Understanding the push, pull, and magic of South of Midnight's combat: "Spells control the flow of combat"

Combat is not a simple case of button mashing in South of Midnight. Rather, a balance of melee attacks and well-timed blasts of Weaver magic is the key for success. Enemies called Haints lurk across the land of Prospero, and like everything else here, they are hewn together by invisible strands of the Grand Tapestry. These anomalous Weave tangles are borne of human pain and suffering, manifesting as malevolent spirits that protagonist Hazel must unravel to smooth the Tapestry, restore peace, and uncover hidden stories on a quest to rescue her mother. But in order to unravel these spirits, she first has to fight them.

Much like the folklore-infused, stop motion animated world itself, South of Midnight's combat system is a lot more complex than first meets the eye – especially given the litany of unique terminology – as Hazel grapples with her newfound powers over the course of a single day. Floofs, for example, are what Hazel calls the little wisps of residual energy she collects to fuel her upgrades. Don't worry if you're already lost – we have a sweeping South of Midnight hands-on preview to check out if you're looking for broader impressions. But after playing the third chapter twice through, I'm here to explain South of Midnight's combat system and give you a taste of how the game feels to play ahead of its April 8 release.

South of Midnight combat: Basic attack and upgrades

Hazel's main attack fits the Weaver theme: she stabs enemies with a pointy Spindle, conjured from strands of Weave. Tapping X on your Xbox controller allows Hazel to combo up to five melee attacks at a time, interrupting enemies and dealing rapid bursts of damage. You can lock onto a target by clicking the right joystick.

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These basic attacks can be strengthened with Ability upgrades, such as Aerial Rend, for 80 floofs a pop. This devastating ground-pound triggers upon jumping with A and hitting the X button immediately after, sending out a damaging shockwave that knocks enemies back. There is also an upgraded attack if you hit Y on your controller. Since the Spindle is not a spell, it's not on cooldown – but we'll get to spells later.

"She's a track athlete… There are a few trick moves you can use, like the charge attack."

South of Midnight combat: Dodge, don't parry

Hazel is not able to parry enemy attacks in South of Midnight, but don't underestimate the dodge mechanic. When a red arrow appears on screen to signal the direction of an incoming attack, hit B for Hazel to dash away.Landing a dodge right before an incoming attack will result in a Perfect Dodge, which triggers a Strand Blast that damages surrounding Haints.

This is a great way to manage crowd control, as it's easy to get overwhelmed by multiple Haints at once. You can also trigger a Strand Blast during an Unravel sequence using the upgrade perk Weaver's Blitz. Beware, though: a yellow health bar above a Haint means it's charging an unstoppable attack, and these cannot be dodged.

"The defense System is really centered around dodge and using the spells."

South of Midnight combat: Spells

The three core spells I was able to play with in South of Midnight were Push, Pull, and Weave. Outside of combat, spells help with movement and traversal puzzles – but Hazel can pull off some neat Weaver tricks on the battlefield with them, too, albeit on a cooldown.

Left shoulder button spell Weave temporarily binds an enemy, rendering them unable to attack and open to a melee combo. Upgrading the spell with Stigma Bane increases Woven enemies' vulnerability to damage. Meanwhile, Push and Pull are all about field control: pulling a Haint toward you with the left trigger and tapping X lands a stronger basic attack, and you can use Pull to catch enemy projectiles – small, fly-like creatures – and Push them back at the Haint using the right trigger for a damaging deflect.

"Spells control the flow of combat, and that becomes more important as you progress through the game."

South of Midnight combat: Healing and Unravelling

Once you've whittled a Haint's health bar to zero, it will be tugged away from Hazel and crumple up into a heap nearby. If you're quick, you can run up to the disarmed foe and hit the Y button to Unravel the Haint. This has the added effect of replenishing a small amount of health, allowing you to top up throughout combat encounters as you Unravel each enemy, and accelerates the cooldowns of your spells.

Another way to replenish health is to use the glowing green health sigil. One appears in every combat arena, and it can only be used once (unless you're playing on lower difficulties). Using a health sigil mid-combat also replenishes the cooldowns on all spells. Spotting a green sigil in a clearing is a good indicator of an incoming combat sequence, so keep an eye out while exploring.

"...we always had Unravel, but not necessarily the healing and the acceleration it gives you…"

South of Midnight combat: Crouton

The fourth and final spell that you'll be able to unlock in South of Midnight is Crouton. While we haven't been able to try it ourselves, Compulsion Games did give us a little demo to show us what's in store. Unlocked around chapter six (that's about half-way through the game) and triggered with RB, Crouton is a little ragdoll puppet who Hazel is able to summon into combat to lend an assist.

You can pick Crouton up and hurl him around, although the primary utility here is the puppet's ability to take direct control of a Haint and bring them onto your side for a short while. It's an interesting added dynamic to combat, which will be especially helpful in the later stages of South of Midnight, where enemy density will start ramping up.

"In combat, the puppet becomes the puppeteer, turning one of the Haints on your side..."