South of Midnight — woven by patterns. Review

Played on Xbox Series S

Compulsion Games keeps making the same mistakes. Each game from the studio boasts a gorgeous atmosphere and memorable visual style (you probably remember what We Happy Few looks like, even if you haven’t played it), but the gameplay always suffers – either the mechanics seem unfinished, or the bugs interfere with the gameplay, or the monotony is tiresome. Compared to the studio’s previous releases, South of Midnight looks better – the gameplay is more outdated than bad – but still, it’s impossible to just praise it, even though you’d like to. However, you can forgive it a lot for its luxurious design and unusual setting, and it constantly awakens a feeling of nostalgia for old adventure action games.

⇡#Stories of the South

Independent developers often turn to myths and legends of various cultures and peoples – you can recall Never Alone about the indigenous peoples of Alaska, Tchia about the mythology of New Caledonia or Mundaun based on the Alpine legends of Switzerland. The creators of South of Midnight decided to work with the folklore of the southern states of the USA, where the genre of southern Gothic was born – this is a combination of the supernatural with the historical features of the region, in whose colonial roots different traditions, religions and peoples are intertwined.

The mythical creatures look especially cool.

The main character is Hazel, who lives in the fictional city of Prospero with her mother. And everything goes on as usual until their house is carried away by the current due to a strong hurricane. Without thinking twice, Hazel goes to save her mother and property – she soon learns that she has ancient magical powers and is a so-called spinner. It turns out that there is a kind of fabric of the universe called the Great Tapestry, and spinners can control its threads, influencing the world around them. Traumas from the past have led to the appearance of tears, scars and knots on the Great Tapestry, and Hazel needs to patch and repair everything as much as possible – after all, no one except her can see these threads.

Although the plot begins with us going in search of our mother, before meeting her the heroine will have to meet a large number of characters – those because of whom the tapestry was damaged. This is where the developers begin to weave elements of folklore into the story. The enemies are mainly haints – spirits tormented by the tragedies of the past. One of our first “friends” is a wise talking catfish, a frequent hero of fishing tales in the American South. And the first boss is a giant alligator named Two-Toed Tom – they say that Florida farmers regularly lost people and crops because of his gluttony. These legends are associated with the personal stories of the inhabitants of Prospero, both living and dead, so helping people and spirits find peace becomes the heroine’s primary task.

The reservoirs can only be admired – the heroine cannot swim

Hazel fits into the story perfectly – she is very charismatic, and as the game progresses she develops as a person. And it’s not just about the changing costumes, although they do a great job of emphasizing the character’s gradual maturation. In South of Midnight, it’s interesting to follow both her development and the variety of topics raised. There are family conflicts, grief from loss, and the burden of guilt – everyone has their own problems, different from each other, and over time the writers tie it all in well with the past of Hazel herself and her mother. The story is captivating until the very end, and the beauty of the scenery and mythical creatures makes the adventure bright and memorable.

The soundtrack is the most impressive, for a couple of reasons. First, it features a wide range of genres, from Southern gospel to blues, ambient, and folk that would fit right in with Life is Strange. Second, much of the music was written specifically for the game (with Southern singers and composers, of course), and the lyrics always describe what’s happening in a given chapter, either directly or indirectly. It’s rare to see such a close connection between the soundtrack and the narrative in a game, but it’s a shame that you can only appreciate it if you can understand the lyrics by ear, as there are no subtitles. A big omission.

Every frame is beautiful

⇡#Many years late

It’s hard to fault the story and its design, but the gameplay can’t be praised that much. In many ways, your attitude towards it depends on how important innovation is to you. South of Midnight’s gameplay is reminiscent of old 3D platformers from the PS3 or even PS2 era – all sorts of Ratchet & Clank, Jak & Daxter and the like. Roughly speaking, if you enjoyed playing Kena: Bridge of Spirits in 2021, then you’ll probably skip this game in one fell swoop – it’s a linear adventure where you often need to run, jump on platforms, fight with someone and look for collectibles. Almost from the very beginning, you can call on threads showing the way to the next story goal – you use them not because you’re confused, but to first study everything else in the location, and only then move on.

Platforming is very simple, including due to the abundance of techniques available to the heroine from the very first hours. She has a double jump, and a dash, and threads that allow you to feel like Spider-Man, sometimes hanging in the air. And also a glider, the ability to run on walls (not for everyone) and the ability to cling to ledges – in general, every problem has a simple solution. Therefore, episodes with movement do not cause difficulties, and you do not even have to think about the rare puzzles, since the solution is always in sight. Including due to the fact that all the platforms and ledges that you can interact with are covered in white paint – yes, it is boring, but we are unlikely to get rid of this feature of modern games any time soon.

Who painted them?..

Exploring locations is never boring — platforming is enjoyable, controls are convenient, and the camera doesn’t spoil your life. Yes, you do everything on autopilot, but games of this genre don’t necessarily overwhelm the player with puzzles in which he constantly falls into the abyss and dies — sometimes you just want to jump on platforms for ten hours and fly on a glider from one branch to another. There are no complaints about this, but there are complaints about the combat system. It feels like fights were added not because there was such a plan, but because the genre requires it. The fights exist separately from everything else — they are not really explained by the plot, and are designed strangely. It’s just that some area of ​​the location is fenced off with impenetrable branches, you go there and find yourself in a closed arena, where opponents appear out of thin air.

Questions about the combat system arise almost immediately, since the heroine can only perform a regular attack or charge it, as well as roll, and with a perfect roll (performed a split second before the opponent’s strike) an explosion occurs, stunning the enemies around. That’s all at first. Then additional magical abilities open up: you can bind opponents, push them away and pull them to yourself – useful skills that you use to somehow diversify and liven up fights. You can defeat everyone without this, if you often jump back and somersault (after all, the enemies inflict impressive damage).

Upgrade options open up as you progress through the story and obtain the necessary items.

The meager set of moves could still be forgiven, but there are very few enemy types. Even if they differ in abilities, they all look the same – some kind of animated black clots of slime and tree branches. Some hit you with their paws, others spit, others burrow underground – no matter what they do, our winning tactic is always the same: tie them up, hit them a couple of times, push them away, hit them a couple more times. Sometimes in the middle of a fight they gain invulnerability and explode without losing health – just roll away and then continue beating them. Monotonous, monotonous and boring by the fifth fight, and the sight of another fenced arena irritates more and more each time. Against this background, even old-fashioned fights with bosses who have several phases and health bars look more interesting, but they have another problem – they are sometimes drawn out.

***

It is unclear why Compulsion Games has been unable to find a happy medium between graphics and gameplay for so many years – each time there is a strong bias in the same direction. South of Midnight is worth recommending because of its interesting plot based on folklore unusual for video games, as well as beautiful locations – stylized, of course, but this does not change the fact that you want to take screenshots at every step. However, again, I have to make a reservation – externally everything is wonderful, but the gameplay is not impressive at all. It is not annoying and for the most part does not spoil the impression, but I would like to praise it someday, and not just tolerate it as an add-on.

Advantages:

• The folklore of the southern states is wonderfully intertwined with the story invented by the scriptwriters;
• Unusual soundtrack – the lyrics describe the events of a specific chapter;
• Very beautiful locations with plenty of secrets;
• Double jump, glider, wall running and other conveniences make platforming fun.

Disadvantages:

• Monotonous combat system that becomes tiring after just a few battles;
• There are few types of opponents, and those that exist are too similar to each other in appearance;
• Low difficulty.

Graphic arts

The game looks gorgeous – technically it’s not next-gen, but the art is amazing. The idea of ​​stop-motion effect is also interesting, thanks to which the characters in the videos move a little jerkily, as if they were dolls.

Sound

It would be strange if the South of Midnight soundtrack didn’t get any recognition in the awards at the end of the year – there hasn’t been such a close connection between music, story and gameplay for a long time.

Single player game

A linear 3D platformer that plays without frills or surprises – there are no innovations, but it evokes nostalgia for old games. Everything is spoiled by dull battles – remove them or shorten them considerably, and the game would not lose anything.

Estimated time of completion

From 10 to 12 hours.

Collective game

Not foreseen.

General impression

As gorgeous as South of Midnight looks, it seems outdated in terms of gameplay. But for the sake of the story and visuals, it is worth putting up with the primitive combat system and monotony of battles.

Rating: 8.0 / 10

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