Deep South magic meets moody mayhem.
When I first saw early footage for South of Midnight, I was blown away by the game’s visual identity. A hand-painted Southern Gothic aesthetic, stop-motion-inspired animation, and a whole mood dripping from every scene. I was hooked. Then it kinda vanished off the radar... until it quietly dropped on Xbox Game Pass.
Naturally, I jumped in and streamed the first two chapters via Xbox Cloud Gaming. Performance-wise? Surprisingly stable. Though there was a tiny delay in sound effects — like landing from a jump — that I couldn’t tell was lag or an intentional design choice. Still, that didn’t stop me from getting pulled into this weird, witchy, beautifully broken world.
You start off packing to evacuate a hurricane. Your Mum’s late coming home. You check on the neighbours… and then all hell breaks loose. It throws you straight into the chaos with barely time to blink — but it works. I’m hooked, and I genuinely want to see where Hazel’s story goes.
There are clear nods to other games here. Movement follows the usual third-person setup — ramps, ledges, shimmies, and chaotic set pieces where everything’s flying around — but here, it’s paired with floaty jumps and movement that don’t feel as grounded as I’d like.
Combat takes a swing at being God of War-lite, with quick slashes using your dual hook-style weapons, plus an “unravel” move that rips the essence out of enemies into floating orbs. Navigation’s handled by a whisp mechanic — tap R3 and a ghostly gust points you in the right direction (very Ghost of Tsushima).
Then come the magical abilities — the first lets you “paint” objects back into existence (shoutout to Epic Mickey) to progress the level. There are loads of spell slots still locked, and I’m very curious how they’ll shake things up.
It started off rinse-and-repeat… then I got a spell and went, ohhh okay, there’s more to this.
The problem? The red vine mechanic. You clear enemies, the red vines disintegrate, and you move on. And already — just two chapters in — it feels repetitive. It reminds me of Kena: Bridge of Spirits or even Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s duller loops. Fingers crossed the magic system keeps evolving.
The soundtrack slaps — that’s it, that’s the takeaway. From bluesy licks to swampy undertones, the score does so much heavy lifting. It’s atmospheric, emotional, and perfectly tuned to the Deep South setting.
The voice acting also punches above its weight. No wooden performances here, so far — everyone sounds lived-in, with a distinct cadence and character that makes the world feel alive.
It’s absolutely gorgeous. The stop-motion-style animation (which you can toggle off) adds flair to every movement, and there’s a hand-painted quality to characters and environments that makes it stand out. Visually, this game stands on it's own — and that’s a win.
The early tutorial screens are loud. You’ll be mid-hurricane chaos, and suddenly — full-screen instructions like “press Y to interact” or “move the camera with R.” It’s a vibe killer, especially when a little HUD prompt would’ve done the trick (which is still there after the full-screen instruction is gone).
We get it, not everyone’s a seasoned gamer… but this feels like a bit much.
That said, once you hit Chapter 2 and start unlocking new spells, combos, and more complex systems, the full-screen guidance actually becomes useful. Just wish the game trusted us a little more early on — the immersion hit is real.
✅ Gorgeous art style with that stop-motion flair
✅ Soundtrack slaps — full of bluesy, swampy vibes
✅ Magic abilities show real potential to mix things up
❌ Combat loop gets repetitive
❌ Traversal feels floaty
❌ Tutorial screens break immersion early on
After two chapters, I’m definitely intrigued. The soundtrack, visuals, and promise of deeper magical systems are doing the heavy lifting right now. But the repetitive enemy-vine-clear mechanic needs to evolve quickly before it starts to drag.
South of Midnight is available now on Xbox Series X|S and PC, and included with Game Pass.
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