South of Midnight

The brilliant visuals are what sold me on the game. The art direction is absolutely amazing, complemented by really great music and sound design. Just looking at this world and these locations was the main pleasure for me. The character designs are also great, and the story was interesting. The actors did a really nice job, especially Walt Roberts, who voiced Catfish. I could listen to that accent forever. In terms of gameplay, it’s a fairly simple platformer with action sequences. It’s relaxed and never particularly frustrating. The developers also keep up a good pace, alternating between fights, puzzles and lore segments. On the downside, some of the dialogue was cringe-worthy. I’m getting a bit tired of these Marvel-esque ass quips, and a few scenes were ruined by the main character’s out-of-place sarcastic comments. As a result, the dramatic moments lost some of their impact and often felt like they were missing some sort of closure. But it wasn’t over-the-top buffoonery, so it was tolerable. I already praised the soundtrack for being high-quality, but it did feel as though some of the tracks sounded, forgive me, a bit too “white” when they really should have drawn more heavily on the blues. Some of the themes also didn’t sound much like New Orleans or the American South. Instead, they felt more like something from a musical à la Frozen. Well, given that it’s sorta of a fairy tale (a gloomy one), perhaps it’s alright the way it is. Overall, I was pleased with the game. I would even call it a hidden gem, because it felt like no one really talked about it or played it. It has this fascinating, magical atmosphere, and if I had to compare it to something, Psychonauts is the first thing that springs to mind.