“South Of Midnight” Review

 

Games don’t exist in a vacuum. If you make games, the games you make will be influenced by the games you’ve played. The trick is to put your own unique spin on things.

It’s what the good people at Compulsion Games have done with their third-person action game South Of Midnight (Xbox Series X|S, PC), which is like Shadow Of The Tomb Raider…but only if Lara Croft was a Jedi who lived in a Southern Gothic world of magical realism.

So, y’know, not all that Tomb Raider-y after all.

In South Of Midnight,

a hurricane hits the Southern town of Prospero, sweeping away Hazel’s house with her mama still inside. But when Hazel is killed trying to save her mom, only to find herself safe a moment later, it sets her off on a magical adventure.

As Hazel starts to track down her mom, she notices that not only has she been transformed, but so has the world. And it’s not just the trees and landscape, either. There are some magical creatures in the forest, and not all of them are friendly (though, to be fair, it would be a pretty boring game if they were).

Now, up to this point, and at many points beyond, South Of Midnight feels like the climbing parts of Shadow Of The Tomb Raider. Early on, Hazel shows she’s adept at climbing up large trees and rock faces, and learns how to move objects so she can climb up on them.

But these aspects also recall Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Titanfall 2, and a bunch of other games, when Hazel learns how to run along walls.

Granted,

Hazel never has to perform any complex gymnastics moves like Lara did in her original games (y’know the ones in the collection Tomb Raider I-III Remastered Starring Lara Croft), but they do get elaborate, especially when Hazel has to double jump and then do a glide move at just the right times to make it across a wide chasm.

And yes, there is a sequence in which Hazel has to run along a series of walls, jumping from one to another, while being chased. Thanks for asking.

South Of Midnight is not just a platformer, though. As I alluded to, not everyone in the transformed forest is friendly. Armed with magical hooks not unlike the climbing axes Lara Croft smacked people with in Shadow Of The Tomb Raider, Hazel is more than capable of smacking her enemies upside the head.

She also knows how to dodge incoming attacks, and even learns new combative moves as she progresses, including how to jump and come down hard, catching anyone standing nearby in the shockwave.

Then there are the magic powers…

Hazel learns, ones that are not only used in combat, but also to get around. She can, for instance, make ghostly objects briefly solid, or hold enemies in place, not unlike the ice spell you might’ve used in Avowed.

She also learns some that work like The Force in Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. Strand Push, for example, can knock down barriers or knock back enemies like Force Push, while Strand Pull does the reverse (though unlike Force Pull, Hazel can’t pull her enemies into her hooks for a quick death).

Though what makes Hazel’s magic abilities interesting (and in a way I hope more games employ) is that you can use them all you want when exploring, but during combat they need time to recharge after each use. Which makes sense; using a spell against a mystical enemy should require more magical power than rotting boards blocking a doorway.

This is especially helpful…

given how much of South Of Midnight is spent getting around. And the condition of the world. The post-hurricane version of Prospero is largely flooded, and full of big things that shouldn’t be big: peaches, thorny vines, and tree branches as huge as, well, the ones on Kashykk in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.

And then there’s Crouton. A patchwork doll Hazel got as a kid, and then finds in the detritus of the storm, Crouton magically comes to life and offers his assistance. Which, again, reminded me another game: Star Wars Outlaws. Like Nix in that game, Hazel can take control of Crouton, and not only use him to enter small spaces, but she can also toss him so he (under your control) can move things to clear the way.

Plus, like all navigational tools in this game, Crouton can also be used combatively as well. Specifically, he can possess enemies and take it upon himself to hurt their brethren for a spell.

But while South Of Midnight…

may sound like a mix of the Tomb Raider and Star Wars games, and it is, the game I actually thought of most while playing it was Ghostwire: Tokyo. Granted, that game was first-person, a magical shooter, set in a big city, and very Japanese, but it’s that latter quality to which I’m referring. Ghostwire: Tokyo was so inspired and influenced by Japanese myths and ghost stories that it felt like no other game, and Midnight is the same, albeit in a South Gothic / magical realism way. And not just because Midnight has so many g-g-g-ghosts.

More importantly, what sets South Of Midnight apart from Ghostwire: Tokyo and all the other games I’ve mentioned above is the vivid world in which Hazel finds herself. If I didn’t know better (and I don’t), I’d say the aforementioned good people at Compulsion Games are not only fans of Southern Gothic stories and novels of magical realism, and the colorful worlds in Avowed and The Outer Worlds, but also Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach series (and the movie Annihilation the first book inspired), and the films of Guillermo del Toro, especially Pan’s Labyrinth and Hellboy: The Golden Army.

More importantly,

all of the elements in, and influences on, South Of Midnight work seamlessly to make this effortlessly fun. There were no times when I felt totally lost because the area I was in was badly designed; all of the enemies put up a fight, but one I always felt ready for; while the story was compelling and told in such a way that I never wanted to skip past it.

That said, South Of Midnight isn’t without its issues. For starters, there are numerous (albeit small) technical glitches, both visual and audio. And then there’s the all too common one when you jump and you hit that sweet spot between “you made it” and “you didn’t make it” and the game holds you in place for a split second while it decides your fate.

I also wish they’d gone further with the art. South Of Midnight has a slightly stylized look about it (save for the cutscenes, which employ a woodcut look) that makes it look a little like stop-motion.

But only a little.

Which is why I can’t help but wonder how much cooler this might’ve been if they’d taken them further. Sure, good graphics never made a game better (though bad graphics can make a game worse, if they get in the way), but making this look even more surreal could’ve added to the magic.

Some may also be bothered by how South Of Midnight is largely linear. Not me, I like linear games, and can’t really picture this working as well, or better, if it was set in an open world. But if you need the feel of the open road, this isn’t a game for you.

That said, going off the beaten path in this game can be rewarding…

Even with these issues, though,

South Of Midnight still manages to color familiar elements with a bold palette, and the result is unique but also as good as the games (and other things) that seemingly inspired it. Hazel’s adventure is one well worth taking, and not just because her mama deserves to be saved.

SCORE: 8.5/10