Midnight Suns Deserves a Sequel

This video and more writing at MattHorton.live
My podcast cantletitgo.gay
0:00 - Marvel's Midnight Suns
4:12 - What is Midnight Suns?
4:38 - Hero and Ability Management
7:14 - Combat
12:25 - Superhero Social Sim
17:19 - Abbey Grounds Exploration
18:37 - The Loop that keeps me playing
20:17 - The Problems with Midnight Suns
31:31 - This game deserves a sequel
At Gamescom 2021, Firaxis Games and 2K announced Marvel’s Midnight Suns with a trailer featuring a bunch of Marvel characters you know and a bunch that you might not. There was Doctor Strange, Iron Man, Wolverine, Captain America, Captain Marvel, and Blade, but there was also Magik, Robbie Reyes’ Ghost Rider, Nico Minoru, a brand new, unnamed player character, and her mother, Lilith, the mother of demons. The trailer was set to a cover of Enter Sandman by Alessia Cara & The Warning, and ended with all of the heroes in these black and gold costumes walking away from a giant ring filled with fire.
If you talk to most people who have played Midnight Suns, they’ll tell you that the game is a card-based tactics game during the day and a superhero social sim at night. That assessment isn’t wrong, but I think it misses out on 2 other pretty critical aspects of what this game has going on.
I think there are actually 4 main elements to this game:
Hero Management and Upgrades
Combat
Superhero Social Sim
Exploration of the Abbey
So let's break each of those down.

[@BrendonBigley]

This game really lived up to my extremely high expectations as well. I never finished it - chose to wait until all of the DLC dropped before starting again - but having made it through about 3/4 of the game I loved pretty much everything I played. It's great to see more people talking about this thing which (unfortunately) feels one of a kind.

[@MattHorton]

It's really worth finishing when you get a chance. I don't know that I'll really every completely put it down.

[@lugaruclone]

I will say the last chunk of the game really delivers. It is a big ramp up in difficulty, some good set pieces and some good character moments.

[@WizWiteKnight]

Im nearing 40 and have been out of work due to disabilitiy and other fun stuff for a while, and have been thinking of learning how to learn how to do game reveiws/critiques/retrospectives and I was planning on doing my frist one on this game because I have just finished my third run through and I feel like this game is so viciously overlooked. I have been playing the game taking notes of things Id wanna mention. "Midnight Suns needs a sequel" was my working title, and Magiks (also my favourite character) "Is portal" is what I have described as the hidden gem inside this game. I havent watched the rest of your video, because the fact you mentioned that (as well as a bunch of other things I feel very strongly about) blew my mind a bit. Anyway, I am really happy to be watching this and I am glad you made it. Its probably better than mine ever would have been.

[@MattHorton]

Make it! I still want to see it 💜

[@lugaruclone]

Not only does it deserve a sequel, it deserves other games in that engine. I would like an X-Com where I can run around, sneak, climb around... and start combat once I have a nice ambush set up. A mix of live for traversal and turn based for combat.

[@MattHorton]

Yeah I'd really love to see this combat reused

[@MattHorton]

Also you should play Lamplighters League

[@Silellak]

This game fucking rules. Every time I dip back in, I come away thinking "Wait, is this an S-tier game? Is this one of my favorite games ever??" It's been a slower burn than most of my favorite games, but it's always such a delight to return to. I also can't believe it actually got made and exists.

[@MattHorton]

Yes yes yes

[@Carlisle-mn3fv]

Not being able to pause during cutscenes is crazy

[@Brekner]

And this is why we NEED DEMOS for all games...most people don't want to buy a 70 dollar game, download it, try it for a bit, not longer than 2 hours, just to see if they like it enough to keep it or refund it. It's very uncomfortable and stressful to play looking at the timer, and that alone is a huge factor for refunding for (I bet) a lot of people. After getting it for free on Epic and playing it a lot, I decided to buy it on Steam for access to the DLC (moved my save files to the Steam folder), and it quickly became my 2nd best and most fun game of the year! It's so good and SO LONG! And sooo much dialogue! But I wouldn't have bought it on launch, because, again, with no demo, it's hard to tell if you'd ever like a game.

[@d27shgu]

the moment that I knew this game was for me, a comic nerd is when you're talking to Spidey, and you ask about Venom and he says Venom came from Battleworld, like no one knows what the fuck Battleworld is

[@MattHorton]

Lol yeah

[@billyez]

ok, I'm convinced to give this game a chance. Everything about this felt off: who are these characters (?), why is this character modeling so bad, a card battler (!??) but then you basically called it Marvel's goth fire emblem and yeah, I can vibe with that

[@MattHorton]

That's such a better title for this video lol

[@user-vl2ig6bz6c]

I always wanted a turned based marvel rpg game. This is about as close as it gets.

[@MattHorton]

Yeah!

[@wintertrooper7918]

This game has been such fun i feel like most people who often hate on Midnight Suns are people who hate the style of gameplay but never sctually played it

[@MattHorton]

Yeah that's my thought. Which I get! But also I'm in my year of "trying sh*t"

[@Tuaron]

I went into Midnight Suns not expecting to enjoy it (the gameplay didn't look like something I would enjoy), but I fell in love with it. The gameplay still isn't my favourite, but I got pretty used to it and had a lot of fun, though the real thing that I loved was the character writing and interactions. Characters I didn't think would fit the theme (Spidey, Wolverine, Iron Man, Captain America, Captain Marvel) clicked in a surprising way, best Morbius and Blade writing I've seen, and they way they use the facets of the different characters to build out the player character (and vice-versa) was really amazing. I've liked Magik for a bit, but Illyana really worked this time, as did Nico Minoru, and I appreciated this Robbie Reyes. Yeah, the resource juggling and management issues can be a bit annoying, but I didn't have as much trouble because I usually ran around and did everything I could (grabbing the collectibles) before making purchases, and often spent a while doing random non-story missions to build up resources/levels/etc. The different character play styles were interesting, even if I didn't like all of them (read: I was not good at them, like Magik, unfortunately, or Deadpool, who was effective but I never clicked with his mechanic). I'll admit that I did kinda cheat and maximize stuff like gift giving and hangouts with the other characters, but I would answer conversations how I thought I should, not to cheat the system. I think the main problems the game faced were the gameplay style (which likely turned off a lot of people, as mentioned, it dissuaded me - I also don't particularly enjoy X-Com) and the reputation of recent Marvel games (really just The Avengers - Spidey & Guardians were great, even if the latter also didn't perform well). I do agree that the Midnight Sons/Suns and some of the main characters also didn't sell people (maybe even turning some off), which I assume is why characters like Spidey, Cap, and Wolverine were included (as mentioned, that may have turned off some fans for muddying the brand). I can understand the hesitance for a self-insert player character, but I think it worked out better than trying to play from the perspective of one of the characters. I have the same experience with microtransactions - pretty sure I got the Legendary Edition, so I never needed to get anything else, and I played it after all the DLC was out, which definitely helped, but I can understand people disliking it otherwise and being wary that it'd be overmonetized (I don't believe it was). I really do wish we'd get more, especially adding in Moon Knight as mentioned in this video, maybe Doctor/Brother Voodoo, Jennifer Kale, Daimon Hellstrom, other magic users.

[@MattHorton]

Thanks for the thoughtful comment. I very much agree about Deadpool. He and venom have keywords that I never got used to.

[@jared_biz]

I can tell there's so much about this game that I'd love if I ever had the chance to play it. Feels like it's been a "missed connection". Thanks for this great video highlighting it!

[@MattHorton]

If you think you'll want to play it, it's on humble choice!

[@Silellak]

Oh also, I really appreciated the "input randomness" vs "output randomness" explanation - I never thought of it that way, but it makes total sense, especially in the context of X-Com vs. Midnight Suns.

[@MattHorton]

Yeah I forget which interview that was from. Probably waypoint

[@cpard2d2]

It does! I want to see the environment interaction pushed further. Give me multi tier arenas where we can go through floors and walls, super heroes love tearing though places and this game nailed it.

[@MattHorton]

That would be sick

[@TheOldMan-75]

I've mostly seen bad reviews about the game but I'm a sucker for card combat and it was quite cheap on sale so I gave it a shot. There are certainly some issues with the game's stability and I had quite a lot of crashes overall but everything else was really fun. I would've LOVED to see a sequel with more cards, better stability and some more customization options for the main hero.

[@sliverhanded8012]

Per usual another great video! There was a time XCom and comics would have been a killer combo for me but both are currently on the outs with me (and I was always more of a DC Comics guy anyway 😉). But I know you and a lot of folks have been quietly advocating for this game and it’s cool to get a long form video as to why. Keep it up buddy!

[@MattHorton]

Thanks!

[@Arcanist_The]

"getting compared to one of my favorite vidoegames ever" wait is this still about Three Houses or did i miss another game because if so. Ah I see. A man of culture.

[@MattHorton]

😍 yesssss

[@Swamp_Ave]

The newer midnight comic became an instant fav for me

[@MattHorton]

I enjoyed it, but it's not a favorite. I did love learning a bit about Strange Academy, though.

[@pookiipower435]

Like you, this game was so many genres that I love... Turn based combat, super heroes, card based, big emphasis on character relations... minor exploration / puzzle elements. I put 200+ hours in this game in like 3 months. My wife and I couldn't stop playing it every chance we got. And still playing it today. The combat is just so. freaking. addicting. I soooo wanted this game to get a sequel... hell, i'd even settle for a expansion tying up all the loose ends in the story. This game did ever character justice. Ever character had a chance to shine. This will always be in my top5 fav games ever made I think. lol.

[@MattHorton]

Yes same

[@Cosmosis]

It sounds like they really knew what they were aiming for and only missed in ways that can be totally accounted for next time. I would love to see how the developers would improve on their formula in a sequel I've been debating getting this months humble choice, I might cave now, thanks haha

[@MattHorton]

Haha you're welcome. Yeah I have the tiniest hope because the team might still be at firaxis even if the lead left. But the whole studio refocused on civ 6 after the news. But they truly delivered. This is the game that feels "cozy" to me BTW. That was the original impetus for this video.

[@vcasella1989]

My only complaint with this game is that it didnt have my favorite Marvel character, Thor. Other then that a 10/10

[@MattHorton]

Would love to see another with a whole different crew

[@claytonsmith8024]

It absolutely does!!!! I loved this game so so much for a lot of different reasons, really hope the sequel comes that was hinted from that post credit scene.

[@onibur4023]

Thanks ps plus I tried this game and I just finished it after 100h my 1st run! It's amazing! I love it! It's crazy that most of the people don't know/try it... And of course it's a flop...

[@mshake7056]

Denuvo killed this game and 2k launcher didnt help

[@MattHorton]

Yeah the 2k launcher bypass is NECESSARY on pc. But it's perfect on console

[@TheOldMan-75]

@@MattHorton This is just mindboggling to me. Without the 2k launcher bypass, I simply wasn't able to play the game. HOW THE HELL can a luncher in the background mess up a game's performance so badly and nobody fixed it?

[@justgj]

Well crap, I've been hearing good things about this game for a while but this has fully sold me!

[@MattHorton]

Get it while it's cheap!

[@jesseschneider1794]

They need make a sequel to the game that could finish off the game because they left off shitty

[@MattHorton]

It ended just fine

[@andrewundershaft1162]

I love turn based tactics and like Marvel. The reason I didn't buy the game was that Solomon's team isn't good with scripted drama. I loooved Xcom 2, especially the Long War mod, but didn't care much for the story, especially with War of the Chosen, because it had way too many stupid characters and bad dialog. And when I heard that MS had even more of that, and some absolutely juvenile character interactions, I lost interest.

[@MattHorton]

Ok well this one is good