South of Midnight
Developer: Compulsion Games
Publisher: Microsoft
Platforms: PC, Xbox Series X/S (Previewed)
Release Date: April 8, 2025
Price: $39.99 USD – Available Here
Throughout our own world there have always been various myths, legends, and forms of magic that take on unique forms thanks to their origins and many of these elements have been explored in media and games before, but one that doesn’t seem to appear very often is that of the Deep South. In fact, outside of a certain Disney movie and some smaller less likely remembered films of the past, even games rarely, if at all, touched upon the myths and legends of the Deep South. That is until Compulsion Games revealed that their next game, following their creation of We Happy Few and Contrast, would be South of Midnight, a title set in a gothic version of the Deep South that would be steeped in its myths and lore, all uniquely stylized and presented as if in stop-motion. Many wondered just how well this would translate into gameplay and now that we’ve been able to play through close to an hour of a chapter set shortly into the game, we’ve gotten a small taste of what to expect.
This dark folktale follows the journey of Hazel, and we found ourselves jumping into the deep end nearly as confused as she was by her new powers as a Weaver, someone seemingly capable of being able to weave the past back to the present and view the history of a location all while purifying it of the evil that haunts it. Or should we say Haints it? As those are the enemies and “hives” of sorts that Hazel will need to eliminate. Hazel is thrown right into the thick of combat and trying to learn things on the fly as Hazel has access to a standard combo utilizing her magical weaving hooks, a set of attack skills that involved a shove to gain distance or repel projectiles, a grabbing whip to pull or throw smaller enemies, and even a stunning weave all set around cooldowns. Perfect-dodges seemed to allow Hazel to deal minor damage to Haints while also needing to avoid their temporary invincibility and counter-attacks before “unraveling” them and their hives, refilling her own health or tapping into the one healing location per combat arena.
Combat seemed tight and fairly fluid once we got the hang of things, learning enemy tells and combos as well as the proper indications of enemies attacking from all sides as the Haints will always try to overwhelm Hazel, at least on the default difficulty. The lock-on was a bit on the iffy side though this is partially due to how random the Haints movements can be, leading to some unpredictable patterns when fighting multiple types. With a skill tree already partially unveiled in the combat menu and upgrade material coming both after fights and from exploration, South of Midnight’s combat already is showing signs of promise in these early moments.
Outside of combat we spent most of our time with Hazel navigating the bayou while following ghostly echoes and utilizing her ever-developing movement abilities to get around. This eventually included a double-jump, a glide, and even wall running all of which would eventually be combined into a lengthy chase sequence followed by plenty of ledge-climbing up a creature of myth. Of course, Hazel’s journey wasn’t for nothing, through this chapter her task was to help free a gigantic obviously magical talking catfish that would not only be our narrator but apparently Hazel’s form of navigation as well, helping guide her through her new weaving abilities including some powers and abilities that she never knew she was capable of or the reason why a glass bottle hanging from a tree might be so powerful.
Throughout this chapter we not only were able to get a glimpse at the pain that Hazel is feeling from being separated from her mother after their entire home was swept into this magical swamp by a hurricane, but also that of a long dormant pain that has twisted and tormented this portion of the swamp. To say that the story is dark is something of an understatement and it eventually took a rather surprising turn, making us wonder just how many hurts and haunts we’ll come across throughout South of Midnight and just what awful things we might uncover while trying to reunite with our own loved one.
As mentioned earlier, outside of using its unique setting in the Deep South and using mythos that have long gone underutilized, one of the key aspects that sets South of Midnight apart is its unique visual styling. Everything inside of a cutscene and even some elements that appear in the game world look as if they were done using stop-motion animation, something that we haven’t really seen in modern day gaming and it really happens to work well in this action platformer’s cutscenes, begging the question as to how the developer managed to pull this off. This includes everything from standard wildlife roaming around in the back or foreground to Hazel’s own design to the strange and unique appearances of the more mythical creatures as well. Outside of cutscenes the title runs almost completely smoothly though the few small issues were likely due to the game’s early access nature.
South of Midnight demonstrated not only tons of charm through its soundtrack and unique visual aesthetics and design but also plenty of dread as well, making this multifaceted action-platformer one to keep an eye out for. Though we only had a little under an hour with Hazel, it was incredibly easy to get invested in the world and mythos as well as her own personal journey, what little we were able to experience anyways. For the rest, we’ll need to wait until South of Midnight fully releases on April 8th for the Xbox Series X/S and PC where it will be launching as part of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and or for $39.99 USD.
