Art is at its best when it provides more than just a portal to another world. When done right, it can provide insight into other cultures, other ways of life, and can create broader understanding of the millions of different people that live around the world. All forms of media have explored this concept, and video games are no exception.
This brings me neatly onto South of Midnight, the latest game from Compulsion Games. The developers are known for psychedelic adventures such as We Happy Few and Contrast. Its latest game combines its established style with a deep exploration of Southern folklore, trauma, loss, and the love that connects us, all wrapped up in a cross between an action game and a platformer.
I had no expectations going into South of Midnight. I wasn’t sure how the game would play, what the story would be about, who the characters were, or even what the premise was. After nearly ten hours, I was blown away by how well the game handled its source material and how engaging the narrative was. While South of Midnight has some flaws with its gameplay, my expectations were consistently surpassed at every turn.
A Deep Story in the Deep South
South of Midnight begins in the throes of a hurricane. You play as Hazel, a young woman who feels a void in her heart due to the loss of her father. It’s to the point where even her mother, Lacey, is a small comfort. Her frustrations are put on pause as Lacey is swept away by the storm and goes missing. No matter how fast Hazel runs, she is unable to catch her as a mysterious creature takes her further into the darkness.
While finding a way to try and save her, Hazel discovers these mysterious artifacts that allow her to tap into a latent “weave” that surrounds her. She harnesses this weave to become a Weaver, capable of unravelling the hidden traumas of the past and stop the monsters, also known as Haints, that are terrorizing the deep south. Along her journey, she’ll encounter allies, enemies, and creatures that walk the line between both as she tries to save her mom.
South of Midnight‘s story feels almost like something right out of a fairy tale. Each chapter is relayed via a storybook format, and it works extremely well for this narrative. There’s a great blend between myth and reality as Hazel walks into a world that is both familiar yet far beyond her understanding. There is magic, monsters, and folklore brought to life, but Hazel manages to adapt quickly to it without feeling like a fish out of water.
Speaking of Hazel, she’s a very charming protagonist. She’s stubborn, a little naive, but above all else, she genuinely wants to help people. Her ultimate goal is to save her mom, but she isn’t willing to sit by as the trauma of the people around her are physically manifested into monsters. She’s empathetic to their issues and is prepared to do whatever it takes to save strangers and loved ones alike. Adriyan Rae did a great job of bringing her character to life.
One of my favorite character moments for Hazel comes with the introduction of her plushie, named Crouton, who is brought to life by magic. Crouton is an absolutely adorable little creature, and it is a great insight into the character of Hazel, who is willing to find joy in a plushie that is quite hideous to the average person. She’s not too bitter or too cocky, compared to other similar protagonists. I loved her character and enjoyed getting to see her journey progress.
Unfortunately, some of the other characters don’t really have the same level of development as Hazel. Hazel’s mother is barely present for most of the game, Hazel’s grandmother, Bunny, is an almost comically suspicious character, and the Catfish that accompanies Hazel isn’t really given much of a broader story beyond being a shoulder for her to metaphorically lean on.
Even the characters I did like, such as Laurent, aren’t really given any time to shine. This applies to one of my favorite characters in the game, Roux, played by Ahmed Best. He is constantly built up to be a force to be reckoned with, but he only has about thirty minutes or so of screen time. You almost get the sense that there is a lot of cut content, especially considering the abrupt note that the game ends on.
Where the story of South of Midnight shines is how it brings the culture of the Deep South to life. All of the terms and concepts, such as Haints and Weavers, are pulled and adapted into this story in a way that feels faithful and respectful. If you watch some of the behind-the-scenes videos created by Compulsion Games, you can feel that love in every ounce of the game, from its narrative to the music, to the art style, to, of course, the gameplay.
How do the gameplay and presentation hold up, then? While the visuals and backing music tracks are fantastic, the gameplay is sorely lacking, save for a few fun moments here and there.
Beautiful Style, Repetitive Mechanics
To start with, the visuals of South of Midnight are absolutely beautiful. It blends the hand-crafted stop-motion style of media like Coraline with the aforementioned southern folklore. I did notice some small frame drops and moments where the screen was kind of blurry, but that’s likely due to the fact that I played the game on the Xbox Series S. The style of South of Midnight manages to create something new out of something old, which is sort of a theme with the rest of the game, for better and for worse.
Another example of this approach is with music. The soundtrack, composed by Oliver Deriviere, blends the many genres born in the South. This includes the Blues, Jazz, Country, and so on. It’s a soundtrack that frequently works in tandem with the player’s actions, and oftentimes sings directly to them in order to further expand the game’s world and its characters. It works great and is one of my favorite soundtracks in 2025 so far.
As for the gameplay of South of Midnight, that’s where things get tricky. It’s a game that is based around facing frequent encounters in a small arena against waves of enemies before ending the encounter by unraveling the mass of the contained traumas of the people around you. In between these encounters, you will often have to platform across areas in order to get to your next destination and progress the story.
In theory, this system works. The blend between platforming and action-packed encounters has been done before in games like Prince of Persia, and it’s worked pretty well in the past. Further, especially in the early game, a lot of the combat encounters are fairly enjoyable. It’s fun dodging around enemies and using various magical attacks to unravel them within moments. It’s exciting and quite satisfying at certain points. However, after a while, a lot of problems begin to reveal themselves with this formula.
For one, a lot of the gameplay encounters get extremely repetitive after a while. They aren’t really paced too far apart, so you’ll often run into encounters every five to ten minutes. Even the introduction of new opponents doesn’t really change the formula all too much, as you’ll frequently be dodging the same types of enemies, using the same forms of magic, and employing the same strategies in order to prevail.
Additionally, upgrades aren’t very sparse either. While you will often get the XP you need to acquire skills, these skills don’t create any variety in combat encounters. Plus, due to the increased XP cost for acquiring these skills, you will likely be unable to buy all of the skills in your first playthrough. While this would be a great incentive for a second playthrough, there really isn’t any clear reason to replay the game a second time.
Easily the most frustrating part of South of Midnight‘s gameplay, though, is the platforming. While I did like the inclusion of a glider, a grappling hook, a double jump, and other details, the obstacles you face on your path are far too infuriating to ignore. Halfway through the game, you’ll see a lot of spiked thorns. While these are pretty normal for a platformer, what isn’t normal is the sheer frequency of the thorns.
They will pop up everywhere, whether it’s in boss battles, moments where you take direct control of Crouton, or in puzzles. Sometimes they are borderline invisible, and I was left jumping around frantically with no idea why I was taking damage. It made certain areas feel extremely frustrating, which certainly wasn’t helped by the aforementioned tedious combat encounters. Unfortunately, there were also a few technical issues here and there, such as crashes. Thankfully, these instances were fairly rare.
As a whole, South of Midnight‘s gameplay is quite annoying for most of its runtime. The combat encounters are tedious, and the roadblocks you encounter in the platforming feel arbitrary and downright unfair. That said, it doesn’t get in the way of how great the presentation is, especially in regards to its music and visuals. The entire game, despite some small stumbles, is still a great work of art.
A Love Letter to Southern Folklore
In modern-day games, representation feels like it’s become a taboo word. People push back against it for one reason or another, but every once in a while, a work of art comes along that reminds you why it matters. There’s something so powerful about seeing yourself, whether it’s a person who looks like you, acts like you, or has very similar conflicts as you, being adapted with reverence and care for the world to see. South of Midnight is one such work of art.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s certainly flawed. For instance, there are a few major technical issues here and there, the combat is quite repetitive, and the platforming is often more frustrating than it is fun. I also wish that certain characters got more time to shine. At the end of the day, though, all of these issues pale in comparison to how brilliant the rest of the game is.
The story is a brilliant tribute to southern folklore and the culture of the Deep South. The characters are mostly engaging, with both Hazel and Roux standing out from the rest. The visuals are absolutely gorgeous and help to further add to the storybook-esque theme that the game is going for. Finally, the music is beautiful and frequently left me with the desire to listen to certain tracks over and over again.
I loved my time spent with South of Midnight. It’s a game that may not appeal to everyone due to its gameplay mechanics, but I implore you to at least give it a try. It’s a fantastic representation of some of the people, cultures, and other ways of life you may find around the world.
I was truly moved by how well Compulsion Games managed to adapt the heart of the Deep South in a way that felt respectful. It reminded me why I enjoy playing video games in the first place: not just because I can be transported to another world, but because I get to see the world and the people in its most beautiful and honest form.
