South of Midnight is an interesting case study, because of how very much it seems like a game of two halves. On one hand, it boasts a distinct and incredibly well-realized setting, a gorgeous and memorable aesthetic, and strong storytelling chops that help bring its unique world and premise to life. On the gameplay front, meanwhile, Compulsion Games’ latest delivers a fairly standard action-adventure experience, one that weaves in a number of familiar elements and puts them together in what is a solid, if somewhat expected gameplay experience. The end result, then, is a game that manages to stand out with unique ideas while also delivering a no-frills, straightforward, lean and mean gameplay experience that anyone with a fondness for the Xbox 360 era of linear action-adventure titles will find very familiar.

You play as Hazel, a young woman living with her mother in the American Deep South town of Prospero, which finds itself caught in the middle of a raging hurricane. Disaster strikes early on in the game, and Hazel soon awakens to a mysterious magic known as Weaving, which she must put to use as she embarks on a quest to rescue and reunite with her mother, and heal the decaying land around her with her newfound powers. South of Midnight makes a strong impression with its setting and storytelling right off the bat, and there continue to lie some of its biggest strengths well past those early moments.

"South of Midnight makes a strong impression with its setting and storytelling right off the bat, and there continue to lie some of its biggest strengths well past those early moments."

Most impressive is the incredibly distinctive identity it carves out for itself. Blending its contemporary Deep South setting with local folklore and mythology, it crafts a gothic modern-day fairytale that instantly sets itself apart from anything else out there. From the gorgeous and highly detailed environments that you find yourself on throughout the course of Hazel’s journey to the wonderfully eccentric and quirky cast of characters, each of whom shines thanks to sharply written dialogue and excellent acting performances; from the monsters that you cross paths with to the storybook framing device the game adopts- South of Midnight keeps finding ways to highlight its key strengths, and more often than not, does so in a way that feels very different from most other story-driven action adventure games.

Games inspired by the Deep South that highlight its folklore, culture, and everything about it this constantly and proudly are few and far in between, which means South of Midnight manages to stand out from the crowd in this department. It does still have some flaws of note- Hazel, for instance, clearly got the “I’m an action-adventure protagonist who has to comment on everything in sight” memo. She’s talking to herself constantly and refuses to shut up, which means she got on my nerves more than a few times, even though she is otherwise a fun and charming protagonist. Even so, with its many notable storytelling strengths, it more than makes up for its few writing-related flaws.

Another area where South of Midnight instantly catches the eye is with its visuals. It uses a highly stylized art style that fits perfectly with its modern fairytale framework and folklore-infused setting, and combines it with a stop-motion animation style that helps it stand out even more. Whether you’re moving through its stunningly crafted environments or watching its lovingly directed cutscenes, South of Midnight is wonderful to witness, both in motion and otherwise. Its stop-motion animation style might prove distracting to some in gameplay – personally, I didn’t mind it once I’d gotten used to it – but the game does give you the option to turn that effect off outside of cutscenes.

"South of Midnight uses a highly stylized art style that fits perfectly with its modern fairytale framework and folklore-infused setting, and combines it with a stop-motion animation style that helps it stand out even more."

Where it shows ambition and unbridled creativity in the narrative and visual departments, on the gameplay front, South of Midnight is happy to chart a well-trodden path. Close your eyes and picture a linear, third-person action-adventure game with a mix of melee and magical combat, some light exploration and progression mechanics, and a focus on nimble and parkour-based traversal, and you probably already have a pretty good idea of what you’re signing up for. South of Midnight doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but ends up being anywhere between serviceable and forgettable to legitimately fun and solid in most areas of note.

When the game starts out, the gameplay feels maybe a little bit too simplistic and straightforward, but over the course of its opening a couple of hours, it briskly introduces one simple gameplay mechanic on top of another that are all fairly simplistic tropes by themselves, but are used in combination pretty effectively. Light and heavy attacks in combat, dodges rolls and perfect dodges, telekinetic abilities that let you push and pull enemies and things in the environment- mechanics like these (and others) are the kind that you have seen in a multitude of games in the past, but though South of Midnight doesn’t use them in any way that feels too different or extraordinary, it does get the basics right.

What that means is that gameplay, though it’s never breathtaking by any means, can often be more engaging than you might expect if all you had played of the game was its first hour or so. Levels are pretty condensed and the environments you find yourself in are never too sprawling, but South of Midnight’s light exploration elements remain fairly compelling throughout. Progression is pretty standard and, if I’m being blunt, unimaginative, but it does just enough to make you care at least a little bit about the next upgrade you’ll unlock, if not the one after that.

"More than a few times in recent years, we’ve collectively lamented the death of the so-called AA action-adventure game, so to see one as distinct as South of Midnight is heartening."

Combat can be surprisingly fun when you’re taking on multiple enemies of different types at once, weaving together different abilities while dishing out your own attacks. Particularly enjoyable is the traversal. Once again, it brings together familiar elements like ledge climbing, wall running, and what have you, and that moveset remains largely fun to use across the game’s runtime. Both combat and traversal can sometimes feel a bit rough around the edges at times due to the occasional instance of clunky movement, unresponsive inputs, or iffy hit detection, but by and large, South of Midnight is a fun and well-functioning gameplay experience.

In the gameplay department, what stands out most about South of Midnight is how much it feels like a throwback game, specifically where its design style and sensibilities are concerned. More than a few times in recent years, we’ve collectively lamented the death of the so-called AA action-adventure game, so to see one as distinct as South of Midnight is heartening, to say the very least- not least because it’s coming from a major AAA first-party publisher. It’s not often that we get a dozen-hour-long single-player story-driven game that wastes no time with semi-open world maps, skill trees, multiplayer elements or what have you, and South of Midnight deserves recognition not just for being just that, but being a really good version of that.

With strong writing, memorable characters, stylish visuals, great music, and an excellent setting, South of Midnight pumps itself full of personality and carves out a unique identity for itself, while with its combat mechanics, progression system, traversal, and light exploration, it sticks largely to the status quo, perhaps even to the point of being unambitious. In the end, when those two halves combine, what we get is a brisk and enjoyable game that leaves a stamp on you one way or another. South of Midnight is the sort of game that feels like a victory for the medium simply by existing in exactly the form that it does.

This game was reviewed on the Xbox Series X.