‘South of Midnight’ Review
Developer: Compulsion Games | Platform: PS5 |
Playtime: 12:25 | Platinum: 21:15
Another title making it’s way over from Xbox, South of Midnight is the latest from Compulsion Games, one of the more obscure studios on Microsoft’s roster. This one has been on my radar for a while now but apart from the usual ‘Woke!! DEI!!’ idiots, all I’ve really heard about the game is poor combat. That proves mostly true in fairness but the game is more than that.
You play as Hazel Flood, a young track star in a small fictional Deep South American town of Prospero. During a storm (The name coincidence is never brought up), Hazel’s home is swept away with her mother still inside. Stumbling upon some magic tools, she discovers her role as a Weaver - a magic figure who can manipulate the ‘strands’ to heal trauma in people and fight monsters called Haints.
If a game can be divided into two categories - Gameplay and Setting. South of Midnight has phenomenal setting. The game takes place in the Deep South so there is a lot of luscious countryside as well as old abandoned mining towns and flooded farms. I love how the mythological side of things is handled - it’s not two different worlds rather it’s just one world but the magic is only there for those with eyes to see. There’s a mythos here that permeates the world and there’s just enough to be intriguing without drowning in it or leaving the world feeling too wanting. It’s a mix of new creation and well researched myth stemming from African slaves brought to the Americas, which is a wellspring of storytelling that’s not really covered in media compared to the likes of Greek or Norse.
The game itself is gorgeous with it’s unique art style and lower frame animations (which I wish it went further with). Despite this coming out earlier, it reminds me of The Midnight Walk which was claymation. Voice acting and performances are also great, Hazel is a very likeable character who does go through a full, if a touch cliche arc. The highest amount of praise has to go to the absolutely phenomenal Soundtrack - the chase music, the boss themes and even just the individual level themes are all brilliant mixing traditional instruments and amazing vocals.
The game holds an immaculate vibe but as many reviews say, it is held back by it’s gameplay. It’s a fairly basic mix of exploring linear levels with some mild platforming and combat. Combat is fine, like just fine. There’s a decent amount of enemy variety but your moveset and ability to deal with them is limited to a four hit combo with the magic power to push/pull and stun. Given the potential for powers, this is quite disapointing. Combat is also exclusively in locked off arenas meaning it’s obvious when it’s going to occur and there’s no escaping it (Unless you turn on skip combat in the settings which is telling in itself). I tolerated it for a playthrough but it really did become a bit of a drag by the end.
The game also suffers from being fairly formulaic and repetitive. Of the games 14 missions (which is really 12 with an introduction chapter and an epilogue), 6 of them follow the same ‘Investigation format which concludes in a chase. I didn’t mind too much but by the end it was getting a little annoying, especially since the game fumbles an 11th hour antagonist change which leads to the last third feeling a little disjointed.
We don’t get games like this often - it’s by no means perfect, in fact as a game it’s fairly plain but the surrounding design, mythos, music and visuals mean this one deserves a try, even if you play on easy just to get to the good stuff quicker.
