South of Midnight [REVIEW] – A Gorgeous Romp Through the Deep South 

Let’s face it, we are absolutely swamped with massive, hundred-hour open worlds these days, and sometimes, you just want to blast through a good old-fashioned adventure without worrying about a never-ending map of fetch quests. And that is exactly what you get with South of Midnight, the latest Xbox first-party title to make its way over to the PlayStation 5, bringing with it an adventure that’s linear, gorgeous, and features one of the best soundtracks I’ve heard for years. 

Check out some screenshots down below: 

The narrative centres on Hazel, a young woman whose life is completely turned upside down when a massive hurricane wrecks her home and sweeps her mother away. Luckily, Hazel discovers that she is a Weaver, which is basically a magical healer of sorts, giving her the confidence and capabilities to venture into a fantastical, gothic version of the American Deep South. The overarching plot is relatively straightforward, but the relationship between Hazel and her mother gives the whole thing a genuinely nice emotional core. The voice acting is brilliant too, with the cast doing a stellar job of making you actually care about what happens to Hazel, her mother, and the supporting cast. 

Visually, the game is an absolute knockout too. It has this brilliant stop-motion-like style to the aesthetic that sees characters move in a slightly disjointed, frame-by-frame manner that contrasts beautifully with the realistic environments around them. And believe me, the environments look great, with players wandering through the likes of murky, atmospheric swamps, grim pig farms covered in muck, and even some truly bizarre nightmare dimensions… yeah, it’s pretty varied, and takes you to some places that you don’t often see in gaming. It is a total feast for the eyes from the very start, making the whole world feel incredibly distinct from anything else on the market right now. 

“South of Midnight’s blend of unique Southern vibes and satisfying manoeuvrability make it a real treat to play on the PlayStation 5.” 

One thing that’s worth noting is that this is a strictly linear journey that’ll take just over ten hours to beat, and you’ll spend that time following a set path, maybe wandering down a tiny side route to grab a collectable or a bit of upgrade currency along the way, before venturing back to where the game wants you to go. It’s something that I really appreciated, so if you want something a bit more easy-going, South of Midnight might be for you. 

Speaking of the gameplay, Hazel gets her new Weaver powers thick and fast, and before you know it, you are double-jumping, air-dashing, and wall-running across the scenery with finesse. Moving around actually feels pretty great, and the platforming sections, combined with some very light puzzle-solving involving your magical push and pull abilities, are genuinely good fun. Admittedly, there’s nothing that you wouldn’t have seen before and some later sections do run out of ideas, but it’s satisfying enough to ensure that platforming is enjoyable from start to end. 

Check out some screenshots down below: 

However, the combat does not quite match up to the movement. You fight demonic creatures known as Haints using a pair of hooks and various magic abilities. The basic idea is sound, as you have to dodge incoming attacks, manage crowds of enemies, and then perform a finisher move on downed foes to get a chunk of your health back. The problem is that it all feels a bit stiff. The animations do not flow into each other naturally, making it hard to build up any sort of satisfying rhythm, and you are mostly just fighting the same few enemy types in small, enclosed arenas, which gets repetitive VERY quickly. It just lacks that special something to make each battle feel worthwhile, and whilst nothing within combat feels broken, it does feel a little underwhelming. 

However, whilst the combat might leave you wanting more, the audio design absolutely will not. The soundtrack is phenomenal and matches the deep southern aesthetic perfectly, whether that’s the tunes that play as you navigate the world or the wonderful boss themes that tie into the battles themselves. Honestly, I can’t praise it enough – I’d heard the soundtrack was fantastic from friends who played the game during its initial Xbox release, but it exceeds the hype completely. 

Developer: Compulsion Games 
Publisher: Xbox Game Studios 
Platform(s): PlayStation 5 (Reviewed), Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, PC 
Website: https://store.playstation.com/en-us/concept/10014874