South of Midnight review

It feels like we’ve been waiting forever for South of Midnight, the latest game from We Happy Few developer Compulsion Games. Inviting players to explore the mythos and creatures of the Deep South, it’s finally here, and for those who enjoy a good narrative-driven adventure game, it’s likely to be very enjoyable indeed. But repetitive combat and uninteresting powers do bring it down somewhat.

It all begins with a hurricane. And an argument. Preparing to evacuate, Hazel isn’t very pleased that her mother isn’t there to help. And when she does arrive, it’s clear that there are tensions between the two. Then disaster strikes: with Hazel sent to check on the neighbours, her home, and her mother, are washed away by the storm. Hazel does all she can to catch up, but it’s no use; she just can’t keep up.

It’s after she pays a visit to her grandma and discovers that she’s not going to do much to help that Hazel comes across some mysterious instruments. And then she makes a more important discovery: she’s a weaver. Able to see and weave strands, maybe, just maybe, she can save her mother on her own. She’s going to try, anyway, and so sets off on an adventure that will see her encounter various characters, each with traumas of their own.

Needless to say, the story of South of Midnight is one driven by emotion. And it’s captivating from beginning to end. Hazel is a likable protagonist, and in addition to her heart-breaking dilemma, you’ll learn of the other hardships various characters you encounter have gone through. You’ll also make some interesting new friends on your journey, including a talking catfish that is only too happy to take you between locations, providing there’s a safe body of water to travel in.

Don’t go thinking South of Midnight is a modern, open world adventure though. Instead, it’s very much level-based, with the story split up into numerous distinct chapters. Most chapters here require you to move through a fairly linear environment, navigating platforms and other hazards while filling a bottle by completing numerous combat arenas. Once the bottle is full, you’ll then engage in a chase sequence, before using the bottle to remove a knot and either engage in a boss fight or simply resolve a trauma via other means.

The majority of the gameplay here, from running and jumping to using your various weaver powers to manipulate the environment, is quite enjoyable, even though it’s perhaps a little basic. You can even summon and take control of a cute little doll to squeeze through small gaps to activate switches and complete other tasks. It pays to frequently go off the beaten path, too, in order to find collectibles or threads useful for upgrading your health or skills.

It’s just a shame that the powers you acquire on your adventure aren’t a little more interesting. Aside from being able to weave some objects into a physical existence, other powers simply allow you to push and pull objects and warp to specific points in the environment. These change a little when entering combat, but still remain uninspiring on the whole: being able to restrain an enemy for a short while or possess them with your doll is about as exciting as it gets. Combat is the weakest aspect of South of Midnight on the whole.

Put simply, the combat here is ho-hum; it’s not terrible, but you’ll rarely be excited about taking enemies on. Most battles take place in arenas surrounded by prickly stigma, and while new enemies are introduced throughout your journey, there aren’t that many of them on the whole. Aside from your special abilities that operate with cooldowns, you have one basic combo that you’ll be using a lot, and you can dodge out of the way of incoming attacks if you can successfully anticipate them. Aside from that, once an enemy has had its health bar depleted, you can rush in to unravel them with the Y button, causing a mini-explosion that also restores a tiny bit of your health.

Again, the combat isn’t terrible, but it is rather basic and repetitive. Thankfully there are a number of boss fights to mix up the formula that are actually very entertaining. But not all boss fights are made equally: without spoiling things, perhaps the most important of all just asks you to defeat waves of enemies, which you’ll probably be tired of doing by the time you reach it.

It’s unfortunate that the combat of South of Midnight isn’t more exciting, and that the powers you obtain aren’t a little more inventive, because there’s a hell of a lot to like about this otherwise charming action adventure. For a start it’s an absolute feast for the eyes, with some wonderfully-designed locations and characters. Its soundtrack is wonderful, too, with some great vocalised tracks that tie into the game’s story. Throw in an engaging narrative full of interesting characters, and you have a game that’s certainly worth a playthrough.