It’s irritating {that a} sport like South of Midnight, which is clearly full of a lot creativity, is let down by one main aspect that’s creatively bankrupt.
In some ways, it’s successful. By setting the sport within the American Deep South, developer Compulsion Video games has plunged its narrative bucket right into a properly that has been oddly underutilised in video video games, and ended up with a sport that appears visually distinctive in consequence.
Gamers step into the function of Hazel Flood, a younger girl whose trailer is swept downriver in an enormous storm, together with her mom inside it. It quickly turns into clear that there’s extra to the storm that meets the attention, and that Hazel’s hometown of Prospero is teeming with darkish secrets and techniques which can be coming to the fore.
Hazel discovers that she’s a Weaver, which implies she has the flexibility to make use of magic to fix damaged bonds. She does this by confronting the evil spirits she finds round Prospero, and weaving them out of existence. The issue is, she has to do that quite a bit, however we’ll get to that.
First, it’s vital to notice what South of Midnight does properly, as a result of it’s loads. This can be a stunning sport, with some really spectacular landscapes. Once in a while, when the solar hits the bushes excellent, I needed to simply cease for some time and take it in. Compulsion Video games has specialised in additional summary artwork types up to now, however this proves that in terms of realism, it’s no slouch both.
That’s to not say it’s fully deserted its surrealist streak. Hazel and the remainder of the characters within the sport transfer in a stop-motion animation fashion, and when considered carefully throughout cutscenes they seem like made from a extremely polished wooden. The impact isn’t as distracting as you could assume – you barely discover it throughout gameplay, that means it solely actually involves the fore throughout cinematic sections. And if it actually does stick in your craw, you may flip it off throughout gameplay if you want.
Regardless of the intentionally diminished fluidity, the characters’ personalities don’t undergo in consequence. Adriyan Rae – who beforehand starred in NBC drama Chicago Fireplace – carried out each the voice and movement seize for Hazel and is great within the function – if we don’t see her identify listed when The Sport Awards rolls spherical on the finish of the 12 months it’ll be a severe injustice.
At the same time as what’s primarily an especially detailed puppet, the nuances in Rae’s efficiency play out completely in Hazel’s face, making every cutscene genuinely enthralling to look at. This additionally extends to her voicework basically – her supply is great and plausible, as is that of the remainder of the solid.
The audio high quality extends to the soundtrack too. French composer Olivier Deriviere (who composed each A Plague Story video games) has delivered an exquisite rating, throwing in parts of blues, jazz and nation for an ideal melting pot of all issues Southern tradition.
Deriviere mentioned final month that “this sport is singing with the participant”, and because of him that is literal at occasions. The sport is split into round six or seven separate tales, every telling the darkish story of one among Prospero’s residents. As Hazel finds extra about every story, the music begins so as to add layers, with occasional lyrical snippets combined in. By the point you attain the ultimate a part of that story, your gameplay is accompanied by a full music. The lyrics aren’t going to provide Ivor Novello award nominees any sleepless nights, however it’s an efficient gimmick.
It’s these tales that each spotlight South of Midnight’s strengths, and are dwelling to its best weak point. The final gameplay loop, for essentially the most half, has every story beginning with Hazel armed with an empty bottle. As she clears every part of the blight that’s infecting it, she’ll witness a part of the character’s backstory, after which she collects the reminiscence in her bottle. As soon as the bottle is full, she’s chased by a darkish shadow – cue a platforming part – till she reaches a bottle tree, the place she will free the darkish reminiscence and restore a part of Prospero.
By itself there’s nothing significantly fallacious with this set-up, and the tales themselves are fairly hard-hitting. This can be a sport that offers with dying, and infrequently in its most tragic sense with lots of the instances involving the deaths of kids, mother and father, home abusers or these with psychological well being situations. Nevertheless it’s additionally a sport that tries to convey hope to those that must proceed dwelling with the aftermath of those deaths, and in that sense it’s a plot that – whereas rightly launched with a number of set off warnings – is dealt with in a comparatively tactful method.
The difficulty isn’t the tales themselves, then, however the predictable method through which they’re navigated. It’s nearly all the time the identical scenario – run right here, kill some enemies, fill the bottle, run there, kill extra enemies, fill the bottle, run away from the shadow, boss struggle – and by the fourth or fifth time it’s far outstayed its welcome.
“It’s nearly all the time the identical scenario – run right here, kill some enemies, fill the bottle, run there, kill extra enemies, fill the bottle, run away from the shadow, boss struggle – and by the fourth or fifth time it’s far outstayed its welcome.”
It additionally doesn’t assist that the fight is by far the weakest facet of the sport. Hazel is armed with a handful of Weaver powers which allow her to make use of magic to stun enemies, pull them in the direction of her, push them away or possess them together with her creepy little doll Crouton (which has come to life, as a result of positive). It’s completely serviceable however by no means thrilling.
Extra annoying is that this fight by no means occurs spontaneously as you’re exploring the world – it’s all the time strictly restricted to particular areas. It’s all the time blatantly apparent once you’re about to enter a struggle as a result of it’s all the time launched with an open, round patch of land forward of you (even when you’ve been strolling by means of slender lanes beforehand).
You understand for a undeniable fact that as quickly as you stroll into this space, the circle might be closed off and also you’ll must defeat all of the enemies in there earlier than you may proceed. These enemies solely are available in round 4 or 5 varieties, and the one distinction as you progress by means of the sport is that you simply face off towards progressively extra of them every time.
I don’t like making an attempt to second-guess builders, however it nearly appears like Compulsion didn’t actually wish to put fight in South of Midnight in any respect, however added a number of of those round mini-arenas into every stage to increase the sport’s length to round 8-10 hours. Even the talent tree is underwhelming, as not one of the upgrades we utilized felt like they had been making a serious distinction to Hazel’s skills.
It’s infuriating, as a result of the sport is fantastic in virtually each different facet, however these fight sections arrive with such frequent regularity that they’re always interjecting after they’re not wished, a recurring third wheel within the relationship between the participant and the plot. That the sport has some genuinely spectacular boss battles all through however decides that the sport ought to finish (with out spoiling the story) with yet another batch of normal enemies to defeat feels nearly like a figuring out joke.
I actually do suggest you check out South of Midnight no matter this. It presents a setting, characters and material that aren’t continuously explored on this medium, and all the pieces is introduced so splendidly that it completely deserves your consideration. A lot as I detest the time period “an amazing Sport Cross sport”, it really is worthy of some nights of your life when you’re subscribed to Microsoft‘s service. It received’t go down as a traditional, nonetheless, as a result of whereas its fashion can’t be questioned, its insubstantial substance definitely can.
