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South of Midnight (Compulsion Games - Xbox/PC/GamePass) - First Previews Going Live

Humdinger

Gold Member
It's too bad. I like the setting, the music, and the atmosphere they're going for. But the SBI connection, the racist/misandrist Community Manager, the talk of "representation," and the deprioritization of gameplay over story kills it for me. Ah well.
 

ReBurn

Gold Member
i agree with you , a black protagonist fits in that world but the problem was not the race swap , the problem is that the swap was made for diversity ( the community manager's words not mine )

they could have just said " hey we are making a game about black people folklore and its only natural to have a black protagonist" instead of " cis white males shouldnt be the majority , we need more black people "
They should seriously be reigning in their community manager as she's going to be one of the main reasons this game flops, if not the main reason. Hating men is not a practice that sells video games.

Considering the setting they shouldn't even have to explain why the main character is a young black woman, especially considering some of the obvious correlations with Gullah culture in the deep south (becoming a weaver similar to basket weaving artistry, beliefs concerning haints and spirits, etc.) It's actually not "diverse" when it comes down to it, it's more culturally appropriate this way than if the main character was really a young white woman prior to SBI.
 

Bernardougf

Member
As far as I understand this is an black history game ? With black characters? And is perfectly fine ... why talk representation though??? White representation? Asian ? Or is because of the alphabet representation? ... people really like this word and is almost like the plague for good storys.
 
oh boy dunk GIF
 

Loomy

Thinks Microaggressions are Real
As far as I understand this is an black history game ? With black characters? And is perfectly fine ... why talk representation though??? White representation? Asian ? Or is because of the alphabet representation? ... people really like this word and is almost like the plague for good storys.
This nonsensical comment added nothing to the conversation about this game.


Xbox loves closing studios after critically acclaimed / medicore releases.

I expect compulsion to be closed after this game.
Sad, but you're not wrong. Their first 2 games were alright, and the acquisition never made sense. If Tango Works in Japan made no sense for Xbox, I don't see how this studio in Montreal does

I also checked their headcount and compared it to Hello Games. It's crazy to me what Hello Games continues to accomplish with a smaller team. Granted NMS makes them a boatload of money, but still.
 

Bernardougf

Member
This nonsensical comment added nothing to the conversation about this game.



Sad, but you're not wrong. Their first 2 games were alright, and the acquisition never made sense. If Tango Works in Japan made no sense for Xbox, I don't see how this studio in Montreal does

I also checked their headcount and compared it to Hello Games. It's crazy to me what Hello Games continues to accomplish with a smaller team. Granted NMS makes them a boatload of money, but still.
9aCAcEd.jpeg
 

Pejo

Gold Member
Man the art style is so good for this game. Still unsure how I feel about the claymation animation effect though. It's cool in a bubble, but in practice it looks just like a really bad framerate.
 

Punished Miku

Human Rights Subscription Service
Watched it again on the TV when I got home. Game honestly looks sick as fuck. The video itself is shot pretty well. Some cool forest shots and then comparing it to the concept art and then the game. Whole thing is a breath of fresh air. Cant remember the art director's name, Whitney Cummings? She crushed it. Some of the concept art shots are insane. And many of the landscape shots literally look like concept art.

Guess we'll see if they stick the landing on story and gameplay. Pretty hyped for this one. Looks like a truly one of a kind game. Very original.

I think the stop motion is going to look incredible in person. It gives everything in the game the appearance of looking like static concept art, highlights the incredible details in everything. Looks like a hand drawn comic or real life miniature.
 
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Danny Dudekisser

I paid good money for this Dynex!
This might be the single ugliest main character I've ever seen in a game. Not because she's black. Because she's ugly.
 

Danny Dudekisser

I paid good money for this Dynex!
Uglier than old Marguerite here? Surely not.

9djhmwvp3kba1.jpg

Yes, because this is at least intended to be ugly. The main character here isn't - in fact, somebody actually sat there after designing it, looked down at their work, and said "yes, I did a good job." That's really upsetting to think about.
 

HercRaato

Member
The community manager hates me because I'm a gamer. And spews racism, this game can go on the woke shit pile. I'll spend my disposable income with someone who doesn't have open contempt for me.

These companies need to not be condemning and hating on their potential clients.
 

Closer

Member
Wow, this is a really cool looking game. The art style looks amazing and gameplay looks like vanilla exploration game. Gonna keep an eye on this for sure.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Some new info from Gaf favorite Krobrille (?)

Looks like the stop-motion effect is a toggle during game play (i-e can be turned on or off), but is a fixed setting for the cut-scenes.

And the game length will roughly be ~12 hours.

 
I love what this game is going for but the character design, and the Louisiana-esque setting really put me off. I hate nearly everything related to that setting, and the character is just so goddamn ugly (not because she is black before somebody tries it) which is a shame because what it is doing with the rest of the art and animation is great.

It's great you can turn off the stop motion as it would give me an immediate headache if I played it.
 
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Salz01

Member
Cautiously optimistic. Thought the initial reveal looked good, and different. Concerned about the developer because they never really had a hit game, and I don’t want to be lectured to. Hoping this is good.
 
Would be dumb to not release day and date on PS. Thats where audience for this game is.

Combat looks fine. Its not groundbreaking. They are being honest and I like that. Naughty Dog or Santa Monica would make something like this, then act like its some sort of magic trick cause our animations are smooth etc.
 

KungFucius

King Snowflake
Big oof:

"Compulsion Games says that while they expect gameplay to be engaging, it isn't nearly as much of a focus as the story, music, and other elements they've clearly put the lion's share of work into. Instead, they're keeping levels relatively short for a ten-ish hour story and putting all of their chips into South of Midnight's exceptional presentation and worldbuilding".
Really? I love short Gamepass games that keep me engaged and end before they overstay their welcome.
 
This might be the single ugliest main character I've ever seen in a game. Not because she's black. Because she's ugly.

I started watching the documentary and the voice actress looks waaay better than the main character.

I'm guessing they had the character model done first, but they should've gone back and modeled it after the actress.
 
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