Why Your Lego Harry Potter PS4 Walkthrough Strategy Is Likely Missing Half the Game

Why Your Lego Harry Potter PS4 Walkthrough Strategy Is Likely Missing Half the Game

You’re standing in the middle of the Leaky Cauldron, staring at that gold brick counter, and it’s stuck. It's frustrating. You’ve blasted every chair, talked to every NPC, and yet, the percentage doesn't budge. Most people looking for a lego harry potter ps4 walkthrough are actually looking for a way to escape the "98% completion" purgatory that defines this remastered collection. The PS4 version—which bundles Years 1-4 and Years 5-7—is a weird beast because it carries over glitches from the PS3 era while adding some fresh performance quirks of its own.

I’ve spent hundreds of hours in these blocky corridors. Honestly, the biggest mistake is treating this like a modern, hand-holding RPG. It’s not. It’s a scavenger hunt hidden inside a love letter to the Wizarding World.

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The First Rule of Hogwarts: Don't Rush the Story

If you’re playing through the levels for the first time, stop worrying about the collectibles. Seriously. You literally cannot get most of them on your first pass. The game is designed around a "Metroidvania" loop. You see a shiny silver chest in Year 1? You can't open it. You need Reducto. You don't get Reducto until Year 4.

That’s the core of any decent lego harry potter ps4 walkthrough. The real game starts after you finish the story.

The story mode is basically just a long tutorial to unlock characters with specific abilities. You need a Dark Wizard (like Tom Riddle or Bellatrix Lestrange) for the red-glowing objects. You need a goblin for the keys. You need a Weasley for the boxes. If you spend three hours trying to parkour onto a ledge in "The Restricted Section" during Year 1, you’re just wasting your afternoon. Just come back later with someone who can actually jump or fly.

Understanding the Hub World Complexity

Hogwarts is huge. It’s the most complex hub Traveller’s Tales ever built up to that point. Unlike later Lego games with a mini-map, the PS4 Harry Potter collection relies on Nearly Headless Nick to lead you to your next objective. Follow his ghost studs, sure, but if you want the 100%, you have to ignore him eventually.

The Room of Requirement and the Great Hall are easy enough to navigate, but the transitions between the moving staircases and the outer grounds are where players get lost. There’s a specific glitch near the Time Turner clock tower where the game sometimes fails to register a Gold Brick if you exit the area too quickly after the animation plays. Always wait for the "save" icon—that little spinning wand—to disappear before you jump into a new loading screen.

Breaking Down the Years: What Actually Matters

In Years 1-4, focus on the "Multiplier" Red Bricks immediately. This is the "pro tip" that separates the casual players from the platinum trophy hunters. As soon as you get enough studs, buy the x2, x4, and x6 multipliers. They stack. By the time you hit x10, you’ll have billions of studs. Money becomes meaningless.

Years 5-7 feels different. The tone is darker, the spells are more combat-oriented, and the levels are longer. The mechanics shift toward "Duel" sequences. These are kinda clunky on the PS4 controller. The trick isn't to mash buttons; it’s to wait for the color prompt. Match your spell color to theirs. It’s basically Simon Says with wands.

The Character Token Grind

You’re going to need a diverse roster. Gripbook the Goblin is essential for his key-turning ability. You find him early in Gringotts, but many miss him because they’re too busy looking at the dragons.

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Then there’s the Strength requirement.
Most players think they need Hagrid for everything. While Hagrid is great, you can actually use a Strength Potion with almost any character. But honestly? Just unlock Fang or a transformed Remus Lupin. It saves you the time of brewing the potion every single time you see a pull-chain.

Glitches and Game-Breakers to Watch Out For

Let's get real. These games are buggy. On the PS4, the "Collection" version is prone to a specific crash in the Library.

If you’re following a lego harry potter ps4 walkthrough and a certain character token doesn't appear where it should, try toggling your "Extra" cheats off. Sometimes having "Fall Rescue" or "Magnetism" active can interfere with the physical trigger of a collectible.

  • The Year 2 "Tom Riddle" Glitch: In the final boss fight, sometimes the Basilisk won't trigger its lunge. If this happens, you have to restart the level. It sucks.
  • The Library Ghost: There’s a hat you need to give to a painting. If the hat falls behind the bookshelf? It’s gone. You have to reload.
  • The 199/200 Gold Brick Nightmare: This is the most common issue. Usually, the "missing" brick is in the Bonus Level under Gringotts or hidden in the owlery after using the Time Turner.

The Secret to 100% Completion

The road to the Platinum Trophy is paved with Red Bricks. These are the "Cheats" located in the hub world. Some give you invincibility, others detect where Gold Bricks are hiding.

Find the "Gold Brick Detector" as soon as humanly possible.
It creates a small yellow arrow on your screen pointing toward the objective. However, be warned: the arrow points to where the brick appears, not necessarily where the puzzle starts. If the arrow is pointing at a blank wall, the trigger is likely in a different room or requires you to light five specific torches in the hallway.

Student in Peril Locations

There are 50 in the first game and 60 in the second. These poor kids are everywhere. Stuck in spider webs, trapped in crates, or being bullied by Slytherins.

Don't ignore them.
Each one you save gives you a Gold Brick. If you’re missing just one brick and your detector isn't showing anything, it’s almost certainly a Student in Peril you missed in a story level. Go back to the level select screen and check the icons. If the face in the circle is frowning, you haven't saved the kid in that level yet.

The PS4 version looks better, obviously. The lighting is improved, and the textures are sharper. But the physics engine is still tied to the original logic. This means that when you’re building objects with Wingardium Leviosa, the blocks can sometimes jitter or fly off into space.

Use the d-pad for precise movement if the analog stick feels too loose.
When you're controlling a vehicle—like the enchanted tractor or the pumpkin—the controls are notoriously bad. Just go slow. There’s no time limit on 99% of these puzzles.

Why You Should Play Co-op (Even Alone)

The AI in this game is... not smart. Often, your partner character will stand directly in front of the object you’re trying to shoot. Or they’ll fall off a cliff repeatedly, draining your stud count.

If you have a second controller, turn it on.
Even if no one is playing, having the second character standing still is often better than having the AI "help" you. You can swap between them instantly with the Triangle button. This is especially useful for puzzles that require two people to pull levers simultaneously. The AI usually figures it out, but sometimes it just stares at you blankly while you're drowning in a Devil's Snare.

Essential Actionable Steps for Your Playthrough

To actually finish this game without losing your mind, follow this specific order of operations. It’s the most efficient way to handle the massive amount of content without backtracking more than necessary.

  1. Blast through the story first. Don't stop to smell the roses. Get through all years to unlock the "essential" spell list.
  2. Unlock a Dark Wizard. You can't get half the collectibles without one. The easiest one to get is usually Tom Riddle (found in the final level of Year 2) or Lucius Malfoy.
  3. Find the Stud Multipliers. Go to the Leaky Cauldron, enter the Red Brick codes or find them in the world, and buy them. Your goal is to have the x2, x4, and x6 multipliers active by the start of your "Free Play" cleanup.
  4. The "Free Play" Sweep. Go back through every level. Use a guide for the Crests and Character Tokens. Since you have the multipliers, you’ll be earning millions of studs per minute.
  5. Clean up the Hub. Hogwarts is the final boss. Use the detectors. Check every corner. If a door won't open, you probably need to progress further in the story or change the "time" using a Time Turner clock.

Once you hit that 100% mark, go to the cellar of the Leaky Cauldron. There’s a special bonus level that only opens when you’ve collected everything. It’s a giant LEGO city where you get to destroy everything as a gold-flecked version of the characters. It’s the ultimate catharsis after hours of being careful.

Check your map often, keep an eye on the "Save" icon, and remember that if a puzzle seems impossible, you probably just have the wrong character. This game isn't hard; it’s just vast. Take it one brick at a time.