South of Midnight is a third‑person action‑adventure that leans into its narrative hard. For those thinking of buying it, that’s the first thing to consider, because not every gamer has the same ‘high cutscene-to-gameplay ratio’ of patience. While it doesn’t over-indulge, it does like to pause events often to reveal one of its abundant storytelling nuggets as it unravels its enjoyable Deep South folktale-inspired narrative.
Taken most positively, these events add a decent amount of interest and some pathos to the game’s roughly 10-hour runtime, which is divided up into 14 chapters. My most negative take is that I sometimes mused about whether South of Midnight would have also made an excellent film.
And this brings me neatly to the quality of this Switch 2 port. Published by Xbox Game Studios, South of Midnight came out to positive reviews in 2025 – representing a warmer reception for developer Compulsion Games after their mixed-reviewed We Happy Few. A glance at the gameplay — set within ambitious storm effects at times and dense, luscious wildflowers at others — shows a very ‘current gen’ production that pushes the graphical limits of the Switch 2’s more powerful rivals.
Alongside a lovely stop-motion aesthetic, South of Midnight’s trio of presentation, worldbuilding, and atmosphere were often highlighted as its strongest features, with many reviews suggesting they overshadowed fun but never deep gameplay mechanics.
It’s sad to report, then, that the Switch 2 version brings a variety of compromises that undermine that great strength. These are issues that come and go depending on where you are in the game – a frequent slight fuzz in handheld mode, reoccurring texture pop-in both handheld and docked, and omnipresent frame drops scattered throughout like flies buzzing in the real-life version of the game’s subtropical bayou locale.
Inevitably, these compromises impacted my immersion. Rather than revelling in a true next-gen experience, I was reminded of playing various Switch 1 ports from almost a decade ago. The bar is higher now — and the Switch 2 is capable of impressive work — but the compromises are there all the same.
It’s difficult to get the tone right here – I don’t want to sound too negative. South of Midnight on Switch 2 is still very playable, but it’s fair to say that its foliage-and-fauna-dense fantastical rendition of the Deep South setting isn’t always as pretty as it is elsewhere. Having said that, it still has its moments. These issues disappear often enough, and the visuals sometimes shine.
Story-wise, you take on the role of Hazel. In the opening scene, she’s preparing for an imminent hurricane and on the cusp of fleeing her house with her mother. The pair fall out over the mother’s tendency to prioritise other kids over her daughter, a minor rift made poignant when the house and the mother are swept away in the violent storm, which works a little like a watery version of the tornado that sends Dorothy to Oz.
You’ll spend the rest of the game trying to get your mother back. There are twists – Hazel discovers that she’s a ‘weaver’, capable of seeing and using strange strands and threads that appear in the air, a powerful force that imbues her with a host of combat skills perfect for destroying the ghostly Haints that pop up frequently.
They also amplify Hazel’s athleticism so she can run across sheer walls, triple jump, and lasso – not to mention one enjoyable pixie-sized surprise I won’t reveal.
My own experience with South of Midnight’s gameplay went through three distinct stages. Stage one, I sensed quickly that the platforming, while fun, is pretty linear. Stage two, during the ring-fenced battles (they take place in clearly defined zones) I came to enjoy the enforced patience needed to succeed and how button-mashing wasn’t going to work.
Stage three, about midway through, I became just a touch disappointed that the platforming-exploring- battling gameplay loop remained mostly the same. As I neared the game’s climax, the rhythm became familiar. I traversed athletically to a new area, completed some light environmental puzzles, cleaned up three or four areas of Haints, occasionally beat a boss, and then moved on to the next chapter. New ideas do appear here and there, but this isn’t a game where freedom and choice are part of the design. Overall, South of Midnight is fun. It is good. But it’s not the most varied experience.
If you look at the multiple accolades won by Compulsion Games since the initial release, you’ll see a few awards for animation – and they’re well deserved, and part of the reason I think South of Midnight would make such a great film. The voice acting is also impressive.
But other award wins for best music are less convincing. The cinematic soundtrack is excellent — I loved the mood and wanted more of it — but the lyrics in some of the songs that pop up throughout are often distractingly on the nose, expressing the themes and events with very little subtlety.
Ah, but this is a minor quibble. I enjoyed South of Midnight a lot – the adventure through multi-generational, fantastical family, folk-tinged trauma has stuck with me. I had a memorable trip into a gothic Southern swampy wonderland. The Switch 2 version is absolutely functional and it really will work for you if you don’t have access to something more powerful.
Conclusion
Elsewhere, on more powerful hardware, South of Midnight elevates its slightly repetitive gameplay with its stellar presentation. It’s an unavoidable disappointment, then, that some of that quality is compromised on Switch 2. As a result, when playing, it creates the same sensation as listening to a great song punctuated by a smattering of duff notes. You’ll have to choose to ignore the texture pop-in in docked mode or the slight fuzziness in handheld mode. Even then, your brain will register it on some level and it’ll twang a thread of mild, almost imperceptible regret at what could have been.
Having said that, South of Midnight is still very playable and enjoyable. There’s plenty here to appreciate, but the Switch 2 version won’t be the one that anyone calls definitive.
