Comforting level design choices, a lovely and narratively insightful soundtrack, and a compelling story make South of Midnight an experience worth having. Its exploration of the American Deep South from the interpersonal to the grandiose mythological is intriguing, heartfelt, and dark without leaning on shock value. 

Unfortunately, as I suspected, the combat keeps this good game from reaching great heights. And the final chapters fail to capture the same magic as the rest of the story. But what South of Midnight does well makes its faults tolerable. The result is a game I recommend to anyone who loves a good story, enjoys a casual platforming adventure, or is nostalgic for the simplistic yet impactful design choices of the PS2 era. 

Page-turning Storybook 

South of Midnight is explicitly a storybook with each in-game chapter ending with a new page read to the player, recapping what just happened. This serves the game well, reinforcing the mythical motifs while reminding the player where they are in the story.

The story kicks off with a hurricane that wreaks havoc on Hazel’s hometown, Prospero. Amid the chaos, her home is swept away with her mother still inside it. As Hazel pursues her mom, she realizes she can see these mysterious “Strands.” Shortly after, she gets tools that let her manipulate these strands to fight Haints (spirits) and continue on her journey. This makes her a Weaver, the name for those capable of interacting with Strands.

Throughout the story, curiosity carried me through: who is here to help Hazel and who is here to hurt her? What are people’s histories, what are their intentions, and how do those two things inform one another? 

The real appeal of South of Midnight’s narrative is its structure: there’s a persistent overarching plot, but there are also smaller stories in the chapters themselves. Often, games relegate side stories to side content. South of Midnight weaves them within the larger story and the game’s pacing is stronger for it. 

For example, Chapter 3’s main plot progression is helping Catfish so he can help you get to the next area. But accomplishing that task requires you to deal with the Benjy tree and all the lore that comes with it. Through your adventures and battles, you come across notes and memories recounting the story of two brothers: Rhubarb and Benjy. Their tale involves discrimination, caretaking, family, resentment, and ultimately murder. It fits into the larger story’s motifs of family, pain, and secrets but it can also stand on its own. It’s dark, it’s shocking, but it never feels gratuitous. 

Chapter structures inherently have beginnings and ends that players can use to create their gameplay session, but South of Midnight takes this a step further by having more chapters than hours and by giving most chapters their own subplots. The end of a chapter doesn’t necessarily mean the end of a narrative arc, but in South of Midnight it often does. This creates an overall momentum to the game that kept me engaged throughout. And the tales being told are personally very much my taste: surprising and twisted, the way good folklore often is. 

Music also reinforces the story in a way that’s effective and practical. Direct story-telling lyrics often played during the rising action of a narrative arc helpfully recounting the story while also elevating the moment. 

Eye-Catching Identity

The characters in South of Midnight feel like real people. Dialogue between folks is conversational and genuine. And the protagonist, Hazel, is incredulous without being over the top as she uncovers the magic around her. 

The character designs are detail-oriented, from Hazel’s accessory-packed default outfit to even side characters, like Mrs. Pearle, having a memorably bold purple graphic tee. The thought and care put into these make the cast feel alive. 

Charm continues with characters like Crouton, a ragdoll plushie that comes to life as a playable sidekick for tiny environmental puzzles (and he is an assist ability in battle). His cuteness is apparent, but what makes him shine is how he’s implemented. His wobbly walk and squeals of glee take him from just another little guy to an endearing buddy. 

Sound design continues to impress by grounding South of Midnight. Hazel’s footsteps and the background buzz of insects all help convey that hot summer outside feeling.

Exploring Prospero

Exploring Prospero involves a series of low-stakes 3D platforming. Most jumps are easy to make, especially with Hazel’s glide ability propelling you forward for a safer landing. The fun is more about combing over the mostly linear levels to find notes and Floofs, little Strand clusters used to buy upgrades/new abilities.

While the linearity inherently limits the exploration, those limits bring clarity because there are only a few spots beyond critical path to explore. And critical path is easy to keep track of thanks to a guiding strand you can create at any time. This always makes me have a more completionist attitude towards a game because the smaller scope feels more achievable. 

Similarly, the small skill tree (9 general upgrades and 8 ability-based upgrades) feels incredibly attainable. And its attainability makes it more tempting to pursue. 

While there’s a cozy simplicity to exploration, it’s not without its drawbacks. Environmental puzzles are no brainers, removing their usual satisfaction. And there are a lot of obviously repeated ideas when it comes to hiding Floofs around the area. While there are plenty of visual changes from forest areas and abandoned towns to swamplands and farms, you will always find yourself shooting metal panels over to reveal a Floof hiding underneath.

Combat is a Chore

Combat is limited to designated arenas in the world. You don’t encounter any enemies as you explore, though there are some environmental hazards in the form of spikes, exploding mushrooms, missed jumps, and so on. 

Fighting is melee-based. You have your basic attack but also a series of powers: Weave (wrap up enemies), Strand Push (push them away), Strand Pull (pull them towards you), and eventually Crouton (he latches on and temporarily turns an enemy against their fellow Haints). It’s a solid toolset. 

Enemies are simple but effective. Haints that move around and attack, Hurler Haints who shoot projectiles, Larva Haints that make bugs to attack you, and so on. 

The combat does not feel good. 

It was true in my preview and it remains true for my review: it is not snappy enough. It’s incredibly easy to get backed into a corner by enemies because the arena isn’t that big and enemies can close any distance quickly. 

Granted, that’s what you’d think your abilities are for — crowd control — to create space, opportunities, and string together combos. Except it does not work. The culprit? Aggressive cooldowns. 

Fights don’t take long, yet your ability cooldowns range from 15 to 30 full seconds (by my calculations). Especially as you upgrade things, your abilities work in harmony. But, because of the cooldowns, that harmony is short-lived. 

For example, I’d Strand Pull to close a gap, use Weave to make an enemy take extra damage, do my basic attacks, then use Strand Push when Weave wore off. It’s a great combo. One that I now have to wait half a minute for to pull off again. I’d spend my wait time doing direct basic melee attacks, risking over-extending myself, or running around the arena needlessly until I could be effective again. 

This system takes the fun out of combat completely. It becomes a game of watch-the-cooldowns (which only have a visual indicator, not an explicit timer).

Other combat design choices are equally disempowering. You have a dash that’s also on a brief cooldown, meaning you can’t dash spam your way out of a situation. And projectile-based enemies are a failed attempt at making counter-opportunities because your only way to send them back is to use Strand Push. Since Strand Push is on a cooldown, you get one chance to land your counters and then won’t be able to execute one for a while. The timing on this is also hard to land, making it even messier. 

Finally, knockback from enemies can also put you in a tough spot. So overall, I found the combat was often working against both my enjoyment and my success. 

Grandiose Boss Battles

Despite my combat woes, I was charmed by the boss battles South of Midnight had to offer. Because the focus is on a single enemy, the fighting experience didn’t face the same struggles here as it did in the arenas. Like most games, these boss battles are about dodging and attacking at designated times so cool downs aren’t posing an issue here.

Each Boss felt distinct despite some repeated movesets, thanks to the narrative around them and vastly different settings. And I was happy to see some fights like the one against Two-Toed Tom (the giant gator) included a platforming section: an underused and underrated mechanic in boss battles.

I’m typically not the biggest fan of boss battles because I think they often take away from the moment-to-moment fun of a game and are so formulaic that they lose their impact, but in South of Midnight each one genuinely felt like part of the story being told. They earned the right to be there and weren’t just included to check a mechanical box.

In Short

South of Midnight has notable flaws. The combat needs work, and there’s a bit too much repetition across this 10-hour experience (the end-of-level chase sequences got old quick). But the process of unearthing trauma, engaging with curious characters, and uncovering the overarching mysteries gives South of Midnight a narrative edge you don’t often find outside of narrative-specific games. And, as a platformer fan, the simple pleasure of jumping around and exploring an environment remains delightful.