Compulsion Games has shared some new information on their upcoming Xbox exclusive, South of Midnight.
South of Midnight is a third person action adventure game, which compulsion refers to as ‘wide linear’. This alludes to the width of the areas that can be explored, but how some places are gated until you finish specific parts of the story.
On their site, they share this synopsis of the game:
“As Hazel, you will explore the mythos and encounter creatures of southern folklore in a macabre and fantastical world. When disaster strikes her hometown, Hazel is called to become a weaver: a magical mender of broken bonds and spirits.
Imbued with these new abilities, Hazel will confront and subdue dangerous creatures, untangle the webs of her own family’s shared past and -if she’s lucky – find her way to a place that feels like home.”
South of Midnight is set in present day, but in a magic realist version of it with a Southern Gothic theme. Compulsion claims they’re making the first game with such a theme but that might not be 100 % true. Acclaim Studios’ 1999 game Shadow Man also revels in a Southern gothic theme, revolving around voodoo.
But Southern gothic is more than voodoo, and in a blog post for Xbox Wire, Compulson elaborates on their ideas:
“It was very liberating to work with existing stories about creatures, but have zero eyewitness accounts and photographic evidence. My grandmother used to tell really short stories about some of these creatures, mostly reduced to the level of superstition.
Like, ‘We paint our porch ceilings blue, so the Haints [evil spirits from Southern folktales] can’t come in.’ And this is essentially about as much as we know about Haints.”
In a similar vein, the magic that lead character Hazel uses is uniquely Southern. Weaving is conceptually different from the conventional idea of magic as combat.
“It’s full of fractal geometry expressed as knitting and doilies – everything is themed after textiles. Essentially, you take the strands that make up the universe and weave or spin them into useful forms for the player to use.
Weavers are born with the ability to see deeper and see the way the universe is really constructed by these energized, semi-autonomous strands. The universe has intention, but sometimes it breaks down. And that’s why we have Weavers – to repair tears in the grand tapestry that makes up every person, place and thing in existence.”
And then there’s Shakin’ Bones, the giant guitar player who Hazel tries to interrogate in the announcement trailer. Shakin’ Bones is based on the legend of Robert Johnson, the man who made a deal with the devil at the crossroads and became the greatest guitar player who ever lived.
Compulsion has placed several Southern Legends like Shakin’ Bones throughout the game. They are called Archons, and they aren’t necessarily on your side, or your enemies’. As suggested in Shakin’ Bones entry, music will be a large part of South of Midnight as well.
South of Midnight has no release date for now, but it will be released on Xbox Series X|S and Windows via Steam. It is also Day One on Game Pass. You can watch the announcement trailer below.
