A New Sun Must Rise, the second Marvel's Midnight Suns Prequel Short!
In the first Marvel's Midnight Suns Prequel Short we learned of the tragic events surrounding the birth of the game's protagonist, the Hunter. Today we're excited to share the second Prequel Short, which sees Magik putting her Soulsword and other powerful abilities to work while combating Soulless enemies and subsequently being recruited to the Midnight Suns by Scarlet Witch.
"In Marvel’s Midnight Suns, Scarlet Witch is one of the few people Magik trusts," explains Firaxis Games Narrative Lead Zach Bush, who authored this Prequel Short. "Magik graduated from Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters a few years prior to the events shown here. After a short time with the X-Men and the New Mutants, she departed to battle some personal demons—in her case, a literal reminder of her past. Though she was raised in the magical realm of Limbo, the details of her time there and how she escaped differ from her classic comic book origins. She begins the game as both a founding member of the Midnight Suns and the undisputed Queen of Limbo."
A New Sun Must Rise is the second of five Prequel Shorts that explain how and why the Midnight Suns heroes have united to oppose Lilith. Check back next week for the third Prequel Short, Hell on Wheels, featuring an action-packed look at how Ghost Rider deals with enemies as well as learn how a persistent Caretaker was able to recruit him to the Midnight Suns. And in case you didn't catch it already, be sure to check out the "Live Among Legends" trailer below for a look at in-game combat, the Abbey interior, and some of the heroes' most devastating moves.
Ghost Rider (Robbie Reyes) Character Deep Dive
Story
Robbie Reyes grew up in a vibrant but under-resourced neighborhood in East Los Angeles. The triumphs and challenges he experienced helped him develop a firm sense of his priorities: family, friends, and customized hotrods. Most important in the “family” category will always be his disabled brother, Gabe, who Robbie helped raise, however, his other priorities were forced to shift when Robbie became possessed by the Spirit of Vengeance.
Many young men have played host to this hell-fueled alter-ego; Robbie is the latest and won’t be the last. When the Spirit takes over, Robbie transforms into Ghost Rider and becomes obsessed with punishing the wicked and inflicting brutal justice on those who do evil. His actions as Ghost Rider often leave Robbie confused and conflicted about his inner darkness and the costs of being a hero. One thing he never complains about, however, is driving Ghost Rider’s vehicle: a souped-up muscle car appropriately called the Hellride.
Specialty: Damage
Ghost Rider can deal above-average damage, but his abilities come at a cost to himself and his allies. To mitigate some of this sacrifice, Ghost Rider is able to regain health by consuming the Souls of enemies he knocks out.
Watch Salem Sisters, The First Marvel's Midnight Suns Prequel Short!
Travel back in time to the late 1600s to learn the Hunter's tragic origin story, where a moment of weakness damned the entire world.
We're mere weeks away from Marvel's Midnight Suns' December 2 release date, so if you haven't already, now is a great time to start familiarizing yourself with some of the game's key characters and their respective backstories. You might've already read up on heroes like Ghost Rider, Nico Minoru, and Doctor Strange in the Marvel's Midnight Suns Game Guide, but the story we're excited to share with you today is all-new.
"The comic versions of Caretaker and Lilith differ significantly from those in Marvel's Midnight Suns," explains Firaxis Games Narrative Lead Zach Bush, who authored this Prequel Short. "In the game, they are sisters and the last living remnants of the mysterious Blood. For thousands of years, the Blood protected the world against unknowable, eldritch threats—until Lilith made a fateful decision that turned her into the Mother of Demons, a champion of the greatest enemy the Blood have ever faced."
Salem Sisters is the first of five planned Prequel Shorts that explain how and why the Midnight Suns heroes have come together to oppose Lilith. Check back next week for the second Prequel Short, A New Sun Must Rise, in which we'll see how Scarlet Witch was able to recruit Magik to the team. And in case you didn't catch it already, be sure to check out the "Live Among Legends" trailer below for a look at in-game combat, the Abbey interior, and some of the heroes' most devastating abilities.
Marvel's Midnight Suns Strategic Combat Live Stream
Recently, during the second in a series of live streams planned for the run up to Marvel's Midnight Suns' December 2 launch, members of the Firaxis development team revealed the four Marvel heroes that will be joining the game as Season Pass DLC next year. Creative Director Jake Solomon, Lead Designer Joe Weinhoffer, and Senior Producer Rachel Sima also played through two Tactical Missions while offering insights into the game's turn-based card combat. You can watch an archive of the entire live stream below. Note that some characters and skins featured require unlocking via gameplay.
The stream afforded us an action-packed look at how some of the Midnight Suns heroes fight alongside each other, as well as at how you can improve and modify their abilities as you progress through the main story. For the first mission, damage-dealers Ghost Rider and Spider-Man teamed up with Nico Minoru, who can heal her allies while generating a lot of Heroism.
In case you're unfamiliar with Marvel's Midnight Suns' Heroism system, here's a quick explanation courtesy of Senior Franchise Producer Garth De Angelis:
"Heroism is the resource that your heroes use to unleash their signature and most powerful moves. You earn Heroism by playing less powerful abilities, thus building the capital to unload a pivotal, turn-the-tide onslaught. The best heroes know how to manipulate the battlefield to their advantage, so in addition to using Heroic abilities, you can use Heroism to perform bonus Environmental Attacks that don't spend any of your remaining Card Plays. Your heroes can vault off giant boulders to pound Hydra Mystics into the ground, kick dumpsters at Shadowhounds to send them flying, pull streetlamps down on top of Hydra Commandos - the battlefield is your playground!"
Knowing how and when to use Heroism is key, and is just one of the decisions you'll need to make each turn along with which ability cards to play and whether to reposition any of your heroes. That's after you've decided which heroes to bring into your next Tactical Mission, of course. Which Midnight Suns members' abilities are best-suited to the mission objective? Do any of your heroes' skill sets synergize particularly well? Should you play with favorites you've already leveled up or invest in different heroes who could prove useful in later missions?
The team selected for the second on-stream mission again included Ghost Rider, who this time fought alongside Blade, who employs Bleeding and Lifesteal status effects to deal additional damage and self-heal; and Captain America, who protects allies by taunting enemies into attacking him instead.
The heroes were leveled up before attempting this challenging mission, so not only were their Health and Offense stats higher, but they also had access to upgraded ability cards. Heroes can be upgraded by playing through the campaign. Here's Lead Designer Joe Weinhoffer to share more info on hero progression and ability upgrades:
"Every hero has multiple ways they can progress and improve their abilities over the course of the campaign. First, every hero has a character level that determines their Health and Offense in combat. Playing ability cards in combat for a hero will grant them XP, and eventually they will level up and improve their stats. The Offense stat affects the damage dealt by all of that hero’s ability cards, so more Offense is always better for more damage!
"The next step is to Upgrade an ability, which gives it a pre-determined boost in power. Every hero ability has an Upgrade, with bonuses including increased damage, reduced Heroism cost, additional status effects, bonus resource generation, and more. The Upgrades have all been designed to complement the hero’s overall ability kit and primary gameplay role. For example, Blade inherently applies a lot of Bleeding to enemies, so some of his Upgrades grant additional bonuses when targeting Bleeding enemies. It’s always a good idea to Upgrade hero ability cards to reach their full potential.
"Finally, once an ability has been upgraded, it can then gain a Mod as a final boost. Mods are similar gameplay bonuses to Upgrades, but aren’t specific to a given ability or hero – the Mod which appears on a given card is random. You may find a card with a minor Mod to give a slight damage boost or an incredibly powerful one which adds Knockback or makes a card Free!
"Mods provide that extra edge in combat, and since they are random, there is a ton of flexibility on how your version of Blade may differ from another player’s. Modded cards start appearing in Gamma Coils later in the game, or Mods can be directly added and rerolled in the Yard once the Crucible upgrade is constructed. You can reroll the Mods on each of a hero’s abilities until you have the perfect synergistic build."
In addition to answering questions from the community, the Firaxis trio confirmed that the four heroes joining the Midnight Suns roster in Season Pass DLC next year are Deadpool, Venom, Morbius, and Storm. The Season Pass is available as part of the Legendary Edition and is also available for individual purchase. We'll have more information to share on their respective in-game abilities next year. In the meantime, look out for the next Marvel's Midnight Suns Live Stream with Firaxis where members of the development team will be diving into a bunch of the fun things you'll be doing with your team of heroes when you're not in combat.
Deadpool joins Midnight Suns as DLC in 2023!
Deadpool has something to say:
Pre-orders now available for the PC versions of Marvel's Midnight Suns releasing on Dec 2, 2022.
Pre-order the Standard Edition, Enhanced Edition or Digital+ Edition and receive the Doctor Strange Defenders Skin. Pre-order the Legendary Edition and receive 30-days’ early access to the Doctor Strange Defenders Skin.*
Extend your adventure and look good doing it with the Legendary Edition, which includes the Season Pass containing 23 premium skins for the base game and 4 post-launch DLC packs, each featuring a new playable character, new missions, new enemies, and additional character skins.**
*Pre-order offer available for PC through December 1, 2022. Digital pre-orders: Doctor Strange Defenders Skin will be delivered via game at launch. Physical pre-orders: Pre-order to guarantee access to the Doctor Strange Defenders Skin which will be delivered via code in box to be redeemed in game. Terms apply.
**Premium skins must be used with the equivalent in-game character. Characters may require unlocking through gameplay. Season Pass content and the premium skins will be automatically delivered in-game upon release. For physical orders, Season Pass content and premium skins will be delivered via code in box to be redeemed in game and available upon release. DLC release timing for the Season Pass will be revealed at a future date. Terms apply.
Sister Grimm (Nico Minoru) Character Deep Dive
Story Nico Minoru was raised in an affluent Japanese-American family devoted to charity…or so she thought. In truth, to Nico’s horror, her parents were powerful sorcerers and members of a villainous organization called the Pride. After witnessing them murder a young girl, Nico allied with the other teenaged children of the Pride, disowned her parents, and ran away from home.
The depths of her parents’ corruption was revealed when Nico tried to rescue a friend captured by the Pride: her own mother tried to kill her by stabbing Nico with a magical staff. However, instead of being wounded, Nico’s body absorbed the weapon, removing it from her mother’s control as the teen’s own affinity for dark magic revealed itself for the first time. She is now a witch with near-boundless powers...except that her magic can be chaotic and unpredictable. Her powers bend to her will, preventing her from hurting an ally or healing an enemy, but precision can be challenging.
Specialty: Support Nico’s abilities generate large amounts of Heroism while keeping allies healed and ready to fight. Her attacks are some of the most damaging in the game, but enemies are generally targeted randomly and cannot be selected.
Watch Firaxis’ Latest Marvel’s Midnight Suns Live Stream
During a recent live stream, Creative Director Jake Solomon, Senior Franchise Producer Garth DeAngelis, and Senior Producer Rachel Sima from Firaxis played through two Marvel's Midnight Suns Tactical Missions. When they weren't preoccupied with beating down Hydra soldiers and the demonic forces of Lilith, they shared insights into the Midnight Suns roster of heroes, unlockable difficulty modes, and more. You can watch an archive of the entire live stream below.
Blade Character Deep Dive
STORY
Called “Daywalker,” Blade is a dhampir: a half-human, half-vampire hybrid with the strength, stamina, and senses of a vampire and the sunlight tolerance of a human. A creature of the underground, Blade patrols the city’s rain-slicked alleys, abandoned warehouses, and secret nightclubs in the name of one obsessive mission: eradicate the undead from the world of the living.
This single-minded determination was born of tragedy: Blade’s human mother was murdered by a vampire’s bite during his birth. This heartbreak gave Blade the innate gifts that have allowed him to become a living weapon. Blade has used his enhanced abilities to master nearly every martial art and weapon form known to humankind, though he often favors the smooth speed of the katana.
SPECIALTY: DAMAGE
Blade is able to deal vast amounts of devastating damage with grace and agility, easily alternating between ranged and melee attacks to dominate the battlefield. Especially effective are his abilities to inflict lifesteal and damage-over-time effects on enemies, healing himself while slowly and consistently draining the lifeforce from foes. A true predator knows not only survival, but also patience.
Important Update From The Midnight Suns Team
We have an important update to share regarding our launch date for Marvel's Midnight Suns. After discussion with the team, we've made the decision to move back the launch timing of Marvel's Midnight Suns to ensure we are delivering the best possible experience for our fans. We will launch later this fiscal year on Windows PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5, with the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch versions following at a later date.
We know fans are looking forward to playing Marvel's Midnight Suns and we will use this extra time to make sure we are delivering the best possible experience for everyone. Marvel's Midnight Suns is easily the biggest game we've ever made and we're incredibly appreciative of all the support players have shared with us.
