Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince for PlayStation Portable offers players an expansive experience set in the Wizarding World, diverging from a linear movie adaptation. Controlled by the player, Harry engages in various side quests, including assisting classmates, collecting items, and exploring Hogwarts. The game features a Remembrall log to track quests and characters, enhancing navigation and interaction.
The PSP and NDS versions are not a direct, linear adaptation of the movie, but instead take the player through a larger universe of the series, with many unrelated characters and tasks, eventually furthering the story through cutscenes. At Hogwarts, Harry, the sole character controlled by the player, has to perform many quests for other students, such as stopping bullies, collecting ingredients, or even finding back Luna's accessories that have disappeared. Hogwarts can be explored freely and quests are triggered through cutscenes or by talking to other characters. These are stored in a Remembrall log, where names or characters can be highlighted to find their location on the map.