A NEW LENS

While Midnight Suns’ battles default to a close-up camera, it is possible to zoom out into ‘tactics mode’, which provides a topdown overview of the battlefield with all pertinent information. “That’s useful in some cases,” Solomon says – but he’s adamant that the entire game is playable without ever using it. “Because if you can’t, we’re probably violating some other thing, philosophically, that we wanted to do.” He’s referring to the game’s essential design pillars: conveying how powerful the characters are, something that’s harder to do from a distance, and keeping battles fast and flowing. “We don’t want the player to sit there constantly rethinking this or that decision.” This was more important than making something that looks closer to the shiny blockbuster Marvel is known for, we’re told – though presumably that was a fine bonus.