South of Midnight: PS5, Soulslike, Horror, Difficulty Guide

You hear “Southern Gothic action-adventure” and maybe picture slow-burn horror or punishing combat, but South of Midnight flips that expectation on its head. Developed by Compulsion Games and published by Xbox Game Studios in 2025, this third-person tale follows a young woman named Hazel through a hurricane-ravaged Deep South steeped in folklore, prioritising story and accessibility over difficulty.

Developer: Compulsion Games · Publisher: Xbox Game Studios · Release Year: 2025 · Platforms: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Windows · Genre: Action-adventure · Main Character: Hazel

What’s South of Midnight about?

What is the story of South of Midnight?

• Set in the fictionalized American Deep South after a devastating hurricane (NextGen Player)
• Protagonist Hazel searches for her mother, a quest that pulls her into encounters with creatures from Southern folklore (NextGen Player review)
• Themes of memory, loss, and regional myth run through the narrative

Who is Hazel?

Hazel is the player character, a young woman voiced and motion-captured by the development team. According to a NextGen Player review (PS5 review), her journey is framed as a “Southern Gothic action-adventure built on real regional folklore and myth.” She wields a weaving ability tied to the game’s crafting metaphor, used both in combat and puzzle-solving.

Bottom line: Compulsion Games built a folklore-driven rescue story set in the Deep South. Players who value narrative over mechanical challenge will find a world built on authentic regional myth.

Is South of Midnight on PS5?

Available on PlayStation 5 alongside Xbox Series X|S and Windows (ScreenRant). The Windows version is sold via Steam and Microsoft Store.

The implication: Sony’s audience gets full access to this Xbox Game Studios title, a sign of the publisher’s multi-platform strategy. For PS5 owners without an Xbox, the question is settled—no hardware barrier exists.

Is South of Midnight a soulslike game?

How does combat compare to soulslike games?

• Some outlets label it “soulslike” due to dodge-roll stamina management and enemy telegraphs, but the comparison is misleading
• Compulsion Games built accessible difficulty options and linear story progression that break the soulslike formula
• Players can choose between easier modes or the challenging Grand Weaver preset (GameSpew)

What this means: if you avoided Dark Souls because of difficulty, South of Midnight welcomes you. If you loved Dark Souls for its challenge, the custom difficulty lets you dial up enemy damage and aggression.

Is South of Midnight horror?

What makes it horror?

• Southern Gothic tone with eerie creatures and atmospheric dread
• Not traditional survival horror—no jump-scare loops or resource scarcity
• Classified as an action-adventure with dark folklore elements

The trade-off: horror fans may feel the scares are too sparse, while action fans may appreciate the tension without the genre’s usual frustrations.

Is South of Midnight difficult to play?

What difficulty settings are available?

Five options, one pattern: Scryer, Healer, Weaver, Grand Weaver, and Custom Tapestry. GameSpew’s difficulty guide documents the presets. The custom mode lets players tune enemy damage, boss damage, hazard damage, player invincibility, and even skip boss fights, chase sequences, or entire combat arenas (Aftermath).

• Scryer: story-focused, minimal resistance
• Healer: balanced default
• Weaver: moderate challenge
• Grand Weaver: hardest preset, recommended for soulslike veterans (GameSpew)
• Custom: granular control over every combat variable

The pattern: players can change difficulty at any time from the pause menu. Notably, there are no difficulty-related achievements (GameSpew), which reinforces the design philosophy: play the way that fits you.

Specifications at a glance

Six categories, one takeaway: South of Midnight is a mid-budget action-adventure with a strong identity in art direction and narrative but a modest scope.

Pros and cons

Clarity check

For a player deciding between South of Midnight and a traditional soulslike, the choice is clear: pick this if you value narrative, art direction, and flexible difficulty over punishing combat. Pick a soulslike if you want deep, reactive combat systems and high replayability. South of Midnight is not trying to be the next Dark Souls—it’s trying to be something more welcoming, and for many, that’s exactly the right call.

Readers interested in other game reviews may also find One Battle After Another Reviews useful for comparison.

For players deciding which PlayStation console to play South of Midnight on, our PS5 Pro vs PS5 comparison explains the performance differences.

Frequently asked questions