South of Midnight

[Nag]

 

After saying I wasn't going to I went ahead and started this today... only managed maybe 1.5 hours due to adulthood being crap again but I've liked what I've seen so far...

 

 

In my time with it so far Hazel has watched her house get washed away with her mum still inside thanks to a huge Hurricane and set out to try and find her... we've discovered she's a Weaver (she hasn't yet) who can basically see and manipulate strands to help in combat and with traversal... the look of the game reminds me of The Nightmare before Christmas even though it's not really anything like it... it just has this really nice animated look with the character models in cutscenes looking really good to me.

 

Combat boils down to pretty much what you'd imagine for a third person game, admittedly I've hardly opened up the levelling tree and I suspect I'll be getting new abilities and fighting different types of enemies in due course. 

 

 

The voice work and music has been really good so far and I'm betting this story is going to get fairly dark fairly quickly... knowing this isn't the biggest game in terms of size and that I'm already liking what I've seen of the story/characters means I'll probably stick with this now until I hit the end... just wish I had more time to play the damn thing.

 

Spoiler

 

[Maf]

I’m in chapter 7 and enjoying it enough but I have no idea what’s happening in the story at any given moment 

[Maf]

Chapter 12 of 14 and starting to really dislike it 

 

I've given up on the story and started skipping all the cutscenes to try make it shorter. The buttons are too slow and getting annoying. The bosses are rubbish. The game takes camera control away too much to show me stuff I don't care about. The stop motion doesn't really add anything to the game and I'm generally bored of how repetitive it is

 

The graphics and music is nice and very different to most games which gives it some flavour, but it's far too long and I've really, really had enough. Only 2 chapters to go so I will persevere - but on another day 

[DANGERMAN]

Similar to Nag I wasn't particularly taken with this from the trailers. From the art style to the gameplay it just didn't appeal, however for whatever reason I've started and I'm enjoying it. The artstyle looks a lot better "in person", and it's a fairly easy play 

 

It's absolutely nothing new. I feel like I've been playing this game since at least the PS3, and it had a choppy frame rate back then too. That said, it all mostly works, the platforming can have a few dodgy moments, as can the combat, but it's a fun ride so far 

 

I wasn't expecting the trees story to be quite so fucking bleak, mind 

[Nag]

Think I'm around 10ish hours and up to level 11... it's another one of those AA Game Pass games I never would've dropped cash on (like Flintlock) but I'm glad I've given time to.  In terms of mechanics it's not going to win any awards and it's true that by level three you've probably seen all the game has to offer in terms of exploration and combat but it has a certain charm in character and storytelling that's carrying it along for me.

[mfnick]

I’ve played some of this now. Not as much as I’d like to have but up to chapter 4. I’m really enjoying it. 
 

I absolutely adore everything it’s doing audio visual wise. I think it looks incredible. The soundtrack has had some real stand out moments too. Sure it’s a bit simple gameplay wise. The “platforming” is Uncharted lite but it’s relaxing and because it looks so damn pretty I’m happy just taking it in. Combat is meh but ok enough - just seen you can skip all if you want too so if I do get really bored of it there’s that option. Great accessibility stuff in this. 
 

The main story so far is incredibly light weight - just finding Ma. But if there’s more small stories that hit with some of the impact of that Tree story then it’s still going to be more than enough for me. 
 

Wish I’d noticed the HUD options when taking this screenshot but nevermind.
 

 

As long as it’s quite short & doesn’t have loads of filler I can see me loving this. 

[mfnick]

Poor pigs  

[DANGERMAN]

I think I'm on chapter 8. It's only supposed to be about 10 hours long, it feels like I'm approaching that already. I'm guessing there's this next part then the actual boss area, judging by how similar the structure is to a lot of games 

 

I'm past the bit @mfnickhas just referenced, I've just been dropped off at the bottom of a very steep climb 

[mfnick]

& done.

 

I really enjoyed that. It’s not mind blowing or doing anything particularly special but my original post still stands. Just had a great time with it. Could have been a couple of hours shorter but still didn’t really drag. 
 

Recommended. 

[Nag]

Finished...

 

Agree with @mfnick above, nothing outstanding but an enjoyable tale and didn't outstay its welcome at around 12ish hours for my run.

 

I'd have to mention the music too... if it doesn't get some kind've award for that it'd be a shame... was great all the way through.

[DANGERMAN]

I really dislike the songs that recap the story. Awful stuff, I hate musicals, and it's that same tuneless hammy shite

[DANGERMAN]

I've finished this now. I do think it's a couple of chapters too long, which might be an daft complaint because it means you're getting a decent amount for your money (assuming you weren't playing on Game Pass), but it is the same gameplay loop over and over.

 

All in, I still enjoyed it. I didn't love it, and I didn't really get engaged with the story, but I'm glad I played it and I did like it more than I expected to. I sound like I'm more down on it than I am, I was really enjoying it but by chapter 8 or 9 I was ready for it to wrap up