I didn't want to watch the movie. I didn't want to play another video game for a week because I didn't know anything about it. I told myself I would give it a try, and if it was boring or not fun to play, I would give it up. After sitting down with the game, I had to take myself away from it for 10 hours.
It is difficult to put Midnight Suns into any genre. XCOM developer Firaxis made it clear during the game's prelaunch marketing campaign that Midnight Suns wasn't going to be an alien strategy game with a comic book background. It isn't because it's Fire Emblem: Three Houses. To be clear, I loved Three Houses, so to have that with Marvel was right on time. Since Triangle Strategy didn't deliver, I've been looking for a strategy game. The Midnight Suns came at the right time, satisfying my exact craving while also giving me a ton of sweet story-building extras.
Midnight Suns was not going to be an XCOM game because it was a Fire Emblem game.
If you want to get a feel for the game's easy-to-pick-up battle system, you can start with an optional introductory video. The Hunter, Lilith's child who died in a fight against their mother, was brought back to life by the Midnight Suns.
I was happy to see that there was a custom character in Midnight Suns. The game doesn't tailor Lilith to resemble you even though you make her look like you. Even though you can change your dead dad's appearance to match yours, I laughed really, really hard when I was told this woman gave birth to my black ass.
It is not unreasonable to think Lilith could be my character's mother because of her biracial background. Lilith's "original" design can be damned if Midnight Suns can tailor parents to match their children.
It's a small gripe, but your Hunter becomes your own person. You make Hunter to your physical preferences, then make dialogue choices reflecting either a light or a dark personality that will build the Hunter's character into something unique. The choices fall into the trap of being either goody-two-shoes or unrepentant asshole-y. When talking to your friends, choose dialogue options that fit your personality and you will be rewarded with friendship points that will lead to bonuses in combat.
Being nice to everyone isn't a good way to get friends. The dour, taciturn young woman with a lot of emotional baggage is one of Hunter's companions. If she storms out of your base of operations after a bad party, you can either stay with her or leave. Most video game players don't choose the dark option as it's usually synonymous with bad. Magick gives you friendship points if you leave her be or choose a dark dialogue option. I respected her for that.
Being nice to everyone isn't a good way to get friends.
You can get to know your companions in a number of delightful ways, from having conversations with them, giving special gifts, going on hangouts where you chat at some scenic location within your base, or joining a number of special interests groups. I was invited to join Magick, Dr. Strange, and Nico Minoru for their magical investigation and experimentation group with the acronym E.M.O. K.I.D.S., and I couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Unlike Three Houses, you can't romance any of the characters. A lot of the game's dialogue suggests that Dr. Strange and Iron Man have more than a friendship. Do with this information what you please.
There are other ways to get stronger in Midnight Suns. You will explore and level up your base, The Abbey, with training ground improvements, healing pools, item fabrication machines, and more. A lot of the game's power progression is locked behind activities you can only do outside of typical missions. Hunter's ability888-607-888-607-888-607-888-607-888-607-888-607-888-607-888-607-888-607-888-607-888-607-888-607-888-607-888-607-888-607-888-607-888-607-888-607- is only earned once you have completed a second explore the Abbey grounds quest line that is completely optional.
Sidequesting is baked into your progression. It is nice that the more powerful you are, the less tied you are to completing mission after mission. Powerful cards can be earned when you talk with your friends or give them advice. When the Hunter is on a solo mission, petting and praising your dog makes her stronger.
The way the game forces you into a specific rhythm was hard for me to get used to. One mission per day is what you can do. Before a mission, you can explore, train, chat with companions, or send them off-screen. Once you complete a mission, the day transitions to night, in which you are only allowed to do social activities before going to sleep. I just want to beat on the bad guys and I don't want to talk anymore. Since video games tend to shy away from naming the bad guys for what they are, it is refreshing to know that fascists are overrunning New York. You should get out here, Blade.
The combat is so good you want to keep doing it. The Hunter and each companion have a combat deck of cards that they can use. Each mission is designed to solve a puzzle. You have three chances to play a card, one chance to move, and two chances to re-draw a card if you have a bad hand. Your job is to kill as many enemies as you can in as little time as possible using your environment, cards, and advanced knowledge. I'm not saying that's true.
Midnight Suns has the ability to hit enemies with other enemies. I wanted to draw cards that would allow me to knock enemies around the battlefield and then hit them with cards. If you can kill the entire battlefield with no moves, no redraws, and only a few cards, the entire win condition is centered on you. The demons were playing billiards with their bodies and it was great.
Giant crates that you can kick into a line of enemies doing absurd amounts of damage are just one of the battlefield objects. Ghost Rider opened up, calling out shots like I was at a pool table, as I checked my heroes' positions on the field, getting my angles just right so I could wing an enemy into an exploding gas tank catching their allies in the blast.
There are other ways to deliver a Hydra beatdown that are equally enjoyable. For my money, the sooner you understand how to best build your decks around maximum damage, the better.
I wasn't able to finish Midnight Suns in time, but I'm excited to finish the game. It's nice to feel good about video games again, especially when the game wasn't something you wanted to play at all, after Sonic left in my mouth.
The movie is available on consoles and PCs.
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