The strategic card-based gameplay is excellent, but absolutely everything else is total garbage, and there's so much of it that constantly gets in the way of the one thing the game does well. Everything in the abbey sucks ass, and you're forced to spend so much time there engaging in cringy nonsense that you can only skip through one line at a time. Some of the worst writing and voice acting I've tried to endure to get to enjoyable gameplay, but I just can't do it. The one good bit isn't worth sloughing through all the other garbage

The discourse surrounding this game has been entirely disingenuous. The "omg it's just a card game" crowd gave it the impression that it's just like playing goldfish or uno but Midnight Suns is hardly just a card game.

You get to play as an original character to the Marvel universe known as "The Hunter" yet the creation aspect of it is very bare minimum. There's only one voice option (fortunately for the Male Hunter he is voiced by Matthew Mercer, not sure of the performance for Fem Hunter), the customization for your appearance is reminiscent of DCUO but even more lackluster, and there is no choice of playstyle for your Hunter for weapon/superpower options. All of the aforementioned lead to underwhelming immersion at times.

The card SYSTEM is how they guised the combat mechanics to give the tactical elements of a turn based strategy RPG a bit of flare. Although a bit repetitive at times, combat is the strongest feature of the game and can be fun yet challenging at the same time. There isn't much variety to the missions or bosses as there are only a handful of each on rotation but they are all different enough from each other and enjoyable nonetheless.

The most contentious aspect of Midnight Suns is the Abbey. This is where you can upgrade your Hunter abilities and interact with all the different Marvel characters. I do not disagree that at times the side quests in-between missions at the Abbey can be a bit of a chore but I found the relationship building simulator to be endearing, regardless of how camp and cheesy the dialogue came across. My biggest gripe is when you implement a mechanic like this, I expect potential romance scenarios. I understand why Marvel wouldn't allow this but that doesn't stop me from wanting it. If Blade was able to woo-hoo Captain Marvel then I should be able to kiss Peter Parker (Spiderman) or Robbie Reyes (Ghost Rider)!

Something I feel being overlooked though is the identity crisis this game seems to have. Is it a dark, brooding, supernatural experience or just another Marvel cliche? During mission cutscenes the game portrays itself as something contrary to a lot of the dialogue encounters you have at the Abbey. Where you're inviting a character to a movie night or book club and bantering about something that doesn't vibe with how the game was originally marketed.

However, ultimately, I enjoyed my time playing Midnight Suns. Is it without flaws? No but it definitely was treated unfairly and never given a proper chance due to the initial reception thus causing it to be commercial flop. A follow up is unlikely, which is unfortunate because the story was intriguing enough and in typical Marvel fashion, they teased a sequel. So we may never know what becomes of the Hunter.