When Marvel’s Midnight Suns decides to let you forge your own story, you find yourself embraced, not only by its cast of great heroes, but by what truly makes Marvel into the titan it is today.
For starters, think of XCom with cards and Marvel Heroes. Now subtract the arena size and the number of side-missions and characters in the arena and there you have it, a not so large battlefield with 3 heroes and a bunch of enemies. If you are a XCom veteran like myself, then you know how challenging the encounters can be. But this game is more lenient than XCom. There is no Doomsday counter, for instance, no permanent deaths and whatnot. The enemy encounters are really similar to the action sequences in comic books. An epic battle taking place in a large area, but allies and foes are very close to each other, so it feels more intimate, like when the X-Men used to fight the Morlocks down the tunnels. While it might feel small and tight, the combat is very deep and every hero has their own nuances. Capt Marvel and Capt America are tanks, Iron Man is the AoE, Magik and Spider-Man use the arena against their foes, etc. It is such a joy not only to discover more and more about your favorite hero in battle, but it’s outside of those battles that we really get to know these guys and it’s also one the main areas in which Marvel’s Midnight Suns shine.
You are Hunter, a centuries year old dead soldier brought back to life by Doctor Strange and Nico Minoru with the deadliest of the missions: Destroy Lilith, mother of Demons (and also your mommy) and stop the prophecy of the Midnight Sun from being fulfilled and Chthon, the big bad demon of the Marvel Universe, from being released.
You have no idea how much I love character creation, so I was so glad that I was able to create my own hero to fight alongside my comic book heroes (though I must confess that I was never an Avenger fan. I am an X-Men fan first and foremost, so I was biased towards Magik and Wolverine right away.) Hunter is a great character, though I think male Hunter has better voice acting. Fem Hunter sounds lifeless. On my first playthrough I played as male hunter and could notice lots of nuances and range, even though the character is quite stoic. However, on my second playthrough, I felt that my FemHunter, though ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS, lacked any conviction and power in her voice. Some scenes that felt quite badass as male Hunter kinda felt cringey as FemHunter, so bear that in mind when creating your hero.
Regardless of your Hunter, they are just a small piece of the puzzle, because you have many other toys to play with. I love how characters interact and how, apart from forming bonds with you, they organically form bonds with each other.
You see, I am from a world where, due to the House of M’s “NO MORE MUTANTS'' storyline, Magik and Wanda would NEVER BE remotely close, let alone best friends. And yet here, Illyana and Wanda are besties and really care for each other. That does not betray Illyana’s background at all. She was still lost in Limbo when she was a child, she still had to deal with all her traumas and all her darkness, but in this reality, the Scarlet Witch was one of the few who reached out to her, and their bond feels genuine. I tried my best to read the new New Mutants comics, but I don’t think it portrayed Illyanna as anything other than a stereotypical boss bitch character (though the current X-Men comics is treating her as she so deserves) so I absolutely loved how she is presented here. Not only that, but the way she bonds with Hunter is ABSOLUTELY endearing. Magik is, by far, one of my favorite characters from the Marvel Universe. On the other hand, it’s also incredibly fun to tell Doctor Strange to shut the hell up or telling Iron Man to stop making a fool of himself. Seriously, it never gets old.
The gameplay in the Abbey is not that different from Fire Emblem Three Houses’. Actually, it is exactly the same. In Three Houses you were in an Academy inside a Church. Here you are in an abbey. In both you have daily activities that can garner more friendship points with the heroes.
I haven’t played the DLCs yet, cuz I am waiting for Storm’s to come, but the main story is absolutely satisfying, which is very rare in current times. Marvel’s Midnight Suns is a complete game, with a very rich story that will make you feel like you are playing the comics. But, apart from NG+, I don’t think the game has a high replay value. There is only one ending, and for a game such as this, it would be required at least 3 (a bad, a good and a true ending) just like the numerous timelines and variations in comic books (just read Jonathan Hickman’s House of X #2 and you will see the potential for it), but the game delivers in epic moments. It’s been such a while since a final battle made so much sense and made me feel so excited. Seriously, it is glorious in every sense of the word.
In summary, even with a low replay value and a lack of different endings, Marvel’s Midnight Suns is the best superhero game since Marvel Ultimate Alliance 1, and it will light a spark inside you, a spark that will bring back fond memories of your superhero toys as a child, or childhood mornings and afternoons watching superhero cartoons in front of the TV. It will bring joy to your heart as you become best friends with Spider-Man and kick ass with the Scarlet Witch. The story will hook you, and the cast will embrace you. And then, when you finish it, you will feel that rare feeling of “Accomplishment”, a feeling that most games are desperately lacking nowadays. Just wait for the season pass to get on sale, cuz it’s almost the game's full price.
With that being said, I give Marvel’s Midnight Suns a 10.
- My review on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKo3GyWZZRI&t=38s