After two massive releases in the Assassin’s Creed and Monster Hunter series this year, I felt myself in need of something a little smaller to get more intimate with. Something with a little smaller in scope but a whole lot of heart. Enter Compulsion Games with South of Midnight, to provide me with exactly the tonic that I needed.
You play as Hazel, an athletic post high-schooler whom, after one fateful stormy night begins her adventures as a Weaver, an other-worldly individual tasked with weaving back together the very fabric of reality via strands from her magical hooks, whilst uncovering long hidden family secrets and tales of woe, all whilst battling with formidable mythical creatures. Armed with her pair of hooks and an array of spells, you’ll explore the swamps, highways and byways, battling against the Haint (shadowy creatures intent on doing you harm), whilst exploring all the nooks and crannies you can find for Floofs, which are balls of, well, floofy stuff, to expand your powers to battle ever more powerful, monstrous foes.
South of Midnight is primarily a linear game with moments of exploration in wider expanses. You’ll often find yourself looking across at a seemingly inaccessible collectible, only to find yourself doubling back on your trail later and looping back around your own path to grab what seemed impossible only moments before. Traversal is smooth and satisfying, with the track and field trained Hazel effortlessly hopping around the environment, flinging herself through the air one second before wall-running above perilous gaps the next. It’s fast and fluid in a way that is lacking from a lot of its platforming peers. Never is this displayed any better than in the numerous chase scenes you will encounter, forcing you to improve your manual dexterity, all the while being pursued by an unseen assailant. These are the white-knuckle moments that became a stand-out for me the more that I played and, quite frankly, I’d more than happily play a game built solely upon this mechanic alone. Just excellent.
These fever-pitched dashes stand in stark contrast to what is admittedly a much slower start to the game than I might have liked. Eventually the moment to moment pacing feels tightly choreographed, carefully crafted to show off this lush, vibrant landscape and all of its fantastical inhabitants. You’ll stroll slowly through fetid, murky swamps one moment, fog swirling and obscuring the nightmarish silhouettes of gnarled trees in the gloom before hurtling along at dangerously breakneck pace the next, leaping from dilapidated, peeling restaurant signs to filthy trucks half-buried in mud and silt, feet slipping and fighting to find a foothold as you tear away from your unknown pursuer. The Deep South on display here is the Deep South of my imagination, each moment a freeze frame taken straight from “The Princess and The Frog” or “True Detective” whilst simultaneously feeling fresh and new, primarily because it’s not a place that we spend a lot of time exploring in video games and is still a sorely underutilised locale, ripe for exploration.
The visuals themselves are phenomenal, looking a lot like something that Tim Burton might bring to the silver screen after a long weekend lost in the alleys and boulevards of New Orleans. There’s an angular yet slightly pliable look to the world which, which combines with the toggleable stop motion effect (which I loved), and looks like nothing I’ve ever played before. It’s “Coraline” or “The Corpse Bride” but now with added controller inputs. It’s truly spectacular in motion and for that, I can’t forgive the lack of a dedicated photo mode. If ever a release needed this option, it’s right here and is a huge omission.
Combat is Devil May Cry-lite with you being confined to a walled-off area to battle waves of enemies before being allowed to continue your epic journey. With spells for crowd control available alongside your regular combo attacks, there’s a puzzle-like element to each encounter as you choose which foe to prioritise to best ensure your survival amongst the ever growing crowd of Haint. This was my least favourite part of the game as I felt that the skill trees were a little uninspired, with only a few new moves to add to your arsenal being available and some encounters that go on for a little too long. It’s solid and workable, but it’s the exploration of this fanciful world and the diverse cast of outlandish characters that really kept me coming back for more.
This diverse character list is dominated by the primary antagonists of each area. From the multi-limbed Hugging Molly to the enormous alligator Two-Toed Tom, these larger than life fantastical beings are the highlights of the story and act as boss encounters to stand in the way of Hazel’s frantic dash through the bayou. With new mechanics thrown at you during each encounter, these are stand-out moments in a compelling journey. There’s a lot of love been put into the character designs and it shines through in each encounter with these amazing beings.
I’ll always advise that a game be played with headphones on to fully immerse yourself, but here, I’m not asking you: I’m telling you. Get this game cranked right up. Every aspect of the audio in South of Midnight is deserving of a standing ovation. The voice acting is heart-warming, the environmental sounds immersive, and the soundtrack is phenomenal. An eclectic mix of folk songs, southern jazz, and cinematic pieces, this is fantastic work from composer Olivier Derivier that genuinely deserves your attention. Give yourself up to the spirit of jazz and embrace what has become my favourite video game soundtrack of 2025 so far.
Like frosty cold iced-tea on a humid summer’s afternoon, South of Midnight is a refreshing and satisfying action-adventure. It’s a game that has all of the trappings and nostalgia of the classics of yesteryear, yet has all of the bells and whistles you’d associate with modern gaming, combining the best of both of these worlds to create something that feels much larger than the sum of its parts would suggest. It’s not perfect, with combat that can begin to feel a little tiresome by the final act and a skill tree that feels somewhat uninspired as it draws to its conclusion, but these are minor flaws in what is all in all an absolute treat. South of Midnight is the perfect tonic for anyone feeling burnt out on massive open-world adventures and wants a short yet incredibly sweet palate-cleanser. Here’s hoping for yet more epic adventures with Hazel and her mythical companions in the not too distant future.
