There's a beautiful simplicity about South of Midnight. Told across 14 chapters of varying lengths, the broad shape sees protagonist Hazel exploring magic-infused biomes across the Deep South, encountering a plethora of not-always-friendly neighborhood cryptids on a dangerous mission to rescue her mother. With the help of "soft and floofy" ability upgrades (fittingly nicknamed "floofs") to strengthen her Weaver powers, Hazel first must battle and unravel the Haints standing in her path – malevolent entities, drawn to knotted strands of the invisible Grand Tapestry where human pain has been left to fester. Chuck in a boss fight and a couple chase sequences, then lather, rinse, and repeat until around Chapter 10.
This cyclical regimen should err on the side of tedium – and many times, it does. But Compulsion Games' stunningly rendered world of magic and wonder can be forgiven the sins of its stilted format. Powerful subplots and backstories prove the all-important scaffolding holding it all in place, revealing layers of meticulously researched history, supernatural lore, and Gothic iconography interwoven in a grand tapestry of its own. It goes to show that, while unlikely to become a genre trailblazer, South of Midnight shines brightest in its tiniest details.
