Marvel’s Midnight Sun review is an unexpected combination

Although Firaxis’ new strategy game (XCOM, Civilization) was already out last month, due to an undesirable organizational error, we weren’t able to offer a review at the time. But since this is a very unusual combination of genres (and themes) from very respected creators, we bring you our assessment at least for now. After all, it wouldn’t be weird if you also missed the game during the busy Christmas season and thought about getting it after the fact. Before we get into a more detailed analysis, I will say right away that Marvel fans have a chance to experience the best gaming story of their favorite heroes, and fans of tactical strategy in the spirit of XCOM will also be pleasantly surprised by how successfully Firaxis managed to improve their template. What some may not like is the unexpected dimension of the social component of the game.

• Platform: PS5 (review) PS4, XSX|S, X1, PC, Switch
• Publication date: 12.02.2022
• Producer: Firaxis Games (USA)
• Genre: turn-based strategy card RPG
• Czech localization: Not
• Multiplayer: Not
• Data to download: 50 GB
• Game time: 40+ hours
• Price: 1499 CZK (couples)

Card RPG strategy?

Since its announcement at Gamescom last year, this game has puzzled most gamers with its unexpected mix of genres and themes. Another turn-based strategy from the creators of XCOM? Of course! But in combination with a card game? Which? And tell the story of Marvel’s most famous superheroes? Ugh? But no one knew that, in addition to all this, the game also contains a very rich social part, in which you just spend time at the base with the characters and engage in joint actions or conversations, so by building a better relationship, you will be even stronger and versatile on the battlefield (this genre branch, in turn, came from games such as Persona or Fire Emblem). To make matters worse, a lot of the game made me think of classic RPGs, especially Dragon Age: Inquisition, because a sword-wielding armored hero building a resistance movement in an ancient estate reminded me a lot of that game as well.

The story begins in our present (or Marvel’s variations of it, including the presence of superheroes such as the Avengers or the X-Men) when a HYDRA “scientist” resurrects the demonic Lilith with the intention of using her abilities for the organization’s purpose. But this goes awry, and subsequently the mysterious cosmic body “Midnight Sun” appears from the depths of space, the approach of which to Earth should mean the arrival of the ancient dark god Chthon (very noticeably and successfully resembles the myth of Cthulhu). After the destruction of their original bases, the Avengers and the (new) X-Men hide in a pocket dimension, from where they organize expeditions into enemy territory to stop the catastrophe. To this end, it also resurrects you, the deadly Hunter (Hunter or Stalker, depending on your character settings) after hundreds of years. You are both Lilith’s child and her original killer, so you have a unique opportunity to defeat her. Unless it turns out that everything is a little different.

It very clearly and successfully resembles the myth of Cthulhu.

I was really looking forward to the game because of the expectation of addictive strategy gameplay from the masters of the genre, but I never dreamed that one of its best features would be the story. In addition to the figuratively and captivatingly written central plot (for most of the game, for example, you have no idea what exactly causes or interferes with the “magic” collar around your neck), this is, first of all, ridiculously thorough and detailed work with the characters of all the characters, where the flow of optional dialogue in addition to the excellent rendering of the characters’ story also adds a very nice humanity to them. The dialogue and characters are some of the best in the genre of the game, and because of this, I loved them so much as the game progressed that I deliberately expanded the story campaign with additional missions in order to spend more time with the characters. .

Uncompromising work

But the gameplay is crafted with the same painstaking and extraordinary creative flair as the dialogue/characters/plot. XCOM fans will surely rejoice in the fact that the annoying randomness effect during the action itself has completely disappeared, so there is no longer a “94% chance that your character will hit when shot during the next turn.” In any case, all your actions are now 100% reliable, so it’s up to you to place your characters correctly and use their talents or equipment. But a certain amount of variety and randomness comes from the fact that each turn you get a few cards randomly selected from the deck you prepared for each character in the base. But even here in the web of subtle game mechanics, there are plenty of ways to minimize randomness – especially in the later stages of the game as you become more and more powerful.

In addition, the entire game has dynamic difficulty, so your opponents seamlessly adapt to how much time and effort you put into upgrading your characters, turning each mission into a well-balanced, exciting, and exciting battle. , or vice versa. Throughout the game, I had a very strong impression that no matter what aspect or part of the game I decided to focus on, everywhere the creators prepared enough content and mechanics for me to have a great time. In fact, I wouldn’t be afraid to compare the difficulty and richness of the game to Elden Ring in that regard, where I too had the feeling that wherever I went in the game world, there was great pleasure waiting for me. Individual characters creatively differentiate their behavior and special abilities on the battlefield, you constantly unlock new types of enemies and challenges, the environment changes as the story progresses, and some maps are simply beautiful. Topping it all off are the improved “Challenge” challenges at the end of individual character levels, completing which unlocks their maximum attack. These are not additional intense fights, these are subtle combat puzzles that test how well you understand the play style and character abilities. Perfectly polished gameplay.

This makes each mission a well balanced, exciting and exciting battle.

What some reviewers or players have complained about is the unexpected presence of a lot of social activity in your base. Some felt that this part of the game detracted too much from the combat and the essence of the game. But, as I wrote above, I felt the characters and their relationships were so well written (cheers to Bladea book club where, for example, Captain America argues with Captain Marvel over the interpretation of passages in San-s’ Art of War book) on the contrary, I spent evenings at the base after the fights, he really liked it. But if you don’t want to waste time on them, you can click and skip all those things in an instant. While I found a few small visual bugs in the game on PS5 even a month after it was released, overall I was impressed with the gameplay (especially the fluidity of the game during some spectacular special attacks and effects) of the game and most importantly: the controller controls are completely intuitive. plus, thanks to the SSD drive, I never waited more than a few seconds for the next mission to load. I recently praised the Switch’s technical execution of Fire Emblem Engage, but this goes against it like an IMAX blockbuster against TV night.