I was really looking forward to South of Midnight. Unlike most other action-adventure games that seemed rather bland and took influence from soulslikes, South of Midnight seemed pretty original with a striking art style and retro Xbox 360-like gameplay. The opening to this game before the title screen just blew me away with its quality animation, and I was prepared for a stylish journey.

Unfortunately, I didn't know about the collectibles in this game, which have to be the most annoying, absurd, and tasking process in any title within the last couple of years. Difficulty levels aren't a problem here, but going overboard with the collectibles can severely drag down the experience for me, and South of Midnight was so bad about this that I had to quit. For others, this might not be an issue, but it was a deal-breaker for me.

South Of Midnight Has Thousands Of Collectibles

Finding Everything Pushed Me To My Limits

One thing about gaming that I used to tolerate much more when I was younger was collectibles. Besides certain titles like Infamous, it was no big problem. However, as I got older, I just wanted to play the game without any distractions. Looking at a collectible guide, then looking at the TV and back and forth throughout the entire game is exhausting.

Most action-adventure games like South of Midnight have a few hundred collectibles, but this title goes over the edge.

It's so much easier to enjoy the game when eyeballs are glued to the TV and one is fully immersed. I can tolerate the collectible journey for certain games, like The Last of Us Part 2 or Astro Bot, but generally, if I can grab the remaining collectibles quickly after beating the game, I will, just to make that first playthrough the best experience possible. I knew South of Midnight had collectibles like most games these days, but it wasn't until Chapter 2 that I realized the massive hole I stepped into.

Most action-adventure games like South of Midnight have a few hundred collectibles, but this title goes over the edge. There are 2,282 collectibles throughout all the chapters in the game. This is an absurdly high number of collectibles to have to deal with.

The Achievement Process In South Of Midnight Is An Annoying Endeavor

Collecting Stops Being Fun After A While

For an action-adventure hack and slash in the vein of classic God of War or Alice: Madness Returns, the amount of collectibles in South of Midnight is ridiculous, and only one type of collectible proves to be the main issue here: Floofs. These are used as currency for upgrades, and in many similar titles, one simply needs to collect enough throughout the game. Alice: Madness Returns (also available on Xbox Game ) is a great example, with its teeth currency. Every upgrade should be obtained by the end, as long as one remains thorough.

A huge beginner tip in South of Midnight is that it isn't the case with Floofs. One has to collect every single Floof in the game. Almost every chapter will have at least over 100 Floofs scattered about, and sure, they're always batched in groups of five or more, but still, this makes the collectible journey so much more tasking and annoying.

There are so many collectibles in most chapters that one will check a guide constantly, and it's just not fun, especially in such a narrative and visual-heavy game like this. At least Astro Bot always had fun platforming to mitigate the tedium of always checking a guide.

South Of Midnight Pushed Things Way Too Far

I Got Burned Out On Collectibles Fairly Quickly

It's baffling to me that Compulsion Games decided to implement collectibles like this because, when looking at the numerous games South of Midnight clearly took influence from, they do it so much better. I recently marathoned all the God of War games in time for the series' 20th anniversary, and I can state that collectibles were a breeze in the classic titles, allowing me to enjoy them so much more.

Classic God of War's collectible system was brilliant, as there were far more collectibles throughout the entire game than what was required. This meant that following a guide allowed me to collect everything before I even got two-thirds into the game, and I could play the rest guide free. Of course, you don't have to find all the collectibles in South Of Midnight, but for completionists like me, trying to get them all is just too daunting.

Why don't more games, including South of Midnight, do this? With the sheer amount of collectibles here and the fact that I'm an achievement hunter, I will not be playing past Chapter 3. The collectible grind is just too much. I still have to 100 percent the classic Grand Theft Auto trilogy before GTA 6 comes out, and with Blue Prince coming on April 10 to Xbox Game , I'd much rather spend my time there.