I wasn’t sure about South of Midnight at first. As it was developed by Compulsion Games, I didn’t hold out much hope, as I had not been a fan of We Happy Few. Imagine my surprise when it turned out that South of Midnight was a charming, interesting and enjoyable little title.
It’s an action-platformer and not one that necessarily breaks the mould, but it has a few neat tricks up its sleeves. Set in a fictionalised version of the American South, South of Midnight draws on the mythology of the area and, in particular, the experiences of marginalised peoples and cultures.
Players step into the running shoes of Hazel Flood on the night of a storm brought on by an approaching hurricane. After fighting with her mum, Hazel runs outside only to watch as their house is swept away in the rising flood waters.
South of Midnight Review
In Hazel’s initial desperate attempt to follow the house downriver, she begins to see “Strands”; the weaves of the universe that bind everything together. On visiting her wealthy grandmother, Bunny, to enlist her help, Hazel is held in Bunny’s mansion after her ability to see Strands is revealed. Hazel manages to escape and set off in search of her mother with her newfound skills and some special tools in tow.
It turns out that Hazel is a “Weaver”, someone who can see and manipulate the Strands in order to maintain order, drive away Haints and ensure the Grand Tapestry remains intact. After meeting with a giant Catfish who has been caught in a tree, Hazel learns that her powers can be used to heal emotional wounds that run so deeply they affect the physical world.
Along the way to rescue her mum, Hazel needs to help people who’ve bottled up their negative emotions to bury dark secrets and set them free by changing the weave of the Grand Tapestry. The narrative is all very Southern Gothic and leans heavily on the idea of manifestations of grief, trauma, shame and psychic pain. There’s a genuine heartfelt earnestness about the people you encounter and their stories and South Of Midnight never feels like trauma porn. Instead, it feels hopeful and even uplifting, even when dealing with some pretty heavy themes.
In terms of gameplay, South of Midnight is fine. It’s not going to blow any minds, but the gameplay serves the story and vice versa. As mentioned, it’s an action-platformer in which you control Hazel as she explores the flooded areas surrounding her home and beyond. There are two main modes for South of Midnight’s gameplay: exploration and combat.
While exploring, Hazel jumps, sprints, dodges, and uses a variety of Weaver powers to get around and uncover secrets. For example, while using Dash in mid-air, Hazel will be able to float on a parachute made of Strands to extend her jump and get her across large gaps. She can do a sort of Force Push/Pull to move objects around and can even conjure objects out of Strands to gain access to otherwise inaccessible areas. It’s all very responsive and fluid, if a little vanilla.
Combat in South of Midnight only occurs within combat arenas. You’ll know you’re about to be in for a fight when you see a wide open area with a Knot that needs to be unwoven and a conveniently placed health node. Once you enter, the area becomes walled off, and you’ll need to defeat all of the Haints to move on. Generally, combat isn’t too tricky. Press X to attack and build up combos, dodge unavoidable attacks, use special Weaver powers, and even temporarily turn enemies to your side. Like exploration, combat gameplay in South of Midnight is decent, but nothing special. Thankfully, the game maintains a decent cadence and rhythm between combat and exploration, so you’re never feeling burned out on one or the other.
There are occasional boss fights, too. These use the already established mechanics of combat and throw in a little bit of puzzle solving for good measure. Bosses are incredibly easy, for the most part, and shouldn’t offer too much of a challenge, but their main purpose is to reinforce the story and piggyback onto whatever thread you’re currently unravelling.
Visually, South of Midnight is something of a delight. It features an animation style reminiscent of the Spider-verse movies that’s equal parts charming and interesting. The art direction is also quite nice, featuring a heavily stylised aesthetic that leans into the themes of the American South and makes South of Midnight look like nothing else.
The audio also deserves a special mention as the music is divine. Again, pulling from the South and Southern Gothic mythology, the music swells and subsides with the action on screen, putting you right amongst the action. Expect lots of banjos and guitars, a lot of blues-inspired moifs and a score that, in general, will get your feet tapping along.
South of Midnight is a nice surprise from Compulsion Games and a worthy addition to the Xbox and Game Pass catalogue. It’s not a “game-changer”, but it certainly has a lot to say that’s worth paying attention to. It is surprisingly deep, emotionally resonant and engaging, and worth checking out for some (mostly) cosy gaming that will make you feel things.
South of Midnight was reviewed on Xbox Series X using code provided by the publisher.
