To be frank, if you don't know your Dumbledore from your Dementors, your Sirius Black from your Severus Snape, or your Hagrid from your Hermione then you're advised to run far, far away from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. In the fifth and most recent game tie-in, there are absolutely no concessions to Potter virgins.
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New characters are at a premium, so instead of getting bogged down introducing more eccentrics on top of an already bloated cast, you're immediately thrown into the slightly-more-adult-than-usual story. The basic gist is that a new teacher is appointed at Hogwarts to keep watch over the students, but she turns out to be evil, so Harry gathers an army of students and teaches them how to defend themselves against the Dark Arts.
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What hardcore fans want from a Harry Potter game - and what's been sorely lacking since the first couple of games - is the feeling that they're actually at Hogwarts. They want to explore every nook, cranny and secret passage and interact with every student, teacher and house elf. Order of the Phoenix delivers this in spades.
The school is dauntingly huge and includes all the key locations from the books and films, such as the house common rooms, the Great Hall, Moaning Myrtle's Bathroom and the Trophy Room. For the most part, you're free to explore wherever you like; only a few areas remain locked until you complete a task elsewhere. You can also venture outside to the castle's grounds where there are just as many things to see and do.
This sandbox-style gameplay is, for the most part, an improvement. Loads of side missions and bonus objectives will keep you busy once the extremely short main story is completed - something that couldn't be said of Order of the Phoenix's totally linear predecessors. You can compete in chess matches (or Exploding Snaps) against each house's champion; engage in wand duels with passing Slytherins; discover portrait passwords to open shortcuts through Hogwarts; search for hidden creatures; and attempt to get top marks in all your classes.
