Marvel’s Midnight Suns - PS/XB/SW/PC - October 2022

[bradigor]

1 hour ago, deerokus said:

Yeah there are a couple of strange UI issues like that. I'm on series x and the text is readable if you're near the screen but not otherwise. Not sure why since the interface isn't cluttered at all so there's plenty of room for them to work with bigger text.

 

Also you can't turn off subtitles for some reason. The way they're presented is especially distracting.

 

 

Yeah, it's also a complaint I have with Ship of Fools. Prompting me to start a new series for MHG calling out shit like this. There is no excuse in 2022 for such poor intervention implementation of such features. It is as though there has been zero QA testing. 

 

Also just to note. The game will crash the Steam Deck at points. I am forced to run the following settings to prevent it: 

 

720p

Low default 

Full screen 

Disabled graphic scaling

30fps cap 

Do not even attempt FSR right now 

 

 

Despite an that, I really am enjoying the game 

 

[Gabe]

You've really fallen for the tactical rpg genre now @bradigor, eh? It's a great genre to be fair.

[cassidy]

Level of depth in this game and the synergies yet to be discovered.  

 

Slay the spire crossed with X-Com and then stirring in some Fire Emblem shenanigans, but with delightful Marvel lore deep cuts.

 

Oh it's also an RPG.

 

I love it. 

[PeteJ]

This is exactly the kind of game that would appeal to me but the skillup review has really put me off. The main game sounds great but that friendship stuff sounds utter tripe. If you can just skip all that I'll consider it still but if I'm forced through it then it'll be a pass. 

 

Interested to know the thoughts of others on here! 

[cassidy]

It's nowhere near as bad as that review made out. 

 

And the actual gameplay and combat is so good you are missing out imo. 

[BadgerFarmer]

I think there's a bit too much of it, but I really like that it's a bit cheesy and silly. It provides a fun contrast between the confident personas of the characters in battle and their awkward attempts to get on while sharing a house, or simply the fact that there's a version of these superheroes that starts a book club or enjoys a stint of birdwatching now and again, even when the world is in danger. Their commitment to work-life balance is commendable.

[deerokus]

Yeah skillup guy must have been in a cantankerous mood. The social stuff is pretty decent to be honest, I enjoy it. Some really good voice actors too. Michael Jai White plays Blade! I saw some comment complaining that Spider Man tells you his origin story and all that again - but only if you actively ask him to FFS 😂

 

I think some reviewers were expecting some sort of really intense xcom type game and disappointed when it's honestly more like a JRPG.

[Wiper]

Yeah, this is great fun — a very enjoyable blend of tactics, card game and life sim. It's got all the clunkiness in presentation you'd expect of a Firaxis game, but I've been surprised at the overall quality of the storytelling: the writing in terms of pure prose is rarely better than decent, but the actual broad strokes characterisation, story, pacing, and tying it together with the gameplay are A+.

 

You could make an interesting comparison between this and Squeenix's Avengers game, as on paper they share a lot of similarities — even down to the structure of story/non-story missions, unlockable cosmetics (including monetised ones), and presence of slightly knock-off-feeling superheroes — albeit Squeenix's game is far more polished and obviously high budget in every way, and also infinitely less engaging.

[b00dles]

I do really like this so far but I can't help get the impression it's a bit of a star fox adventures type thing. Some of it seems like it would have worked better without these characters being the ones in it... if that makes sense?

 

I like the building your team cohesion/ friendliness stuff but there's something about chilling by the pool with blade that just felt like it was meant to be in a persona type setup with a random friend group. 

 

The battles are good though and the cards and their upgrades/ mods etc make them a lot more varied than in the xcom games. As you get to a point in those games much quicker when every member of your squad has only really got about two moves and that can never change. 

 

I kind of miss the base building element of your xcoms but at the same time, I do quite like the metroid-lite environment exploring and unlocking. 

 

It's a pretty strange game in a few respects but it's generally good, without a doubt. 

[cassidy]

Finished Act 1 yesterday with about 27hrs playtime. I may have gotten slightly addicted to the loop of completing ops and just chatting and upgrading in the Abbey. 

 

I did do it on Heroic 1 mind and then finally worked out where the Earth Rod was so unlocked the second power word and more of the Abbey grounds to explore. Did mean I was L18 for a challenge that was meant to be done at L8.  Still I have now unlocked Heroic 3 but left it on Heroic 2 for a bit. 

 

As you tell I'm rather addicted to this frankly superb game. If it keeps up like this could be a GOTY contender for me. 

[BadgerFarmer]

I found it necessary to nudge the difficulty up as the new levels unlock, or at least soon after, else you tend to get gradually overpowered. It's a neat system to have so many difficulty levels and unlock them during the game.

[cassidy]

 Heroic 3 they just do a bit too much damage and health at my level currently. 

[Wiper]

Yeah, I got to Heroic 2 while my characters were still level 6 (which is the point where I'd just unlocked Power Word number 2), and while it was doable, it made every battle a slog (and promptly gave my my first 1-star victories), so I plonked it back down to Heroic 1. I like the idea of the constantly shifting difficulties, but it does slightly feel like Firaxis are absconding from their duties of building in a balanced difficulty curve!

[Benny]

Hmm yeah I'm not sure I like the sound of that. Not keen on micromanaging my difficulty levels along with everything else.

[Wiper]

To be fair, if you're happy to romp through the game you could definitely just leave the difficulty on normal.

[moosegrinder]

Sounds like the Torment system in Diablo 3.

[cassidy]

3 minutes ago, moosegrinder said:

Sounds like the Torment system in Diablo 3.

It's very similar yes. 

[StephenM]

Interesting to see people playing with the difficulty levels -- I'd ignored the alerts so far (playing on normal). I think it's flashbacks to starting harder XCOM campaigns and getting absolutely destroyed instantly.

 

Next time it pops up, I'll give it a boost!

 

More generally, I really like this. I've seen a few reviews etc that talk about it not being XCOM enough but, in its own right, I think it's stellar. I don't know anything about Marvel, I don't know any of these characters, but I think the Persona/Fire Emblem stuff is a nice addition. And the combat just seems incredibly apt -- I can 100% see why XCOM x Superhero wouldn't work, but the positional stuff here is so much fun.

 

One thing I would like to see happen next (I'm not even through act 1 yet): something that makes me need to think more about what's in the decks. Maybe the difficulty increase will help with that. And one thing I would like to see in a far distant dream: some kind of 'Be the Midnight Suns just doing day-to-day work' campaign mode - while the combat obviously needed to change, I think the 'Do random missions while working toward some overall win/lose condition' would be excellent in here for replayability.

[Strafe]

Anyone playing this on Deck? Performances seem to be rather different across the videos I’ve seen.

[deerokus]

1 hour ago, Strafe said:

Anyone playing this on Deck? Performances seem to be rather different across the videos I’ve seen.

 

 

Seems like you can get it to a fairly consistent 30fps. This is a pretty detailed report on how it runs (click the 'review' tab).

 

 https://steamdeckhq.com/game-reviews/marvels-midnight-suns/

 

Firaxis stuff is never brilliantly optimised. I'm playing on series x and even there it runs perfectly but the image quality is kind of soft, definitely some upscaling going on.

 

It's a really good game. They nail the feeling of the powers surprisingly well for a turn based game - Captain Marvel's hits look and feel really powerful. And it's really satisfying when you manipulate the situation to extend your turn and wipe out loads of goons. Katherine Castle on RPS mentioned that and compared it to Gears Tactics which I think is spot on. I really enjoyed that game too.

[BadgerFarmer]

Found time to go back and finish this off finally. It's a whopper alright. But I think it gets even better in the later stages, once you've got more options to play with, and the finale is pitched just right.

[StephenM]

Still enjoying this a whole lot -- although last night I ended up on the final enemy of a mission, who kept going into camouflage mode, and I had no ways left to get him out of it. I just had to keep skipping turns until he forgot to go sneaky.

[Wiper]

Yeah, it's always worth having at least one character with area of effect or knockback abilities in order to deal with those. In fairness, the game does introduce you to them when you're forced to have a character with both of those abilities, so it does forewarn you at least!

[Hexx]

9 hours ago, BadgerFarmer said:

Found time to go back and finish this off finally. It's a whopper alright. But I think it gets even better in the later stages, once you've got more options to play with, and the finale is pitched just right.

 

I've just fought

 

Spoiler

Venom in the church

 

Can you give an indication how far through that is? Given words of Power I'd guess 2/3rds?

[Mortis]

You aren’t even out of act 1. 

[Hexx]

...

 

Of how many acts?

 

 

 

[Hexx]

Who's everyone's favourite characters (in and out of combat)?

 

I generally like them all - even characters I don't normally like in, are tolerable, even pleasant in this.

 

In combat again like them all, never feel too handicapped if I have to take set people along rather than my choices. Hunter (Light), Spiderman and Cap are my current favourite combo.

Ghost Rider and NIco are probably least. GR just doesn't gel, and Nico I find Roulette a little too random.

[Mortis]

17 minutes ago, Hexx said:

...

 

Of how many acts?

 

 

 

3 as far as I’m aware

[BadgerFarmer]

6 hours ago, Mortis said:

3 as far as I’m aware

Yeah. By the end, according to Steam, I'd been playing for

Spoiler

68 hours.

 

I think Magik became my favourite combat character. Her ability to move enemies around, create free portals, and use knockback gives you a lot of options to work with.

[Wiper]

Yeah, teammates-wise I mostly appreciate those who can move people around, and/or those who can actively tank (MC can absorb a lot of punishment, but doesn't seem to have access to any kind of taunt that I've come across). So; Magik MVP; then either of the Captains or the 5'3" of rage* as ablative shielding are the ideal.

 

That said, I do enjoy Nico's punch and buffing — she's a must on any missions with a need for quick kills — and Ghost Rider and his friend from NYC are good area control characters.

 

The only character I tend to avoid unless needed is Blade, who I just can't figure out — maybe I've been unlucky with drops, but all of his abilities seem to revolve around bleed, but the only way I have to cause bleed is a self-buff card of his, so it rarely comes up.

 

*very disappointed they didn't set his height appropriately