South of Midnight Review
Anticipation is very high for South of Midnight, the latest title from Compulsion games, after a seven year development, an acquisition from Xbox and an impressive gothic horror toned reveal trailer in 2023 at the Xbox Showcase during Summer Game Fest.
South of Midnight weaves together a compelling story about pain and empathy in one of the most beautiful games thanks equally to it’s unique art style and it’s incredible score, unfortunately, from a gameplay perspective, it’s a shallow experience. It’s isn’t bad, but the major crux is that the gameplay fails to evolve. The combat lacks depth, traversal becomes rote, and there is too much filler.
The good news is that what South of Midnight lacks in gameplay depth, it more than makes up for with a powerful story, unmatched style, and impeccable atmosphere.
WHAT IS SOUTH OF MIDNIGHT?
South of Midnight is a love letter to the American Deep South, more specifically, Southern folklore told through the eyes of Hazel as she discovers her powers as a weaver. We join Hazel during the middle of a hurricane and as the water keeps rising, Hazel’s mother gets washed away in their home. It’s during this traumatic experience and trying to do whatever she can that Hazel discovers she has powers beyond this world that she never knew about.
Hazel’s journey will take her across the fictional Southern county of Prospero. There are numerous parallels with Hazel’s journey and Wizard of Oz. The world that she finds herself in doesn’t quite resemble the one that she's used to as it has now has a gothic horror tone. Hazel will also meet a lot of interesting characters on her journey that shares a lot of themes like finding yourself, helping others and understanding that there is no place like home.
Through her powers as a weaver, Hazel becomes highly attuned to the universe at an emotional level, which gets us to the core of what South of Midnight is about, which is empathy. Obviously love, hate, pain, burden, guilt are all players in this show, but it all revolves around empathy and Hazel’s journey is to set things right that have been wrong for generations in the region.
Your journey to find your mother crosses paths with mythical creatures that are consumed by negative emotions and you wield the ancient weaver powers to help with their trauma. It might be hard to label a weaver, but what powers they posses is the ability to help people with their deep rooted pain and untangle the knots they cause.
WHAT’S GOOD ABOUT SOUTH OF MIDNIGHT?
Most people heading into South of Midnight knew what to expect. However, experiencing the game goes beyond expectations. Stunning is an overused term when describing a game, but South of Midnight is nothing short of stunning across multiple facets beyond just the obvious art style
There is the expectation of a strong narrative, atmosphere and style, but even before the game begins, there is a full claymation, stop motion cinematic that really sets the tone. Despite the whole game taking place in the same region of Prospero county, due to the imagination of this world and the stunning brilliance of the lighting to emphasize the time of day, the setting never felt stale. It also helps that Compulsion leans into the fantastical nature of the Oz inspired world to constantly make Hazel and the audience feel out of place and in shock.
South of Midnight tells a unique story with an even more unique art style and some of the best original music I’ve ever heard in a game. There are the the monumental songs, which steal the show and usually happen at the culmination of the chapter, but can also happen after a touching moment. These crescendos always powerful, but the overall score throughout is nearly as impressive with plenty of Southern inspired folk music and orchestral scores that serve as the backdrop to your adventure. However, the unsung hero to the immersion is the environmental audio as it truly transports you into this world with the chirp of a bird, the bubbling of the creek or the buzz of the cicada. Everything feels so realistic.
I would also be remiss to discuss the monumental achievements of South of Midnight without mentioning the vocal performances from every character, Hazel especially. Every single line of dialogue feels authentic, genuine and every character you meet along your journey pulls you deeper into this world. The performances give weight to the emotional depth of the script, which feature some heavy moments I was not expecting.
WHAT ARE THE ISSUES WITH SOUTH OF MIDNIGHT
The biggest issue with South of Midnight is that it had so much potential. Mechanics are all in place, but fail to blossom into systems that are rewarding and match the level of quality set by the rest of the game.
To begin with, combat is more than capable with quick attacks and precise dodges. It’s only true problem is that the lock on mechanic can sometimes be hard to determine who you are targeting. The lack of evolution is the real issue. Once you acquire all the powers, which happens early on, combat fails to expand and challenge the player. It was the same arenas with the same enemy types, that are mostly ravagers and larva that eventually became monotonous. There are upgrade powers, which are neat, but they fail to alter the combat in many meaningful ways as it always ends mashing the attack button. It wasn’t until the brutes arrived in Chapter 7 that combat provided a more rewarding experience as this enemy demanded a bit more patience and timing.
In addition to the combat, the exploration never trusted the player’s intelligence. Everything immediately glows or points you where to go, in addition to the all of the painted surfaces around the world and despite the plethora of accessibility options, there is no way to remove the instant glowing even in custom mode. This would have provided a more rewarding feeling during the exploration phases.
As for the actual traversal itself, it just became repetitive. It featured a core mechanic system of jumps, dashes climbing, wall running and grappling but it just became a system of rinse and repeat. The wall climbing felt akin to Nathan Drake or Lara Croft and there was a grapple point that felt almost like web slinging, but traversal always devolved into the same loop that served as a means to get you to the next battle arena or story beat and nothing more
Finally, at the end of nearly every chapter is a chase scene, which is clearly designed to put an emphasis on tension due to the high tempo score and the immediacy in Hazel’s voice, but these sequences feel void of the thrill they are trying to provoke. These chases go on for too long, never feel challenging and add filler to a game that didn’t require it.
VERDICT
The common thread with South of Midnight isn’t that there is something wrong, it’s more what is missing and what isn’t right, which can be equally as damaging. The combat is great, but it never evolves. Exploring the world is fun, but trust is never given. The traversal is satisfyingly fast and fluid, but it becomes rote. Most detrimental to the experience is that the ending is fine, but absent is the ending that this incredible adventure deserved.
If you have the right expectations, you will be delightfully please and if you are on Game Pass, South of Midnight is a must. South of Midnight delivers a powerful story with unmatched atmosphere that easily overshadows the simplicity of the gameplay.