South Of Midnight PS5/Switch 2 Co-Op Review
With thanks to Microsoft, we here at Player2 were fortunate enough to receive review copies of South of Midnight for both PS5 and Nintendo Switch 2. Now that the game has left Xbox platforms, there’s a wide range of new players who can check it out as a result. We got two of our editors, Paul James and Stephen del Prado, to play the PS5 and Switch 2 versions respectively, and here they are, reporting in on the game, the ports, and more in this co-op review.
Paul James: So Stephen, I was pretty keen on South of Midnight when it launched on Xbox last year, but outside of playing through the game’s first chapter, and enjoying it (but not being wowed by it), I never got back to it to experience anything more of it. These ports have thrust the game back on my radar and have allowed me to spend much more time with it. While the game has its rough edges, the more time I’ve spent with it, the more my opinion of the game has improved. Firstly, what time (if any) have you spent with the game previously, and what’s your general sentiment on the version you played?
Stephen del Prado: It’s probably shocking or unsurprising, depending on who you are, but my Xbox hasn’t been turned on since the Switch 2 launched – my TV is wall-mounted, too large for me to lift off solo and has limited HDMI ports, so a sacrifice had to be made. South of Midnight looked cool as heck, but with that timed exclusivity, I had zero prior experience going into this. On the plus side, it’s the first current-gen, non-Nintendo title I’m running on the Switch 2, and I have to say I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the performance. The gameplay feels like something out of the PS3/360 era in the most complimentary way, but the aesthetics, story, and especially the music are where South of Midnight has impressed me. What has especially stood out to you with this re-release?
PJ: It’s absolutely those aesthetics. The game looks gorgeous, and it’s pretty damn refreshing to see a game that utilises a larger portion of a full colour palette than most of its peers. I was also blown away by that soundtrack. I’ve been humming along to the music accompanying the “Two-Toed Tom” boss fight for quite a while now.
The production value is excellent, but you’re right in what you say about the gameplay. It’s certainly quite dated. From the scenarios where you move from very clear platforming sequences to combat sequences (that are visible from a mile away), to the lack of precision in the platforming. This game feels 10+ years old to play, and while that’s not necessarily a bad thing (I’ve been craving some 360/PS3 era experiences lately), the gameplay design feels at odds with almost every other facet of the game. Not due to difficulty, but simply due to tedium, I found myself dropping the difficulty, just so that I could push on, and not waste time in the combat – which was pretty disappointing. Did you share a similar sentiment?
SDP: The fifth time I died to a janky jump puzzle that wasn’t aided by the imprecise Switch 2 analog sticks, I felt that frustration building. Only a half a dozen hours in, it’s not the gameplay that I’m finding anywhere near as compelling as the worldbuilding, story, and Olivier Deriviere’s sublime soundtrack. For a relatively small studio, I don’t begrudge them the less than stellar aspects to the gameplay, and if anything, I think the bar set by the aesthetic and story elements make them stand out even more than they otherwise would. I quite often find myself dropping the difficulty in games where the story is the main driver of progress for me and then ramping up in a subsequent playthrough, but whether South of Midnight holds that level of replayability for me remains to be seen. Hazel Flood is an interesting character, in spite of the game being a bit heavy-handed with the symbolism. The southern gothic-fantasy setting has turned out to be like catnip for me, weirdly enough, on par with prohibition era cosmic horror or spooky Pacific Northwest for something that grips me and won’t let go. Do you think it being an underserved setting elevates the game for you?
PJ: It does actually. I’m not super across the Deep South and the various stories connected to that part of the world, and so it’s really interesting to see how Compulsion have realised these on screen. Hazel, as a character, doesn’t inspire me much, but the story she found herself in did, so I was able to overlook Hazel’s less-than-inspiring dialogue. The narration, on the other hand, is excellent and really paints a detailed picture of the events of the game as each chapter transition occurs.
You’ve been playing the Switch 2 version, while I was on PS5. Perhaps unsurprisingly to anyone reading this, the PS5 version matches anything that the Xbox SKUs produced, but how about the Switch 2 version? How’d you find the performance? I did notice some pop in on PS5, but was there any of that (or more) in your experience?
SDP: Pop-in when loading into the game is frequent, and the frame rate and visuals have understandably taken a hit compared to footage I’ve seen on the PS5, but it’s still very playable. However, if I had to choose between the two, I’d likely take the PS5, as portability for this sort of game isn’t a primary concern for me, but getting the best-looking version of this world is. I’m hoping Compulsion haven’t quite left this world behind, or at the very least can take their considerable talents and maybe get some more engaging gameplay behind it in the future. For me, South of Midnight is very much a title worth playing through, but maybe not at full price – is that too harsh a stance for you?
PJ: No, I don’t disagree with you there. This is a game that will speak to a niche audience directly, but should be consumed by many more than that. There is a fascinating world here, underpinned by exceptional respect shown to a region of the world I knew little about. As someone hunting quality storytelling, I found it here, and as someone keen to explore pockets of the world I know little about, South of Midnight also ticked that box. There are certainly imperfections, from the gameplay design to some technical weaknesses, but South of Midnight is well worth experiencing. In this day and age, I have worries for every development studio in the business, but this was another enormous step forward for Compulsion, and I’d love to see what they can continue to do in this universe in the future.
SDP: On that we agree – I certainly hope this does well enough that Compulsion are spinning up their next project rather than winding down. If Microsoft can do anything with the huge number of studios they’ve bought over the years, it’s give them the leeway to make stories like South of Midnight.
South Of Midnight was reviewed on PS5 and Nintendo Switch 2 with codes that were kindly provided by Xbox Australia.
