Marvel’s Midnight Suns Is Yet To Shine During Days And Nights

The video games based on Marvel comics just keep coming [5] [6] [7]! As part of DLC for Marvel’s Avengers, Black Panther was welcomed to honour and protect Wakanda [12]. Before that, a cast of entirely different incarnations of many heroes, including an elderly Steven Strange who could see into the future, Deadpool as a pirate referred to as “Deadpool Supreme” and a female Black Panther was planning to decide the fate of the world in Marvel: Realm Of Champions [6]. To continue the legacy of Marvel games in the early 2020s despite a currently ongoing pandemic, a new game titled “Marvel’s Midnight Suns” was announced near the end of August [13] [16] [24]. Why does the title remind me of the novel Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer [44]? Surely, there will be no sparkly vampires in the next big Marvel game [43]. Since it has been about three days since the gameplay trailer and overview were released [14] [15] [17], now is the time to let us feel the heat of the midnight suns that might just help Marvel shine even brighter in early 2020s gaming, even though some of us have already just gotten into starting a new open-world future on the “Omega Light” team in Marvel: Future Revolution [5].

Apart the from epic “walking together in a straight line” cliché, what will Marvel’s Midnight Suns have to offer? [13] [14] [15] [16]

The wide range of characters battling demons in highly impressive graphics include:

•        Captain America
•        Wolverine
•        Iron Man
•        Doctor Strange
•        Blade Nightstalker
•        Ghost Rider
•        Magik
•        Nico Minoru

There also appears to be a new character named “Hunter” who was sealed away in a coffin for many years but is eventually woken up by one of Doctor Strange’s spells and Nico Minoru’s staff magic in quite a ritualistic manner [13] [16] [17] [24]. The main antagonist of the game will be Lilith as she causes chaos by summoning demonic forces from the underworld [14] [15] [17] [24]. Pretty different, compared to Lilith Mange who was only mentioned in the pilot of Hazbin Hotel [3] [22], isn’t she? The idea of helping a slumbering character wake up leading what the plot will be like is quite intriguing [13] [16] [24]. And let us not forget Charlie, the demonic dog who would be great friends with Kira from an animated short titled “Far Fetched - Night Of The Cute Feast” [25] [28]. The colour palette of black and yellow on the fighter’s uniforms at the end of two of the trailers and in the promotional artwork is outstanding [13] [14] [15] [16] [24], reminding me of how the cover of the legendary edition of Injustice 2 consists of a striking and highly similar palette [35].

Surely, the heroes will not encounter any imps who will take a human life for underworld currency [23]. [17]

Happy-Go-Lucky Version: “Hi, Mom!” [13] [16]

It turns out that “Hunter” will be a fighter the player can customise freely [17], much like how a fellow Mii maker can customise a Mii in Miitopia [29], even though the name appears to be automatic and permanent. The customisable hero or heroine can develop relationships with Doctor Strange and many other members of the X-Men and Avengers [14] [15] [17], similar to how the new kid in town can befriend many lovable characters in South Park: The Stick Of Truth [31]. How there is a rewards system for allowing alliances between Hunter and our beloved Marvel heroes to evolve would not only be another motivating aspect of an RPG experience but provide some great character development [14] [15] [17]. Marvel’s Midnight Suns will have some credibility for being the first Marvel game to feature a customisable protagonist. The option to customise the playable protagonist in the game can lead to some of us making our own Hunters look almost exactly like us, thus potentially controlling a self-insert as if we might have adapted a fanfiction into a video game, much like how we can picture ourselves in the resorts in Go Vacation as we make our Miis or avatars roam around freely [27] [47] [48].

The Hunter can either be male or female, which is the first sign of varied customisation for the player to delve into in preparation to feel as if they themselves are a Marvel hero or heroine. [17]

There will be a wide range of different locations in the game, including the top of the Avengers’ tower, which will make the experience of fighting demons from Hell as a possible self-insert Hunter extremely adventurous [17]. Crystal Angel, my own Marvel character would be easy for Hunter to get along with in the abbey as she is sweet, polite and caring [45]. She would do her own cover of the song playing throughout the gameplay trailer. [14] [15]

The gameplay genre for Marvel’s Midnight Suns is RPG, which stands for “Role-Playing Game” of course [8]. This is a very fitting choice because when it comes to playing an RPG, you get to discover what unique strengths the playable characters have [13] [16] [24]. Throughout the years, Marvel has spawned so many heroes, antiheroes and villains with their own unique traits and abilities, especially their notable superpowers. New missions, abilities and upgrades ought to be unlocked as the game progresses, which would be essential for a game to be rewarding and highly unlikely to become stale [17]. Just like in Angry Birds Epic and the RPG minigame in Tomodachi Life [30] [36], there seems to be a range of abilities in different categories, including basic attacks and healing movies. A notable example of an attack in Marvel’s Midnight Suns would be activating one of Doctor Strange’s spells [14] [15]. I like how the selection of attacks are stylised to resemble a row of cards as if we were playing a card game [14] [15] [17], such as Pokémon [41]. The overall experience of playing the game might as well be a Marvelized Miitopia or Final Fantasy [29] [34], only with more aspects related to what lies in the depths of the underworld [17] [24]. Where is Charlie Magne when you need her [21] [22]?

Here is an example of a hero about to attack an enemy. Good old Logan! Oh! And there also appears to be a photo mode for those who love to snap screenshots of special moves for memory’s sake. If Crystal Angel, my own Marvel character ought to make an appearance in the battles, she would fly, lift objects with her telekinesis and sing angelically [45]. [14] [15].

There appears to be another character whose interactions can be unlocked at some point outside of the battles, which could make the gameplay progression rewarding and satisfying. [17]

Any DLC and such? Well, those who sign-up with a 2K account and a copy of the game will receive Blade Nightstalker in a different outfit [8]. Speaking of outfits, some other alternate skins include Captain Marvel in a stylish white version of her suit [26]. If there were to be some DLC for the game after its release, perhaps Peter Parker as Spider-Man can crawl into the roster sometime after he tried to solve the big problem of his true identity being revealed in Spider-Man: No Way Home [39]. Perhaps Hunter can hear about his studies at high school as he does his best to make a new ally, quite like how Lucas the Spider made a new friend [37] [38]. Maybe there can also be the manly mutate known as “Deadpool” in a striking yellow suit with specific black details, just as long as his wittiness will not overshadow the bleak premise of the game as there were times he took his own duties and mental health issues seriously in Deadpool 2 [1] [9]. After all, he has proven himself to be the proud father of Deathpool from the most recent event in Marvel Strike Force [19] [20]. After the release of the base game, there may be some potential for some new content.

“I would be thrilled to be a downloadable character for Marvel’s Midnight Suns, my little Laurapop! That would show that I am still unkillable after my Nerdy Thirty [4]. What do you mean by my wit “not overshadowing the dark tone of the game”? It’s not like we’re reviewing a DC movie [1]! There’s no way I’m rebuilding THIS fourth wall during your analysis [46]! Anytime, reader!” [10]

A special thanks to Deadpool for his special guest appearance. I would be highly interested to see what other alternate costumes will be there for the other heroes [8]. [17]

In conclusion, there is quite a lot of potential shown in the trailer for Marvel’s Midnight Suns, from a variety of abilities to be demonstrated in battles to a customisable character possibly for us to picture ourselves as when it comes to interacting with several heroes in one big alliance against the dark forces from the underworld [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [24]. Hopefully, Magneto will not welcome any of us to die anytime soon [43]. The proposed release date for Marvel’s Midnight Suns is March 2022 [13] [16] [24], which is several months before the release of the well-deserved sequel to Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse [18] [40]. In the meantime, some of us must be firstly preparing to become new guardians of the galaxy [7]. What could be next? A puzzle adventure game starring Spider-Man Noir for the Playdate [11] [32] [33] [40]? With friendships to develop, battles to try and win and a cover that could be iconic with familiar uniforms encased in a striking black and yellow palette [8] [14] [15] [17], Marvel’s Midnight Suns would be right up an RPG and comic book nerd’s ally in 2022, which would hopefully also be the time of my fellow Hazbeans and I being damned to the second season of Helluva Boss [2].

The midnight suns will rise, but will they set? [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [24]

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