Marvel’s Midnight Suns
Developer: Firaxis Games
Publisher: 2K
Platforms: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5 , Xbox Series X (Reviewed), Xbox One, Switch, PC
Release Date: Available Now
Price: $69.99 USD – Available Here $109.95 AUD – Available Here
Overview
When it comes to a Marvel superhero game, they tend to be rather hit and miss. For every amazing game featuring everyone’s favorite heroes there are often two that are best left forgotten. These games can span a wide range of genres but perhaps one that has yet to be tackled is the tactical RPG and with FIraxis Games behind the helm, Marvel’s Midnight Suns is ready to take on the challenge. Offering a new take on an older storyline and combining tactical RPG gameplay with some card mechanics, is Marvel’s Midnight Suns one of the few superhero games worth remembering?
Story
The forces of Hydra have come up with a new plan for world domination and have used a combination of science and dark magic to revive the demonic mother Lilith. With the powerful Lilith leading Hydra’s forces and her own demonic minions, she has begun calling the elder god Chthon that will spell doom for Earth. Knowing that they will need some help, Tony Stark and Dr. Strange have begun assembling a team that may have a chance to face down these forces but things are already off to a bad start as Johnny Blaze turns down their offer and the two are alerted that the Sanctum Sanctorum is under attack.
With Hydra’s forces growing in strength, Strange, Stark, and Captain Marvel are forced to leave Scarlet Witch behind to hold the wards while they search for help as the mystical forces are far beyond what they have been expecting. Their search takes them to the hidden Abbey, the home of the Midnight Suns who have been assembled for years as a force that takes down the mystical and supernatural forces that threaten the land. Here they meet the sworn enemy of Lilith in the form of the knowledgeable Caretaker, Blade, Ghost Rider Robbie Reyes, Magik, and Nico Minoru as well as their best bet against taking down the threat, “The Hunter.” The only problem is, The Hunter has been dead ever since they defeated Lilith hundreds of years prior by laying down their life to slay her. After a rocky revival, The Hunter returns as the player’s customizable protagonist who is tasked with taking down Lilith, her mother, once more and they will have a whole slew of super heroes ready to help them in this battle.
This battle between the heroes and villains in Marvel’s Midnight Suns is a fairly straightforward tale with a few little twists that aren’t too surprising but help spice things up a little from time to time. There is plenty to enjoy though through the game’s lengthy run time and a lot of this comes from the interactions between the heroes as well as with the player’s Hunter character. Watching Blade and Captain Marvel compare training tips or Tony Stark dealing with those who he has unintentionally harmed in the past makes for some great character moments and this is only the tip of the iceberg as far as character interactions go.
A lot of these moments come from the player’s Hunter character and while initially a lot of interactions involve how out of place the dead for three hundred year Hunter is there are also plenty of closer interactions and unique ones that see different sides of the twelve (at launch) heroes that players will eventually obtain as party members. The revived Hunter also serves as a blank slate that gives players mostly free reign on how they actually want to develop the character as every interaction with other heroes will give the player various dialogue choices, many of which will swing their affinity closer to light or dark, with these choices also increasing or decreasing the Hunter’s friendship with the character they are speaking with. While trying to make friends with everyone may not be possible in one run through the game, these affinities do carry over to the new game+ which is a nice touch for those who want to see the most out of their favorite heroes.
Along these same lines, not every hero will react the same to various choices, for example Spider-Man will be happy with most light dialogue choices and very obvious gifts during the game’s many hangout opportunities while Magik is a darker character that struggles with various aspects of herself and will appreciate more dark choices as a result. Of course, since players will unlock special abilities the higher down the light or dark path they go that will increase what their Hunter can do, there is some incentive to stick true to either light or dark. Either way, the ability to interact with the various superheroes and see them in a new way, such as watching a schlocky movie or playing cards with them, is a great bit of service for those who want to see a bit more of how these heroes act when not suited up to save the day.
Gameplay
Combat in Marvel’s Midnight Suns is a rather unique blend of tactical RPG and card game. As players enter into battle with the heroes they’ve selected to bring with them to the fight, they will find themselves placed in an arena where they will have a limited number of actions per turn. These actions begin with the drawing of five cards that make up the player’s initial hand and then the ability to make three card plays, two redraws, and a single movement for one of the heroes on the team. One thing that sets this game apart from other Firaxis titles is that, rather than having a percentage to hit all attacks executed by the heroes will hit their mark. This allows for players to properly strategize using what cards they have drawn and not worry about leaving things up to chance.
There is one element that takes percentiles into account and it happens to be a fall chance for enemies. Skills that have knockback or, once players unlock it, basic shoves from movement can send enemies flying into objects in the environment or one another, dealing extra damage, but when hit towards something like the edge of a building or a hellhole opened up by Ghost Rider there is a chance they may fall in, instantly removing them from a fight. This is a great way to strategize taking down foes that may be in the way or quickly eliminating a small threat and players have a number of other tools at their disposal as well. Heroic points can be used to perform actions such as throwing a rock, leaping off a box to slash foes, and more to help deal damage while keeping your card plays available for primary attacks.
That being said, the main use of Heroic Points is to unleash powerful super moves that not only deal plenty of damage, often to multiple foes, but also can provide buffs to the user. Heroic Points are earned through using standard cards to attack and, of course, there is some extra strategy here as well as cards that are labeled as “Quick” will automatically refund a card play if the targeted enemy is killed by the attack. This allows for plenty of unique strategies and planning to make sure that most moves go the player’s way. The game has a large number of difficulty options that players can eventually choose from, the game keeps player’s on their toes by the randomness of the card draw so it never feels entirely safe even on simpler missions.
Missions that players are sent on will have various objectives that must be completed that range from simply killing all enemies to completing a specific task. During the latter style of mission foes will often constantly respawn until the task is completed so players are encouraged to stay focused. There are a handful of enemy types to worry about with “minion” style enemies going down in a single blow from any attack, tougher standard foes, elite enemies that can often buff other foes with shields or special abilities, and of course supervillains. Often supervillains will constantly bring new minions into a fight until they are defeated and often have a number of special abilities and extra health bars of their own, making these battles a real highlight even when they randomly appear during side-missions.
Outside of simply seeing what each hero can bring to a fight, players are encouraged to constantly change their line-up when possible. During battle if a hero is knocked down, even if they are revived, they will often suffer a small injury that will hold them back from fighting until they recover. Players will also find that, since most heroes fit specific roles, they may want to choose a fighter more suited to a specific battle rather than a favorite at times. It is nice to note that as players battle through the game, they will unlock a number of additional cards that can be used to customize every hero’s “deck” that will give even more choices when it comes to battle though they are limited to only ten cards per character.
When not out battling against the forces of evil, players will be spending the rest of their time as the Hunter exploring The Abbey and hanging out with their fellow superheroes. In fact, The Abbey works as a daily routine with players able to wake up and talk to their allies, pet their demonic dog, train for temporary buffs or improve cards, research or unlock new upgrades, and more before going off on a mission where they will then return at night and be able to hang out with a hero of their choice before going to bed and starting the day over. This routine is a fun little endeavor and offers quite a bit of content for fans of the various super heroes, especially when exploring and uncovering the mysteries of The Abbey is such a massive undertaking on its own. There are countless areas to uncover and small mysteries to solve and while some of them are gated behind story progress a lot of it can be uncovered at the player’s leisure, though it does offer plenty of bonuses in the form of extra upgrades, materials that can be used to craft one-use items, and extra unlocks for various cosmetic chests. Of course, should players simply want to mainline the story then Abbey exploration is entirely optional though they would be missing out on a lot of extra content.
Visuals & Audio
Marvel’s Midnight Suns is a fairly solid looking game with some great looking character designs for both the supervillains players face down as well as the heroes on their own team and players won’t have to worry about any “uncanny” resemblances to the MCU here. There are a large amount of costumes for every character in the game, including a number of great looking costumes contained in the Limited Edition versions of the title, but it is a bit disappointing that facial expressions are a bit on the stiff side. Characters often don’t emote very well during dramatic cutscenes and while this is fine for characters wearing masks or helmets, it is a bit distracting for everyone else. The Abbey is also nicely designed with there being a number of areas to explore and combat features some impressive animations for each heroes moveset along with some great ragdoll effects on defeated foes.
The voice work throughout the game is quite impressive with all of the voice actors completely nailing the personalities of the well-known characters as well as giving a lot of life to heroes that players may not be too familiar with such as Nico or Magik. The soundtrack also features a great collection of bombastic music that works well during battles and the more cinematic cutscenes while also offering some simpler music during exploration of The Abbey and hanging out with the heroes.
Overall
Marvel’s Midnight Suns is the type of genre combination that few would have expected to work but not only does it create an exceptionally fun tactical RPG, it offers a great look at various sides of superheroes that fans of Marvel may not be familiar with. Sure, the storyline may be a bit on the safe side and the characters’ expressions can be rather lacking, but the character interactions and impressive level of strategy capable in the great combat system make this a must not only for fans of the Marvel franchise but even those looking for a new tactical RPG to play.
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