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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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!
I 100% agree with what Spiderman says in this game, "Nobody told me that becoming a superhero would be like high school all over again.". With how they decided to write these characters, they frankly should've written an X-Man game. At least that way Nico and Magik had an excuse to act like 14 year olds instead of acting like that as a 20 something, along with a couple of the other characters acting the same way. I'm struggling to finish it because of these interactions being such a core part of this story, and I'm supposed to sympathize with them instead of being able to tell a quarter of the cast to act their age and get over themselves.
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
The explanation of the cards and the reason for them with that explanation from Jake Solomon that I'd never heard before, about putting the randomness before rather than after, completely sold me on that system itself. Certain games really need to start costing less to make. Especially clearly riskier games like this. I mean, obviously you're gonna lose the graphics snobs if the graphics aren't insane or even on par with what they are in this game, but I feel like going for graphics more like PS3 to early PS4 and instead maybe making it more stylized, and saving a few bucks maybe could have helped the game. If the game was getting a sequel, I'd probably be in more of a hurry to buy the game.
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
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.
I think for the meantime I really need some mods. Like if mods could add new characters, without just reskinning the ones there. At least for the missions.
@@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?
First time seeing your videos, and you’ve garnered a new subscriber off the back; just for mentioning Wiccan and hulking haha. So I remember seeing the trailers for it like 2022-2023 I remember rolling my eyes at the card mechanic. So yes, I contributed to us not receiving a sequel to this fantastic game lol. It became available on PS Plus maybe like 2 months ago I downloaded and still just sat on it. I decided to play like a month ago and I’m completely blown away. It doesn’t have the right to be this good lol. I think a demo game would have been great for this to draw attention to it like they use to do back in the day. I’m a millennial so I remember when you use to be able to play demos. Overall, you’ve encompassed everything I love about the game and happy to follow you now.
What makes me super sad tbh, other than the whole Doom thing at the end for a sequel, is how good of an idea this type of game was and the potential to use it for other titles. Like an Xmen game set in the Academy with an overhaul on the lifesim/base mechanics. Perhaps taking more inspo from games like Persona in a way. Having your customizable mutant MC just doing Xmen stuff. It sounds so peak.
I NEED a sequel to this game! Couldn't play it when it came out, though it was my most anticipated Marvel game, I was LITERALLY counting the days. Bought it a month or two ago and sank at least 80 hours into it now that I actually have the option to play it properly. And yes-yes-yes, absolutely, I need more of it! I'd love a cosmic-themed game in that same style and that universe. Just imagining what characters like Star-Lord (with his actual Element Guns) and Phyla-Vell could do in this card system makes me so damn giddy! Plus, the cosmic side of Marvel is very overlooked in adaptations (even after amazing Guardians movies and a top-notch Guardians game), it could be such a great opportunity to give it more time to shine, especially if the writing team would be as passionate as the one for this or the GotG game was, with all the references and obscure name drops that made me squeal!
I am watching this right after finishing the game's story after I bought it on sale. And I loved it, but I also regret it because I want more of this story, of this world, of these characters. And knowing that will most probably don't happen, it hurts like few games have managed to do before. I wasn't expecting it to turn out like this when I bought it, I just wanted a game that was interesting enough, and this game made much more than that.
Really good explanation of the game. I can tell this came from a place of love. I, too, loved the game. I put heaps of effort into making (what i thought would be well received) Content. **Cue sounds of crickets** 😂 But i thoroughly enjoyed the combat. It felt like a Jake game, and he knows what works. It felt like a mix of Mass Effect and firaxis X-Com
I have a weird relationship with this game. I wanted to play it day 1 but it was only on ps5. Then Wen I got a PS5 my hype disappeared because of the bad rep. Now its on PSN and im like sure why not. I Think im over 50 days ingame and onle a few main missions in. Im having a blast! Gotta love my main girl Magik❤I know im late to the party but will support the game with the season pass down the road 🤘
I adore this game. The combat and overall gameplay loop is genuinely some of my favorite in any game ever, to the point where I didn't even mind that the writing was very much not my speed, so I just skipped all of it
I consider myself a Marvel fan, but not hardcore (nothing much outside of the movies. Midnight Suns is one of my top favorite games of all time. I'm one of the folks who liked the monastery exploration least (wish was just skippable in new game plus), but the gameplay loop was enough to keep me coming back. I've beaten it 3 times and just started a new playthrough last week. It really is an absolute gem and I do really wish it had done better so we could see more of it.
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.
Ive never really been into marvel, and honestly was pretty lukewarm on the movies. Midnight suns though is just so much damn fun. The life sim stuff with the heroes and goofy quips just make such a fun vibe.
Matt, I must say you have given a wonderful and elaborate review on this game. The amount of research that you have done to put this together is amazing. So for that, I thank you very much. I'm new to these 'card-based tactical' games and I'm lucky to have gotten the base game for free over at Epic Games. It took me a while to get the hang of the game and I loved it very much. I've spent about 80+ hours into the game and itching to see if there will be a sequel coming up. That's when I found this video. I totally agree with you that the exploration part of the game is somewhat mesmerizing - the music is haunting and the visuals is breathtaking to the point that sometimes I'm looking forward to quickly finish the fight so that I can get 'lost' in and around the abbey. Ha ha. I'm contemplating on purchasing the Legendary edition as it is now on sale which makes it very enticing to continue the action into the 4 DLCs. Once again, thank you for this well-written video essay! Cheers!
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.
Midnight suns is a good game, enjoyable but it is somewhat niche. It takes a certain kind of players to enjoy the banter between the heroes, the specific type of dialogue and hte kind of superhero life the game describes. In my personal view, this more than anything else is why the game is not more popular than it was/is.
Amazing game I loved every minute of it a perfect game with a fantastic setting and story. Being able to make your own character, the hunter is the perfect foundation for a created character in marvel to really feel like you live in that world. Hope they make another one.
The game piqued my interest and I "bought" it after it was free on Epic Games Store. Never got around to playing it but this video convinced me to give it a fair shot
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.
This game introduced me to niche characters like Nico, Magik, and the new Ghost Rider I actually prefer them over new marvel characters like Miles Morales and the new Ms Marvel
You're really missing out with Miles and Kamala if you haven't found stories of theirs that you like. I'd keep searching! That said, I LOVE those 3. Definitely check out Agents of SHIELD if you like Robbie!
It would be a shame if they completely abandoned this system. The Abbey and the character interactions were a bit of a slog compared to the excellent Card Game/Tactical TBS/Positional Gameplay...but there's a framework here for a Strange Academy or X-Men version of the same thing. X-Men are pretty hot right now post 97, and just imagine a proper Dating Sim style RPG with THAT ip. With Deadpool 3, an X-Men MCU introduction and a new Wolverine game, they have to be looking at possible formats for future games. It won't be Midnight Suns 2...but Marvel's Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters: A Midnight Suns Game, would be welcome in my house!
I passed on this when I saw it was a card game because random cards are almost always a lame game mechanic. I want to control my strat games, like Divinity OS. I got Midnight Suns free from Epic and it was fairly enjoyable. The card system was at least ok and other parts were well done. My fav to playL Hunter, Iron Man, Wolverine.
"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.
changes I'd like for a sequel after 150 hrs and a completed play through 1. No friend simulator, this took up waaaay too much of the game and took away from the already thin story, all of the "friend" boosts could have easily been tied to mission rewards for taking the different heroes on missions 2. better writing and acting, while some voice actors stand out, even the best of the actors in the game couldn't deal with some of its less than stellar writing (most of which was "friend simulator" related) 3. more variety of the characters decks, hunter's deck is open to any build light, dark or anything in between, I would love for the other character's decks to be that deep. Also keeping with the variety I would have liked to see much more variations in the enemies bc even when the enemies changed looks you still had some repeat variations like the big shield guys like each faction only had 4 or 5 things and that was it for enemies, maybe even adding more fallen heroes and villians. 4. more of the combat, limiting the missions to one a day became annoying quite fast 5. clubs... these fall into the friend simulator complaints as well, tragedy just struck but don't miss book club, they are just another time sync, in a time sync heavy game 6. exploration being more meaningful for the other parts of the game getting the words of power serves no real purpose outside of further exploring the abby never once do you use any of the words of power in a mission. For me, this game fell short, but I love the combat system, and I would have loved to see more, but given how it has done commercially it probably won't happen.
An expansion that would be intergraded into this game like they did for their xcom games would have been enough. But atleast we got this to keep around. in a way it is their fault for the very little marketing they did for this game when it came out. I remember being hyped for it when not a single one of my marvel friends that were gamers even heard of it. The bad taste people had with how the Avengers game (despite me likeing it) didn't help at all.
It breaks my heart that this game didn't perform well, but I also kind of get it. I am THE target audience for this game. I am a huge fan of Persona 5 and I'm really big on deckbuilders. Granted, most of those are roguelike deckbuilders, but as someone who has sizeable collections of both Yugioh and Magic cards, I'm also very much open to playing non-roguelike deckbuilders. But this game just did not communicate any of that to me clearly. I somehow managed to completely miss the game's launch. Didn't even know it was getting released. Then some time later, when Steam got around to recommending it for me, the Steam page didn't really tell me anything about the game. The trailers showed no gameplay and the images showed a lot of screenshots looking badass without really showing any gameplay. There may have been 1 screenshot with the battle field and cards. So I wishlisted it, just because I am that big of a deckbilder fan, and figured I'd wait for a sale, since none of what the devs choose to highlight on the steam page actually conveyed what the game is like. They just had to say "Tactical turn-based combat with deckbuilding elements and a sprinkle of Persona 5" and that would have been it, I'd have bought it for full price. The only reason I ended up playing it at all is because I read that it would be leaving the PS Plus Extra game catalogue the following month. I hadn't even known it was free to PS Plus subscribers in the first place. So I raced to try it, with exceedingly low expectations, only to end up sinking double-digit hours into the game day after day! After act 1, I got the Ultimate Edition anyway, just because I knew this was something I would want to replay and take my time enjoying (and also to get the DLC characters). That's right, they'd game the game to me for free and I still ended up buying it! And I think this speaks of the game's marketing failure. Matt has a different perspective because he'd been eagerly anticipating it, but the marketing team also needs to communicate what it is they're selling. I just went to the Steam page for Midnight Suns while writing this comment and the game still does nothing to properly sell you on it. It's like they don't believe in the gameplay mechanics they've so masterfully crafted that they have to hide them behind screenshots of superheroes looking cool. It really is a shame.
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...
I’m just devastated that Jake Solomon ditched XCOM 3 for Marvels Mignight Suns. Sure, new games are great but this game inadvertently killed XCOM. Not by being better than it, but because the great Jake Solomon dropped XCOM 3 for this, it’s a little tough to handle when your waiting almost 10 years for XCOM 3.
@@MattHorton true, but my point is, Jake should have finished the XCOM Series, giving it one last push. Chimera Squad was an unwanted game, that was not even good. Sure, it had elements that would be great in a XCOM 3 and what could build off of XCOM 2, but for every positive progression, the game took 2 steps backward by not being anything like XCOM 1 or 2. XCOM 3 should be similar to XCOM 2, but assisting aliens against the "bigger threat". Potential for a Sea Faction and battles on multiple different planets 🪐.
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.
I think this game can burn to be honest. I understand what they tried to do. I didn't finish it because it was repetitive as fuck. Also the dating simulator genera is open. If you want to make a dating sim go ahead ! It's such a crock that they made this instead of XCOM 3.
It was such a lame story and most of the character were lame too, but the gameplay was so great. So sad that this wasn’t a straight up marvel game based on the 90s
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.
It's really worth finishing when you get a chance. I don't know that I'll really every completely put it down.
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.
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.
Yeah I'd really love to see this combat reused
Also you should play Lamplighters League
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.
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.
Make it! I still want to see it 💜
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
Lol yeah
It's where the beyonder put everyone to fight each other
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
That's such a better title for this video lol
This game needs a sequel. It is a great game and the different play style it offers is quite unique
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.
Yes yes yes
Not being able to pause during cutscenes is crazy
I always wanted a turned based marvel rpg game. This is about as close as it gets.
Yeah!
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.
Yeah I forget which interview that was from. Probably waypoint
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!
If you think you'll want to play it, it's on humble choice!
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.
Thanks for the thoughtful comment. I very much agree about Deadpool. He and venom have keywords that I never got used to.
Currently playing the Mortal Kombat games when I stumbled upon this and I realized what the Abbey reminds me of. It's like the Krypt in Mortal Kombat.
I just bought the Legendary edition on PSN for $19.99 - I am loving this game so far. The combat is addicting.
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.
Yes same
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!
Thanks!
I 100% agree with what Spiderman says in this game, "Nobody told me that becoming a superhero would be like high school all over again.". With how they decided to write these characters, they frankly should've written an X-Man game. At least that way Nico and Magik had an excuse to act like 14 year olds instead of acting like that as a 20 something, along with a couple of the other characters acting the same way.
I'm struggling to finish it because of these interactions being such a core part of this story, and I'm supposed to sympathize with them instead of being able to tell a quarter of the cast to act their age and get over themselves.
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
Yeah that's my thought. Which I get! But also I'm in my year of "trying sh*t"
And they should. Your paying 80 plus dollars on a xcom style of combat. That's a waste of money. You can play these type of games on your phone
It was the artstyle 1000%
After 80 hours I only found out you can heal other hero's with Shove from your video, Thank you
It's given to you pretty late in the game as an upgrade from the forge
The explanation of the cards and the reason for them with that explanation from Jake Solomon that I'd never heard before, about putting the randomness before rather than after, completely sold me on that system itself.
Certain games really need to start costing less to make. Especially clearly riskier games like this. I mean, obviously you're gonna lose the graphics snobs if the graphics aren't insane or even on par with what they are in this game, but I feel like going for graphics more like PS3 to early PS4 and instead maybe making it more stylized, and saving a few bucks maybe could have helped the game. If the game was getting a sequel, I'd probably be in more of a hurry to buy the game.
It's been free a bunch of times now
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
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.
I think for the meantime I really need some mods. Like if mods could add new characters, without just reskinning the ones there. At least for the missions.
I got it on sale, this game was amazing. I ended up completing it which took a while
You could run a game in the exact same style set in the xmen universe. Imagine the main character develops their powers over the game
I mean the xmen art part of marvel and some of them are in this game. But yeah I'd love a full xmen game like this
Denuvo killed this game and 2k launcher didnt help
Yeah the 2k launcher bypass is NECESSARY on pc. But it's perfect on console
@@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?
First time seeing your videos, and you’ve garnered a new subscriber off the back; just for mentioning Wiccan and hulking haha. So I remember seeing the trailers for it like 2022-2023 I remember rolling my eyes at the card mechanic. So yes, I contributed to us not receiving a sequel to this fantastic game lol.
It became available on PS Plus maybe like 2 months ago I downloaded and still just sat on it. I decided to play like a month ago and I’m completely blown away. It doesn’t have the right to be this good lol. I think a demo game would have been great for this to draw attention to it like they use to do back in the day. I’m a millennial so I remember when you use to be able to play demos. Overall, you’ve encompassed everything I love about the game and happy to follow you now.
Awesome! I forgot I talked about my sweet boys in this video lol
What makes me super sad tbh, other than the whole Doom thing at the end for a sequel, is how good of an idea this type of game was and the potential to use it for other titles. Like an Xmen game set in the Academy with an overhaul on the lifesim/base mechanics. Perhaps taking more inspo from games like Persona in a way. Having your customizable mutant MC just doing Xmen stuff. It sounds so peak.
And now they have a gacha tactics game coming out 🙄
I NEED a sequel to this game! Couldn't play it when it came out, though it was my most anticipated Marvel game, I was LITERALLY counting the days. Bought it a month or two ago and sank at least 80 hours into it now that I actually have the option to play it properly. And yes-yes-yes, absolutely, I need more of it! I'd love a cosmic-themed game in that same style and that universe. Just imagining what characters like Star-Lord (with his actual Element Guns) and Phyla-Vell could do in this card system makes me so damn giddy! Plus, the cosmic side of Marvel is very overlooked in adaptations (even after amazing Guardians movies and a top-notch Guardians game), it could be such a great opportunity to give it more time to shine, especially if the writing team would be as passionate as the one for this or the GotG game was, with all the references and obscure name drops that made me squeal!
I am watching this right after finishing the game's story after I bought it on sale. And I loved it, but I also regret it because I want more of this story, of this world, of these characters.
And knowing that will most probably don't happen, it hurts like few games have managed to do before.
I wasn't expecting it to turn out like this when I bought it, I just wanted a game that was interesting enough, and this game made much more than that.
If you're like me, I've got 3 saves 😅
Really good explanation of the game. I can tell this came from a place of love.
I, too, loved the game. I put heaps of effort into making (what i thought would be well received)
Content.
**Cue sounds of crickets** 😂
But i thoroughly enjoyed the combat. It felt like a Jake game, and he knows what works.
It felt like a mix of Mass Effect and firaxis X-Com
Oh nooooo. That sucks.
But yes. I adored midnight suns
I have a weird relationship with this game. I wanted to play it day 1 but it was only on ps5.
Then Wen I got a PS5 my hype disappeared because of the bad rep. Now its on PSN and im like sure why not.
I Think im over 50 days ingame and onle a few main missions in. Im having a blast!
Gotta love my main girl Magik❤I know im late to the party but will support the game with the season pass down the road 🤘
I saw all the gameplay and thought that it wasn't gonna be for me, once I got it though, I loved it.
I adore this game. The combat and overall gameplay loop is genuinely some of my favorite in any game ever, to the point where I didn't even mind that the writing was very much not my speed, so I just skipped all of it
Oh man you missed some great character stuff
I'm playing through it. It's so much fun!
I consider myself a Marvel fan, but not hardcore (nothing much outside of the movies. Midnight Suns is one of my top favorite games of all time. I'm one of the folks who liked the monastery exploration least (wish was just skippable in new game plus), but the gameplay loop was enough to keep me coming back. I've beaten it 3 times and just started a new playthrough last week. It really is an absolute gem and I do really wish it had done better so we could see more of it.
I need to get back to my 3rd playthrough
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.
That would be sick
Love this game so much. You articulate some points really well. Don't know what will scratch this itch now.
Playing it over again! I'm on my 2nd one still
Game was underrated af
Ive never really been into marvel, and honestly was pretty lukewarm on the movies. Midnight suns though is just so much damn fun. The life sim stuff with the heroes and goofy quips just make such a fun vibe.
Matt, I must say you have given a wonderful and elaborate review on this game. The amount of research that you have done to put this together is amazing. So for that, I thank you very much.
I'm new to these 'card-based tactical' games and I'm lucky to have gotten the base game for free over at Epic Games. It took me a while to get the hang of the game and I loved it very much. I've spent about 80+ hours into the game and itching to see if there will be a sequel coming up. That's when I found this video.
I totally agree with you that the exploration part of the game is somewhat mesmerizing - the music is haunting and the visuals is breathtaking to the point that sometimes I'm looking forward to quickly finish the fight so that I can get 'lost' in and around the abbey. Ha ha.
I'm contemplating on purchasing the Legendary edition as it is now on sale which makes it very enticing to continue the action into the 4 DLCs.
Once again, thank you for this well-written video essay! Cheers!
Thanks!
Loved this game. And love Cap. Best friendships are Nico, Magik, Blade and Morbius.
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.
Midnight suns is a good game, enjoyable but it is somewhat niche. It takes a certain kind of players to enjoy the banter between the heroes, the specific type of dialogue and hte kind of superhero life the game describes.
In my personal view, this more than anything else is why the game is not more popular than it was/is.
Amazing game I loved every minute of it a perfect game with a fantastic setting and story. Being able to make your own character, the hunter is the perfect foundation for a created character in marvel to really feel like you live in that world. Hope they make another one.
The game piqued my interest and I "bought" it after it was free on Epic Games Store. Never got around to playing it but this video convinced me to give it a fair shot
It's great!
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.
This game introduced me to niche characters like Nico, Magik, and the new Ghost Rider I actually prefer them over new marvel characters like Miles Morales and the new Ms Marvel
You're really missing out with Miles and Kamala if you haven't found stories of theirs that you like. I'd keep searching!
That said, I LOVE those 3. Definitely check out Agents of SHIELD if you like Robbie!
It would be a shame if they completely abandoned this system. The Abbey and the character interactions were a bit of a slog compared to the excellent Card Game/Tactical TBS/Positional Gameplay...but there's a framework here for a Strange Academy or X-Men version of the same thing.
X-Men are pretty hot right now post 97, and just imagine a proper Dating Sim style RPG with THAT ip. With Deadpool 3, an X-Men MCU introduction and a new Wolverine game, they have to be looking at possible formats for future games.
It won't be Midnight Suns 2...but Marvel's Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters: A Midnight Suns Game, would be welcome in my house!
I'd pay so much for that
The newer midnight comic became an instant fav for me
I enjoyed it, but it's not a favorite. I did love learning a bit about Strange Academy, though.
I passed on this when I saw it was a card game because random cards are almost always a lame game mechanic. I want to control my strat games, like Divinity OS. I got Midnight Suns free from Epic and it was fairly enjoyable. The card system was at least ok and other parts were well done. My fav to playL Hunter, Iron Man, Wolverine.
Some of us like cards
"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.
😍 yesssss
changes I'd like for a sequel after 150 hrs and a completed play through
1. No friend simulator, this took up waaaay too much of the game and took away from the already thin story, all of the "friend" boosts could have easily been tied to mission rewards for taking the different heroes on missions
2. better writing and acting, while some voice actors stand out, even the best of the actors in the game couldn't deal with some of its less than stellar writing (most of which was "friend simulator" related)
3. more variety of the characters decks, hunter's deck is open to any build light, dark or anything in between, I would love for the other character's decks to be that deep. Also keeping with the variety I would have liked to see much more variations in the enemies bc even when the enemies changed looks you still had some repeat variations like the big shield guys like each faction only had 4 or 5 things and that was it for enemies, maybe even adding more fallen heroes and villians.
4. more of the combat, limiting the missions to one a day became annoying quite fast
5. clubs... these fall into the friend simulator complaints as well, tragedy just struck but don't miss book club, they are just another time sync, in a time sync heavy game
6. exploration being more meaningful for the other parts of the game getting the words of power serves no real purpose outside of further exploring the abby never once do you use any of the words of power in a mission.
For me, this game fell short, but I love the combat system, and I would have loved to see more, but given how it has done commercially it probably won't happen.
The game would not be good with half of it missing. Better to improve that stuff than cut it out
LOVEDDDD this game was super worried about pre ordering but ended up falling in loveeee with it! got my boyfriend to play and fall in love too
An expansion that would be intergraded into this game like they did for their xcom games would have been enough. But atleast we got this to keep around. in a way it is their fault for the very little marketing they did for this game when it came out. I remember being hyped for it when not a single one of my marvel friends that were gamers even heard of it. The bad taste people had with how the Avengers game (despite me likeing it) didn't help at all.
My only complaint with this game is that it didnt have my favorite Marvel character, Thor. Other then that a 10/10
Would love to see another with a whole different crew
A different team. I'm not big fantastic four fan but I bet that would adapt well to this play style
It has as much chance of a sequel as XCOM 3.
It breaks my heart that this game didn't perform well, but I also kind of get it. I am THE target audience for this game. I am a huge fan of Persona 5 and I'm really big on deckbuilders. Granted, most of those are roguelike deckbuilders, but as someone who has sizeable collections of both Yugioh and Magic cards, I'm also very much open to playing non-roguelike deckbuilders. But this game just did not communicate any of that to me clearly.
I somehow managed to completely miss the game's launch. Didn't even know it was getting released. Then some time later, when Steam got around to recommending it for me, the Steam page didn't really tell me anything about the game. The trailers showed no gameplay and the images showed a lot of screenshots looking badass without really showing any gameplay. There may have been 1 screenshot with the battle field and cards. So I wishlisted it, just because I am that big of a deckbilder fan, and figured I'd wait for a sale, since none of what the devs choose to highlight on the steam page actually conveyed what the game is like. They just had to say "Tactical turn-based combat with deckbuilding elements and a sprinkle of Persona 5" and that would have been it, I'd have bought it for full price.
The only reason I ended up playing it at all is because I read that it would be leaving the PS Plus Extra game catalogue the following month. I hadn't even known it was free to PS Plus subscribers in the first place. So I raced to try it, with exceedingly low expectations, only to end up sinking double-digit hours into the game day after day! After act 1, I got the Ultimate Edition anyway, just because I knew this was something I would want to replay and take my time enjoying (and also to get the DLC characters).
That's right, they'd game the game to me for free and I still ended up buying it! And I think this speaks of the game's marketing failure. Matt has a different perspective because he'd been eagerly anticipating it, but the marketing team also needs to communicate what it is they're selling. I just went to the Steam page for Midnight Suns while writing this comment and the game still does nothing to properly sell you on it. It's like they don't believe in the gameplay mechanics they've so masterfully crafted that they have to hide them behind screenshots of superheroes looking cool. It really is a shame.
Well crap, I've been hearing good things about this game for a while but this has fully sold me!
Get it while it's cheap!
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...
I’m just devastated that Jake Solomon ditched XCOM 3 for Marvels Mignight Suns.
Sure, new games are great but this game inadvertently killed XCOM. Not by being better than it, but because the great Jake Solomon dropped XCOM 3 for this, it’s a little tough to handle when your waiting almost 10 years for XCOM 3.
If firaxis want to make xcom 3 they will make it with or without Jake Solomon
@@MattHorton true, but my point is, Jake should have finished the XCOM Series, giving it one last push.
Chimera Squad was an unwanted game, that was not even good.
Sure, it had elements that would be great in a XCOM 3 and what could build off of XCOM 2, but for every positive progression, the game took 2 steps backward by not being anything like XCOM 1 or 2.
XCOM 3 should be similar to XCOM 2, but assisting aliens against the "bigger threat".
Potential for a Sea Faction and battles on multiple different planets 🪐.
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.
Ok well this one is good
They need make a sequel to the game that could finish off the game because they left off shitty
It ended just fine
I think this game can burn to be honest. I understand what they tried to do. I didn't finish it because it was repetitive as fuck. Also the dating simulator genera is open. If you want to make a dating sim go ahead ! It's such a crock that they made this instead of XCOM 3.
It took a while for the xcom fans to arrive to this video
They just need to give it the BG3 treatment:
1. Include co-op.
2. Elevated combat rather than having combat on a plane field.
I'd play that
It was such a lame story and most of the character were lame too, but the gameplay was so great. So sad that this wasn’t a straight up marvel game based on the 90s
that would be boring. i'm tired of 90's super heroes
Digimon survive is awesome u got to give a dislike
why is it so slow to navigate the VN portions? and why Is the writing so awful?
@@MattHorton midnight suns writing is awful not digimon survive
@@MsSaskue360 nuh uhhhh (I'm just messing around at this point. I'm glad you liked Digimon survive!)
Man i loved old school final fantasy. Felt powerful doing ultima and some others