Compulsion Games has built a reputation for crafting uniquely atmospheric worlds, blending eerie storytelling with striking art direction. Their breakout title, We Happy Few (2016), showcased a surreal, dystopian vision that left a lasting impression despite its rough edges. With South of Midnight, it’s clear from the very first moments that the studio has not only refined its approach but fully embraced its potential. This Southern Gothic adventure immediately draws players into a hauntingly beautiful world, steeped in folklore and mystery, proving that Compulsion Games has evolved into a powerhouse of immersive storytelling.
South of Midnight follows Hazel, an angsty 19-year-old, after a hurricane devastates her town, sweeping away her home—and her mother. This catastrophe sets Hazel on a journey of self-discovery, loss, and acceptance of her true calling. As she travels through the American South, she learns she is a Weaver, capable of manipulating reality with “Weaving magic” for both traversal and combat. Along the way, she encounters supernatural creatures inspired by folklore and helps people struggling with deep, dark secrets—guiding them toward understanding their own realities. The story in South of Midnight is incredibly dark, touching on themes of death, torture, personal growth, and emotional reckoning.
The emotional weight of South of Midnight had me hooked from the start, in part due to its masterful use of music as a storytelling tool. Much like how the Dark Souls series uses epic, bombastic boss music to elevate key encounters, South of Midnight weaves its soundtrack throughout entire chapters and levels to enhance the emotional impact. When the vocals kick in during pivotal moments, they perfectly underscore the weight of the narrative, making these sequences some of my favourite moments in the game.
“The story in South of Midnight is incredibly dark, touching on themes of death, torture, personal growth, and emotional reckoning.”
And I’m not usually a fan of folk music, but South of Midnight blends its folktale-inspired world with Southern folk melodies in a way that feels incredibly natural. These musical moments typically accompany significant environmental storytelling sequences, adding weight to the world and reinforcing its themes. It’s a testament to Compulsion Games’ ability to craft a deeply compelling narrative experience.
Gameplay is where South of Midnight falters a bit. That’s not to say it’s bad—because it isn’t—but it feels bland when compared to the game’s other strengths. The combat plays like a standard character action game, with simplistic mechanics that don’t evolve much over time. Even when new enemy types are introduced, they are all tackled in the same way. Sure, there are abilities that allow you to deal extra damage or stun enemies, but I never felt the need to switch up my tactics. As a result, combat started to feel repetitive.
Traversal and exploration fare slightly better, mainly because South of Midnight’s art direction is so strong that simply looking at the world is enjoyable. However, much like the combat, traversal mechanics remain fairly static throughout the game. Hazel has access to a double jump, wall run, and glide, but the level design rarely presents interesting ways to use them. Since she is a Weaver, her abilities allow her to summon platforms and glide through the air, but again, these mechanics are never explored in particularly creative ways.
“South of Midnight’s art direction is so strong that simply looking at the world is enjoyable.”
South of Midnight does encourage exploration through its upgrade system. Most of the time, upgrade points are in plain sight as you traverse the world, making them easy to collect. I often used the game’s objective tracker to determine the correct path, then simply explored the other direction, which almost always led to upgrade materials. Occasionally, collecting these rewards required solving traversal challenges, such as zipping between points of light without touching the ground or fighting a difficult group of enemies, but none of these moments were particularly demanding. I just wish the game pushed its traversal and combat mechanics further because every other aspect—its story, music, characters, and art style—feels so fresh and unique.
The lack of excitement in traversal becomes even more apparent during the game’s chase sequences—moments that should be pulse-pounding but instead feel oddly sluggish. The music does its part, ramping up in a thrilling, almost cinematic way, layering in dramatic beats that signal danger and urgency. Hazel, too, sells the tension through her animations and dialogue, clearly panicked as she scrambles to escape whatever threat is bearing down on her. But despite all of these elements working overtime to create a sense of adrenaline, the actual movement feels unresponsive and slow.
Rather than feeling like a desperate sprint for survival, the chases often come across as scripted sequences where success is inevitable as long as you keep moving in the right direction. There’s little challenge in these moments—no dynamic obstacles to force split-second decisions, no real threat of failure, and no increasing pressure that makes you feel like you’re barely escaping by the skin of your teeth. Even when something massive is barreling toward Hazel or when an eerie, supernatural force looms just behind her, the weight of the situation doesn’t translate into the gameplay itself. The pacing remains too steady, lacking that frantic, heart-pounding quality that makes chase sequences in other games so exhilarating.
“South of Midnight’s stop-motion-style cutscenes immediately set it apart, adding a distinct, handcrafted quality.”
Adding mechanics like environmental hazards, destructible paths, or sections where Hazel’s abilities temporarily fail could have given these sequences a much-needed jolt of tension. As they stand, they feel more like extended set pieces rather than true tests of skill or reflexes. It’s a shame because everything else in South of Midnight—its atmosphere, music, and world-building—suggests these moments should be edge-of-your-seat experiences. Instead, they feel like a missed opportunity, moments that visually impress but never fully engage the player in the way they should.
One of the game’s standout features is its art direction. South of Midnight’s stop-motion-style cutscenes immediately set it apart, adding a distinct, handcrafted quality. Initially, the stop-motion effect felt jarring in gameplay, but after an hour or two, I grew to appreciate how it made Hazel and the NPCs stand out against the world around them. It’s a unique choice that enhances the game’s themes, as each character Hazel encounters seems to know more about her world than she does—reinforcing her journey of discovery, growth, and acceptance.
South of Midnight tells a deeply compelling story, brought to life by its striking visuals and incredible use of music as an environmental storytelling tool. It’s a shame that the combat and traversal feel somewhat bland in comparison, but they aren’t weak enough to drag the experience down. The narrative is so gripping, and the atmosphere so rich that it’s absolutely worth pushing through the game’s weaker gameplay elements to experience South of Midnight as a whole.
![South Of Midnight: Premium Edition - Xbox Series X|S [Digital Code]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51lVJzCyLYL._SL160_.jpg "South Of Midnight (Xbox Series X) Review")
- Immerse yourself in the macabre world of South of Midnight with the Premium Edition, featuring the full game and digital access (English only) to the Artbook, Music Video: Songs&Tales, and Documentary: Weaving Hazel’s Journey – Director’s Cut.”
- From the creators of Contrast and We Happy Few, South of Midnight is a spellbinding third-person action-adventure game set in the American Deep South.
