Opinion: This Xbox Game Studios Gem Is My Game Of The Year For 2025

As noted in that review up above, South of Midnight does have a few shortcomings. Combat just isn’t as engaging as the game’s traversal and story elements, and some repetition does set in by journey’s end. But none of that really dampened my experience; after all, I still scored it a 9/10. From the game’s charming characters to its gorgeous environments and surprisingly heartfelt story, South of Midnight has everything I want from the sort of game I play to take a break from racers, shooters and whatever other online games I’m dabbling with throughout the year. South of Midnight’s best elements are so very good that any other nitpicks fall by the wayside.

And so, I just want to give SoM some love this year to be honest. I fully expect this one to get forgotten by many; it was a fairly under-the-radar Xbox release that is yet to expand to other console platforms for a start. It’s also got some seriously stiff competition from the three titles I mentioned up at the top and lots more besides, especially when you start factoring in Nintendo and Sony releases as well. But for my money, South of Midnight is pound-for-pound one of the best single-player story games to release this year, and for that, it’s my Xbox game of the year for 2025.