Tahseen South of Midnight Review

Quaint little gothic game set in the deep south with a gorgeous art style, great music, an alright story, but some awful gameplay. I loved the look of the game. The characters and levels have been put together beautify and shows off the charm of the south in such a unique art style. I love the almost hand crafted feel to the characters and the stop motion feel. The game is such a visual treat. The music is another highlight of the game. Its a mix of a few different southern styles and the way the tunes are woven into the gameplay is perfect. Adore the way the music starts off simple and starts to build upon itself as you go through the story and builds to a full blown song once you reach the end of a chapter. The story was just okay for me. Each little chapter has a small story to it, which don't really tie into the main story that well, and it ends up feeling like you're ignoring the all import main quest to mess around. All in all I am happy with the way it ends and wraps all of its loose threads. Now the Cons; Firstly, I wanted more of the south, more folklore, more music, more music, more of the south vibes. Why don’t we see more of Shakin’ Bones and why ain't he got a chance to play “Death don’t have no mercy”. I been waiting for that since 2023 and y’all don’t give him his time in the spotlight. I felt like what we got was a bit lacking and some of the more boring gameplay elements would have done better if there was more history and folktales woven into it. The actual gameplay has to be the worst part of the game itself. The quests boil down to the same thing every time with the same(ish) combat arenas. There is no change or deviation and it gets mind numbingly boring after the 2nd/3rd time. The combat is not fun at all and the parkour segments are janky. Controlling Hazel just feels bad, even with the stop motion setting turned off, she was sliding around the place. Dealing with all that was just a means to an end. I’d definitely recommend it, but more for the vibes and story, not for the gameplay. Give Shakin’ Bones back his solo you cowards – 5/10