Summary
- South of Midnight’s gorgeous visuals have it as one of my most anticipated Xbox games of 2025.
- After playing it for myself, I can add the platforming, characters, and world-building to that list of reasons.
- The only thing that didn’t jump out to me is the fairly simplistic combat, which I hope gets deeper and more involved.
I’ve always had a bit of a weird relationship with Xbox. While I’ve owned all of its consoles since day one, PlayStation has always been my go-to for most games and most of the massive series the black box is known for, like Halo, Gears of War, and Forza, have never really been system-sellers for me like they are for others.
Recently though, Xbox has been on a hot streak of completely original and unexpected titles with passion and creativity coming out of the wazoo that ends up being personal all-timers. It happened with Psychonauts 2 in 2022, Hi-Fi Rush in 2023, and I’ve had a gut feeling that South of Midnight would continue that George-core trend for 2025.
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From the moment Compulsion Games’ next title was first revealed as a 3D action adventure with stop-motion inspired visuals and a rarely seen focus on the deep South, I was instantly on board. It was a far cry from its We Happy Few debut and looked like the type of game I’m always shouting that we need more of. That being said, I did have my share of worries as the simplistic-looking combat and all too brief glimpses of platforming kept me from getting too excited.
We Happy Few similarly burned me in the past, as it had an intriguing world and a striking look, but its surprising survival mechanics ended up making it far less interesting to play.
After going hands-on with South of Midnight for just over an hour and getting to see how its good looks weave (you’ll get that in a bit) together with its gameplay, most of those worries have been put to rest. While it previously seemed like the gorgeous art style and intriguing world were going to have a sore back from carrying the whole experience, the satisfying movement has me right back on board the catfish hype train, even if the combat didn’t light my world on fire.
A Worthy Contender For Xbox’s Most Beautiful Game
My preview kicked off by chucking me just ahead of the shallow end in Chapter 3, where Hazel has already started discovering her abilities as a Weaver – magic users who can manipulate the fabric of reality – as she makes her through the swamp to reunite with her mum, Lacey, after losing her to a flash flood.
Even though Hazel was clearly in dire straits and desperate to find evidence that her mum was alive, I couldn’t help myself from stopping to smell the yarrows. Without a doubt, South’s biggest draw is its incredibly unique and frankly jaw-dropping art style which is somewhere between puppetry and claymation.
South of Midnight’s crystal clear style is evident from just one glance, but it’s even more impressive in motion once you get used to the deliberately stop-start framerate. Teeming with crocodiles, turtles, abandoned houses, unusually massive peaches, and distressed spirits hanging around, the Deep South swamp stuns with vivid colours, wonderfully wonky designs, and an impressive amount of detail in every nook and cranny.
Hazel’s animations are a highlight of South’s presentation, including her sprinting and jumping movements that reminded me of how Toy Story’s Woody runs.
Weavers Are Basically Magical Psychonauts, And I’m So Here For It
Although I didn’t get as much chance as I hoped to dive into Hazel’s personality beyond her being a fish out of water with a good heart and a natural desire to help the people she comes across (and a bit of a complex about disappointing people), the other swamp-dwellers I ran into quickly captivated me.
The best of the bunch was a talking catfish (literally named Catfish) who seems to act as Hazel’s teacher when it comes to Weaving, but the chapter’s main focus was helping a former musician named Rhubarb with a tortured past. Similar to a Psychonaut, Weavers are sort of like magical healers as the main use of their powers is to help others deal with trauma and repair their broken bonds.
In the case of Rhubarb, his trauma lay with how he treated his disabled brother Benji and his fall from a sworn protector against bullies to someone who locked him inside a stump, left him to die, and caused his transformation into a tree. Considering how bright South of Midnight looks, I was pleasantly surprised by how dark it got, especially when it all capped off with a heartfelt folk song as Hazel climbed Benji’s branches and healed his pain.
I don’t know for sure, but I’d wager that the beautiful song about Benji was sung by Shakin’ Bones, who was shown off in the game’s reveal trailer.
Running, Jumping, And Gliding Through The Swamp
South of Midnight is mechanically a game of two halves. The first half, and the one that appealed to me the most, is the platforming – but I was a little worried when I started playing and things felt more basic than I expected. That quickly changed, though, as Hazel gradually learned how to double jump, glide, and even run on specific walls towards the end of the chapter.
Hazel feels satisfying to control and the combination of those three core abilities adds a nice rhythm to jumping about. The glide in particular makes South stand out a bit more, as it only slows you down for a second before dropping you to the ground, adding a nice bit of challenge to a tool that could otherwise make things too easy.
Platforming can occasionally feel a little slippy, though, as the boundaries between what can be jumped on and what’ll send you plummeting into the swamp are a little strict. Even when I did fall, though, it was only a brief reset before I was back exploring the world, which is mostly linear but full of optional collectibles and skill-tree points to encourage exploration. Chapter 3 didn’t have too many challenges in store when it came to leaping about, but what I played was enough to get me excited for more.
South Of Midnight’s Combat Is Fine, But I Hope It Gets More Involved
The other half of South of Midnight’s gameplay loop is its combat, which didn’t grab me quite like the platforming and world did. Battles seem to be entirely done in dedicated enemy arenas and the fighting itself is a pretty standard mix of hitting Haints, representations of tortured spirits, as much as possible before they retaliate and then continuing that loop until they’re dead.
The skill tree for combat does look quite extensive, but I’m not sure it includes the one thing I want most – a dedicated block or parry button.
South does have some interesting elements to its combat, like the use of Weaver powers (including pull, push, and freeze equivalents) in between the smacking, and the option to unravel enemies once they’re nearly dead with a snazzy finisher that restores some health. Combine that with how lightning-quick some of Haint’s attacks are, and there’s a bit more to battles than just mashing buttons.
I was surprised at how tough it was to get into the rhythm of South’s enemy encounters, but by the end, I’d figured out my groove and didn’t have much trouble with anything other than wanting to move on to the next platforming section or cutscene. South’s combat is fine so far, but I hope the final game has a bit more variety and challenge to these moments to keep it from feeling like the weaker half compared to platforming.
That sentiment sums up my thoughts on South of Midnight nicely – that I just want to see more. In the case of the world, characters, and platforming, that’s absolutely a good thing since the taste I got has me ready to dive into the swamp. For the combat, though, I hope what I played was just the start and that it has more depth in store to keep South’s gorgeous looks from being all that’s talked about.
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