The developer Compulsion Games<\/a> continues his impressive run of visually captivating and creative projects with South of Midnight. Following his work on 2013's Contrast and 2018's We Happy Few, this time we move into a gothic fantasy setting inspired by the myths of the American Deep South.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a unique premise and the studio\u2019s third game to champion an aesthetic style \u2013 with the twist being that South of Midnight is developed using a stop-motion style. To complete the effect, the game imposes a framerate cap, particularly on its cutscenes, simulating the jerky motion of real animated film. It\u2019s currently exclusive to Xbox and PC, so how do the Series X and Series S versions compare in delivering this visual style, and what is the extent of scalability for the PC version? \ud83c\udfae<\/p>\n South of Midnight is a single-player adventure that runs roughly 12 hours and is a perfect fit for a Game Pass release. Compulsion Games focuses on three core gameplay pillars here: platforming, combat, and physics-based puzzles. Our protagonist, Hazel,'s spellcasting abilities offer a wealth of control options, allowing us to glide through the air, move, pull, and create landscapes, and even trap enemies in combat.<\/p>\n In every respect, this idea of manipulating the world with strings is well realized, achieving a satisfying flow to movement once your abilities expand into a skill tree. There are higher difficulty settings, but I found it to be an enjoyable stroll as it stands on the default mode. It's linear, to be sure\u2014there's even an optional hint toward the next objective if you need a tip\u2014but given the spate of open-world extravaganzas lately, it's refreshing to have a more change-driven experience. \ud83c\udf1f<\/p>\n En t\u00e9rminos de tecnolog\u00eda, no hay un comunicado oficial sobre si se utiliza Unreal Engine 4 o 5, pero, al mirar el directorio de instalaci\u00f3n en PC, hay archivos de volcado de errores que sugieren fuertemente el uso de UE4 como base. Sin embargo, lo m\u00e1s destacado esta vez es el estilo de animaci\u00f3n de stop motion<\/a> de South of Midnight.<\/p>\n To break this effect down, all cutscenes run at 30fps on Xbox Series X, Series S, and even PC. There\u2019s no way to opt out on any platform, but it\u2019s justified given that it forms the basis of the game\u2019s idiosyncratic visual style. Within this 30fps upgrade, certain elements are further slowed down to create the effect; facial movements run at 15fps, creating the illusion of faces switching every other frame. Meanwhile, most of Hazel\u2019s body movements are at 30fps, though some other elements\u2014such as the creatures roaming the land\u2014appear to be moving at 15fps. \ud83d\udc79<\/p>\n