South of Midnight
MSRP $40.00
“South of Midnight is a tremendous display of artistry, even if its gameplay doesn’t hit the same heights.”
Pros
Heartfelt story
Striking artwork course
Incredible music and sound
A compact journey
Cons
The again half drags
Repetitive construction
Combat will get outdated quick
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
There’s no place like Prospero
Sights and sounds
A so-so journey
In the quiet city of Prospero, the Southern American setting of South of Midnight, the pains of the previous depart a everlasting mark. Trauma isn’t a scraped arm that fixes itself after a couple of days; it’s a seen scar that may not heal by itself. It lives within the soil. It soaks into the bushes by means of their roots. It thickens the swamp water and buzzes within the air alongside the mosquitos. If left untreated, it’s certain to get contaminated.
Developer Compulsion Games explores that concept in its newest action-adventure title, one which’s as invested in inventing a magical realist fantasy as it’s diagnosing an sickness in America’s actual deep South. The specters of poverty and inequality lurk within the shadows like timeless folktale monsters. Prospero’s residents dare not say their names out loud; anybody who does finally ends up immortalized in a stray notice left behind in an deserted residence. Rather than hiding from that darkness, South of Midnight acknowledges that we will’t remedy issues by ignoring them and assuming they’ll naturally resolve with time. We have to assist our communities heal so the sweetness inside them can proceed to blossom.
South of Midnight is a weighty journey that pays tribute to the deep South with astonishing artwork, impeccable sound design, and one of the best music you’ll hear in a online game this 12 months. It’s an emphatic journey about connecting with our most susceptible neighbors after they want it most fairly than leaving them to endure alone. The creative craft on show is unimpeachable, although the complete package deal is weighed down by the calls for of an enormous style recreation that Compulsion isn’t absolutely capable of sustain with.
There’s no place like Prospero
In a gap not so dissimilar to The Wizard of Oz, South of Midnight opens with a storm. Hazel, a teenage monitor star, and her mom are making ready to evacuate their small, rickety residence when the 2 butt heads amid the strain. Next factor , the home is swept away right into a raging river, separating the 2 ladies. After discovering that she has thread-controlling Weaver powers, Hazel units out on a journey by means of Prospero to trace down her mom (and their misplaced residence) and reconcile along with her earlier than it’s too late. That candy and easy mother-daughter story makes up the story’s central artery, however blood pumps into its coronary heart from a number of instructions.
The narrative’s actual draw is broader, as Compulsion makes use of its fictional city to discover the very actual struggles of the deep South, notably centered on the Black communities inside it. Prospero is a quiet bayou city the place historical past could be felt in its bones. The streets are lined with rundown homes which have been repossessed from households which are nowhere in sight. Scattered notes paint a damning image of the exploitative factories on the outskirts of city which have labored Prospero’s residents to the bone for little pay and unsafe working circumstances. Local eccentrics dwell on the perimeters of society like outcasts, all whereas holding in many years’ value of non-public tragedy.
Compulsion Games
It’s a magical realist setting stuffed with monsters impressed by Cajun folklore, however there’s a sobering actuality below all of the fantastical layers. This isn’t to date off from actual cities within the American South the place residents have been left to fend for themselves by a authorities that’s eager to fake that the injustices of the previous are historical historical past. It’s a primarily Black group the place you’ll be able to nonetheless really feel the long-term results of racial injustice. The story not often calls express consideration to these historic undertones, however you’ll be able to really feel how exhausting generations have labored to rebuild Prospero right into a protected haven with no assets.
Hazel’s story is as a lot about reconnecting along with her mom as it’s studying to be part of that group. The recreation’s 14 chapters take her to completely different components of city the place she encounters native legends tied up in tragedy. Exploitation, demise, and kidnapping nonetheless hang-out the folks of Prospero, typically manifesting as people creatures just like the Rougarou. Hazel isn’t simply tasked with slaying monsters, together with a military of Haints which have sprouted up round city; her job is to hearken to those that have been left to endure in silence. Each chapter is about giving empathy to those that desperately want it and utilizing Hazel’s Weaver powers to bandage wounds which have been left to fester.
Those tales, these locations, this historical past — all of it deserves a spot on heart stage.
A standout instance of that comes early on as Hazel should assist out a large catfish that has discovered itself ensnared within the branches of an unlimited tree. What begins out as a regular online game mission filled with platforming quickly reveals itself to be the tragic story of Benjy, a baby whose brother left him to die within the trunk of a tree. It’s South of Midnight’s central metaphor: the unresolved ache of a group has been baked into bark that towers over the city. It’s not simply the folks of Prospero who need assistance therapeutic, however the land itself.
The voice solid works exhausting to promote these emotions, absolutely committing to the setting. Adriyan Rae specifically owns her position as Hazel, placing forth spunk and compassion in equal measure. You really feel like she’s somebody who actually cares about her city and desires to deal with her personal, even when she’s nonetheless a teenage wiseass at coronary heart.
South of Midnight’s story does begin to unravel round its midway level. Hazel’s relationship along with her mom takes an excessive amount of of a backseat round that time, as the journey appears extra invested in paying visible homage to New Orleans and different pockets of the area. It all wraps up just a little abruptly contemplating how emotionally charged the primary half is. It’s a second the place I’m left to query whether or not or not the mission is a bit an excessive amount of of a sightseeing journey for Compulsion, a studio based mostly out of Canada. There’s sufficient sensitivity right here, although, to dispel that fear. The studio creates a fictional city right here that feels rooted in authenticity. It’s the sort of story that massive finances video video games have not often, if ever, dared to inform. Those tales, these locations, this historical past — all of it deserves a spot on heart stage.
Sights and sounds
Though South of Midnight’s story is rooted in deep-seeded trauma, Compulsion’s goal isn’t to take pity on the South. Instead, it seeks to rejoice the wealthy tradition and historical past of the area. That comes by means of in artwork, music, sound, and many references to nice artwork of the realm. All of the literary references that ought to have been in Split Fiction are right here as an alternative, with homages to Flannery O’Connor, Zora Neale Hurston, William Faulkner and extra. The story itself performs out like a tribute to Daniel Wallace’s Big Fish, fusing Southern gothic with the sort of magical realism that’s well-suited for a larger-than-life online game journey.
Compulsion Games
You can really feel the real admiration for the South from the breadth of movie and literary references, and that very same care is baked into each step of the inventive course of. The most placing instance of that’s South of Midnight’s artwork model, which pulls its inspiration from stop-motion animation (whereas nonetheless sustaining a clean framerate on high of an “animating on twos” impact). It’s not only a flashy gimmick; it’s what the story requires. Compulsion tells a human story right here the place you’ll be able to really feel the imprint of historical past’s thumb in each nook of the world. There’s no higher strategy to seize that than by referencing a medium outlined by its hand-crafted ingredient. These aren’t robotic belongings copied and pasted all through the world. Everything, from Hazel’s face to quilts draped over banisters, feels prefer it was made by hand. The impact doesn’t fairly go so far as Harold Halibut, a 14-year mission painstakingly made by means of photogrammetry, however Compulsion does a formidable job of mimicking the medium in 3D.
There’s a degree of element right here that I’ve not often seen video games prefer it obtain. Every single nook of Prospero appears like a definite area. Houses aren’t simply copied and pasted buildings reused in every chapter. Each one has a wholly completely different format, cluttered with objects and recollections that inform a narrative. A ratty mattress shoved below a staircase tells me precisely how one household was residing. Other areas I go to have partitions coated in crosses or household pictures. I can really feel the individuals who have been left behind all over the place I am going. They are at all times with me.
While that artwork is bound to show heads, sound is South of Midnight’s secret weapon. That begins with its phenomenal unique rating, which fuses rustic people music, massive band jazz, and gospel to create a online game soundtrack in contrast to any I’ve heard at this scale. It’s an ever-changing ode to the music of the South that fluidly bounces between lonely banjo twanging and the sort of exuberant orchestral showtunes that you simply’d anticipate out of a 90s Disney film.
By preserving issues slim, Compulsion is ready to put extra care into every thing it touches …
What’s extra spectacular is the quiet moments. Usually once I stand nonetheless in a online game, there’s not an excessive amount of to listen to. Maybe I’ll catch a little bit of atmosphere noise and a fowl or two, but it surely tends to be simply sufficient background noise to create a way of area. South of Midnight, then again, understands that nature is an orchestra. When I stand nonetheless right here, I can hear a thick pack of mosquitos buzzing by means of the air, birds squawking within the distance, a frog croaking at my toes. When I shut my eyes, I can really feel the atmosphere. The swamp air fills my lungs. The warmth of the bayou solar touches down on my pores and skin. I can see the golden yellow mild illuminating the useless grass. Video video games merely don’t sound like this, and I don’t know if I’ll ever be capable to hear one thing like Assassin’s Creed Shadows the identical method once more after this.
I’d wager that plenty of these strengths come from South of Midnight’s compact scope. It isn’t attempting to be an unlimited, open-ended journey with tons of area to discover. While that at all times sounds extra releasing for gamers, it tends to be restrictive for the artists who must fill the canvas. The greater the sport, the much less hand-crafted it tends to really feel. Assets are reused, music repeats, cost-saving methods are applied. By preserving issues slim, Compulsion is ready to put extra care into every thing it touches in order that it may possibly convey the South to life in a method that feels considerate and genuine.
A so-so journey
The artistry of all of it is outstanding, however Compulsion runs into battle when attempting to stability its creative ambitions with what’s anticipated of an action-adventure online game of this scale. This is the most important mission the studio has ever produced and I can really feel that inexperience rear its head right here and there. That isn’t to say that South of Midnight isn’t a superbly fantastic action-adventure recreation. It is, even when it’s not striving to be mechanically ingenious. It’s extra that Compulsion struggles to string some good concepts by means of a full 12 hour story.
Gameplay performs out as a standard third-person journey recreation. Hazel can double soar and air sprint from platform to platform, sometimes clamoring up painted cliffs like Nathan Drake. It’s a simple, linear journey system — and it’s becoming for the story. South of Midnight is supposed to really feel like a timeless folktale. It is smart for it to play out like a foundational journey recreation, one thing that feels canonical. While taking part in, I used to be introduced again to style classics like Beyond Good and Evil that have been capable of absolutely transport me to a different place with out leaning too closely on the idea of “immersion” to create bloated worlds. This is equally laser-focused, like a story sprung out of a storybook’s pages.
I discovered myself wishing that Compulsion had taken every thing right here and compressed it into one heck of animated movie as an alternative.
It’s simply the execution that doesn’t absolutely convey that imaginative and prescient collectively. What initially feels refreshing turns into formulaic by the second half. Chapters have me amassing recollections in bottles, preventing by means of repetitive enviornment fights with Haints, and working by means of an occasional platforming gauntlet the place I inevitably must wall run and skirt round thorny vegetation. As quickly as I may establish the sample, the in any other case pure world started to really feel too mechanical for its subject material.
Combat is the first subject. Every battle drops Hazel right into a spherical enviornment the place a couple of completely different sorts of Haints spawn in. She can hit her enemies with primary slashes, but additionally use her Weaver powers to bind enemies, thoughts management them along with her trusty doll companion, push them away, or drag them nearer. I discovered a terrific circulation within the early chapters as I realized how you can use my powers to create distance between enemies, fastidiously timing my ending maneuver to unravel a foe and get a little bit of well being. There’s just a little little bit of Kena: Bridge of Spirits, Hogwarts Legacy, and even Doom in right here, which provides fight encounters a terrific sense of (literal) push and pull.
There aren’t sufficient methods right here to maintain the quantity of fights that really feel needlessly crammed in right here, although. I had realized nearly each trick I may within the first third, with just a few further expertise to unlock that principally buffed the effectiveness of my expertise. It feels completely satisfying to yank Hazel in direction of an enemy, bind it in thread, hit it with a couple of slashes, and repel it right into a wall to get some separation, however that loop by no means actually adjustments, even because it introduces beefier Haints that simply require extra slashing to defeat. The solely reprieve is available in a handful of exhilarating boss fights, like a conflict with Two-Toed Tom, a large gator who gnashes at me with its jaws as I attempt to stun it with the ring of a church bell.
Compulsion Games
The extra the second half dragged, the extra I wanted that South of Midnight wasn’t constrained by its action-adventure recreation wants. It is doing a lot to set itself aside from its friends in its sound, artwork, and narrative, however a lot of its gameplay feels compulsory. There needs to be fight, and many it, to meet the “action” half of the style. My Weaver powers have for use to gather a whole lot of Floofs from the identical few environmental puzzles that get me to stroll off the crushed path and lengthen the runtime. Even at a brisk 12 hours, the journey feels longer than it’s because it drags me by means of the motions. Sometimes, I discovered myself wishing that Compulsion had taken every thing right here and compressed it into one heck of animated movie as an alternative.
I’m glad that it didn’t, although. South of Midnight is daring for one thing of its scale, placing its religion in gamers’ need for video video games that replicate actuality fairly than shrink back from it. As fantastical because it all is, it is a story meant to tug us nearer to the very actual struggles that individuals in forgotten pockets of America face. It needs gamers to confront wealth inequality fairly than use it as toothless set dressing. It needs us to think about how Black communities are sometimes left behind. It needs us to simply accept that America’s darkish historical past isn’t a distant reminiscence, however a illness that can proceed to mutate till we take significant steps to make amends. It is a therapeutic course of that requires human arms.
Just as a cease movement determine can’t stroll with out somebody there to articulate its limbs, our world stops shifting the second we resolve that it doesn’t want us to assist it anymore.
South of Midnight was examined on Xbox Series X.