Marvel Midnight Suns

 Or is it 'Sons'?

Sometimes the best treats are those you don't expect, or to be more accurate, the ones you knew of but forgot about for some backwards reason, such as the fact that Firaxis have been working on a game up until now. Whilst we've all been waiting around and drumming our fingers impatiently for the next entry in the XCOM saga, they've been doing every little thing they can to subvert our expectations and throw up road blocks. But because it's Firaxis, those road blocks are turning into worthy distractions anyway. Chimera Squad was a ton of fun and remain my goto for recommending anyone who wants in on this franchise, and their next game sounded incredible, what with their partnership with Marvel comics. Well seems I totally forgot about that because I sat through that entire reveal trailer wondering how Marvel's Avengers was possibly going to transition to all this metal insanity before the studio logo dropped. ("Oh wait, this is a game to actually get excited about!") 

If only we actually saw some gameplay. I don't what it is about this Gamescon, maybe I've just turned into more a grump or maybe we're just encountering an age allergic to gameplay. And I am a lover of cool CG, I am, but when I desperately want to see the game in action and can only rely on vague non-specific buzzwords tossed out in interviews to inform my expectations, I just get a mite frustrated. However, that being said I at least had fun with this trailer, and who wouldn't; it follows a crossover Marvel event where the vibe is all metal rock, Lilith mother of demons shows up and they play a cover of Enter Sandman. (Kinda sad they couldn't get the Metallica version, we are talking about Disney money here, but I understand.) Also, I absolutely adore the redesigns of the cast to fit the mystical, metal, soldiers-of-the-damned aesthetic, great costuming job there.

But what exactly is 'Midnight Suns' and why are so many press outlets screwing up the name in their articles? Well, that might be because this game is based on a 90's Marvel comic run which just happens to be a favourite of Firaxis' creative director, Jake Solomon; a series known as Midnight Sons. So why the change of name? Well my first guess was because the original had all male members and this adaption has introduced more female characters, hence the switch from 'Sons' to 'Suns', but according to Wikipedia the original lineup actually featured one woman named Victoria, so I have no earthly clue why the mix-up is there. In fact, it almost feels like it exists just to confuse us all and spark debates about what the right title is. (I don't know why, but I desperately need an Interview where Solomon explains the name change, it's bugging me much more than anything like this rightly should.)

As for the actual context: The Midnight Suns are described as a group of characters that all have 'a touch of the damned' to them, hence Ghost Rider, Blade, Doctor Strange, Wolverine and- Iron man? Captain Marvel? (To be fair, I don't think those last two were in the original comic) They've delved heavily into the supernatural in their stories, as they duel the eldritch and arcane, and essentially do Marvel's version of a John Constantine. For this story the team have tapped into their original purpose, of coming together to stop Lilith, a character I had no idea was even in the Marvel universe at all, but am glad because a super-cool final boss only makes the journey more exciting. (Also, her design looks like a first draft of something from Diablo III. Thus is unfortunately completely outshined by Lilith from Diablo IV's appearance. Not their fault, I just found the comparison interesting.)

Now I'm sure you're thinking, as I still am, what does Firaxis bring to the table in order to make this a game worthy of their time? And I, again, have no idea. (it sucks having to say this so much about a game I'm dying to learn more about) They've come out and confirmed that this is a strategy game, so we can rest assured that the talents over there are going to get to shine like they should, but they've also said that the gameplay will be "nothing like" XCOM. Okay... so what does that mean? Telling me what the game isn't takes me no closer to knowing what it is; come on, marketing team! All we've been told for certain is that the main focus of the game isn't going to be any of the heroes themselves, but a brand new player created character known as The Hunter who will be the child of Lilith. (Baalspawn again, is it? >sigh<)

From gut reaction I'll admit I wasn't too happy about that. I don't really want to play a nobody surrounded by cool heroes, especially when this 'Hunter's power are going to be split between angelic and demonic extremes; and we're all just supposed to pretend that isn't exactly Dante's whole deal from DMC. But the team managed to hit the right notes when they revealed that this new perspective will serve as a perfect way to integrate something I never thought I'd see, but have literally just been asking for... (in a blog which hasn't come out just yet) Social simulation elements. That's right, slap on the radio, we're going Persona, baby! Solomon spoke about how this Abbey space you retreat to within missions serves as a Hub from which you can socialise with these various heroes and strike up friendships, thus fuelling your battle bonds within mission. That is exactly what Persona does! Good golly, social simulation is taking over the world and I'm here for it!

Unfortunately, this yet again highlights the fact that we know more about the inbetween parts that make up non-active gameplay than we do the meat and potatoes themselves! And of course downtime is important in the makeup of a game, I've argued for such myself endlessly, but when I'm still in the wide-eyed 'love at first sight' stage I need the real stuff in order to keep me attracted. The only reason I didn't cover this game first was because I was convinced it would come with gameplay, because why wouldn't you? How hard could it feasibly be to cut off a single level and show us just the bare minimum? Is this game still even turn based? I want to lose myself in rabid excitement but I just don't have enough rope to wrap around myself yet and that's deeply frustrating. (Don't toy with me, Firaxis-san!)