Because of Firaxis Games' work on XCOM and the Civilization series, fans have developed a certain expectation of games with intensive systems that aren't afraid to challenge them tactically. The core elements of any tactics game include a random chance, something that undercuts even the best-laid plans; choices that inherently induce a small amount of stress; and systems that support all of this from a gameplay angle. After all, the combination thereof creates a real rush for players. That rush, accompanied by the Marvel superhero fantasy, is what studio Firaxis Games aims to deliver with Marvel's Midnight Suns.
Instead of a random chance of failure (as a hero missing an attack would undercut that fantasy), Firaxis is introducing cards to randomize the hand. Players are limited in the choices and movements they can make, requiring them to think through their turns and introducing just enough stress that it's rewarding, and all supported by social, gameplay, improvement, overworld, and other systems that bring the experience home. Of course, the intensity of these factors is determined by a player's difficulty option, with Game Rant speaking to creative director Jake Solomon and franchise producer Garth DeAngelis about Marvel's Midnight Suns' difficulty options.
Indeed, Firaxis is hard at work polishing up Marvel's Midnight Suns as it is one of the most in-depth games to ever come out of the studio. It's clear from speaking with Solomon and DeAngelis how much they care about the title, not just as its developers but as Marvel fans.
And it's taking time because Midnight Suns features a ton of gameplay systems, more even than XCOM, and that also has implications regarding the game's difficulty. When asked, Solomon revealed that the game features eight difficulty levels and went on to say,
We have Story difficulty, Normal difficulty, and then three Heroic levels. Then, you get into something we call Ultimate. When you get into Ultimate difficulty, if you're going to start beating missions, you have to slow down. You have to really look at things and go, 'Okay, I have got to play these abilities in exactly the right order to win.' At Ultimate 2 or Ultimate 3, even that may not be enough every time. We want fans to find this very challenging from a tactical perspective.
Solomon also adds that players will largely be fine, however they approach the gameplay of Marvel's Midnight Suns, in the game's Story and Normal difficulty. However, Firaxis is all about the deep systems, the challenging tactical combat, and the replay value. By amping up the difficulty with three Heroic level difficulties and three Ultimate difficulties, all of those boxes are checked off.
As players progress through these difficulties, they'll also want to make sure they have a properly balanced and synergized team. There is a roster of 13 characters in Marvel's Midnight Suns, but players can only take them out in three-man teams. This means players have to consider how they set up each character to work with another and bring that foreknowledge into the combat. With that, perhaps surviving at Ultimate 2 or Ultimate 3 is more of a possibility.
Marvel's Midnight Suns releases December 2 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X. PS4, Switch, and Xbox One versions are also in development.