It’s a shame that Marvel’s Midnight Suns didn’t get the audience it deserved, since it’s a pretty good turn-based tactics game. The marketing didn’t do a good job telling fans how accessible and fun this was, so we assume Disney learned their lesson about this for Star Wars Zero Company.
Now that interest in turn-based games has grown thanks to the release of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, we think fans should give Marvel’s Midnight Suns another chance. While the card system might seem intimidating at first, the actual gameplay and story are pretty charming in their own right.
One reason why Midnight Suns is immediately appealing is the lack of MCU synergy. Sure, we have Iron Man, Captain Marvel, and Doctor Strange in there, but there are also plenty of heroes from the comics we didn’t expect to see. Nico Minoru from The Runaways, Robbie Reyes’ Ghost Rider, and future Marvel Rivals fan-favorite Magik all have prominent roles to play here.
What’s great about the inclusion of these characters is that players can spend a lot of time with them, Persona-style. You can talk to Magik about her past, ask Blade if “Blade” is his real name, and even see Wolverine in a swimsuit. Unfortunately, you can’t hang out with Wolverine, but getting to know these comic book legends more was an unexpected treat.
The gameplay is where Marvel’s Midnight Suns really shines. Despite the card-based system scaring fans off, it’s actually really easy to get into. Cards represent the actions your characters can do, and there’s a meter showing how many of them you have left. You can shuffle the cards to try and get better ones with certain skills. Some parts of the environment can also be used without wasting action points, so Spider-Man can literally throw rocks at his opponents.
It’s also really satisfying to knock enemies against each other, which can make battles easier. Successfully hitting two or three characters with one action is a feeling that can’t easily be replicated. Hopefully, Star Wars Zero Company keeps some of these aspects, even though both games have entirely different developers.
click to enlargeAfter every fight, players get to chill in a mystic mansion and interact with the other Marvel heroes. This is where players can get to know these heroes and find side quests to partake in, which can be pretty fun. Some of them also delve into the lore of your player character, The Hunter, and although they are interesting, they aren’t the best part of this game.
Marvel’s Midnight Suns really deserves a second chance, and it’s a shame that it never really got one in the first place. There was going to be a Switch version, but that was canceled, likely due to the visuals. It’s a shame that happened since the Switch is where Fire Emblem fans roam, so this game could have had a better chance there.
Hopefully, Midnight Suns gets a Switch 2 port and that sells like pancakes.
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