What to Expect From South of Midnight

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home November 20, 2024 10 Views 6 Min Read
What to Expect From South of Midnight



Founded 15 years ago, Compulsion Games has been in the industry for a little while now, and its games are renowned for being particularly ambitious. The studio’s debut project was 2013’s Contrast, a puzzle-platformer that was full of heart and charm but was lacking in the gameplay department and suffered from performance issues. 2018’s We Happy Few was a similar story for Compulsion, with critics praising the game’s atmosphere and unique sense of identity, while condemning its gameplay and technical issues. But it seems Compulsion could be on to a winner with South of Midnight.




First announced during the Xbox Showcase in June 2023, South of Midnight immediately stood out for its eponymous southern setting, its folklore inspirations, and its breathtaking art style. Back in June of this year, South of Midnight revealed a gameplay trailer, and it further cemented itself as one of Xbox’s most exciting upcoming projects. South of Midnight is now targeting a 2025 release window, and while there’s a lot Compulsion is keeping secret, there are plenty of features already confirmed for the game.

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What Fans Can Expect From South of Midnight

A Mythical Tale Inspired by Southern Folklore

After a hurricane sweeps through the town of Prospero, Hazel is transported to a fantasy land heavily inspired by the Southern Gothic genre and American Deep South folklore. Hazel finds herself becoming a Weaver, a magic-wielder tasked with fixing this vibrant fantasy world.


Along the way, Hazel will face off against an assortment of bosses, each one inspired by Southern folklore. According to South of Midnight‘s recent previews, these folklore inspirations are the game’s biggest selling-point, and clearly Compulsion’s primary focus. Together with Southern artists and advisors, Compulsion is trying to make South of Midnight as authentic as possible.

For instance, each boss in South of Midnight will be given its own jazz and blues musical accompaniment, complete with lyrics that tell the mythical creature’s story all while the player is engaged in the fight. South of Midnight will also feature a “dynamic narrator” that begins and rounds-out each chapter of the game’s story, giving it an almost fairy tale-like feel.

According to Kinda Funny’s Parris Lilly (who recently visited Compulsion),
South of Midnight
will take around 12 hours to beat.


South of Midnight’s Blend of Soulslike Combat and Platforming

Fans got their first glimpse of South of Midnight‘s gameplay during this year’s June Xbox Showcase. This trailer showed off a few brief snippets of combat and platforming, two elements that recent previews say are the crux of South of Midnight‘s gameplay loop. Players will use Hazel’s magical Weaver abilities to double jump, air dash, and grapple their way through environments, eventually landing in a combat arena.

From what’s been shown so far, South of Midnight‘s combat seems Soulslike in nature, with players needing to dodge sweeping enemy attacks and strike their foe in the resulting window. Though, South of Midnight‘s combat does seem a little more forgiving than the average Soulslike.

South of Midnight’s Handcrafted Art Style

An immediate highlight of South of Midnight from the moment fans first laid eyes on it in 2023 is its vivid, handcrafted art style. Evoking comparisons to movies like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, South of Midnight‘s stylized art direction and stop-motion animation immediately sets it apart from its contemporaries in the gaming space. That being said, despite its stop-motion animation, South of Midnight will apparently still run at 60 FPS.


South of Midnight
‘s stop-motion animation can be turned off for gameplay, though it’ll remain on during cutscenes.

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