I've talked before about how April 2025's Xbox Game Pass lineup has looked amazing for ages now, but admittedly it was Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 that I had my eye on the most - and definitely not Xbox's own South of Midnight.
That's not to say I thought South of Midnight looked bad, but after years of covering the game throughout its development, I'd never found myself being drawn to it for whatever reason. It was only when I actually sat down and played SOM that I realised I really like it... and I would never have found that out if not for Xbox Game Pass.
Ben's review of South of Midnight on Pure Xbox goes into detail about what you can expect from it, so I'm not going to elaborate too much, but I've been really blown away by the visual style, the atmosphere, the character performances, the soundtrack and all the backstory behind its narrative. I'm only a couple of chapters in, but I'm very impressed so far.
There's unfortunately been some attention placed on the low Steam numbers for South of Midnight at launch, with the game racking up a peak of just 1,411 players on that platform yesterday, but perhaps that indicates exactly why it needed to be an Xbox Game Pass title. It feels like for the people who are playing it on Game Pass, they're being pleasantly surprised by just how good it is - here's an example of some comments I've spotted:
South of Midnight feels, to me, like a game that probably won't be an overnight success, but something that we'll still be talking about as an "underrated gem" in another 10 years' time. Again, it's still early days for my playthrough, but alongside Split Fiction, it's already feeling like the most memorable gaming experience I've had in 2025 so far.
This is what Xbox Game Pass is all about to me. Sure, I love the ability to play all the old classics, and all the big AAA releases that you know are going to be worth a try at least, but it's the surprises that really make it worth the value in my opinion. South of Midnight was not really on my radar until yesterday, and now I suddenly don't want to put it down!
But how about you? What do you think of South of Midnight so far? Let us know in the poll and comments.
Comments 35
I've only been able to play an hour of the game so far but I'm really liking it!
The game looks great plays well the music the vibes of the game are top notch and I'm into the story so far aswell worth the wait and can't wait to jump back on tonight!
This is exactly the sort of reason I love GP. I get to play hits that I wouldn't normally pay for.
I'm somewhere in the middle of the game and love it so much. So i've bought my friend a copy
I just got to chapter 10 the sound design music and the story with the graphics are absolutely outstanding
Played for a couple of hours last night! Wow! What a super cool game!
95% of my owned PC games are on Steam. I can however sub to GP for $11.99 whenever there's a few titles I want to check out and South of Midnight is most certainly one of those. GP has been amazing recently but my default is to not be subscribed. I got through Hellblade 2, Still Wakes the Deep and Wasteland 3 in two months last year. For me it just depends on free time and games that perk my interest.
I was so curious about the game I had to try it, which meant playing about 30 min and I really liked it, seems like a game I will love. Will finish Shadows first, but cant wait to play more South of Midnight!
While GP obviously has it's advantages for garnering a games exposure I've always been curious as to how many transfer into actual sales. Can never find any official data. 🤔
So far so good 5 chapters in. Combat is a bit chaotic when there are more than 3 enemies, but exploration, voice acting, visuals, story, and traversal are all top notch. Really glad I'm trying it out.
I skipped the reviews, as I usually do for GP games I know I'm going to try, and I played the first 3 chapters in one sitting. It's fantastic. Great pace early on getting you into the story and learning the controls, as well as how quickly you unlock the skills
Play with headphones, the sound design is so good. The setting is so alive with music and wildlife, I found myself watching the critters or the landscape a lot. I watched a snapping turtle take 4 minutes just walking into the water lol
It's a lot more adult themed than the art style would let on too. There's some messed up stuff going on in this swamp. It feels a bit like playing a Tim Burton movie
Agree with all of the above comments.
Great so far, 3 chapters in.
Love the voice acting, visual style and the story.
Yes, very 'Burton-ish'
Gamepass Is ridiculously good it blows ever other service like it out the water
I've only played for an hour but loving it so far. I've noticed a few typos/errors already though which is a little annoying (I like my spelling ) but that doesn't in any way affect the game. I know I'll enjoy the rest of the game.
@LaurenceJ1987 Yeah, I noticed too 😅
@FraserG
Watching a few vids the traversal looks like a mix between Forespoken and Jedi: Fallen Order. Would you say that's a fair assessment? While I've only seen vids of the aforementioned game I did enjoy how Cal moves around in the Jedi games.
One of my Games of the Year, went in with fairly average expectations but the game has really impressed me. The sound and graphics design warrant special mention. The gameplay at some points actually reminds me of a stripped down version of Spider-Man!
The story has got me too.
@NishimuraX I don’t think sales is the big thing they focus on, of course it’s definitely a good part of it but game pass probably makes up for the sales for the smaller games
@Prestige-worldwide
I'm not concerned about actual sales per se, I was just interested if through GP there had been a notable spike in games bought that in previous generations, prior to Microsoft's rental service, (because that is what it is), may have been largely ignored by the gaming public.
@NishimuraX I haven't seen much of Forspoken to be honest! It definitely is reminiscent of Jedi: Fallen Order's movement in some ways, but it's also got a unique style of its own.
@FraserG
"but it's also got a unique style of its own"
The unique style you're [probably] referring to is how the character moves in Forespoken, a kind of magical parkour. Go have a look, it's almost identical. Not a criticism of course as it looks quite cool.
I’ll play it this weekend, on a work trip currently so away from my Xbox.
Since I don't use Ultimate anymore, I will wait for a price drop. But I'm really looking forward to it.
@FraserG @LaurenceJ1987 are they really typos and not intentionally "translating" to words the way they speak in that setting (cajun maybe)?
@Balta666 I noticed a couple like "it's" instead of "its", not a big deal to me but there their (lol)
@AverageJoseph hahaha fair enough
@Balta666 as @AverageJoseph said, it's that sort of thing. I saw a wrong it's/its, and a trauma's instead of traumas. And I think another misplaced apostrophe. Nothing to take away from how much I'm enjoying it so far though.
Not enjoying it TBH despite there being many things to like about the game, eg story/theme, setting and environmental visuals. Movement is clunky - in an early 2000s type of way - and combat is both dull and annoying, especially with multiple enemies hitting you from off-screen.
I’m glad people are really getting into it. Not my cup of tea sadly.
Not interested at all but fair play to those that are.
I'm up to chapter 6, it's OK for me. Enjoyed it more at the start, but the novelty is already wearing thin... I will probably finish it, but definitely cannot ever see myself replaying this. Sure, original story, music... But playing doesn't feel very rewarding, defined path, combat is very repetitive, same creatures
Up to Chapter 4 and really liking it. Love the stop-motion animation and vibrant color tone, which got me interested in the 1st place. The combat sections are OK and harks back to the x360 days. It is set in small arenas with multiple enemy types and a single health cube thingy that can be used only once. It would be better if the combat was over the shoulder 3rd-person like God Of War, but guess the developer isn't a huge studio with a big budget.
As for me this game is a reminder of why I am happy I dropped Gamepass Ultimate and downgraded to Core. This doesn't appeal to me at all. If you love it, well good for you I guess, but I am not sold on it at all and I have no shortage of games to play that actually interest me. Gamepass has only seemed to become a worse deal over time and if they keep upping the price that will only become more obvious.
Removed - inappropriate
Unfortunately another game not tested properly. Chapter 5 at least a couple of bugs that prevent progress. When will games ever be released in a playable state.
God knows why anyone would be foolish enough to buy a game early access.
Played for a few chapters, this game is very similar to Kena: Bridge of spirits. Seems like equal budgets, gameplay, some of art style and targeted audience.
Which don't get me wrong, I loved, but most Xbox players basically burned.
Suffice to say, South of Midnight works for me.
@NishimuraX doubt be that many sales from gamepass unless people really like it and want to own keep it has most go off after a year or they dont complete It in time before it leaves id guess. But they get paid out for it when 3rd party games so I doubt sales matters too much for most
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