An innovative south of midnight mechanic feels like a missed opportunity

South of midnight Has had a somewhat mixed critical reception, where it is currently in a 78 critic average on OpenCritic. While many stores were praised South of midnightSens emotional story, fantastic presentation and beautiful soundtrack, South of midnightThe game caught a lot of flakes.

Largely, South of midnightThe struggle was criticized for being too repetitive, with mechanics and enemy behavior that developed only somewhat during the course of 12-hour action adventure. South of midnightThe platform did not go much better, with many critics who thought it was responsive and fun enough, but not groundbreaking in any way. That said, there is a specific platform mechanic in South of midnight It is a little more innovative than the rest, but it is captured behind level design that never lets it spread its wings.

Family

Crouton is south of Midnight's Breakout star

South of midnight is packed to the edge with larger characters than life, but it is a small sidekick that steals the limelight time and time again.

South of Midnight's Wall-Run is an innovative feature held back from greatness

South of midnight wall -powered tries something new

Although wall jumps have existed since the beginning of the 1990s thanks to games that Ninja GaidenWall driving mechanics were not really popularized until the 2003s Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. During the two decades ago, Wall run has appeared in countless games, both third and first person. And although the mechanic often works in a uniform way nowadays, there are still plenty of modern titles trying to put a new spin on the parkour function.

Pretty surprising this is an area of games that South of midnight innovates in. When running on a wall, South of midnight Provides players the ability to rise or rise by using the right analog stick, which allows them to change the vertical path for their endpoint.

This is far from a revolutionary innovation, but it is something new. Most grounded, physics-based parkour games that Mirror edge Let players naturally go down in a bow as they continue to move horizontally along a wall. And more arcad-y titles, as they recently released FictionSee players remain at the same height as the wall drives. It is extremely rare for players to be given the ability to change their vertical path while they go in all video games.

Spider-man games can be an exception to the rule, with the superhero's ability to stick to surfaces that often allow players to run up and down the walls while moving horizontally.

South of Midnight's Level Design does not mark this wall -driven mechanic

Although it is amazing that South of midnight Have such an innovative function, in practice it feels a little superfluous. During South of midnightExploration sequences, the vast majority of the platforms in the world are placed at the same height as the wall -driven starting point, which means that players do not really need to adjust the vertical height of their course as they move.

This applies to most South of midnightChase sequences as well, with players who rarely need to change their height in the middle of the wall to reach a platform that is either higher or lower than their starting point. This is especially true South of midnight'S double -jumping ability, which allows players to reach greater heights at the end of a wall driving already.

With just a few tweaks, South of midnightLevel design could have made this innovative wall -driven mechanic the star in the show. All that would have taken are some platform sequences that see players who need to reach higher platforms, or some hunting sequences that require players to avoid oncoming debris while wall driving. But instead it feels like a little missed opportunity.