At first blush, South of Midnight could possibly be described as a traditional action-adventure: a heroine thrust from extraordinary life right into a exceptional journey; magical weapons and talents; capability ability bushes. However spend only a few minutes with it, and that feeling merely floats away. We’ve by no means seen a gaming world fairly like this. In taking part in via its full third chapter, it’s a revelation that strikes many times – this setting, this story, these concepts, even the music are one thing model new, all underpinned by difficult fight and blissful exploration alongside the best way.
The preview begins as our hero, Hazel, has already set off to search out her mom, who’s been swept away by a flood. Earlier than we step into her sneakers, she’s found she’s a Weaver, capable of wield an historical type of magic that enables her to combat and discover by pulling on the once-invisible threads holding actuality collectively. However round her, that actuality appears to be warping. We step right into a Deep South-inspired countryside that Hazel doesn’t acknowledge – and that’s, in locations, actively hostile to her.
Trailers have confirmed us lots of the world and story of South of Midnight, however getting your palms on it reveals the tight, action-focused recreation simmering beneath. As you journey the world, you’ll see shimmering spheres of vitality, refracting gentle like an oil-slicked puddle. Getting into one will see you dealing with off in opposition to Haints, creatures from actual Southern folklore. These creatures are available numerous types – some rush you, pulling off melee flurries, others flee for ranged assaults, whereas some merely pump out grotesque bugs to harry you. It shortly turns into a component of technique to work out which Haint must be taken down first in any given scenario.
South of Midnight doesn’t pull its punches right here. Fight is difficult, typically pitting you in opposition to a number of Haints without delay, every capable of lop off chunks of your health-bar in a single hit. It transforms right into a lean, quick motion recreation in these moments – you’ll flit round shimmering arenas switching up your assaults to manage. Melee combos are the plain fixtures, capable of take down enemies quickest, however leaving you open to follow-ups. You’ll even have magic at your disposal; enemies could be pushed and pulled (you possibly can even fling smaller enemies as an ersatz weapon), or tied down with magical strands.
Upgrades can help you specialize additional – I shortly opted for a passive capability that made tied enemies take extra injury, permitting me to neutralize and take down main threats shortly. Aggression is essential right here – even an ideal dodge turns into an assault, setting off a blast of weaving magic the place you as soon as stood. It’s a fantastic first impression – there’s extra ticking away below the floor of fight than you would possibly anticipate.
And none of that is to talk to the way it strikes. Every character has been constructed to imitate the appears of hand-crafted stop-motion maquettes – in cutscenes, they tackle a stunning, virtually uncanny motion type that echoes the animation classics it attracts from. While you take management, nevertheless, it’s superbly clean, every of your actions reacting to your button presses instantly, by no means dropping the immediacy of an motion recreation. The added artwork is in how easily Compulsion transitions between the 2.
Then there’s the world round these characters. Islands jut out of mangrove swamps, deserted shacks and tumbledown walkways failing to face up to nature’s chokehold round them. Large tangles of thorns block your path, and large peaches bob, gently rotting within the water. Attain increased floor, and also you’ll discover that, regardless of the traversable areas being compact knots of sensible degree design, the world you possibly can see extends far past what you possibly can truly contact, providing a way of big scale to your travels. It’s a thrillingly unfamiliar location for a recreation, all pulled collectively by unbelievable lighting, a low solar casting soupy beams via the knotted treeline and low-hanging mist enveloping you.
Getting round this world is a matter of utilizing your Weaving powers (all of your fight magic can be utilized in exploration, too) – conjuring remnants of the previous again into existence that can assist you platform round, gliding throughout the flooded panorama, and utilizing your powers to push and pull the world round you to uncover paths to hidden particulars. There’s a selected path to comply with (which you’ll be able to be guided together with a click on of the fitting stick), however nooks and crannies maintain improve supplies to your talents, to not point out narrative-widening notes. Understanding your powers, and the clues given by the world round you, will see you spending simply as a lot break day the crushed path as on it.
When you’ve determined to comply with the golden path, nevertheless, you meet Catfish, the sport’s mixed narrator/companion character, who’s presently trapped within the clutches of a humanoid tree – the mission he provides you works on one thing like dream logic. To safe his launch, it’s worthwhile to gather a magic bottle from a bottle tree (you possibly can see one on the sport’s brand), and use it to soak up the latent psychic ache that’s twisting the tree, and the realm round it.
Whereas this may increasingly sound a bit whimsical, the trauma you’re making an attempt to heal is shortly revealed to be spectacularly darkish – with out spoiling something, you’ll slowly be taught the story of how this a part of the world has reworked a daily man right into a horizon-blocking tree via a (tragically shortened) lifetime of torment.
It’s one other aspect of South of Midnight that feels refreshingly new – similar to the fight, this story doesn’t maintain again. Hazel isn’t afraid to swear (let’s face it, you’ll too in case you had been in her scenario), and the tales she uncovers are removed from the fairytales we’re used to. Compulsion Video games has at all times referred to as this a Southern Gothic story, and that’s extremely evident – the tales it tells could be actually bleak, and there’s no flinching from the horror that’s suffused this world. Hazel’s position as a Weaver is to fix what’s damaged – and this world may be very damaged.
However South of Midnight has extra surprises in retailer. Simply as you’re feeling you have got a deal with on the circulation of fight and exploration, the preview enters its remaining phases by turning the tables on you – one thing unkillable begins to chase you, and fight shortly turns to flee. In an exhilarating sequence, the mild platforming you’ve been doing all of a sudden turns into a survival methodology, asking you to string collectively jumps, glides, and wall runs to get again to security. South of Midnight is prepared to shift issues on a dime, altering the type of the sport you’re taking part in below your ft.
The preview’s standout remaining sequence does this yet again. We already knew that each main space within the recreation will function a Legendary Creature – gigantic obstacles drawn from actual folklore, standing in Hazel’s means. However right here, we understand that not all the Legendary Creatures will finish with the anticipated boss battle. You’re finally a healer, not a destroyer, and on this case, that enormous tree you’re aiming to treatment isn’t a menace – it’s simply damage. The climax of this degree sees you scaling your means up, providing an unbelievable view of in all places you’ve simply journeyed, to not kill your goal, however heal its wound.
As you tackle this platforming problem, the sport’s music displays your ascent. All through the extent, you’ll have heard snatches of a track float like mist throughout the soundtrack, however as you climb, that track involves life, telling the story you’ve pieced collectively, providing extra data for each bough you attain. It’s a wedding of gameplay, story, and music in a single second – there’s nothing fairly prefer it.
And that goes for this recreation as an entire – a single degree reveals how Compulsion Video games has created one thing actually distinctive. If there’s a lot that feels new, this early within the recreation, that solely makes its mysteries additional down the road all of the extra compelling.
South of Midnight shall be accessible on April 8, 2025, on Xbox Collection X|S, Xbox App for Home windows PC, Steam and cloud, and arrives on day one with Sport Move. If you wish to immerse your self into the macabre and fantastical world of South of Midnight early, get the Premium Version to play as much as 5 days early, and get entry to digital extras.
South of Midnight Premium Version
Xbox Sport Studios
$49.99
Immerse your self into the macabre and fantastical world of South of Midnight with the Premium Version, which incorporates the total recreation, as much as 5 days early entry, and digital entry (in English) to:
• South of Midnight Artbook
• Unique Soundtrack composed by Olivier Deriviere
• The Boo-Hag Comedian guide by Rob Guillory
• Music Video: Songs & Tales of South of Midnight
• Documentary: Weaving Hazel’s Journey, Director’s Minimize
UNRAVEL THE PAST
From the creators of Distinction and We Pleased Few, South of Midnight is a spellbinding third particular person action-adventure recreation set within the American Deep South.
As Hazel, you’ll discover the mythos and encounter creatures of Southern folklore in a macabre and fantastical world. When catastrophe strikes her hometown, Hazel known as to turn out to be a Weaver: a magical mender of damaged bonds and spirits. Imbued with these new talents, Hazel will confront and subdue harmful creatures, untangle the webs of her family’s shared previous and – if she’s fortunate – discover her approach to a spot that appears like house.
A DARK MODERN FOLKTALE
When a hurricane rips via Prospero, Hazel is pulled right into a Southern Gothic world of reminiscence made actual and should embark on a journey to rescue her mom and safeguard her hometown. On this folktale for contemporary instances, Hazel might want to reconcile the load of household, historical past, and legacy in opposition to her personal identification.
CONFRONT MYTHICAL CREATURES
Wield an historical energy to revive creatures and uncover the traumas that devour them. Forged weaving magic to combat harmful Haints, discover the varied areas of the South, and reweave the tears within the Grand Tapestry.
HAUNTING BEAUTY OF THE GOTHIC SOUTH
Uncover the plush, decayed county of Prospero and its locals. Expertise a crafted visible type, touching storytelling, and immersive music impressed by the complicated and wealthy historical past of the South.
South of Midnight
Xbox Sport Studios
$39.99
From the creators of Distinction and We Pleased Few, South of Midnight is a spellbinding third particular person action-adventure recreation set within the American Deep South.
As Hazel, you’ll discover the mythos and encounter creatures of Southern folklore in a macabre and fantastical world. When catastrophe strikes her hometown, Hazel known as to turn out to be a Weaver: a magical mender of damaged bonds and spirits. Imbued with these new talents, Hazel will confront and subdue harmful creatures, untangle the webs of her family’s shared previous and – if she’s fortunate – discover her approach to a spot that appears like house.
A DARK MODERN FOLKTALE
When a hurricane rips via Prospero, Hazel is pulled right into a Southern Gothic world of reminiscence made actual and should embark on a journey to rescue her mom and safeguard her hometown. On this folktale for contemporary instances, Hazel might want to reconcile the load of household, historical past, and legacy in opposition to her personal identification.
CONFRONT MYTHICAL CREATURES
Wield an historical energy to revive creatures and uncover the traumas that devour them. Forged weaving magic to combat harmful Haints, discover the varied areas of the South, and reweave the tears within the Grand Tapestry.
HAUNTING BEAUTY OF THE GOTHIC SOUTH
Uncover the plush, decayed county of Prospero and its locals. Expertise a crafted visible type, touching storytelling, and immersive music impressed by the complicated and wealthy historical past of the South.
