Card-Based Marvel's Midnight Suns - Marvel universe card-based tactical RPG from Firaxis

[mediocrepoet]

I actually quite like the card mechanics, they did a great job with them, but certainly they aren't to everyone's taste. The cringe school clique writing was lame and a bit of a bizarre decision other than possibly trying to cater to a younger audience and/or cash in on Persona/Three Houses hype.

But more than all of this, I think Marvel fatigue is a real thing. I got really into the movies for a time, like a lot of people, but was pretty done with them since before the first Black Panther flick came out.

 

[DeepOcean]

This thing looked so boring on the marketing, you have a bunch of budget version super heroes helping some generic "my face is tired" Karen fight another generic evil undead Karen, also, on the trailers, their idea of super advanced gameplay mechanics to show off is super heroes grabbing enviroment crates, barrels and shit and throw them at enemies, oh boy, never heard of a game that did that before since the 90's...

How about you going on a building with a boss and you progressively demolishing a skyscapper from top to botthom, collapsing floors and changing the arenas on your will to gain a tactical advantage? Use spider man to move the arena to the roof of other buildings. You know, do super hero shit.

 

[mediocrepoet]

How about you going on a building with a boss and you progressively demolishing a skyscapper from top to botthom, collapsing floors and changing the arenas on your will to gain a tactical advantage? Use spider man to move the arena to the roof of other buildings. You know, do super hero shit.

100%. That's actually my biggest criticism of the game. It's a series of these little arenas with environmentals that, outside of some positioning considerations, is basically just animated superhero Magic cards. They could have had some amazing levels and movement and verticality, but no.

The cringe dialog is fully skippable and I didn't read pretty much anything, so that's a non-issue, but if they had inspired level design and more dynamic movement, this game could have been a classic.

 

[ArchAngel]

I didn't care for this game because of stupid card mechanics and because of modern woke Marvel shit.
I still want to play that other superhero Xcom called Capes. That one looks way more fun.

 

[Tuco Benedicto Pacifico]

Heads are rolling.

Steve Martin, and Jake Solomon are both leaving the studio.
View attachment 33620View attachment 33621

Worth noting that Garth De Angelis also left the studio barely few weeks before.

I didn't care for this game because of stupid card mechanics and because of modern woke Marvel shit.
I still want to play that other superhero Xcom called Capes. That one looks way more fun.

No idea of what you are talking about, but time for some google search I guess.

Meanwhile, I also just learned of the existence of Bit Reactor, new studio founded by former Firaxis guy, working on a Star Wars turn-based game.
It will be interesting to see if that's where most of these people will land.

 

[Roguey]

The price of failure! Don Peste

Between this and Eidos Montreal's failed ventures, it sure seems to be difficult to make a successful superhero-based video game, especially an ensemble-based one about a team of heros. The concept just seems too transparently cynical.

With the movies coming out so frequently, maybe the target audience just doesn't really need a video game that probably won't be as exciting or interesting to them. Maybe the target audience is trained to digest these stories in 2.5 hour cinematic chunks and the idea of playing a 30 hour video game in that universe seems strange and unnecessary.

Spider-Man (2018) was a big success on PS4 and on PC late last year https://steamdb.info/app/1817070/charts/ The reveal trailer for Spider-Man 2 has over 2 million views. The Wolverine teaser has over 7 million.

Squeenix Avengers was terrible for a multitude of reasons, Squeenix Guardians apparently wasn't bad, but not great either, and had an uncanny valley problem (characters looked like off-brand versions of themselves instead of replicating the movie or the comic likenesses). No one asked for or apparently wanted a card game.

 

[<3sRichardSimmons]

The price of failure! Don Peste

Between this and Eidos Montreal's failed ventures, it sure seems to be difficult to make a successful superhero-based video game, especially an ensemble-based one about a team of heros. The concept just seems too transparently cynical.

With the movies coming out so frequently, maybe the target audience just doesn't really need a video game that probably won't be as exciting or interesting to them. Maybe the target audience is trained to digest these stories in 2.5 hour cinematic chunks and the idea of playing a 30 hour video game in that universe seems strange and unnecessary.

Spider-Man (2018) was a big success on PS4 and on PC late last year https://steamdb.info/app/1817070/charts/ The reveal trailer for Spider-Man 2 has over 2 million views. The Wolverine teaser has over 7 million.

Squeenix Avengers was terrible for a multitude of reasons, Squeenix Guardians apparently wasn't bad, but not great either, and had an uncanny valley problem (characters looked like off-brand versions of themselves instead of replicating the movie or the comic likenesses). No one asked for or apparently wanted a card game.

Except Marvel Snap! is huge.

Midnight Suns’ problem wasn’t that it was a card game. It was that no one knew what the fuck it was, art design was crap, and the hero roster was weird as fuck and made no sense.

Honestly the fact that the game turned out as good as it did (and again, I actually really like it) is a huge credit to Solomon. Pity he’s the one hung out to dry on this.

 

[Roguey]

Except Marvel Snap! is huge.

Amend my statement to "bigger budget card game." Marvel Snap is some cheap-to-make casual game, it'd be difficult for it to be a failure.

art design was crap

Also true.

the hero roster was weird as fuck and made no sense.

Makes sense from the perspective of "Midnight Suns (formerly Sons) are lesser-known edgy occult-oriented characters but we'll INCREASE our appeal if we put the popular characters in there too" (didn't work)

 

[Renevent]

What's even worse is they're replacing the 2 studio veterans with some executive chick from Fortnite. So if anyone is expecting Firaxis to shape up and course correct can fucking forget about that shit lol. Anyways I'd normally be in Midnight Sun's primary customer base but didn't get it for a few reasons:

1) Card mechanics
2) Heard there was a lot of shitty writing and woke-y characters

For #2 I honestly don't even know if that's true, but after the last Marvel game I played (the one where you're an arab girl teenager) and last few movies I've basically given up on the Marvel brand, at least for the time being. I don't know who these characters are for but the writing is certainly not aimed at me. And that's fine, but I'm not buying their shit anymore (and apparently either are the people who like this drek lol).

 

[mediocrepoet]

2) Heard there was a lot of shitty writing and woke-y characters

For #2 I honestly don't even know if that's true, but after the last Marvel game I played (the one where you're an arab girl teenager) and last few movies I've basically given up on the Marvel brand, at least for the time being. I don't know who these characters are for but the writing is certainly not aimed at me. And that's fine, but I'm not buying their shit anymore (and apparently either are the people who like this drek lol).

It's true. And I say that as someone who likes the game and often isn't bothered by SJW type crap if it's subtle or moderate.

 

[deuxhero]

4. It's shit.

5. Tranny character creation.
6. Horrific character redesigns
7. All of the above.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Between this and Eidos Montreal's failed ventures, it sure seems to be difficult to make a successful superhero-based video game, especially an ensemble-based one about a team of heros. The concept just seems too transparently cynical.

Troubleshooter: Abandoned Children is a successful game about a team of superheroes, but it's a squad-based tactics game made by a Korean developer with a small budget, rather than an attempt to cash in on the ongoing(?) craze for Marvel/DC superhero films.

 

[J1M]

The only reason people bought this is because of the XCOM pedigree. Marvel fans have no interest.

The problem is that this is a dress up game with card combat where it is impossible to make the female characters look sexy.

Sex sells.

No sex, no sells.

 

[mediocrepoet]

The only reason people bought this is because of the XCOM pedigree. Marvel fans have no interest.

Yeah, this is probably true.

The problem is that this a dress up game with card combat where it is impossible to make the female characters look sexy.

Sex sells.

No sex, no sells.

Meh. But possibly. Though it would be kind of funny to have them delivering their lines about racial and gender equality while in string bikinis and such.

 

[GhostCow]

The game has swimsuits and lovers lab has nude mods. What more do you want?

 

[mediocrepoet]

The game has swimsuits and lovers lab has nude mods. What more do you want?

The swimsuits are lame, but some of the characters are attractive, insofar as video game characters go though. I wouldn't mind throwing a magnet at Nico's head though.

 

[gurugeorge]

I actually quite like the card mechanics, they did a great job with them, but certainly they aren't to everyone's taste. The cringe school clique writing was lame and a bit of a bizarre decision other than possibly trying to cater to a younger audience and/or cash in on Persona/Three Houses hype.

But more than all of this, I think Marvel fatigue is a real thing. I got really into the movies for a time, like a lot of people, but was pretty done with them since before the first Black Panther flick came out.

Marvel movies had a pretty good run with Phases 1 and 2, from Iron Man till about Civil War, plus maybe the second and third Avengers movies, and that last Spidey film. Everything other than that (i.e. from most of the rest of Phase 3 on) has been either formulaic or just plain shit.

My inner manchild was made happy by those earlier movies and by the very idea of the MCU, now he's just sad.

 

[mediocrepoet]

Marvel movies had a pretty good run with Phases 1 and 2, from Iron Man till about Civil War,

100%.

plus maybe the second and third Avengers movies,

Nope.

and that last Spidey film.

No idea, I slept through it. I actually quite like Spiderman though, so I'll have to try to watch it again.

Everything other than that (i.e. from most of the rest of Phase 3 on) has been either formulaic or just plain shit.

Definitely. You can basically see the template they use to write the screenplays. It's like a form letter in movie form.

My inner manchild was made happy by those earlier movies and by the very idea of the MCU, now he's just sad.

Mine's basically an outer manchild, but I get you.

 

[Jason Liang]

Personally, as someone who just got a PS5 for Christmas, I have yet to pony up for Midnight Suns for a couple of reasons. I love card games and I love Marvel Comics and I love a lot of the characters/ waifus featured in Midnight Suns including Magik, Wanda, and Nico is alright, so the branding is fine. The issues are:

- Price point. Spending $40-$70 on a game with gameplay I might not like or even hate is too much of an ask. I just got physical copies of Nier Automata for $20 and Mechwarrior 5 for $18. Were Midnight Suns < $20 then sure I'll take a flyer on it, just like MW5 I could take a flyer.

- Too much glut of must-play games right now. With so many games on the PS5 Plus subscription game catalog, even if there are only about 5 titles that are "must play", that's still several months of content - like it would take me at least half a year to play through Final Fantasy VIIR, Death Stranding, Yakuza 0, Yakuza Like a Dragon, Asscreeds and Bloodborne alone. Add in games that aren't in the catalog (Nier Automata, GTA V, RDR 2, NBA 2k23, Witcher 3, God of War) and games coming out this year, how would anyone find time to play Midnight Suns?

- Honestly, the card game/ tactical battle genre is a bit unappealing. At best it's Cardhunter, and its more likely a Gloomhaven (and I hated Gloomhaven).

- The nu-X-com reputation is a turn off for me as well.

- The plot seems generic if not downright popamole. Featuring the mainsteam Avengers characters is another red flag. Iron Man is only a selling point to MCU movie fans.

- Releasing at roughly the same time as Marvel Snap probably cannibalized Midnight Suns' main demographic.

 

[Fedora Master]

got a PS5 for Christmas, I have yet to pony up for Midnight Suns for a couple of reasons. I love card games and I love Marvel Comics

 

[J1M]

The game has swimsuits and lovers lab has nude mods. What more do you want?

Attractive faces, bone structure, and fat distribution.

 

[GhostCow]

The game has swimsuits and lovers lab has nude mods. What more do you want?

Attractive faces, bone structure, and fat distribution.

Good point. Can't argue with that. The graphics are shit. I still found Nico and Magik to be pretty hot though. Well, Nico was hot after a mod to change her hair and remove her facial piercings anyway.

 

[Cyberarmy]

Magik and Wanda is alright but others are

 

[Wirdschowerdn]

47 hours in, and still only in the middle of Act II. This game is really trying hard to be Firaxis Presents: The Sims, with the socializing component chewing up most of the time. And it's a lot hit ("What's worse? Canada or Limbo?") and miss (Caretaker mimimimimi), but mostly miss. Really wished they would have trimmed down the fat, but the fact that the game still motivates me is a testament to the robust core combat gameplay.

 

[mediocrepoet]

47 hours in, and still only in the middle of Act II. This game is really trying hard to be Firaxis Presents: The Sims, with the socializing component chewing up most of the time. And it's a lot hit ("What's worse? Canada or Limbo?") and miss (Caretaker mimimimimi), but mostly miss. Really wished they would have trimmed down the fat, but the fact that the game still motivates me is a testament to the robust core combat gameplay.

I finished it and it was way longer than expected. Still, the gameplay is a lot of fun on Ultimate III (and working up to it), but yeah, too much teenage drama.

I'm not sure if I'm just the wrong demographic from what they were aiming for or if they just totally missed the mark.