Deep South served beautifully on PS5
By Paul Hunter
I covered South of Midnight when it launched on Xbox Series X/S last year, and honestly, it felt like only a matter of time before PlayStation gamers would finally get a port. Compulsion Games, the same studio that made We Happy Few, put together something genuinely different here for Xbox Game Studios. A 10 to 12 hour action-adventure set in a Southern Gothic version of the American Deep South, built on real regional folklore and myth, running through a stop-motion and claymation art style that looks like every character was stitched together by hand.
The PS5 version is a straight port, no new content, no additions. Just the full game in all it's beautiful glory, finally on the PS5. So, is South of Midnight the Southern Gothic adventure worth the wait? Let's find out!
Hazel's a Weaver, which means she can find and cleanse stigma, a tar-like corruption that grows from the unresolved pain of the dead. She stores freed trauma in fragile blue bottles, physically carrying others' grief until she can put it to rest.
Every spirit and creature she faces in Prospero carries a troubled past. Betrayal, grief, sibling rivalry, and some of the harder chapters of Deep South history all surface through the encounters she works through. A talking catfish named Catfish, who also serves as her literal transportation across the flooded land, narrates the whole thing with dry Southern wit and the occasional proverb, and he's honestly one of the best parts.
Each chapter unfolds like its own folktale, with illustrated transitions giving the whole adventure a living storybook structure. Though the grief of creatures takes centre stage for most chapter, underneath it all Hazel finding her mother stays the core of this journey.
Hazel starts with a basic strike and acquires more skills as the chapters progress. Her enchanted Hooks pull Haints, the corrupted enemies found in Stigma-covered arenas across Prospero, close for combos or launch them back to create space. Spindles are spells that wrap Haints in web-like strands and hold them in place. Crouton, Hazel's stuffed companion, can temporarily possess a Haint and turn it against the others for a short time. I loved pulling that one out in the middle of a crowded fight.
Haint variety keeps combat interesting between the bigger boss encounters. Bulky brutes that slam their fists into the ground are a very different challenge from fly nest creatures that send swarms of large flies at you. The enemy variety and boss creativity together keep the combat side of things fresh well into the back half.
Getting around Prospero is equally enjoyable. Hazel's double jump, wall run, strand pulls and glide make branches, billboard signs, and wide swampy stretches traversal opportunities, and she can conjure bridges and boxes from memory strands to solve environmental puzzles and open new paths. Hazel can also push objects with powerful strand burts, useful for removing branches block your path, or moving huge wooden carts to reach higher spots.
The pacing rotates between combat, traversal, and boss chase scenarios across every chapter. Collectible notes are scattered about and worth stopping to read to gain insights into this fascinating world. There are four difficulty settings to let you fine-tune the challenge, and you can skip fights entirely if you want.
All in all, it's a well-paced and varied gameplay experience that keeps things moving across the whole adventure.
The audio is also where the game really stands out. Composer Olivier Derivière builds the soundtrack around banjos, fiddles, and humming vocals that sit somewhere between folksy and subtly unsettling. The pre-boss music is particuarly great, as a folk, jazz, or blues song plays that help tell the story of the enemy you're heading into. Ambient audio fills the quieter stretches with cicadas and distant thunder. Adriyan Rae is strong and natural as Hazel, and regional NPC accents give the supporting cast a personality that brings life to Prospero.
On PS5 Pro, the game holds at a stable 60fps with PSSR, delivering noticeably more detailed visuals. No graphical modes are available though, and DualSense support is limited to standard rumble.
All considered, the presentation is easily the strongest reasons to play South of Midnight on PS5, with incredible visuals and a soundtrack that's among the best in the genre.
Final Score: 8.5/10 - Great
Developer: Compulsion Games
Publisher: Xbox Games Studios
Genre: Action-Adventure
Modes: Single-player
A key was provided by the publisher.
By Paul Hunter
I covered South of Midnight when it launched on Xbox Series X/S last year, and honestly, it felt like only a matter of time before PlayStation gamers would finally get a port. Compulsion Games, the same studio that made We Happy Few, put together something genuinely different here for Xbox Game Studios. A 10 to 12 hour action-adventure set in a Southern Gothic version of the American Deep South, built on real regional folklore and myth, running through a stop-motion and claymation art style that looks like every character was stitched together by hand.
The PS5 version is a straight port, no new content, no additions. Just the full game in all it's beautiful glory, finally on the PS5. So, is South of Midnight the Southern Gothic adventure worth the wait? Let's find out!
Story and Narrative
A hurricane hits Prospero, a fictional Deep South town, and just like that, Hazel Flood loses everything. Her home goes under, her mother goes with it. From that point, Hazel gets pulled into a version of the American South where regional folklore isn't just stories, it's standing right in front of her. The Rougarou, Two-Toed Tom, Huggin' Molly. Real creatures from real Deep South mythology, and none of them are happy to see her.Hazel's a Weaver, which means she can find and cleanse stigma, a tar-like corruption that grows from the unresolved pain of the dead. She stores freed trauma in fragile blue bottles, physically carrying others' grief until she can put it to rest.
Every spirit and creature she faces in Prospero carries a troubled past. Betrayal, grief, sibling rivalry, and some of the harder chapters of Deep South history all surface through the encounters she works through. A talking catfish named Catfish, who also serves as her literal transportation across the flooded land, narrates the whole thing with dry Southern wit and the occasional proverb, and he's honestly one of the best parts.
Each chapter unfolds like its own folktale, with illustrated transitions giving the whole adventure a living storybook structure. Though the grief of creatures takes centre stage for most chapter, underneath it all Hazel finding her mother stays the core of this journey.
Gameplay and Mechanics
One moment during a boss fight made me stop and take notice. I was up against a massive alligator that had grown so enormous it was crushing a chapel underfoot while I scrambled around trying to bring it down. That kind of creative boss design shows up regularly in South of Midnight, and it's one of the reasons the combat stays entertaining even though it's mostly straightforward.Hazel starts with a basic strike and acquires more skills as the chapters progress. Her enchanted Hooks pull Haints, the corrupted enemies found in Stigma-covered arenas across Prospero, close for combos or launch them back to create space. Spindles are spells that wrap Haints in web-like strands and hold them in place. Crouton, Hazel's stuffed companion, can temporarily possess a Haint and turn it against the others for a short time. I loved pulling that one out in the middle of a crowded fight.
Haint variety keeps combat interesting between the bigger boss encounters. Bulky brutes that slam their fists into the ground are a very different challenge from fly nest creatures that send swarms of large flies at you. The enemy variety and boss creativity together keep the combat side of things fresh well into the back half.
Getting around Prospero is equally enjoyable. Hazel's double jump, wall run, strand pulls and glide make branches, billboard signs, and wide swampy stretches traversal opportunities, and she can conjure bridges and boxes from memory strands to solve environmental puzzles and open new paths. Hazel can also push objects with powerful strand burts, useful for removing branches block your path, or moving huge wooden carts to reach higher spots.
The pacing rotates between combat, traversal, and boss chase scenarios across every chapter. Collectible notes are scattered about and worth stopping to read to gain insights into this fascinating world. There are four difficulty settings to let you fine-tune the challenge, and you can skip fights entirely if you want.
All in all, it's a well-paced and varied gameplay experience that keeps things moving across the whole adventure.
Presentation and Audio
The stop-motion and claymation characters in South of Midnight have a gorgeous cel-shaded quality, so Hazel and every creature she faces pop off whatever environment surrounds them. Those environments are very diverse: foggy swamplands, crumbling trailer parks, sunlit forests, twisted ruins, antebellum houses, all with lighting and colour that shifts based on time of day and weather. I climbed the wreckage of a riverboat mid-game and just stopped to look at the swamp stretching out below with vines drifting and the multicoloured sunset overhead. Those kind of stop and look moments comes up regularly. It's a shame then that there is some texture pop-in on PS5, with objects appearing somewhat abruptly on a recurring basis.The audio is also where the game really stands out. Composer Olivier Derivière builds the soundtrack around banjos, fiddles, and humming vocals that sit somewhere between folksy and subtly unsettling. The pre-boss music is particuarly great, as a folk, jazz, or blues song plays that help tell the story of the enemy you're heading into. Ambient audio fills the quieter stretches with cicadas and distant thunder. Adriyan Rae is strong and natural as Hazel, and regional NPC accents give the supporting cast a personality that brings life to Prospero.
On PS5 Pro, the game holds at a stable 60fps with PSSR, delivering noticeably more detailed visuals. No graphical modes are available though, and DualSense support is limited to standard rumble.
All considered, the presentation is easily the strongest reasons to play South of Midnight on PS5, with incredible visuals and a soundtrack that's among the best in the genre.
The Verdict
I loved South of Midnight on Xbox last year, and the PS5 version only reminded me why. This is one of the most original and beautiful action-adventures this generation. The world is full of folklore creatures brought to life, and it's backed up by a stellar soundtrack that really sets the Deep Southern mood. The PS5 Pro version runs great too. If this one passed you by on Xbox, now's your chance.Final Score: 8.5/10 - Great
South of Midnight details
Platform: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PCDeveloper: Compulsion Games
Publisher: Xbox Games Studios
Genre: Action-Adventure
Modes: Single-player
A key was provided by the publisher.