South of Midnight Reviews
South of Midnight is an impressive narrative feat from Compulsion Games. It's a well-paced adventure that goes big on characters and story, though combat and platforming feel a bit uniform. I hope it's not the last we've seen of this world and these characters.
South of Midnight features a well-told and gorgeously animated story that is worth experiencing. Its mythological Deep South setting is a joy to see depicted so lovingly, and its unique combat keeps the game fun. While it’s not Xbox’s best PS5 outing, as it can get slightly repetitive, action-adventure game fans will want to check it out.
I've had a lot of fun exploring South of Midnight, and with the credits rolling just after 12 hours, it's a story I recommend others embark on.
Despite its fantastic visuals, superb voice acting, and a gorgeous, intriguing world filled with character and charm, South of Midnight sadly falls flat. A lack of variety in enemy types and some dull combat make combat encounters tedious and frustrating towards the end, whereas the story, which starts off so promising, ultimately gets lost in the hollers along the way.
It presents a setting, characters and subject matter that aren’t frequently explored in this medium, and everything is presented so wonderfully that it absolutely deserves your attention. Much as I loathe the term “a great Game Pass game”, it truly is worthy of a few nights of your life if you’re subscribed to Microsoft‘s service.
A spell-casting high-school athlete ventures into the heart of southern folklore in this distinct yet uneven action adventure
A fantastic setting and an exceptional soundtrack provide a fantastic experience for South of Midnight. Compulsion Games has capitalized on an untapped Southern Gothic Folklore setting. The stories of tormented citizens of the past and present are well presented and can strike a nerve for the weak-willed. For those looking for something unique wrapped in a familiar gameplay package, South of Midnight shouldn't be missed.
Few games this generation will ship with better presentation than South of Midnight in motion, with outstanding visuals, audio, and all the vibes of a Deep South setting. The game itself quickly runs out of ideas, making the act of actually playing it less exciting than you'd like. However, those stunning graphics, soundtrack, and inspirations still manage to carry the title to a mostly satisfying finish line.
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 |
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 a fun and charming action-adventure game that features a beautiful, unique, and tear-jerking world steeped in Southern US folklore.
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