South of Midnight Thoughts
In almost every artistic aspect it is fantastic, I very much enjoyed the story, it does feel a little rushed at times with one or two loose ends but it is still full with charm and a number of emotional moments, I loved the characters and their voice acting was great, I loved the world and lore, Hazel is a brilliant protagonist and I want to see more of her, I laughed at her little quips and swearing, her expressions, her personality, she balances a tough and vulnerable side well and makes for a pretty awesome Xbox mascot Imo.
The soundtrack was amazing. Loved the art-style which made the game look really good, I loved the character and especially the creature designs, there were multiple times where I was playing through it and thinking to myself "This would be a perfect art-style for Fable" or just thinking "This feels like Fable" and now I want Fable's art-style to move closer to this, Lol.
The biggest let-down was the combat and platforming but honestly I didn't mind it that much, it's not that they're bad, it's just that they're both very basic, they could both do with more uniqueness and fluidity, but I never had any frustrating moments with either of them playing on normal, I died maybe less than 10 times throughout my entire playthrough and most of those were a stupid mistake by myself and not the fault of the game. I didn't mind it too much but the combat did get stale a little by the last level as I think the final boss was a bit of a disappointment so I don't think it overstayed its welcome gameplay wise but it was getting there, story wise I wanted more, Lol.
The platforming was a bit better, I think they should have cut out some of the combat encounters and instead focused on the platforming a bit more. Boss fights were fine and I found myself looking forward to them, if only to hear what the next song was, Lol. Maybe cut some of the normal combat encounters, add more platforming, focus on the uniqueness of the boss fights when it comes to combat.
For a team that is based in Canada making a game on Southern American, Idk for sure but to me it did feel incredibly well done with a lot of care, it felt full of real soul and respect. It honestly reminded me of Psychonauts 2 in a lot of ways, in its tackling of mature subject matters (a lot darker than I expected at times) which I also loved despite also not having the greatest platforming/combat.
My score would be around 8.3/10.
ALSO, I LOVE CROUTON! CROUTON SPIN-OFF GAME!
Last edited by Ryuu96 - on 17 April 2025