Marvel’s Midnight Suns: 7 Hands-On Takeaways

Marvel’s Midnight Suns is poised to launch later this year (check out the latest Summer Game Fest trailer) after suffering a delay from its original spring release. With the help of Marvel’s darkest occult heroes such as Blade and Magik, the superhero RPG is a reimagining of the 1990s “Rise of the Midnight Sons”. It also features heavy-hitters such as Captain Marvel, Iron Man and the newly discovered Spider-Man. Players assume the role of the Hunter, an original customizable hero who serves as the key to taking down their parent and the game’s villain: Lilith, mother of all demons. 

Recently, we took a trip down to Firaxis for a couple of hours to enjoy Midnight Suns. This was to check out how the game has changed since last year’s cover. After taking on Lilith’s corrupted forces and battling Hydra, here are a few big takeaways. 

You can have fun with the card combat and get rewards for your creativity

Some may see Midnight Suns as “XCOM but Marvel,” but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Firaxis calls the game a turn-based, role-playing adventure. However, instead of using traditional commands to initiate attacks or activate special skills, players use cards. 

Firaxis said it is well aware of the negative associations card mechanics have with people who don’t like deck builders or are concerned about microtransactions. While fair, the creators told us they chose cards because they wanted to find a way to make every turn fresh and unpredictable. To do this, players would have different abilities. A concept card game lends itself to every turn. It’s an excellent choice, despite initial doubts. 

Drawing and playing a card is all it takes to use powers. Every character also has their own unique qualities that make team building fun and deck-building an enjoyable exercise in strategy. Blade was my favourite offensive hero because of his ability to inflict bleed-inflicting blade attacks. Doctor Strange’s support-based powers, including his ability increase damage output from all cards in his hand, I find invaluable. Trading card games are my favorite, so I loved strategizing how to make the most of each hand. Deck structure allowed me the flexibility I needed. Each hero deck must have eight cards. It can contain one or more of every card type, as well as two copies of the same card. This ensures that players have an equal number of choices. You can also redraw cards twice per turn. This allows you to discard abilities that may not be available at the time. 

Combat encourages creativity by encouraging players to use their talents together. Ghost Rider, for example can make hellish pits which instantly knock out enemies that fall in them. Magik, another favorite, can create portals to transport enemies all over the arena. Magik’s portal was placed on Ghost Rider’s actual Hell hole. This allowed me to send my enemies flying to fiery death. It worked, and I was surprised to find out that it did. Despite its presentation, both RPG and tactics fans should feel comfortable with Midnight Suns’ action. TCG fans will love this game. 

The Environment is Your Secret Weapon

There are many hazards and objects that can be destroyed on battlefields. I found myself falling in love with the idea of using these to my advantage. Some attacks can knock enemies backwards or throw them in other directions. Hunter, for example, has a whip which allows him to throw enemies wherever he wants. My first realization was that an enemy is usually a better target than I thought. It allowed me to hit two birds with the same throw. With a good ranged attack, a warehouse has a suspension palette of boxes. I enjoy watching the bad guys smash through boxes. However, it allows me to turn my environment into a weapon and get more out of every card. If you plan well, even one of your cards can cause a chain reaction that causes additional damage. 

The Abbey Has A lot To Do

In between the battles I spent lots of time at the Midnight Suns Headquarters, the Abbey. I was surprised at how many activities were offered in the area. 

First, decorate your bedroom using collectible paintings found around the game area and buy furniture with in-game currency. This includes purchasing a comfortable bed for Charlie your demon pet, which you are allowed to keep.

Outside, you can improve cards and spar with your teammates in Yard. The Forge is where Tony Stark (and Doctor Strange) combine their talents in developing new toys for team members. Here you can get new cards as well as research projects. Some tasks may take a whole day to complete in the Abbey. You can, for example, send your heroes on missions that will earn you additional rewards, but they won’t be available to take with them into battle.  

Over 20 Tarot Cards are included in the collection, each themed after a different hero. Cards based upon the Human Torch and Moon Knight were also found. Elements rods were also found that could unlock a particular puzzle, as well as locks with keys. These chests are automatically noted on the map for later reference. 

You will receive additional secrets and goodies for solving environmental puzzles like paying tribute to the scattered statues. There are also many locked-off areas within the Abbey that you can only access by exploring-based spells. Although I gained only one ability during my time in the Abbey, the quick-select menu shows four. SessionType of force push that opens doors with corresponding symbols

Although the Abbey does have a slight collect-a-thon component, I would be lying to say I don’t love looking for artifacts and lore notes. The Suns’ home was fascinating to me, and it surprised me. 

Building Friendships must be done selectively

Firaxis calls the “Friendship System” one of the most important activities at Abbey. It involves socializing with friends in this system. Like games such as Mass Effect and Fire Emblem where you become more friendly with your character the closer you will be. Dialogue is the easiest way to win favor. Choosing a response that resonates positively with someone nets you a point in their favor. It can be detrimental to say something negative, so it is important that you know your audience. Tony Stark may enjoy a joke, but Blades who are more objective might find it offensive. Positive or negative responses earn points towards the Hunter’s respective light and darkness skill trees, so there’s some incentive to being a jerk if you want to obtain darker skills. Still, I had trouble wanting to be anything but an angel since it feels like there are more benefits to having everyone like me, but I’d have to go all-in on being a nuisance to know for sure. 

Special hangouts offer the most substantial forms of relationship-building. These events can take up an entire evening, and multiple characters can be available to chill with at once. I spent one-night playing video games with Robbie Reyes as he chatted me up about his younger brother. Magik can be meditated with for an additional evening. Firaxis explained that it is impossible to spend a whole day with every character, so players will have to select their favorites. You can choose to form an inner circle solely based on your combat prowess, or your personality. Although the Abbey has several clubs that are based on common interests (e.g. a book club), I was not able to witness this aspect in action. These conversations offer a humorous, light break from the action. They allowed me to see human side of titans which was a great thing. That brings me to the next point. 

Your Tone is More Lighthearted than You Think

Midnight Suns is darker than the rest, but it still retains Marvel’s unique sense of humor. Stylized Borderlands-esque title cards introduce characters (such as one for a random Hydra soldier subtitled “Joined for the dental plan”). On and off the battlefield, heroes engage in friendly banter. Tony Stark, Doctor Strange and others wittyly debate the pros and cons of magic versus technology. There’s even a Twitter-like social media feed the Suns communicate over, and topics can range from the mission at hand to an inquiry about which person is using another teammate’s shower loofa. Although not every joke is successful, the humor was generally good based upon what I observed. You don’t have to laugh, it’s not all comedy. Midnight Suns gets serious when it needs to, so expect a balance similar to the average MCU film.  

It’s a long game

Firaxis said that it takes approximately 40 hours to complete Midnight Suns. Those who are determined to find every secret and collectible or get to know their team members as well as spend 50-60 hours on it should be prepared to put in at least 40 hours. 

Comic Covers You Can Make Your Own

One small, but very interesting bonus is the ability to create your own comic cover after missions. The comics come with premade characters that are themed to the fight you have just won. However, you can customize background art, titles and word bubbles. It’s fun to have, though I don’t know what it does. 


Midnight Suns was enjoyable overall. I felt the delays had helped polish the game. We look forward to experiencing the full adventure when the game launches on October 7 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC. 

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