotive, with your avatar visible in the driver's carriage.
Per Showie this "has some issues with clipping and culling, but decided to release it as-is for now." The only in-game requirement is you'll need to have unlocked a broomstick. Needless to say the reaction over at NexusMods is exultant but, of all the recurring gaming memes, the Thomas the Tank Engine mods still make me smile. It all began in 2019 with a mod for, of course, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim which replaced a dragon with Thomas as well as adding sound effects from the show
Since then, Thomas has rained fire upon Fallout 4, and the little engine that could has roared in Monster Hunter World. Thomas has been Mr. X in Resident Evil 2, and Lady Dimitrescu in Resi Village. Hell, Thomas has replaced Sekiro's giant snake, been summoned into Valheim as a Norse god, was the only good cameo in Kingdom Hearts 3, and even found his way into Elden Ring.
As for Hogwarts Legacy. PCG's review remains a review-in-progress, but the critical reception has so far been largely positive (apart from those suffering from performance issues). That of course is happening in the much wider context of an ongoing controversy about the game and its link to Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling.
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Rich is a games journalist with 15 years' experience, beginning his career on Edge magazine before working for a wide range of outlets, including Ars Technica, Eurogamer, GamesRadar+, Gamespot, the Guardian, IGN, the New Statesman, Polygon, and Vice. He was the editor of Kotaku UK, the UK arm of Kotaku, for three years before joining PC Gamer. He is the author of a Brief History of Video Games, a full history of the medium, which the Midwest Book Review described as "[a] must-read for serious minded game historians and curious video game connoisseurs alike."