South of Midnight Reviews
A spell-casting high-school athlete ventures into the heart of southern folklore in this distinct yet uneven action adventure
South of Midnight is ready to offer atmospheric and dark fairy tales of the South, enhancing the effect due to excellent visuals and excellent musical accompaniment. However, Compulsion Games once again failed to support their ideas with interesting gameplay.
Review in Russian | Read full review
South of Midnight's gripping tale is held back.
Elevated by its stop-motion-inspired animation style, South of Midnight is an enthralling experience that avoids open-world bloat to tell a deeply touching tale.
Unfortunately, South of Midnight is saddled with frustrating, unpolished combat and action sequences that become repetitive long before the game’s midpoint. Even with its glaring faults, South of Midnight is mostly worth playing just for the orc-free story and uniquely American characters.
South of Midnight has some incredibly strong storytelling chops, brought together by its stunning visual design and excellent soundtrack. Unfortunately, the experience is bogged down by boring, repetitive combat and lackluster platforming, but it's worth rushing through those parts to experience everything else South of Midnight has to offer.
Luckily, a thing can be beautiful and undercooked in its design at the same time, and South of Midnight is certainly that. I just wish that, much like the spiritual weaver at the heart of this journey, Compulsion Games spent a bit more time better tying up loose ends.
South of Midnight is a decent single player action-adventure, overall and without giving too much weight to the linear gameplay or to some technical and structural limitations. Narratively and artistically it is really intriguing, too bad that from a gameplay perspective it shows much less courage.
Review in Italian | Read full review
I love the story, characters, and world. The unique graphics are gorgeous to look at, and the combat is fun and interesting. Being on Game Pass is just the cherry on top.
South of Midnight has a good story, and is a good action adventure game. It may get a little repetitive at times, but the story keeps you in enough to keep playing. I gave it all the time I could, and maybe it deserves another playthrough, since I walked away asking more questions then I started with. I only need to hear the music once though, I guarantee.
South of Midnight is an intriguing virtual tour of a gothic fairy tale American South and weaves believable stories and characters into a mostly strong narrative (those final hours notwithstanding).
South of Midnight is a good experience, and that's it. Nothing memorable about it, and even its positive aspects fall short of the standards many are accustomed to. In an industry constantly striving to be exceptional and driven by the desire to become the next big thing, Compulsion Games rejects any pretense of doing so, and it's admirable that they're taking this path, but at the same time, the lack of ambition leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. South of Midnight isn't bad, but it's hard to think of anything that makes it interesting.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
South of Midnight may not stand out in many ways, but it's certainly a fantastic tale not to be missed in 2025.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
South of Midnight’s hero’s journey is ultimately an adventure in search of the reasons why those things are important, why we need communion and community, and more specifically how people of color have always built that sense of community when they needed it and always will.
South of Midnight, all things considered, presents itself to the players as the most conventional of action/adventure games, based on a pleasant, if somewhat repetitive, gameplay structure and supported by refined writing and first-rate artistic direction.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Overall, we had a good time with South of Midnight, as the game gives us plenty of options to customize the experience to our needs, such as simply skipping the battles we don't like. If you have a Game Pass subscription, you can also check it out for yourself without obligation, as the title will be available there right from release.
Review in German | Read full review
South of Midnight is a masterclass in picking a theme and sticking to it all the way through. The usage of music as a character world/lore enhancement is one of the best examples out there of what TO do. From the character models, to the music, and beyond; South of Midnight shows how to build a game around a style and committing fully.
South of Midnight is the work of Compulsion Games, a studio whose previous project, We Happy Few, literally tickled the fancy of only a happy few, th...
With an eye catching aesthetic, unique setting, and a refreshing lack of bloat, South of Midnight is an enjoyable narrative driven action-adventure romp of the type we get all too infrequently in the age of live services and open worlds.
With a thoughtful message, soulful world, and beautifully imaginative design to push things along, Compulsion delivers a classic adventure seemingly beyond their weight class with South of Midnight. It's the exact, elusive story-driven diamond in the rough that Xbox has been in search of for generations now.