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

[Assisted Living Godzilla]

Their whole thing is turned-based games, something like Freedom Force would’ve been a big change up for them.

I said successor, not clone. Freedom Force wouldn't need that much adjustment to be playable turn based. Valkyria Chronicles showed knocking characters around with physics was totally doable in a gridless turn based game (VC's unusual turn system aside).

Well, that wouldn’t exactly be a Freedom Force successor. Even with the real-time with pause element to Freedom Force, Freedom Force as a purely turn-based game would be more of a radical shift then a purely real time action game take on Freedom Force.

It sounds more like you want what this game is already doing during combat, (maybe without the random card stuff) but with Valkyria Chronicles turn-based movement, and maybe larger areas for combat.

Even then, just a turn/grid based Freedom Force with Marvel characters would probably havr worked better.
FF Characters were memorable without this weird HQ social stuff.

The problem with the headquarters stuff is execution as opposed to it even being there to begin with. Part of the comics is characters hanging out together, and they clearly wanted to get that across, they just did a really shit job of it.

 

[Lemming42]

This game's great but yeah it's just way too heavy on story and character stuff - a delight to about four people worldwide who really like Marvel but an albatross around the game's neck for anyone else.

Still, as someone with no interest in or knowledge of Marvel, I liked the story for what it was. I liked the character you play as too, she's got a lot of opportunities to tell the various annoying people you're forced to live with to fuck off in polite, refined, vampiric ways.

The only characters I strongly didn't like were Iron Man and Doctor Strange, who I left in their shitty lab which I only reluctantly went in once a week to cash in the gamma coils. "Tony wants to hang out!" Well it's too fucking bad because I don't want to hang out - I'm going to explore the mansion grounds instead. Maybe I'll give Steve Rogers a car-scented candle so he punches harder in combat, but I'm definitely not "hanging out" with fucking Tony. "You've unlocked a new swimsuit for Tony!" I don't care. I would sell it for Hero Points if I could. I'd turn Tony's stupid speedo into an upgrade for Whip if the game let me. "Iron Man is required for this mission!" I'm not doing the mission then. I'll literally do a fucking Ghost Rider mission before I do an Iron Man one. What's that? Nico wants me to "gain a friendship level with Tony"? Well fuck her, she's persona non grata too now. I'll handle the next mission alone.

Speaking of which probably my favourite thing about this game was the infinite missions - the thing that annoyed me big-time about other recent similar games like Chimera Squad and Gears Tactics was the constant rush you're in, with various mandatory missions and time limits popping up everywhere. It took me ages to build and perfect my team, I should be allowed to piss around with them for as long as I want, and Midnight Suns allows that.

If the game flopped as much as some suggest it's a real shame, it's fantastic for what it is and I'd love to see Firaxis experiment more with unique systems like this one. I might buy the Storm DLC as a meagre show of support.

 

[deuxhero]

Their whole thing is turned-based games, something like Freedom Force would’ve been a big change up for them.

I said successor, not clone. Freedom Force wouldn't need that much adjustment to be playable turn based. Valkyria Chronicles showed knocking characters around with physics was totally doable in a gridless turn based game (VC's unusual turn system aside).

Well, that wouldn’t exactly be a Freedom Force successor. Even with the real-time with pause element to Freedom Force, Freedom Force as a purely turn-based game would be more of a radical shift then a purely real time action game take on Freedom Force.

It sounds more like you want what this game is already doing during combat, (maybe without the random card stuff) but with Valkyria Chronicles turn-based movement, and maybe larger areas for combat.

Even then, just a turn/grid based Freedom Force with Marvel characters would probably havr worked better.
FF Characters were memorable without this weird HQ social stuff.

The problem with the headquarters stuff is execution as opposed to it even being there to begin with. Part of the comics is characters hanging out together, and they clearly wanted to get that across, they just did a really shit job of it.

Primarily as a transitional scene (their hangout gets interrupted), or it's an unusual issue. That's easily handled by cutscenes with interaction, and side quests respectively.

 

[Cyberarmy]

If the game flopped as much as some suggest it's a real shame, it's fantastic for what it is and I'd love to see Firaxis experiment more with unique systems like this one.

Game is a huge flop commercially. They stated that Bloodstrom is the last DLC and probably gonna stop supporting the game after it.

 

[Fearlessjay]

It's a shame the game flopped as badly as it did. I had a lot of fun with it over Christmas. Can't say I'd be too interested in yet another Civ that won't be any good until the 4th or 5th expansion.

 

[Fedora Master]

If the game flopped as much as some suggest it's a real shame, it's fantastic for what it is and I'd love to see Firaxis experiment more with unique systems like this one.

Game is a huge flop commercially. They stated that Bloodstrom is the last DLC and probably gonna stop supporting the game after it.

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

• Thread starter Infinitron
• Start date Aug 25, 2021

 

[deuxhero]

50% off on Steam (6 months after launch!) and it's being beaten by 2017's Middle-Earth: Shadow of War, and only one step above Ready or Not, an unfinished indie game that isn't even on sale right now.

 

[Fedora Master]

Infinitrons Touch of Death.

 

[Lemming42]

Got the Storm DLC just to throw £12 their way. Don't know shit about X-Men and have no idea who she is but it's a laugh, lightning's flying all over the fucking place. Probably a bit overpriced given that there's only like three unique missions or whatever but I suppose the new character integrates into the rest of the game pretty well and you can chuck a bunch of gifts at her to unlock her super ability and what-not.

 

[GhostCow]

Does the dlc add anything to the story or are these new missions completely disconnected from the base game? I'm so bored today that I'm considering wasting money on the season pass. This has been a shit year for gaming so far.

 

[Lemming42]

Not totally sure at the minute - there's some new enemy type called "Vampyres" which I think have been added by the Storm DLC, and they pop up in regular non-Storm missions, so there's that. (I never fully finished the base game, I got near the end and burned out after choosing to do about three hundred generic missions rather than finish it, so that's where I've picked it back up - dunno if the Vampyres show up normally at that point)

The story doesn't really seem connected to the base game's main story (though I'm only one and a half missions into it), it's a separate thing that gives you an excuse to recruit Storm as a permanent party member. The new missions seem to blend into wherever you're at in a regular playthrough though, they just show up on the map and you can do them whenever. Storm joins you after the first mission and functions as a regular crew member so you can start taking her along on generic missions and spamming her with gifts and all that, and she seems to have as many interactions available as every other party member. Not sure how integrated she is into the base game, like I dunno if she'd show up in main story cutscenes or have unique post-mission dialogue if you recruited her early on or whatever.

 

[GhostCow]

like I dunno if she'd show up in main story cutscenes or have unique post-mission dialogue if you recruited her early on or whatever.

This is the kind of thing I'm hoping to see. I hate how dlc stuff always seems to be completely separate from the base game in every case I can think of. It's like they make mod-tier dlc and expect us to pay insane prices for it.

 

[lycanwarrior]

50% off on Steam (6 months after launch!) and it's being beaten by 2017's Middle-Earth: Shadow of War, and only one step above Ready or Not, an unfinished indie game that isn't even on sale right now.

Need for Speed Unbound was 50% off just a few weeks after it released if I remember correctly.

 

[<3sRichardSimmons]

The 4 DLC comprise a side story and all focus on the vampyres and a few new supervillains. They’re meant to be played sequentially (Deadpool>Venom>Morbius>Storm), and then there’s a 13th mission that finishes off the storyline once you’ve played them all.

Playing the DLC missions out of that order is going to be confusing.

They’re for sure over-priced if you’re just looking for new missions, but the new characters are fun enough to use in the main game too (with the exception of Deadpool who is just mechanically very weak, probably the weakest character in the game). Venom and Storm are two of the strongest characters in the game though.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

The 4 DLC comprise a side story and all focus on the vampyres and a few new supervillains. They’re meant to be played sequentially (Deadpool>Venom>Morbius>Storm), and then there’s a 13th mission that finishes off the storyline once you’ve played them all.

Playing the DLC missions out of that order is going to be confusing.

They’re for sure over-priced if you’re just looking for new missions, but the new characters are fun enough to use in the main game too (with the exception of Deadpool who is just mechanically very weak, probably the weakest character in the game). Venom and Storm are two of the strongest characters in the game though.

Thanks for the heads up on that, was curious myself since I've been enjoying the game (Playing incredibly slowly since I don't play on the console as much as I should. Been chewing on this for a month or two as almost the only game I play on it) but the season pass seems mighty expensive. Similar to what GhostCow was talking about it's nice if the new characters have story and interaction dialog because even if it can be questionable quality there's a hell of a lot of it with the base game heroes so it'd be weird if the DLC ones didn't have it. I may hold off until they do a steepish sale on the DLC just because I think I'm getting near the end of it now anyway and I might be up for playing it again with the DLC characters in a year or so. It is kinda cool that the DLC character missions work together as a separate story arc though.

'spose I'll do some general Midnight Suns rambling since I'm in here talking again. Do wish it had more enemy variety even though you DO get a stack of new enemies later on, a fair number of those are lifted from the Firaxis Xcoms. Doesn't show up too often but I do like the flavor of Ironman's redraw mechanic since it can make him incredibly powerful but it also makes him an asshole that doesn't work well with others. There are other nice bits of flavor with the cards and mechanics other characters but it's most pronounced with Ironman. Still not sure if the good/evil points are going to have any story impact, I've seen VERY few cases where an option's locked out by not having enough good boy points and there's been only one case where a single choice gave me 5 evil points rather than the usual 1 so it's not super impactful story-wise, but you get new cards and powers and shit so it does do something. And finally I'll bitch about Ghost Rider because I almost never use that poor bastard. His self harm and discard mechanics feel like they should set him up for something cool but since his starter deck sucks (Other than hellride, but you get a similar ability from Captain Marvel and she's got a bunch of great cards) I never take him along to get him new cards, and even looking at what I can craft for him he doesn't seem enticing. Magik's also a little on the weak side even though she can arguably combo with Ghost Rider since he can make portals to hell and she can portal people into them. Nico seemed iffy at first too but I've warmed up to her quite a bit, does take swapping in some new cards but she's solid after that. And special mention to Spiderman who I want to like because he's goddamn Spidey but he also suffers from not-very-good-cards-itus. I like the flavor of his environmental attack card but even best case situations it's of limited use and it's not uncommon to have some missions with minimal garbage for Spidey to do shit with. Thwip would be good but you can get the identical thing from Doctor Strange and have other stronger cards with it. Suppose it could be a flavor decision to keep Spidey a smaller scale hero when compared to "Blow up the entire screen for 100+ damage" Ironman but it's a bummer. Spidey IS technically good at mopping up minions but the same can be said for a hell of a lot of characters.

 

[<3sRichardSimmons]

Disagree about Magik. With a full deck and the right squad she might actually be the strongest character in the game

 

[Lemming42]

My preferred party is Hunter and Captain Marvel, and then either Captain America, Blade or Magik. Never ever goes wrong, everything's a breeze. Since getting the DLC I've been relying on Storm to fill the CptAmerica/Blade/Magik slot and she's probably better than all of them, really fun character to play as.

Spider-Man baffled me too, I just couldn't figure out how to use him effectively. Like I could win battles with him, but most of the time he just sat around like a jackass either doing nothing while I ignored his crappy cards, or playing Spidey Sense in the hopes of getting something less shit. Same for Wanda, I don't get how to use her at all. I was expecting her to be some kind of force of nature after they built her up so much in the plot and then I used her like twice and ditched her after that. As for Ghost Rider I've actually found him alright, but never bothered to use him outside the main story missions that mandate it.

The 4 DLC comprise a side story and all focus on the vampyres and a few new supervillains. They’re meant to be played sequentially (Deadpool>Venom>Morbius>Storm), and then there’s a 13th mission that finishes off the storyline once you’ve played them all.

Playing the DLC missions out of that order is going to be confusing.

Oh, that explains a thing or two. That's a bummer because, while I barely know a thing about Marvel, I know enough about Deadpool to know that I desperately don't want him on my team. But I guess I have to if i want the big final DLC mission. God damnit.

The Storm DLC isn't too confusing as a standalone thing - at least, not more confusing than the rest of the game is for someone who doesn't get any of the backstories or references and so on. It's basically just been the team complaining about homelessness in New York while being bitten by Vampyres.

 

[deuxhero]

50% off on Steam (6 months after launch!) and it's being beaten by 2017's Middle-Earth: Shadow of War, and only one step above Ready or Not, an unfinished indie game that isn't even on sale right now.

Need for Speed Unbound was 50% off just a few weeks after it released if I remember correctly.

Not exactly a glowing comparison.

It was the 17th best-selling retail game in the UK in its week of release. Sales of the game were down 64% when compared with its predecessor Need for Speed Heat.

 

[Cyberarmy]

Disagree about Magik. With a full deck and the right squad she might actually be the strongest character in the game

Yeah, Magik become the most useful and strongest character in the game with her full deck. Even without any damage, her utility is amazing.

 

[Reinhardt]

Got the Storm DLC just to throw £12 their way. Don't know shit about X-Men and have no idea who she is but it's a laugh, lightning's flying all over the fucking place. Probably a bit overpriced given that there's only like three unique missions or whatever but I suppose the new character integrates into the rest of the game pretty well and you can chuck a bunch of gifts at her to unlock her super ability and what-not.

fucking lemmings...

 

[Skorpion]

I finally figured out the price increases. Its so when they go go 50% off the tards go "ohhh what a deal, I will buy it now!"
When actually the 50% price is what it should have sold for originally.
I will check this out when its 75-90% off

 

[Jaedar]

This game's great but yeah it's just way too heavy on story and character stuff - a delight to about four people worldwide who really like Marvel but an albatross around the game's neck for anyone else.

Yeah. I would have picked the game up by now (in one of the major sales) it if weren't for the fact that the "talk to random marvel characters and do random bullshit in the base" part seems to constitute over 50% of playtime (based on how much I skipped of various videos).

 

[<3sRichardSimmons]

This game's great but yeah it's just way too heavy on story and character stuff - a delight to about four people worldwide who really like Marvel but an albatross around the game's neck for anyone else.

Yeah. I would have picked the game up by now (in one of the major sales) it if weren't for the fact that the "talk to random marvel characters and do random bullshit in the base" part seems to constitute over 50% of playtime (based on how much I skipped of various videos).

I would say that in my completionist playthrough it was more like 20%, but yeah, it’s still too much. I would not have been able to stomach it without the S-tier combat gameplay.

 

[J1M]

Would love to see some gameplay footage illustrating Captain Marvel having a good deck and Spiderman having a bad one.

I am imagining someone never using the sparing ring and allowing each mission to last 4+ rounds.

 

[Galdred]

I gave the game a try, and the tactical combat is much better than I expected actually. The cards are not as bad as I thought because these superpowers don't seem very reliable in the first place.
However, the resource grinding is really, really tedious. I tried launching cheatengine to bypass it, but the game has cheat detection. It is a weird priority for a SP game. I suppose they really wanted to sell those Eclipse credits at some point...