South of Midnight
South of Midnightdid a muckle of things right , with a nuanced and well - indite story that features an extremely original construct and delf into Southern Gothic subject in novel path . The story itself is very compelling , and was one of the only thing that kept me truly busy throughout the integrality of the experience . Unfortunately , the story alone is not enough to make this game truly splendid , and I think many players would agree that the armed combat and gameplay element simply do n’t live up to the same criterion as the storytelling inSouth of Midnight .
It ’s not just about theabundance of collectiblesor the basiccombat inSouth of Midnight- there was a majorly overleap opportunity . HadSouth of Midnightleaned more heavily into the horror elements that are already built into its narrative , it could have been Xbox ’s interlingual rendition ofThe Last Of Us . South of Midnighthas tons of horror elements built into its nucleus themes , with Haints , stain , chief like Huggin ' Molly and characters like Roux and Honey , the listing go on . Unfortunately , the stake feel very low when it comes to in - plot interaction with these horror element , and the plot suffers because of it .
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South Of Midnight Should Have Leaned Into Its Horror Elements Full-Throttle
Horror Gameplay Would Connect Players With The World More Effectively
There ’s a lot of dissension between some of the heavy themes and overall humour inSouth of Midnightand the gameplay itself . Thestory is mostly about harm , loss , heartbreak , and pain , not only for the friend , Hazel , but for an entire community of neighbors and acquaintance . Hazel and the other character incline to bring a sense of levity and gallows humor into the premix , even though there is an eerie sense of impending doom looming throughout the entire tale . The narrative is capricious and heavily grotesque , butit is n’t at all infantile or tawdry .
The same can not be say for the gameplay itself . In my view , the stale and unsubdivided combat car-mechanic and pretty basic platforming style were the wrong pick , as they ultimatelyfail to plug into the player with the story in a meaningful way . fly and jump around with string power and using extra ability is fun for a few minutes , but jade off quickly , even asSouth of Midnighttries to space out when you learn these abilities across multiple chapters .
Many achievements / trophies exist in South of Midnight , but to get them all , you ’ll have to make level progress , find collectible , and master fight .
What this come down to is that there are no genuine stakes inSouth of Midnight . The repetitive fight and canonical platforming combine withan overabundance of fetch and discover collectiblesmakes for a completely underwhelming ( and long-winded ) gameplay experience that does n’t do the story justice in any way , Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe , or signifier . Ultimately , Xbox’sSouth of Midnighthad the potential to be as good as the PlayStation hit sole , The Last of Us , but end up falling short because of its failure to embrace survival - horror gameplay elements .
I Wish South Of Midnight Was More Like The Last Of Us
Last Of Us Connects Story And Gameplay In Ways South Of Midnight Doesn’t
The comparison toThe Last of Usdoes not mean I thinkSouth of Midnightneeds to emulate the Platonism inLast of Usper se . Realism is not needfully what givesLast of Usgameplay its good sense of consequence . or else , it pull you to get up closelipped and personal with the septic foe , and does not make the experience trivial . You receive the repugnance of the moment with the character , making it more powerful . I wish I could have this same experience with the Haints inSouth of Midnight .
South of Midnighthas over 2,000 collectible items across all 14 chapter , including over 100 readable collectibles that often add context to the tarradiddle .
Instead , Hazel ’s interaction with the mystic elements of the world are abrupt and repetitive , and it never feels like I have anything to lose or that any specific encounter could have ended any differently . collectable exist inLast of Ustoo , but finding them does n’t constitute 80 % of the biz ’s playtime . Also , The Last of Uscollectibles tend to add together to the protagonists ' eccentric developmentin humble but meaningful agency , such as Ellie ’s comic account book collectible inThe Last Of Us Part 1 .
Stealth and survival grease monkey are the most successful essence feature article ofThe Last of Us , andSouth of Midnightwould have benefited from thesesubstantially . I think players would have enjoyed cabbage around Prospero and possess vivid , non - identical coming upon with different types of Haintsmore than they do platforming around like Mario on carnivorous flowers or grapple around town like Spiderman . While these platforming features are fun for a moment , they simply do n’t complement the narrative as deeply as other style of gameplay might .
South Of Midnight Is One Huge Missed Opportunity
South Of Midnight Had All The Right Ingredients, But Came Out Half-Baked
When I first picked upSouth of Midnight , I was hoping it wouldbe a Southern Gothic folktale adaptation ofThe Last of Us , with gritty , intense gameplay and a moving and spectacular narrative . On the surface , it has all the ingredients to be as great or good thanTheLast of Us , and the two games even share many similar gameplay features and mechanism . While the graphics , tone , and style of the games are immensely dissimilar , they both explore sonorous theme relating to the human shape .
For a game that dig so deeply into theme related to psychic trauma and loss , it does n’t feel like I have anything to turn a loss inSouth of Midnight .
The Last of Uswas successful because the stakes were incredibly eminent for both the player and the characters , something thatSouth of Midnightsimply fails to action . For a game that cut into so deeply into root word relate to hurt and loss , it does n’t feel like I have anything to loseinSouth of Midnight , aside from maybe hours of my time spent tracking down thou of collectible items .
There are tons of readable collectible items to chase after down in South of Midnight , locate across all twelve chapters , each adding depth to the tarradiddle .
at last , South of Midnightwas a immense miss chance in my eyes , as it had everything it needed to be as bully and successful asThe Last of Us . The soundtrack , voice acting , vivification style , Southern Gothic themes and climate , Haints , elephantine gator - all of this is good for a revulsion - survival of the fittest style of gameplay and combat . South of Midnight’sstory could be so much more impactful if it had richer gameplay that directly connects the player ’s experience more meaningfully to Hazel ’s . While I would love to feel more connected to Hazel ’s experience , the gameplay makes that next to unimaginable .
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