I know I know. The game doesn't come out until April 8th, but Xbox Game Studios and Compulsion Games gave us a sneak preview of their new day one game pass title. South of Midnight was on my list as something that would be underrated this year. This is a preview build, so I cannot really say anything super critical, to be fair. So I'll skip the story and go right into how it felt to play the game. That's what we're here for. All this was played and captured on the Xbox Series S, so keep that in mind.
This build just wants you to get your feet wet, and that's exactly what it does. Primary character Hazel has your third person jumps and double jumps. She also has a glide to get her further than her regular hops can muster. Hazel felt like a lighter 3D Prince of Persia at some points, and sometimes felt a little clunky, but once you got used to her, it felt a lot better.
The Preview build took me through Chapter 3 of the campaign, where you meet "Catfish". Catfish will tell you the next thing you need to know after a small tutorial. While the navigation tutorial is pretty good, the battle tutorial in this build was not followed. I just reverted to my action adventure roots, and it pulled me right through. In battles, Hazel can push and pull her enemies, and even throw enemies at other enemies. She has a dodge, too, and if you dodge at the right time, it causes damage. A parry of sorts. She can even bind her enemies and whale away, but none of this is taught to you.
In fact, the first thing the game teaches you is the pull and throw technique, and I want you to forego this tip. Just fight. All the things they want you to use have a cooldown that seems like forever in the heat of battle. When you defeat an enemy, you have to finish them off by unraveling them. I don't know if that will get old, but at least you get some life back.
You can go down the beaten path, and clicking the right stick will show you where to go. Feel free to explore, to find more in-game currency, called "floofs". You can use these floofs to upgrade your arsenal. I suggest trying out the new stuff, and again, leaving that pull and throw tech alone until you get faster cooldown. Fight, unravel, fight, and then unravel the knot in that section, and move on.
The game has beautiful potential. Mostly sticks to 60FPS, if you care, but I turned that motion blur off - I often wonder if people really like it. The stop motion opening sequence is pretty cool to look at, and the cutscenes, all voiced, are pretty good too. I had to keep telling myself it was a preview build, so I won't get super technical. I will say that while the music is good, there is a terrible song that plays toward the end. Art is subjective. My ears were not happy.
Other than that, the game looks like it'll be a fun romp through the Macabre Fictionalized American Deep South, and the Catfish, though gross looking, is animated very, very well. Check the video below for a more in-depth look, and be sure to look for more info when South of Midnight weaves it's way to you on Steam, and Xbox, day one on Game Pass.
