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South of Midnight has plenty to prove. After all, where do you go after making We Happy Few, an Orwellian drug-fuelled nightmare where lots of poorly face-painted British people wanted you dead? (And for once, we don't just mean our UK office). Well, naturally, you run screaming in the complete opposite direction. That's exactly what Compulsion Games has done with South of Midnight, where its surreal British dystopia has been abandoned for the significantly sunnier climes of the American Deep South. A glow-up if there ever was one.
Ah, but Compulsion Games thankfully hasn't abandoned its horror roots for South of Midnight. Instead the developer is embracing a Southern Gothic theming for its new third-person fantasy action adventure, a game the studio is calling a "dark modern folktale". That's evident from what we've seen so far, given I'm fairly confident the real-world region doesn't boast gigantic talking fish monsters that you can use as sassy boats to explore.
The big uneasy
Developer: Compulsion Games
Publisher: Xbox Game Studios
Platform(s): Xbox Series, PC
Release date: 2025
That feisty fish is being ridden/argued with by protagonist Hazel, who's on a quest to save her mother. It's a coming-of-age adventure, because nothing incentivises you to grow up faster than being forced to fight mythical creatures in a deadly swamp. One that starts off rather beautiful – this studio hasn't lost its gift for crafting a sense of place – but then warps and darkens into something a lot more sinister. Good to see Compulsion Games hasn't lost its love of environments with nasty hidden layers.
A monster emerges, hungry for a scrap. Luckily, Hazel is wielding an "ancient power" that seems to manifest itself into different tools as she needs them, turning into a set of blades here when a beast needs slicing up. With that said, it's hard to tell if fights are the now industry-standard soulslike affairs, or something a little more Devil May Cry 5. One thing's for sure, though: it's certainly not slow. Hazel certainly possesses the mobility for the latter, as her ancient power also gives her a handy double jump, a Marvel's Spider-Man 2-like glider, and even a nifty parachute for safer landings. Watching her effortlessly traverse these swamps with her own moves makes me wonder why she'd ever need to ride a giant fish anywhere again, particularly one so fond of backtalk.
Combat's still a bit of an unknown, then, but I like the look of using a hookshot to close the gap with your enemy (thanks Overwatch!). The most interesting idea is how Hazel finishes her foe by "unravelling" them. Once Hazel does this, the forest seems to regenerate, its nastier elements fading away while a field of fresh flowers grows in seconds. Just a pretty visual effect, or an actual world-restoring game mechanic? Stardew Valley is far too sedate sometimes, and I'd love a gardening sim that demands we slay monsters to insta-grow my crops.
I'm keen to see more of its promised presentation tricks too. The developers apparently are aiming for a storybook feel, complete with every chapter being guided by a dynamic narrator. Can we expect something as clever and constant as Bastion's excellent narrator? Honestly, the novelty of its pleasing Deep South setting might be enough as is. It's not a location we're used to seeing depicted in games, and Compulsion Studios has clearly done its homework.
Movement seems silky smooth and it boasts the kind of glorious lighting you get when Microsoft is signing your checks, having acquired the studio a few years back. Highly stylized characters, another Compulsion Games signature, are used to great effect here, though we've yet to see how they'll mesh with the stop-motion-like animation during some of the cutscenes (which oddly isn't quite the same during regular gameplay). They've done a great job making the swamp feel truly alive. Birds constantly take flight as Hazel disturbs their resting places, and the screen shaking as a truly massive beast makes itself known is an old trick, but nonetheless used to great effect.
That monster is an alligator with a decent chunk of forest growing out of its mighty back. We can't wait to take it on, in what looks like one of the most quietly promising Xbox exclusives of this generation. It might even become one of the best Xbox Game Pass games. We Happy Few was a stunning setting, held back by dodgy survival mechanics and ambition that far exceeded an indie studio's grasp. South of Midnight looks far more focused, clearly bigger budget, and yet there's no sign that Compulsion Games has compromised on the character that put it on the map in the first place. With a promising new setting and still so much left to discover, this could finally be the game that makes good on its initial promise.
