Launch window, gameplay, & the whole lot we all know

When does South of Midnight come out?

We don’t but have a selected date, however the Xbox Video games Showcase gave us a South of Midnight launch window of 2025.

What platforms is South of Midnight coming to?

Printed by Xbox Recreation Studios, South of Midnight is an Xbox unique coming to
Xbox Sequence X|S and Home windows. Because it’s a first-party unique, we received’t be seeing it on PlayStation 5 or Nintendo Change.

Is South of Midnight coming to Xbox Recreation Go?

Sure! South of Midnight comes from first-party Xbox studio Compulsion Video games (the devs behind We Completely satisfied Few) and can launch straight into Recreation Go when it arrives in 2025.

What’s South of Midnight about?

South of Midnight is about within the American Deep South, in a world the place darkish magic and folklore exist in all places. In an Xbox Wire interview final yr, inventive director David Sears defined the significance of Magic Realism to the concepts behind South of Midnight. “It springs from the idea that monsters are actual — you simply want to leap over the yard fence. The farther you get away from the influences of civilization, the extra magical the world turns into… Magic Realism is among the calling playing cards of Southern Gothic. It’s a licence to truly put magic within the fashionable world, and to have creatures there which can be simply accepted. We’re not going to provide you an data dump within the sport, and that’s within the spirit of Magic Realism, proper? We’re explaining sufficient that you’ll simply settle for it.”

In South of Midnight, our character Hazel has to grow to be a Weaver (somebody who can use weaving magic to magically restore and restore harmful creatures and damaged bonds) after a hurricane hits her hometown of Prospero. The South of Midnight Xbox web page tells us that Hazel will “confront and subdue harmful creatures, untangle the webs of her family’s shared previous and — if she’s fortunate — discover her strategy to a spot that appears like dwelling.” It sounds as if there’s an added thriller there, as Hazel can even be making an attempt to rescue her mom, “reweave the tears within the Grand Tapestry,” and determine her personal identification.

One fascinating facet of South of Midnight’s story is that in keeping with the South of Midnight web site, the sport’s narrative “lies inside a storybook presentation that advances all through the sport. Like opening a ebook and shutting it when completed, each chapter is guided by a dynamic narrator.”

The setting, in the meantime, is closely impressed by “the Deep South mythos.” Compulsion Video games says Prospero is a “lush, decayed” space, and the sport’s music too is impressed by the South, with “our character-driven lyrical music incorporates all kinds of devices and vocalists with a private contact of darkish folktale essence.” Fascinatingly, every creature will, in keeping with an Xbox Wire interview, have their very own theme music which can finally construct into lyrics giving their backstory (you may see a little bit of this with Two-Toed Tom within the gameplay trailer).

Together with the sport’s darkish folktale environment, one other facet which instantly stands out is its distinctive, barely juddering, stop-motion artwork fashion: “Persevering with Compulsion’s signature path, characters and shapes are extra distinct, ‘hand-crafted,’ and enhanced by stop-motion animation remedy.”

We get a number of extra hints on what to anticipate from the world itself from that Xbox Wire interview after Xbox Video games Showcase 2024 with inventive director David Sears, artwork director Whitney Clayton, and sport director Jasmin Roy, the place South of Midnight’s world is described as “wide-linear” with every area having its personal biome. “So the way in which we constructed the surroundings is as a result of we would like gamers to comply with the narrative, however have extra to sink their tooth into — you may typically see some extra open, hub-like sections,” Roy explains.

What sort of sport is South of Midnight?

South of Midnight is a 3rd individual action-adventure sport set within the American Deep South. Compulsion’s FAQ tells us that the sport’s Weaving magic shall be centered on fight, traversal, and puzzle parts, and that South of Midnight is for “anybody serious about a novel fantasy mythos with deeply thematic gameplay. Gamers who get pleasure from considerate but dynamic gameplay experiences.” We get a glimpse of Hazel utilizing her powers for traversal in addition to in opposition to enemies within the gameplay trailer.

Hazel’s Weaving powers will clearly be key, however one factor Compulsion appears to be eager on is the thought of Hazel as repairing the world. “From high to backside, that’s the message behind Hazel, her fight design, her powers… All the things is a Weaving metaphor — Weavers are supposed to place issues proper, do good on this planet,” Sears says within the newest Xbox Wire interview. “She’s actually repairing the tapestry, and with creatures — Haints included — we spent a very good period of time ensuring it was clear that whenever you’re attacking or interacting, you’re doing it in a non-lethal however aggressive manner. You’re doing it since you’re serving to — eradicating the burden of all this trauma.” You may even see the bodily aspect of this within the gameplay trailer (listed beneath) when flowers and greenery spring up after Hazel’s confronted an enemy.

South of Midnight achievement record

We don’t but have the South of Midnight achievements, however we’ll be sure you replace right here as quickly as we do.

South of Midnight trailers

To this point, we’ve had the preliminary announcement trailer for South of Midnight, which did an ideal job of showcasing its atmospheric really feel:
Then most not too long ago we obtained the Gameplay Reveal trailer for Xbox Video games Showcase 2024. This was an extended take a look at the sport, with over 4 minutes of Hazel’s adventures (and her companion Catfish).

South of Midnight is certainly one of our most anticipated upcoming Xbox exclusives, and we’ll be sure you hold this round-up up to date every time we study one thing new.