Marvel’s Midnight Suns Review

Marvel’s Midnight Suns is an epic tactical RPG game that takes players on a unique journey through the Marvel Universe. The game brings together iconic characters like Wolverine, Iron Man, and Captain America in a battle against the forces of darkness. Developed by Firaxis Games, Midnight Suns offers an innovative gameplay experience that combines tactical RPG elements with card-based combat. With a storyline that lets players team up with their favourite Marvel heroes, Midnight Suns is a game that every comic fan should check out. Let’s dive into Marvel’s Midnight Suns and build a squad to save the Earth from the clutches of evil.

Marvel’s Midnight Suns Details

Platform(s): PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One,
Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch and PC
Developer(s): Firaxis Games, Virtuos
Publisher(s): 2K Games
Genre: Adventure, Tactical role-playing
Modes: Single-player
ESRB Rating: T for Teen

A new hero rises

The storyline in Midnight Suns follows the rise of Lilith, a demon queen who seeks to release an ancient evil upon the world. The Avengers, members of X-Men, and other Marvel heroes band together to stop her. Your character, known as “The Hunter,” joins forces with the Midnight Suns to help in their quest. The cast of characters is extensive, from Spider-Man to Wolverine and beyond the story is a deep dive into the MCU. Along the way, you’ll team up and befriend various Marvel heroes to fight against Lilith and her minions. The story takes you to various locations that if you are a big Marvel fan, you’ll instantly recognize.

Midnight Suns gameplay deals out the fun

Developer Firaxis Games is known for series like Civilization and XCOM, and Midnight Suns’ gameplay reflects this. The core of the game is a tactical RPG, in which you recruit various Marvel heroes to build up your team. You’ll need to carefully consider who you add to your squad, making sure that their abilities complement each other and create powerful synergies. Your team members will level up as they fight and gain new abilities, allowing for creative strategies during battle. The combat remains fresh through the 50+ hour campaign, introducing unique scenarios and enemies to fight.

Luck of the draw

In addition to the tactical movement-based combat system, players will also engage in card-based combat when fighting bosses or other major enemies. Each character of your 3-person team has a unique set of cards available to them. This allows you to personalize your combat strategies based on your preferred playstyle. You might be thinking that this card draw style slows down the action, but it’s quite the opposite. Instead, because characters don’t take cover it’s about unleashing your group’s powers and taking down foes as fast as possible. You can also switch between characters in combat which allows you to react quickly and use the best attacks available.

Customizations and cosmetics

One of the standout features of Marvel’s Midnight Suns is the game’s character customization options. You can choose from a wide range of costumes and abilities, as well as level up characters and invest in various powers and abilities. As you progress through the game you are awarded currency to make these upgrades, and there is a variety of costumes to choose from. This adds a personalized touch to each player’s experience and ensures that your team is unique. Whether you’re a fan of the Marvel Universe or simply enjoy tactical RPGs, Midnight Suns is an exciting and unique game with plenty to offer. With deep and engaging combat mechanics, character customizations, and Marvel-style action, this game is sure to please fans of all stripes.

Home, Sweet Home

Along with turn-based combat, the game features many real-time third-person exploration elements. This takes place at “The Abbey,” which serves as the Midnight Suns “home base” between the intense combat action sequences. Here you can upgrade your team with stronger abilities, craft items and customize characters. It also contains a great parallel story that adds more background to your character and the world around them. Additionally, you can take on side quests that offer rewards such as items or currency to upgrade your team. In this area, you also have access to 4 different magical powers that help you to explore and unlock items.

Levelling up superhero friendships

Midnight Suns also features an interesting dynamic between the various Marvel heroes. As you progress through the game, your relationships with them will grow and change based on your interactions and how you handle certain situations. If you are a fan of the Marvel characters there is plenty to enjoy here as you chat up each character. Even if you are new to the MCU, you’ll pick up a lot of interesting backstories and gain more appreciation for the characters. This adds some much-needed character development to the game as it shows how your decisions affect their friendships and dynamics. In addition to this, some lighthearted moments come along with these stories which help add some levity to a sometimes intense storyline.

Teamwork makes the dream work

You might feel the need to skip some character interactions, but they are important beyond just building good camaraderie and rewards players for their friendship. As you level up friendships with characters it grants passive abilities that do affect gameplay. Remember that everything you do outside of battle, such as building friendships, ultimately makes you stronger for your next fight.

Graphics and presentation

Midnight Suns looks great in motion as you deal out heaps of justice to the supernatural “bad guys.” The particle effects bloom in battle and there is a great variety of environments you face off in. From foreboding areas of The Abbey to bright city streets, areas are beautifully rendered and character models look great. The areas where the game could use some work is character animation, where some of the heroes look stiff. Other “team up” animations look incredible and really reflect each character’s unique superpowers.

The game’s art style stays true to the Marvel Universe, with each character looking like their comic book counterpart while still being adapted to fit the game’s aesthetic. The game runs smoothly on the Xbox Series X where I did a majority of my playthrough. There were no noticeable dips in performance during combat or exploratory sections. Character movements are fluid, with no stuttering or frame rate drops. Additionally, the game’s various cutscenes are beautifully animated and well-directed, adding to the lore of each character.

Midnight Suns audio and sound design

The audio and sound design in Marvel’s Midnight Suns is particularly impressive. The game features an epic orchestral score that perfectly captures the feel of a superhero adventure, with each piece of music fitting the action on screen. The game’s sound effects are also top-notch, with each ability and set of attacks having a unique sound that further immerses players in the game’s world.

The voice acting in the game is also excellent, with each character getting their own unique personality brought to life through their dialogue. The voice cast is filled with well-known actors, including Laura Bailey (Magik), Jennifer Hale (Lilith), and Brian Bloom (Captain America) further adding to the game’s immersive experience. Between the rich soundtrack and great voice acting, Midnight Suns features excellent sound design.

Final thoughts on Marvel Midnight Suns

Marvel’s Midnight Suns is an excellent action-RPG that captures the feel of Marvel and its characters while providing a unique story. Card-based combat is fast-paced and rewarding, with plenty of upgrades and abilities to unlock. The character interactions are well-written and bring out the best in each hero. In addition, the presentation is stunning, with great art direction and sound design adding a level of polish to an already amazing experience. If you’re looking for an exciting adventure full of superheroes and villains, then you don’t want to miss the dawn of the Midnight Suns.

+Excellent combat with plenty of strategic value
+Missions feature a wide range of unique objectives
+Deep combat and hero customization

-Character interactions can feel redundant at times
-At times character animations can be very stiff
-Enemy variety is a little lacking

Overall Assessment of Marvel Midnight Suns

Gameplay: 4/5
Graphics: 4/5
Sound: 4/5
Lasting Appeal/Replayability: 4/5

Overall Rating 4/5 (80%)

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