Of all the upcoming games on Xbox’s roster, South of Midnight is the one that piques my interest the most. I’m a sucker for titles that dabble in unique and different art styles, and South of Midnight’s stop-motion visuals and Deep South American setting captured my attention from the first trailer. I’ve had the chance to play about an hour of Compulsion Games’ upcoming third-person action-adventure, and it’s left me excited for the full release on April 9.
Set in the fictionalised American Deep South town of Prospero, South of Midnight sees Hazel searching for her missing mother after disaster strikes, leaving her to become a Weaver – someone with magical abilities who uses them to fix broken bonds and spirits.
The preview saw us play through an early story mission, with Hazel starting to come to terms with her newfound powers and crossing paths with a talking Catfish who promises to help her find her mother after she frees him from the tree he’s currently stuck in, which happens to be a human (or was) who suffered a tragedy. The exchange is brilliantly performed by Adriyan Rae (Hazel), who goes from confused to fired up to emotional in the one scene, and it sets a standard for both the narrative and storytelling that never dipped over the next hour of my preview.
Despite the fantastical setting, Hazel’s task is simple: free the tree of its pain to free the catfish. To do so she’ll need a magic bottle, and luckily there’s a bottle tree nearby to take advantage of. But getting there is no walk in the park, and Hazel will need to use her newfound abilities to navigate the world.
Before we talk about the gameplay mechanics, let’s get the obvious out of the way. South of Midnight’s world is truly breathtaking and there are some spectacular views to take in, and it’s all thanks to the game’s incredible stop-motion art style. I thought the style would create some jarring moments, but other than a couple performance kinks that will be ironed out before release, I was surprised by how smoothly it played.
Prospero is a world that feels like it’s full of magic and wonder, and it reminded me of the sequence in Uncharted 4 where Nathan and Sam were exploring the lost pirate village in Libertalia. Not in terms of the content, but in the sense that all I wanted to do was explore every part of it and take it all in. Add the game’s southern-flavoured soundtrack to the mix, which features songs by famous artists as well as some original tracks made for the game, and you’ve got yourself an atmosphere bath, all you need to do is soak it in.
The fauna of Prospero is reactive to Hazel’s presence too, and there are many cute and curious creatures to say hello to. For example, rabbits will playfully engage with one another in the environment until Hazel approaches, where they’ll watch her with a keen eye before scurrying away. It all helps give the world a peaceful and serene feel adding to the overall sense of immersion despite Prospero’s misfortune.
South of Midnight’s world is truly breathtaking and there are some spectacular views to take in, and it’s all thanks to the game’s incredible stop-motion art style
But Hazel cannot traverse around Prospero without her powers, and South of Midnight has its fair share of platforming, making our protagonist work for her catfish friend’s freedom. Hazel has the ability to make invisible objects, like bridges, solid for a short amount of time, double jump, glide through the air, and wall run, the game often requiring you to utilise a combo of these to reach where you’re going. What’s neat is that every time Hazel uses one of these moves, a short, almost choir-like soundbite is played.
But while platforming is a core part of the gameplay loop, so is combat, and these sequences take place in arenas and are largely standard action-adventure fare. Using the controller’s X button, Hazel will attack with her distaff in hack ‘n’ slash fashion, but it’s her magical abilities that shake combat up a bit. The left bumper will paralyse an enemy for a brief period, while the triggers will see Hazel channel her inner Scorpion and pull an enemy towards her and push them around like Matchbox Twenty’s Rob Thomas. All of these operate on a cooldown, so you’ll need to be on your toes if you want to succeed as combat isn’t as mindless as simply whacking away at your enemies.
Your three core abilities can be upgraded as you progress and you can unlock new skills, such as being able to deflect attacks (which I was terrible at). But while combat was serviceable, I found it to be the weakest part of the game, so I am hoping that new attacks and enemy variety add more depth to it. On a side note, it’s worth mentioning that the resource you use to purchase upgrades with is called floofs, which I think is pretty damn cool.
But it’s outside combat where the magic clearly is – the exploration of the world, the lore to be discovered, and the storytelling, it’s all super compelling and it makes me excited to see how Hazel’s journey plays out. Plus, hearing that Compulsion Games has said that South of Midnight is a 12–15-hour game is music to my ears. Because sometimes all we need is a short but vibrant adventure through a creative world with an engrossing story, and South of Midnight is shaping up to be just that.
Previewed on Xbox Series X // Preview code provided by the publisher
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