Game #1316: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets(Playstation 1)

 Can you keep a secret?

 Philosopher's Stone one PS1 was pretty good, surprisingly so considering it was a licensed game, and as luck would have it, the sequel Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets received a PS1 iteration too.

 Sadly, this one isn't as weird as the previous game, but it still has its trippy moments, like the Floo Powder sequence being a downward slant-type section, or the hilarious sequence when Harry discovers Malfoy is the new seeker, which goes as follows:
Ron: "I heard Slytherin's got a new seeker."
Hermione: "I wonder who it could be?"
Malfoy, out of nowhere: "IT IS ME!"
 Still, definitely not as weird as the original game. As for the plot, it's alright... Harry talks in this one! That said, while the original used gorgeous hand-drawn art during certain cutscenes, this one uses ugly stills from the main console game, which is a bit of a step-down.

 At it's core, the game is identical to the original but with a different plot. That's not altogether a bad thing considering the original was already a pretty entertaining adventure game. In this one, the annoying Incendio spell is gone, thankfully, but the game still has plenty of button pushing minigames. as a matter of fact, the game might have a few too many first-person gallery shooting sections. On the flip side, secret rooms return, but they often include challenges to overcome unlike the original.

 Speaking to how similar the game was to the original... while the plot is new, the puzzles are different and even the framerate seems smoother... sometimes, it feels like to much of a retread. The game even recycles the rhythm button-pushing minigames to learn spells and how to make potions, and even reuses the Diagon Alley box-hunting mini-game and, much like the first one, has a single sort-of annoying stealth segment.

 Not everything is recycled, however, as this game introduces Dueling... and it's actually sorta fun. It takes place in third person, as you and a rival shoot Flipendos at each other. Get the enemy to hit a special object, or hit one on the enemy's side of the screen, and a special Jinx will pop out that you, or the enemy, can the use in battle. It's a bit gimmicky, but it was fun.

 Chamber of Secrets is more of the same, but a bit more polished and a bit tamer, making for an ever so slightly better game than the original. Regardless, you can't go wrong with either of them. 

 7.0