Comic book video games have long been a kind of gaming comfort-food for me. Whether it is delivering pizza in Spider-Man 2, or re-playing the Superman Returns demo over and over (usually just to have Clark Kent lift innocent bystanders miles into the air, only to abandon them in the chimney of a power station). Even now, there is something reassuring in knowing there will always be games like this. Games which first let us pretend to be the most powerful beings on Earth, and then let us behave as we actually would by giving us the silliest of gameplay possibilities. When I heard about Marvel’s Midnight Suns, and the fact that it a) is based on a lesser known Marvel IP and b) features tactical card-based combat, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Looking back, as I come to the end of a 60+ hour playthrough, I can say that there is a lot that took me by surprise, and pleasantly so. For example…
1. The Social Connections
What I didn’t fully understand going in, is that Marvel’s Midnight Suns is not comprised of just strategy focused battles. You play as The Hunter, a centuries-old recently resurrected demon hunter. Though you will have plenty of combat encounters to keep you busy, when you’re not fighting off hordes of demons and HYDRA sent by Lilith (a.k.a Hunter’s mother), you are living in The Abbey – a magical stronghold containing many secrets. Most importantly, it’s the place where all your new superhero pals are going to come to live while they help you take on the end-of-the-world.
And when they’re not fighting off bad guys, they’re going to want to hang out with… you. Book club with Blade, video games with Peter Parker, and lounging in the pool with Wolverine were not on my bingo card for this game, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Personally, I love it when games let me form [concerningly] deep connections with fictional characters (anything to avoid doing these activities with actual people, eh?), and 2K really did decide that they were going to help us live out our childhood fantasies of being BFFs with Iron Man. Each time you socialise with your new buddies you increase your friendship level and gradually unlock little ‘moments’ with them – scenes where they open up to Hunter, and you get to learn a little of their back story. Some of these moments are very cute, and you’ll even get the chance to gift each hero something at the end of hangouts to cement the friendship. Understandably, I did not expect this game to be ‘Persona Lite: Avengers Edition’ but quite happily, that is what I got.
2. Exciting Yet Challenging Combat
I also wasn’t sure what to expect when it came to the tactical card gameplay. As someone who has only dabbled in strategic RPGs, I have come to think of it as advanced Gwent – the card mini-game from The Witcher 3 – but with infinitely more fun visuals and combo possibilities. Like Gwent, the player is dealt their starting hand of cards, each card being either an attack, skill, or special heroic ability. The wealth of ability types is astounding, and the game really encourages you to experiment, try new cards, and then upgrade and modify cards when you have the required resources. These resources are generously provided and easily acquired through missions or by dismantling unused abilities, meaning there feels like there is little limitation on what you can do with the Midnight Suns.
I eventually settled into a rhythm each in-game day of going to the forge to unlock new cards, going to the yard to upgrade existing abilities, completing a mission to get some more resources (and, occasionally completing a story mission, maybe) and then completing a night time hang-out with my favourite heroes. I found this super satisfying, as I watched my Hunter get overwhelmingly powerful with each passing day, unlocking some seriously cool abilities. My favourites included Captain America’s shield throw attack, Hunter becoming invisible on an enemy KO, and decimating a line of enemies using Ghost Rider’s Hell Ride. Abilities often have trade offs (the Hell Ride ability discards your entire hand, for example), but since you can pick and choose your deck, it’s up to you whether you think the trade off is worth it.
3. A Thoroughly Enjoyable Trophy List
The mark of a fantastic game for me is when I decide, before finishing it, that I’m going to seek out the Platinum trophy. I was barely 10 hours in before I came to this conclusion for Marvel’s Midnight Suns. Something that greatly helps is that the trophy list for this game is everything a trophy list should be. It encourages the player to try new things – experiment with different playstyles, explore more of the game’s side content – without ever straying into forced tedium. That’s right, no boring collectibles in this one. The only ‘collectible’ style trophies were for collecting cards & ‘reagents’ (herbs, plants), which you will pretty much do by playing the game normally anyway. I’m always in favour of clearly defined maps with generous fast travel points to make trophy clean up easier, and Midnight Suns delivers on this.
At first, I resented the trophy ‘THREAT Eliminated’. The THREAT room is an environment that throws 3 waves of enemies at an individual hero, with the bonus of leveling up any hero not already at the highest level of your team. The trophy requests that you survive the THREAT room with all heroes. At first, this sounds like a miserable bronze trophy. Although it is time consuming, it’s also incredibly fun – putting each hero through their paces really brings out the best of their abilities, with the added positive of leveling them up and preparing the team so that most story missions became a breeze once I had done this with ¾ of the gang. In the end, this Platinum hunt was no Yakuza Kiwami, where I hopelessly trawled Kamurocho for weapons, playing hopeless games of mahjong to rack up the required points before taking on the game in hard mode. The trophy list for Midnight Suns only heightens any enjoyment which was already there.
4. Satisfying, If Satanic, Story
Even if you are the most casual of Marvel fans, you will know more than enough to gel with the hero studded story of Marvel’s Midnight Suns. In fact, having watched just a handful of ‘phase 1’ movies is enough to give you an edge. But if you are more familiar with the ins-and-outs, maybe have read a few comics, watched the original X-Men animated series, or watched a handful of Spider-man movies, you have a lot to gain from this narrative (and if you’ve actually read the Midnight Sons comics…what are you waiting for?). For me, as one of the middling types (phase 1, animated shows, a few comics), it felt a little bit like playing a Bioware game such as Mass Effect or Dragon Age for the first time, but already knowing half the lore. This is not only helpful for keeping up with new character appearances, but it also meant I was already very invested in the development of each character. Interacting with these beloved heroes and steering them out of the pitfalls we are already so familiar with is gratifying. Plus, I got to learn a lot about characters that I didn’t really know much about, such as Blade, Dr. Strange and the Midnight Suns themselves.
5. Speaking of Which…
This is certainly helped by how lovable the cast are. One of my concerns going in was that I’d find it all a little hammy, that I’d be surrounded by sugar-coated, over theatrical versions of heroes we already have solid movie performances of. The voice acting in Midnight Suns is superb, and though there are a few ‘wonky’ bits, with the Avengers sometimes coming off as doing bad impressions of their film actors, it is for the most part very compelling stuff. We’re given some great, often hilarious dialogue choices to respond with, and while there is an element of choice, your decisions aren’t really the be-all-and-end-all of your character relationships. Again, it’s more Persona than Mass Effect, in that you can max your friendship level with any hero given enough time, but choosing the ‘right’ dialogue can help you get there faster. The Hunter, regardless, remains a pretty charming and entertaining person to follow, and is the best kind of video game protagonist: easy to project ourselves onto without sacrificing their personality by being a bland, toneless egg.
6. Last, but Never Least
Demon doggy!! You have a dog, raised from the depths of Hell, who you can pet every single day as much as you like.
For feline favourers, there is also a cat, who you can also pet (if you can find her first).
Marvel’s Midnight Suns feels like an enthusiastic exercise in combining everything that could make a game fun, and then carefully sculpting away anything that might feel lackluster. It’s not a perfect game; I would have liked the inclusion of a fast-forward button for combat, and much more dialogue as standard for Tony/Blade when crafting and upgrading so I don’t feel the urge to mute at the start of a new day. But I know I will look back on my time playing this game with total fondness – time spent in the cosy confines of an almost ‘dark academia’ feeling abbey, complete with spooky libraries, roaring fires, and plenty of banter with some of Earth’s mightiest.
Have you played Marvel’s Midnight Suns? Did you love it as much as me? Let me know below!
