Marvel's Midnight Suns has great combat_ The rest___I'm not so sure (Hands-On Impressions) [4k]

 Marvel's Midnight Suns has a great fight_ The rest___I'm not so sure (hands-on experience) [4k] - Englishforeig [music] this relationship side of the game isn't a little entertainment by the way I count on almost half of my game time spent a lot of time out of combat talking with people exploring the grounds of the Abbey, crafting items, doing side quests in the Abbey, getting ready for the next combat encounter, it's a huge part of the experience and yes, I'll tell you that in the first 10 hours in I really like the combat side of this game. I think some people will miss XCOM's military and tactical trappings, which is fine. I think it's a little more affordable and I think the cards are on the level

top level I am definitely enjoying this I really am even as I write this preview I am Keen to get back to it because I'm just vibing with the combat that much I really do love it I think they've nailed it and so that's already enough for me but when I'm out of combat I'm not having a great time and given how much time I spend out of combat I do think that is a problem that many May struggle to get past [Music] Marvel's midnight Sans has had a bit of a rough run in the lead up to it mainly because many people are quite uncomfortable with viraxis abandoning their chance to hit combat model for one that is instead dependent on randomly drawn cards so I think firstly I should explain how all this actually works each battle sees three Heroes on the battlefield now Heroes don't need cover so there's no cover system in Midnight Suns they also can go wherever the [ __ ] they please because they're Heroes so there's no movement grid and abilities automatically move the hero tip anywhere on the battlefield you can also manually move one hero each turn which is important because knockbacks are a huge part of midnight Sun's combat you want to be able to knock enemies into environmental hazards or even into each

other since doing so will do bonus damage and apply status effects so that's not even all of the changes but those are some of the major ones and there are huge differences versus XCOM but then we get to the cards each hero brings eight Cards into the battle for a total of 24 cards in your deck these cards all represent an ability ability that will definitely hit no chance to miss though there is some Randomness in certain cards like Nicos who cast rando status Buffs or debuffs on the whol though Randomness is not a feature of the way these cards function they will do what they say they'll do the randomness comes in which cards you'llget in your hand you can't determine which cards are in your deck by customizing each Hero's cards new cards can be acquired from

Battle and duplicates can be combined to create upgraded versions it's actually a pretty cool system and I'm into it so the concern people have about this 

is does the card draw introduce too much Randomness and undermine your ability to make strategic decisions that really all depends on your definition of strategic and in short I would say that midnight Suns compresses the Strategic decision-making Loop more than XCOM ever did but that's not going

to be to everyone's taste XCOM often  felt like you were thinking three or five or ten moves ahead you might spend as many as three or four turns just

moving your sniper into a good spot because you knew that they'd provide valuable Support over a great span of turns meaning that the slow process of

moving them was worth it that sort of long-term thinking is very strategic and very rewarding as those decisions pay dividends you can't really think long

term in Midnight Suns at least not from what I've seen in this first 10 hours the randomness of cards means that you're thinking turn to turn rather than

thinking about how this move might impact you four or five turns later cards are always reshuffled into your deck so you're never running out of resources positioning is more fluid so you don't need to worry that someone is being pinned down or they're in the wrong spot to best utilize their kitenemies also move for the same Freedom that Heroes do meaning you can't slowly lock enemies into specific positions for sustained attacks just because you aren't thinking long term doesn't mean you're thinking any less you are thinking about how to use environmental hazards to your advantage you are thinking about where to position Captain Marvel so her Photon beam hits as many targets as possible principally you're thinking about how you can combine the cards in your hand to most effectively dispatch low-level foes who all die in one hit while laying sustained damage or CC on high Health enemies that decision-making framework absolutely Works in 10 hours there's only been one or maybe two instances where I've looked at my hand and thought well this [ __ ] sucks 99 of the time I've had a good spread of cars that allow me to make cool interesting fun plays on the battlefield sometimes I get a bang in hand that lets me just 

top level I am definitely enjoying this I really am even as I write this preview I am Keen to get back to it because I'm just vibing with the combat that much I really do love it I think they've nailed it and so that's already enough for me but when I'm out of combat I'm not having a great time and given how much time I spend out of combat I do think that is a problem that many May struggle to get past [Music] Marvel's midnight Sans has had a bit of a rough run in the lead up to it mainly because many people are quite uncomfortable with viraxis abandoning their chance to hit combat model for one that is instead dependent on randomly drawn cards so I think firstly I should explain how all this actually works each battle sees three Heroes on the battlefield now Heroes don't need cover so there's no cover system in Midnight Suns they also can go wherever the [ __ ] they please because they're Heroes so there's no movement grid and abilities automatically move the hero tip anywhere on the battlefield you can also manually move one hero each turn which is important because knockbacks are a huge part of midnight Sun's combat you want to be able to knock enemies into environmental hazards or even into each

other since doing so will do bonus damage and apply status effects so that's not even all of the changes but those are some of the major ones and there are huge differences versus XCOM but then we get to the cards each hero brings eight Cards into the battle for a total of 24 cards in your deck these cards all represent an ability ability that will definitely hit no chance to miss though there is some Randomness in certain cards like Nicos who cast rando status Buffs or debuffs on the whol though Randomness is not a feature of the way these cards function they will do what they say they'll do the randomness comes in which cards you'llget in your hand you can't determine which cards are in your deck by customizing each Hero's cards new cards can be acquired from

Battle and duplicates can be combined to create upgraded versions it's actually a pretty cool system and I'm into it so the concern people have about this 

absolutely throw away the whole hand and it's amazing. I'd say these cases far outweigh those where I felt hunger for cards or shortchanged after the flop. This works so well because so many skills are interesting and the identity of the hero is tied to them Iron Man flies over the battlefield to rain down artillery Spider-Man's web jumps between enemies for chain attacks Blade stakes through the hearts of enemies for massive damage and stealing life Captain Marvel heroically undercuts enemies taunting them while shielding himself Ghost Rider Man this

i think they've been able to figure out how these characters fare outside of combat and that's a pretty big problem the prophecy is on the move that's the only option left for us marvel's midnight sons is a lilith fight and a mega level threat on the same level as Thanos Etc. she is a demon and after being forced back into a long sleep some time ago, she came back resurrected by Hydra to continue her evil plan, whatever that may be, no hero or even group of Heroes can stand against her, and Lilith can comfortably mop the floor with Captain Marvel in this 1v1 opening luckily the good guys have an ace up their sleeve, you are the hunter baby Lilith who defeated her ages ago before she was put back to sleep in real waking me up when you need me. you are back on duty the hunter is not an existing marvel hero they are all new made specifically for this game and the disappointing character creation options you have created here are quite threadbare and considering how much time you spend staring at this character during cutscenes I think more depth to this character creation tool wouldn't go wrong more classic phrase and intonation but he seems a bit dull aloof and a bit bored himself sounds bored when he says it's not great his performance coupled with limited character creation means this hunter you embody never feels like it's really yours so is your real name blade no what is it private or embarrassing not a hunter but i only share it with friends you don't believe be my friend

unlocked a small part in my 10 hours or so you have your MCU core stuff like Doctor Strange Spider Man and Iro Man but you also have blade and magic and Ghost Rider and Nico four characters we haven't seen recently or know at all that wolverine will come later i suspect scarlet witch beyond that as well i really don't know but i'm excited to get to know more of these lesser known characters as it looks like we're hanging out with the same MCU

anyway the hunter is the leader of the midnight Sons the group of Heroes all signed on to the task of stopping Lilith theroster is pretty cool and I've only

unlocked a small portion in my 10 or so hours you've got your MCU Mainstays like doctor strange and Spider-Man and Iro Man but you've also got blade and magic and Ghost Rider and Nico four characters we haven't seen recently or at all I know Wolverine comes later I suspect Scarlet Witch as well outside of that I really don't know but I'm excited to meet more of these lesser-known characters because it seems like we've been hanging out with the same MCU

Heroes for 10 plus years now and it's definitely not hitting as hard as it once did sadly though I'm not having a good time with any of these characters New or Old on the more recognizable faces they just feel like knock-off versions of the MCU counterparts they feel flat one-dimensional and they bring nothing to the table narratively speaking I'm glad that Iron Man is in this game because using him in combat is awesome I love it but I do not look forward to talking to him back home because he's not funny or interesting or any thing like that I'd much rather talk to one of the non-mcu characters dark's right Hunter I drank three glasses of holy water just to walk through the sanctum's front door places like a doomsday Vault for all sorts of Supernatural nastiness we need to put a lid on this mess Pronto the problem is that talking to the non-mcu characters is little better like blade for example here's a clip that highlights what it's like to talk to one of these characters this is a hangout session where I've elected to spend time with him to deepen our relationship in this instance he wants to complain about vampire movies they take vicious killers and present them as tragic and misunderstood vampire stories are not really about vampires are they more about Timeless Romance really be these old dudes creeping on teenagers all I'm saying is a tragic romance between a vampire and a human makes no sense to me so that's a hangout with blade one of the biggest badasses in the MCU the tone that you saw there 

is present in every dialogue exchange they're all super bright cheerful full of MCU style quips that's not to say that there aren't serious conversations about serious things but the tone is unchanging and critically these characters all feel very Hollow it feels like big chunks of their actual personality and identity were purposefully carved out to make space for these RPG style relationship systems like there needs to be space for Captain Marvel to show that you're low on her relationship trust meter so you get exchanges like this I have to admit I didn't think you'd be such a formidable poker player yet another reason to respect you it is just beginner's luck I'm sure your next hand will Vanquish me there you go again being all unexpectedly humble and generous you're a hard demon to dislike Hunter even if you are beating my butt at Hold'em there's also this sort of old God versus Zuma Vibe going on which I'm not super into uh kind of plays out like this guys they're live and they're trendy big alien Apple not bad thanks and then finally there's the emo kids which is the actual name of this super secret society that meets after dark to explore your memories which may or may not hold the key to defeating Lilith so you've got some of the most badass off-kilter heroes in the MCU and they're in this club called the emo kids the order specialism it's an elaborate name you can blame Doctor Strange oh I may have rearranged a few words so it spells out emo kids so I understand the desire to keep things light to have some fun with these characters Etc but we've been keeping it light and having fun with these characters for the better part of 15 years with the MCU and from what little I know of the midnight Suns they're meant to be darker and edgier there's no darkness and no edge here it feels like a wasted opportunity that could have set these characters apart and giving this game a unique selling point versus the endless stream of movies and TV shows sadly this just feels like more of that but kind of worse 10 hours in I'm kind of wishing I didn't have to engage this part of the game but it's really essential to do so since these social systems and ABI life power your meta progression which has a huge impact on your performance on the battlefield how does this look

Abby life was another big surprise for me if you've played x-com you'd know that base management was a big part of the game largely dependent on researching new technology and building new sections of your base that would move you up the tech tree here in the Abbey it's similar in some aspects but wholly different in others the foundational work you'll do each day is hanging out with your buddies you'll invite them to watch movies or read by the Fireside or go stargazing these will increase your trust with them which unlocks new abilities for those Heroes new Cosmetics for them to wear and new synergies on the battlefield namely in the form of team-up cards where Heroes combine their attacks to deliver devastating attacks Heroes also just hit you up sometimes with random questions it doesn't really matter what it is all that really matters is the response you choose which Awards different sorts of currencies and combat bonuses you're also going to want to spar with someone every day I was really excited to do this because I thought I'd get to see a cool cut scene of Heroes fighting but sadly it's just a UI thing that awards that hero a stat bonus for the next time you bring them into a fight once you've done all the socializing you're going to want to check out the forge this is where you can unlock new cards and also research new technology allowing you to do new things for example I researched a crafting bench that allows me to craft one-time consumables like a card that heals or a card that draws more cards Etc there's also the training yard which is where you want to combine your duplicate cards to create upgrades this requires some currency that I'm starting to find is a little rare pushing me to complete side missions rather than just the main storyline which I'm totally fine with by the way since I always enjoy the combat there's also a hero Ops table where I can send Heroes out to do missions without me and they'll bring back various currencies cards that so rt

the base management is pretty cool i think there is a bit of x-commy and i like it the other thing is the abbey grounds so the abbey is in a very large area of ​​uncharted land and if you feel like it you can start exploring it contains chess containing currency as well as various collectibles and side quests like finding a group of statues that will reveal a reward there are locked sections that open with different spells some of which I can't open yet so clearly the map will open more as you progress the storyline part of this exploration involves collecting herbs, mushrooms and other things i know some of them are used as part of an emo kids club meeting but i'm not 100% sure what it all is so far the exploration seems very awkward at the moment. I'm not sure why it's in the game at the moment, it seems pretty redundant, but it's possible it'll get more interesting later on, and I just haven't gotten that far yet so overall in terms of progression and base management, how so far i find it mixed social things don't ring but the rhythm of abby's life has a certain charm even if some parts of it seem a bit out of place the place at the moment [Music] foreign only briefly i want to flood that i had with it some performance issues. I tested it on three machines. The first is steam platform it actually works really well not flawless but more than playable and I expect when fire access goes to steam verification playing it on board will be a really great way to enjoy it on my pc PC. It wasn't great news. I tested it on a 2080 TI

game will often micro stutter and frame rates will drop considerably before recovering quickly in the Abbey I'm struggling to maintain 60 FPS when I'm

on an RTX 4090 and this is not a particularly good looking game and that is with dlss turned on by the way I don't want to jump to conclusions on this because optimization work can and will surely happen prior to launch as well as NVIDIA drivers but I do think the performance is worrisome enough that

I'd recommend to kind of you know watch this space check for reviews at launch sort of thing to see how it runs also check console performance because I don't have any visibility on that so midnight Suns obviously this preview hasn't been Universal praise but I want to reiterate what I said at the start which is that I am really enjoying this because of how much fire axes have nailed the combat side of the equation the card based system works the translation of hero identity into cards works the interactions with environments works the team composition stuff works all of it works and as soon as I'm done here I'm going to go straight back and play more of it and I'm excited to do that however I've also said that I'm not loving the other part of the game The Abbey life the relationship management stuff I think the intention to have RPG and progression systems governing your relationships with these characters has resulted in a very weak rendition of these characters and I think the tone the game has arrived at is fairly generic and played out a real shame given how interesting this cast of characters is I don't want to pass final judgment the game director told me we should expect a 40-ish hour game at

minimum closer to 6 60 or 70 or more for a complete playthrough it's a big game I've only experienced a small part of it but what I have experienced has left me excited to dive back in even if some parts of it don't appear to be for me I'll let you know how it all goes when I do my final review closer to the 

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