South Of Midnight | REVIEW | PC/STEAM

''THINGS HAVE GONE SOUTH''

---

Developed: Compulsion Games

Published: XBOX Game Studios

Genre: Action Adventure

Release Date: April 8th, 2025

Platforms: XBOX FAMILY/PC/GAMEPASS

Review copy provided by XBOX GAME STUDIOS AND COMPULSION GAMES

South Of Midnight is the latest action adventure game to hit the market and it is developed by Compulsion Games and published by XBOX Game Studios. Coming hot off the heels of the positively received AVOWED from Obsidian Entertainment, Compulsion Games decided that its now their time to shine once more just like they did with their release of We Happy Few many years ago. However was taking on the American Deep South the right call? or should it have been something else entirely? Only one way to find out, so lets go!

''SOMETHING FISHY GOING ON!''

---

GAMEPLAY:

Were heading into really uncharted territory where companies dont usually take us, with Compulsion Games American Deep South setting. It amazes me that we do not see more of this setting being utilized in gaming or even in film when there's such a rip and rich history here already with a foundation to build upon, just as the amazing Princess And The Frog did back in 2009. Now here we are in 2025, only this time without a Princess or a frog or wartz, because come on now, were not like Jiraiya sensei with frog jutsu. Rooting its tale as I said previously in the American Deep South, you play as a spunky and feisty main character of Hazel Flood, who's trailer, along with her mom, gets swept away in a huge storm that takes their town by surprise. It is then up to Hazel to give chase down the river, through mysterious forests and swamp lands in order to find and save her mother and figure out all the mysteries that the storm possesses... was it natural or was it the U.S. government using their weather manipulation machine to further put their thumb to the American people to build their smart cities?. Ok clearly its not THAT weird conspiracy theory but I couldn't help myself, my brain is filled with Brain Rot after browsing X for a few hours, forgive me. The mysteries that unfold on this journey of Hazel's is both a mix of very creative ideas, alongside mytho and folklore come to life that had me in delight most of the time due to the fact that this game reminds me VERY heavily of an XBOX 360 era type of game. This is a compliment because XBOX 360 had tons of titles that focused on art, fantasy, other aspects of creativity that is not seen that much in the modern era of gaming that wants to focus more on realism and down to earth settings. But not South Of Midnight, it gives me strong vibes of classic action platformers of titles from generations ago with its creative boss fights against giant Alligators and giant talking fish that you can ride on, and it gave me a feeling of not only satisfaction playing it, but also a feeling of familiarity with titles that chose to embrace the ''silly'', not ''realistic'' aspects for lore and folklore, much like Kameo did on 360 with its more cartoony like presentation.

Hazel herself, wielding a magical staff she comes across, is a weaver, a person who is gifted with magic to heal fractured ties by destroying malevolent spirits that plague the area of Prospero. In order the cleanse the land of this nastiness like Ex-Lax cleansing your belly after a 4 day round of constipation, you must use your staff and powers gained by melee fighting against enemies, using powers to pull enemies towards you for combos, force push that sends enemies flying, jump and ground pound, freezing shot that stuns enemies momentarily so you can focus on a harder foe or gain the advantage elsewhere and when an enemy is near death, run up to them and hold down trigger buttons to extract their ''life'' from them to gain exp or destroy the life of the main ''heart'' of the area, which clears the area of any threat and restores it back to normal, eliminating the plague itself. Movement is also a big part of the gameplay as well as you move through each environment to absolute banger music as you double jump around areas, climb up vines and walls, combine double jumping along with a magical whip to shoot out an extension that pulls you from one obstacle to another, which makes situations extremely intense, especially during boss fights, and even intertwine that alongside proficient wall running as you either try to make your way to a new area or run frantically from a threat that will kill you in one hit, should it touch you. Its extremely fun and controls remain responsive and fluid throughout, unlike Gothic 1 remake demo... fun game yes, but those controls, like come on, its like the return of Bubsy 3D, What were they thinking!. Not to be outdone by the gameplay aspects, South Of Midnight excels in its breathtaking vista by having a marriage between art style creativity, authentic scenery from the deep south and implementing a framerate for the cutscene animations that give it a stop motion like movement with how its presentation is shown. If you know me, which you probably dont, then you know I absolutely adore the long forgotten or ignored craft that is stop motion, so anytime its utilized or implemented, I will gush to the end of the earth for it, no apologies, go watch Del Toro's Pinnochio, Wallace and Gromit, or the amazing MAD GOD film that took 30 years to make, that is just a pure masterpiece in the stop motion department, you wont regret it. Even further complimenting the artistic style and its combat is the score for the game that weaves blues, jazz and country into a southern bombastic tapestry that bolsters each scene its in, whether its making a scene feel frantic and anxiety filled as you chase your trailer down the river in a apocalyptic storm or a bard like tune singing about the lore of Two Toed Tom as you give chase - its all just simply fantastic and just nothing but banger after banger of music on this soundtrack.

While combat might be fun like I stated previously by using Hazel's weaving powers to stun foes or even manipulate them using your little friend doll that comes to life named Crouton, i also feel a criticism that will come up is that it might get a fair share bit a little too tedious at times since besides the variety I mentioned, even with character update skill trees, the combat doesnt evolve TOO much from the given formula and majority of the fights themselves are subjected to confined areas that stick out like a sore thumb letting you know where to go next.. think the trend of sky towers that Ubisoft started and youll get the idea...an idea thats very very very overused. Another issue that might trickle down into your enjoyment, is the games length, offering you a 9 to 10 hour long condensed story that just when it seems things are ramping up, it ends. Granted, I feel not every game needs to be a 20 to 30 hour epic, and a ten hour long game that tackles human struggles, authentic presentation to the deep south and fun folklore exploration, is more than enough to keep players satisfied, still, I can see where criticisms can be had with its flaws, outside the positives that outshine them.

---

''YOUR SOUL IS MINE''

---

OVERALL:

At the end of the day, South Of Midnight was a fantastic experience for me from start to finish, albeit a short one, sure, but a fun time nonetheless. Obviously we have room for improvement with combat at times feeling a bit repetitive due to how much you have to fight lesser enemies, not as robust character skill tree that doesnt add that much to your character upgrades, length of the game not being what people might expect in the modern era of gaming, etc. However, I feel its positives such as fun movement based system of slinging and wall running, great environments to experience, exploration of deep south folklore that brings it to life in creative fashion, grandiose level of music that stays authentic all throughout, all of this makes up for any negatives that someone might experience and keeps you immersed in the world and its characters at all times, even if its execution stumbles over its own feet at times. So with all that having been said, my verdict is clear, GameNChick says BUY NOW... or if you have Game Pass, the game is now playable on that platform as well.

---