Marvel's Midnight Suns, the preview with what we discovered about the gameplay
Marvel's Midnight Suns
Released in March 2022, Marvel's Midnight Suns was one of the most captivating surprises of Gamescom's Opening Night Live just passed. Anticipated only by persistent rumors, the Firaxis title was revealed with a "simple" cinematic trailer, postponing an in-depth look at the gameplay until September 1, 2021. Well, that day has arrived, and Firaxis is back to show the title on which he is working a little more in detail, explaining some game dynamics that even wink at card games, but not only.Here's what we learned about the new RPG from the creators of X-COM and X-COM 2 in this preview of Marvel's Midnight Sun.
New plot details
Marvel's Midnight Suns, Doctor Strange prepares a spell The new trailer is actually a well-rounded overview of the game and doesn't just focus on gameplay. It explains better, for example, the premise that sees Lilith resurrect after a long sleep with the intention of conquering the world for her demonic lord Chthon. In the new trailer we discovered that Lilith was awakened by the usual HYDRA, a ploy that allowed the guys from Firaxis to add variety to the catalog of enemies, while winking at the lovers of comics and Marvel movies. The return of Lilith will cause the unusual cast of heroes to awaken another supernatural force, the offspring of Lilith who, apparently, was also the end of her centuries before her. The player plays this new character, who appears in the trailers in female guise, but that we can freely customize at the beginning of the game, choosing their gender and look.After that, history will follow our heroes, who call themselves Midnight's Children, in a desperate attempt to stop Lilith before the Midnight Sun prophecy comes true and the world comes to a very bad end. The cast, as mentioned in our previous preview of Marvel's Midnight Suns, which we recommend you read if you want to know more about the cycle of comic stories that inspired director Jake Solomon, includes several famous characters, such as Iron Man and Captain America, but also lesser known anti-heroes like Magik, Nico Minoru and the more recent Ghost Rider, Robbie Reyes. It seems that the story will put a lot of emphasis on the darker, disturbing and supernatural side of the Marvel imaginary, favoring quite adult atmospheres and tones.
The Abbey
Marvel's Midnight Suns, the Slayer is the protagonist of the game The hub where we will spend time and manage the characters between missions is called Abbey. She is basically the den of the Sons of Midnight, where it is possible to undertake various activities that affect the gameplay and the narrative. The dynamic is very reminiscent of that of the Normandy of Mass Effect 3 or of the monastery of Garreg Mach in Fire Emblem: Three Houses; in the interludes, in fact, the player can explore the Abbey, interact with the other heroes and overcome some small challenges, such as puzzles and the like, which unlock new features or contents, such as pets or customization of the structure. br>Interacting with the various characters, multiple choice dialogues are opened that improve the relationship between the player and his teammates: they are real subplots that draw heavily in Marvel mythology, although no previous knowledge of movies or comics to understand the story. We've seen Caretaker mention Wanda Maximoff - isn't that she might be playable? - and Agatha Harkness, so we expect the other dialogues to be filled with quotes and references that Marvel fans will love as well.
Marvel's Midnight Suns, the Ghost Rider who appears in the game is Robbie Reyes It seems like a very solution interesting, which also affects the gameplay, since improving the affinity with other characters affects the combat system: you unlock new powers, passive abilities, combined special attacks and of course the costumes. The latter draw on the boundless Marvel wardrobe, but there is one, in particular, that only the player can enhance through the dynamic RPG of the Abbey: called the Midnight Suit, this costume, once completed by maximizing the affinity with the hero. on turn, unlock a legendary power called Midnight Suns. But obviously it will take commitment, patience and many hours of play to reach this goal as well.
The Abbey also offers some very important services. Iron Man, for example, can build us new abilities, presumably in exchange for the rewards earned in combat, while Blade has the thankless task of training us and, therefore, enhancing the powers we already possess. That's because the powers and abilities we've talked about so far are nothing more than ... playing cards.
The Combat System
Marvel's Midnight Suns, Lilith is the villain we must stop As we said and as we had already mentioned, Marvel's Midnight Suns is a turn-based strategic RPG, but what Firaxis has kept hidden so far is that it is a "card" game. Before each mission, in fact, we will have to choose a team consisting of a maximum of three characters, and a kind of deck of cards composed of the powers and abilities we prefer and that respect specific restrictions: you will then have to choose which powers to bring, based on the characters who are part of the team, evaluating advantages, disadvantages and possible synergies. The mechanism reminded us of the fun Steamworld Quest released a couple of years ago, but the Firaxis title obviously embraces much more sophisticated and interesting strategic aspects.So every card is a power and at the beginning of the mission we will find ourselves a hand of cards drawn at random. Some of these allow you to draw others if you defeat your opponents in a certain way, so there are strategic combinations that guarantee extra turns in which our heroes can act before it touches the enemies. Considering that the latter will always be in numerical superiority, it will be necessary to study each situation very carefully, especially exploiting the scenario. Firaxis has promised a great variety of maps: battles will take place in famous locations such as the Tower of the Avengers, Doctor Strange's Sancta Sanctorum, the HYDRA laboratories and even Limbo.
After that, it's all one question of creativity. The player can use the powers that grab the enemies to hurl them at their companions to inflict damage on multiple targets, or against the walls above the roofs of New York to throw the enemy directly into the void. Bins full of fuel, needless to say, can be detonated, causing massive damage across an entire area, and there are powers that strike along specific trajectories and therefore require a minimum of positional strategy.
Marvel's Midnight Suns, Blade in a scene from the trailer Each character is characterized not only by a specific roster of cards / powers, but also by particular predispositions to combat that make it unique. Captain America, for example, is a kind of tank: he can deflect and parry damage with certain cards, if placed in front of the team. Doctor Strange is a support hero who can empower ally cards, while Blade is a pure attacker with cards that can deal damage over time, in the form of a bleed effect, or even absorb enemies' Health Points - after all, we are talking about a vampire. Ghost Rider, on the other hand, seems to be an unpredictable hero: apparently his cards are very powerful, but they can also damage him and his teammates, like a kind of friendly fire. Some cards, defined as Heroic, are real super attacks that consume a resource called Heroism.
The guys of Firaxis have been inspired by decades of comics and movies to depict the powers described on the cards. Some are more sober, others real short cinematics in which we see our favorites pounce on enemies, shoot proton beams or cast the most disparate spells. The developer has already taken steps to deny the rumors that spoke of cases or microtransactions: players will not be able to buy cards or upgrades with real money, but only costumes and other cosmetic trappings that will not touch the gameplay in the slightest. This is certainly positive, but we also hope that the most desirable costumes are not paid: it would be a real shame, also because Marvel's Midnight Suns would lend itself perfectly to any DLC that adds new heroes and missions.
We must admit that we did not expect the "card game" drift, but the new trailer of Marvel's Midnight Suns has further convinced us about the goodness of the title signed by Firaxis. The strategic combat system promises variety and creativity, while the more markedly RPG component fishes with both hands in the Marvel imagination to the delight of fans who don't miss a comic book or a movie and who would probably do well to keep an eye on this. release.
