Sony’s PlayStation Showcase 2021 offered Marvel Comics fans a lot to look forward to, from Square Enix and Eidos Montreal’s much-discussedGuardians of the Galaxyto twonew Insomniac titles:Marvel’s Spider-Man 2andWolverine. Between these games and others likeMarvel’s Avengersit may be hard to keep track of all the superhero games in development at any given time, but fans of the Marvel universe shouldn’t forget about Firaxis Games’Marvel’s Midnight Suns.
First revealed during Gamescom Opening Night Live last month,Midnight Sunsis a strategic tactics RPG akin to Firaxis’XCOMseries, but instead utilizing teams of three superheroes at a time whose moves are controlled via adeckbuilding card-based system. There will be a customizable original hero named The Hunter at the center of the story, but no doubt one of its biggest draws is the way players can foster relationships with established characters. If Firaxis is smart, it will pull some elements fromFire Emblem’s Support systems to create social dynamics well-integrated withMidnight Suns' gameplay loop.
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Fire Emblem’s Evolving Support Mechanics
Many earlyFire Emblemgames in particular had strictly canonical relationships to match their plots. InFire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, Marth is destined to marry Caeda. Even if players might prefer the idea of him discovering the unrequited feelings of the Whitewing sister Catria, for example, it’s impossible to make that happen - and doing so would likely result in an alternate timeline where the future titleFire Emblem Awakeningis irreversably changed.
Genaeology of the Holy Waradded some more emphasis on the idea of in-game relationships by literally splitting the adventure in half and having players control the children of their original army. After that, titles such asSacred Stonesiterated upon “branching” relationship pathsby using certain units together on the battlefield and unlocking Support conversations that can buff their stats and influence endgame flavor text.
All of this cultimated in the modernFire EmblemSupport system seen inAwakening, Fates,andThree Houses(plus the remakeEchoes:Shadows of Valentiato a lesser extent, as its relationships were still canonized). Unlike withSacred Stones, players are free to unlock as many Support conversations as they desire. InAwakeningandFates, they can also choose to activate an S-Rank relationship - more often than not indicating marriage, and allowing players to add their child units into the fray via indulgent plot developments.Three Houseshandles things a little differently, as final pairings are selected for players after the game ends, but in concept it’s largely the same idea.
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How Midnight Suns Can Use These Relationship-Building Ideas
AfterMarvel’s Midnight Sunswas revealed, creative director Jake Solomon confirmed it will have relationship-building mechanics in an interview with IGN - just without being able to romance characters. Players gather their heroes in a base called the Abbey between battles, and The Hunter (a custom stand-in akin toFire Emblem’s Robin or Corrin) can spend time with the characters to unlock new costumes and abilities.
Already this evokes a similar feeling to the barracks ofAwakening, My Castle bases ofFire Emblem Fates, or Garreg Mach Monastery ofThree Houseswhere players stay between fights and activate new Support conversations. Being able to unlock new abilities by having The Hunter interact with their allies is a great incentive by itself, but the system should go much deeper.Midnight Sunsonly allows three heroes to fight at once, which may be limiting, but it could be great if players are able to dig in deep with their favorite Avengers or X-Men by increasing their stats when fighting alongside a close ally or unlocking new banter and team-up mechanics.
Having this kind of system reminiscent toFire Emblemwould also incentivise replaying the adventure, much likeFire Emblem Awakeningcan be replayed to test out new character pairings and see whatoverpowered abilities can be given to Lucinaand other child units. By making it easier to build characters' bonds as they fight together, and incentivizing this behavior through in-game rewards and personality-building scenes, Firaxis can take its unique superhero game premise further.
Marvel’s Midnight Sunsreleases in March 2022 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
