Marvel’s Midnight Suns takes the traditionally epic and outlandish spectacle of superhero adventures and reduces it to a granular and familial tale. This is one of its best assets because it becomes a distinct narrative swept up in deep-cut occult lore from Marvel, all while housing a bunch of iconic Marvel characters together under one roof. There are sparse conversations to be shared at any time of the day, but there is always a character who has an interesting request for players to contribute to, marked by a question mark over their head.
Some characters are more inclined to be social in Marvel’s Midnight Suns’ Abbey than others, and it is fun seeing characters who are initially contentious or closed off become more open as they are befriended. However, Hero Requests are tied intrinsically to gameplay and have direct effects on players’ stats as a fun and passive way to earn bonuses. Hero Requests can ask players to answer simple questions, and sometimes the reward will determine which option players pick, though there is one Hero Request that the game eventually dwindles down to that is far less exciting.
Marvel’s Midnight Suns Starts Out with Engaging Hero Requests
Marvel’s Midnight Suns’ Hero Requests are front-loaded to be captivating in the beginning of the game, while players are in the middle of all their ordinary story-driven missions. Such Hero Requests ask players to decide between two options with lore involved between the characters in question.
Midnight Suns brings up Marvel’s Civil War comic book arcs, for example, and asks players who they would choose to side with between Iron Man or Captain America, as well as between Iron Man or Captain Marvel. Other requests are less interesting but still have decent reward options for whichever responses players pick, and it is always worth it to find the character offering a Hero Request in the daytime before going out on a mission as a result.
It is through Hero Requests that players can feel like their dialogue with a character can be impactful, even if the request itself is not necessarily a genuine conversation started by the character. Instead, it makes small talk with iconic Marvel characters associated with gameplay directly, and that is a wonderful mechanic for being as passive and leisurely as it is.
Marvel’s Midnight Suns’ Hero Requests Become Chores in the Abbey
However, deep into Marvel’s Midnight Suns’ endgame content, these Hero Requests become less and less engaging. Eventually, the most common Hero Request players will see is one where any character asks them to pick up every collectible in the Abbey. This essentially means that players need to go around and collect the tiny colored balls of light that are littered everywhere, representing a miniscule amount of resources that players earn for upgrades and other attributes.
It is true that collecting these resources can be helpful, but the amount given when collecting them in the Abbey is inferior to how many players receive while out on particular missions, and it means that players have to wander around the Abbey in search of these orbs. This is arguably not how most players want to spend their time with the game, and while having an infinite number of riveting Hero Requests is impossible to expect, it is still disappointing to see fewer requests that actually make the Abbey feel like an immersive part of Marvel’s Midnight Suns’ RPG experience.
Marvel’s Midnight Suns is available now for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S, with PS4, Switch, and Xbox One versions coming later.
