Analytic Dreamz: Notorious Mass Effect - "SOUTH OF MIDNIGHT PASSES 1 MILLION PLAYERS WITH THE HELP OF XBOX GAME PASS"

Episode Date: May 14, 2025

Linktree: ⁠https://linktr.ee/Analytic⁠Become A Patron Of The Notorious Mass Effect Podcast For Additional Bonus Audio And Visual Content For All Things Nme! Join Our Patreon Here: ⁠https://ow.ly/oPsc50VBOuH⁠Dive into the Southern Gothic world of South of Midnight with Analytic Dreamz on Notorious Mass Effect. This segment explores Compulsion Games’ third-person action-adventure, set in the Deep South, launching April 8, 2025, on Xbox Series X/S, PC, and Game Pass. Uncover Hazel Flood’s journey, stop-motion aesthetics, folklore-inspired bosses, and a blues/jazz soundtrack. Analytic Dreamz breaks down gameplay, cultural depth, and launch performance, including a 94% positive Steam rating and Game Pass success, alongside critiques of repetitive combat. Join for insightful gaming analysis.Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Now before we get into this third person action adventure video game, we have to pause for a moment to highlight the fact that Senors is out now in movie theaters. Now while in the midst of a video game review would I shout out another movie when the two seemingly have no comparisons to be made? Well, of course, that is because when it comes to Centers, when it comes to South of Midnight, Centers and South of Midnight are both safe. in the south with sinners being in the Jim Crow era south and of course south of midnight being in post-hurst hurricane gothic south and the supernatural elements as far as vampires on the center side and then the haints on the south of midnight side leads me to put these two creative projects together because of course centers is a masterpiece and south of midnight is its own masterpiece and what the masses have said about each is that the narrative has been exceptionally delivered

and executed to the point where I felt the need to shout out centers in the midst of my South of Midnight Review. Now that being said, of course, the Blues and Southern Mythos is all throughout both of these creative projects, but getting back into South and Midnight solely, let's talk about how this is developed by compulsion games set out in Canada and i have to do it as xbox has finally got themselves a quality exclusive but then you know what i'm saying i was like 10 look at the state of hip hip hop like what's going now with that being said you have to look at the state of xbox as far as in totality and how they are really putting the game pass on but the putting the game pass front and

center letting the people know that this game being out on game pass day one especially with other games being on game past day one is letting you know the value of game past especially if you if you pay a subscription you probably wondering why will i pay a hundred plus subscription when i could just buy a game for 70 and in the game pass argument you play three four or five different games off a game pass it already paid for itself so with being said i feel like having south of midnight not only being a game past game but just being a phenomenal game in itself especially when it's only out on xbox series x and s but it technically is out on steam but more specifically when it comes to consoles it's only on xbox so with that being said

i think the main thing you need to note with this game is that it's more of a platformer type game has a lot of combat but also has a lot of puzzle solving throughout the game because when it comes to platforming obviously your double jump air dash glide things that nature is in the game but of course when it comes to combat there's hooks which is a five-hit combo there's freeze done enemy pool telekinesis throw ground pound and then when it comes to the visual element that only elevates the overall narrative being driven you have stop motion aesthetic that is toggleable toggleable toggleable toggleable toggleable That is a tongue twist for me.

I ain't going to lie to you. So you can toggle it off or on as far as the stop motion aesthetic. And when you think of that, it's more of like the Spider-Man across the Spider-Verts just to give a popular example on what you can compare the stop motion to. But then the unique element, because we really don't get games like this too often. Like, you know, as far as a black man in America, you got to realize that representation is not on the priority list. comes to projects so whenever you see a project that's putting certain representation on front street and its actual quality because just because you have representation doesn't mean you need to come

out say oh this is a great game right if south of midnight wasn't a good game guess what we would have just act like it never came out i ain't a lot to you i wouldn't have covered it i want to put on the the cover of my episode we would have just been like you know what they tried to represent us but it made it's not that good right if centers wasn't a masterpiece we would have came out and be like you know what Ryan Cougla tried I'm glad he gave us representation in the error that we usually don't get it in but you know it just wasn't that good but this is that this is far from the case both of these particular creative projects representing us is high quality as far as a narrative and of course when it comes to the video game aspect with south of midnight they do a lot of things gameplay wise to captivate you and to the overall story because when it comes to platforming that is one of my favorite things and video games because I believe last year I think the Jedi Survivor come out last year was a 2023 let me see Jedi Survivor release date so okay so Jedi Survivor came out 2023 what did I play last year that was oh Astrobaugh I'm tripping so Asthma

last year I don't know how I forgot about Asthmaelbaugh I literally played that this year that's how much I still enjoyed the game yeah so Asthmaelbaugh came out September 6th 2024 and April 28th 2023 that's when Jedi Survivor came out. Those two had platforming in the midst of it. Astrobot is really an entire platforming type game. Jedi Survivor, not so much, but it has a lot of platforming elements in it. That's what I would compare South and Midnight to, especially the narrative and the way it's been explained and just the masses have came together to talk about how that's one of the more engaging features as far as when you're playing. Because it's one thing to have a great story, right?

The runtime for this video game is 12 hours. So the main story, is 12 hours but especially when you add on the side content is 15 to 20 hours and of course for 100% completion it's about 35 hours so I will compare it to more of a spider-man PS5 when it comes to runtime in general but when it comes to the gameplay elements and how engaging it is I think platforming elements help out a lot especially when it comes to the enjoyment factor on enjoying the story because at some point in a video game it has to have great combat I don't care what game you're playing if it has a phenomenal story but the gameplay is lackluster you might as well just watch the tv show or a movie because guess what we played a video game for the gameplay mechanics

so that being said south of midnight seems to be doing great in that aspect and then when it comes to the analytics right it is currently one of the top most play games or Xbox as it's the six currently it's the six most play game on Xbox and then when it comes to steam you know it's it's more of an Xbox game pass exclusive so that's why you would see it so high on Xbox as far as it being the six most play game which granted people could have still not played this game and not paid it any attention so it's still a phenomenal feat to be the top uh to be one of the top six games on Xbox but when it comes to steam the numbers shows that the all time peak as far as the past 18 days was at 1400 right in the past 24 hours 346 people have played a game and then and 127 people are playing right now. So this game being a single player game, I would say these numbers are not blowing anything out of the water,

but it's still a phenomenal accomplishment on the Xbox side of things to have the sixth most played game on that platform. When it comes to Steam, I think people maybe are deterred because of the play style, or not the play style, because of the runtime and the price, or maybe other things that's more of a deeper conversation. But I think for the most part, Xbox is where it shons, as far as analytically and it affecting the masses so with that being said the game has the main

protagonist's name as hazel flood voiced by adrian ray and then you have the mother lacy flood voiced by Cynthia k. mc williams and then of course when it comes to the overall enemy there's a lot of haints in the game like i was saying earlier and the major bosses like two-toe tom and ruggeroo hopefully i said that right there's 14 regions in this specific game inspired by the deep south locations as far as swamps and abandoned towns and i'm not going to spoil the game but just let you know what you're getting yourself into because a lot of people probably wondering well what am i getting into as far as this game well analytic dreams video on spotify to see the video along with the audio because i do have some gameplay up

for south of midnight as i'm breaking it down but when it comes to the launch performance i think that's the biggest plot not plot twist but that was the biggest moment for this game that was basically like are people going to accept this as a quality game or not because the marketing for this game i think was pretty solid and in general a lot of people had great things to say about this particular game as game hub gave this a five out of five which is phenomenal praise right saying that south of midnight is a master class and picking a theme and sticking to it right gaming trend gave this a 95 out of a hundred once more calling it a masterclass for its use of music as a narrative enhancer hmm i wonder what came out earlier that i just

compared it to that also had that same compliment it's almost like we are eating as far as the black community as far as top tier video games and top tier movies as far as what we have to choose from for our leisure as far as entertainment anyways so let's keep going IGN gave this an eight out of ten basically calling it a straightforward but well-executed action adventure that's more like luster so we just don't move on from that game spot also gave it an eight out of ten saying fantastic story well research setting and catchy soundtrack that elevates the orthodox gameplay as far as the review emphasizing memorable characters and cultural authenticity so as more of a as we get into the review roundup you automatically notice a couple things coming up time and time again as far as the

narrative being authentic and it being one of the more exceptional features of this game so if you get into it for the story just know you're in for a phenomenal treat as windows central also gave this an eight out of ten saying it's a love letter to southern gothic with a compelling story and gorgeous world in combat's limited enemy variety is a drawback but the narrative shone So when it comes to this game, obviously the story is what you should come for, but when it comes to the gameplay mechanics, they said it's engaging when it comes to the overall litmus scale, but is the thing that's going to blow you out of the water, of course not. So that is pretty positive around across the board as far as a review roundup. I got into the sales roundup as far as when it came out on Xbox and in Steam with, you know, to remind you, it's the sixth most play game currently on Xbox. but then you have the top day one Xbox past titles that I wanted to compare it to as when a vow

came out back in February it was uh it performed to at some point but these were more of the notable Xbox day one X this was more of the notable day one Xbox game pass titles that's what I'm trying to let you know as far as the game pass paying for itself so you have a vow that came out in February Adam fall that came out March sniper elite resistance that came out and was that January. I don't remember when that came out. Sniper Elite Resistance. I don't remember that game, I'm not gonna lie to you.

And then Niger Guide in two, Black was out on a game pass and of course South of Midnight. So as far as the top performers on the Xbox game pass day one, those would, that's the list I wanted to give you just to showcase how South and Midnight is just one of the more exceptional performers on this platform, to the point where I would assume it would get a sequel. Obviously, I don't know how the story goes.

I don't know how it ends. But from what people are saying, they love the story. So why not add a sequel or a prequel to enhance the game pass even more? Because Lord knows that Xbox could use more Ws. That's exclusively on the game pass. So when it comes to that, I do believe when I'm talking about these great achievements analytically when it comes to the sales review roundup. And then, of course, when I come to the sales review roundup.

come to the actual game review roundups you come to realize it's already a phenomenal game when it comes to the discourse from other people who played the game and wanted to give their sentiments they basically started to debate over the handling of slavery and segregation in this game right because they had subtle references versus creative cowardice type of debate because when it comes to these games I think sinners did a great job on having it on front street how black people would treat it back in that day. Now when it comes to this game, from the people who played it, they were coming out saying it's more of a subtle reference,

which is not the worst thing creatively, because sometimes when you are creative, you don't want to hold your audience hand and act like they're stupid, you know, for lack of a better term. You know, you don't want to act like they don't have the sharpest knife in the toolbox, right? Or the sharpest, whatever, in the toolbox. or the missing a couple screws, right?

You don't want to act like they're just completely illiterate. So showcasing certain things while also not blatantly telling you like, hey, this is racism is a pathway you could take without people coming out and saying that is creative cowardice, right? Which has been the discourse around people who play the game. So a lot of other people have been talking about the repetitive combat and arena setups and things of that nature. Like we've already discussed, it's mainly the story that's in captivating for this game.

and whereas it is a video game so the gameplay mechanics matter it's solid it's just not going to blow you away so when it comes to the price debate a lot of people was talking about how it's on game pass but the people who are upset as far as it being $40 right because they don't have game pass mind you um because you can have Xbox and not have game pass i believe that's like a separate well that is a separate subscription so for people who question the 40 not 40 dollar price that just know is free on game pass along with the other along with other high quality games that you could just basically it just basically pays for itself if you actually play video games so um overall this is a phenomenal game when it comes to compulsion developing this game just know that

known for other games such as contrast that came out 2013 such as we happy few that came out 2018 and similar to haze light studios they are known for their atmosphere and their ability to phenomenally execute storytelling. So when it comes to compulsion games, just know that they're going to compulse you to be engaged in to their storyline because they are always executing on a masterclass type level, which is what you like to see from people who target these type of locations to make a story about because we don't want representation. Once again, we don't want representation if it's going to be straight trash, right? We don't want representation for the sake of of it. We want people who's actually from the culture to make things that that represent our

culture on a high quality level because a lot of things that comes out that people are like, oh, but you know, so-and-so made it so we should just support it. Like, you know, there's a certain quality level that we need. Granted, we should have certain understanding on what they're working with as far as budget and things that nature and the lack of support when it comes to trying to get those ideas across. But at the end of the day, if it's not quality, I don't think we should just support it just because it's representing us so when it comes to south of midnight when it comes to centers is out in theaters right now these two creative projects phenomenally deliver a masterclass story while also representing the black community and of course more specifically with south

and midnight the way it just really integrated into the black and southern traditions and had you understand more and more of what that's about i think that's the ultimate accomplishment especially from compulsion games definitely delivering engaging story. So when it comes to that, click my link, shoot my bio, let me know on one of my social medias. What do you think of south of midnight? And do you think it's the greatest Xbox Game Pass video game of all time?