Marvel's Midnight Suns has competition from an indie game with an extremely similar name and premise

Character art from Path of the Midnight Sun — (Image credit: Studio Daimon)

For a while now I've been getting very confused by press releases for a game called Path of the Midnight Sun, thanks to its proximity to Marvel's Midnight Suns. This isn't just a case of the games sharing similar names—the confusion also stems from the fact that they're similar in just about every other way, too.

Marvel's Midnight Suns is a tactical RPG where a group of heroes have to fight demons while using tools like the power of friendship. It's a bit like Fire Emblem with superheroes.

Path of the Midnight Sun is a tactical JRPG where a group of heroes have to fight demons while using tools like the power of friendship. It started out as a mod for Fire Emblem.

Now, this is simply a massive coincidence. Path of the Midnight Suns started life as a Fire Emblem mod in the mid 2010s, and the Kickstarter for the standalone game appeared in 2019. And while the broad premise is strikingly similar to Midnight Suns', it's a lot closer to Fire Emblem, unsurprisingly.

After four years in development, it's out today, so you can take a look for yourself. It's certainly piqued my interest with its relationship system, which sees you making decisions that can affect the mental state of your allies. These relationships then play a role in the turn-based battles. There's also cooking and crafting, because you can't be fighting demons all the time. You need some other hobbies.

And since prudish Marvel isn't involved, you can actually embark on romantic relationships. It's the one thing Midnight Suns was missing: you can't hook up with Blade. So that's one thing it's got over the competition. It's not the only thing, though. Look, I love Charlie the hellhound, but Path of the Midnight Sun's dogs are much, much cuter.

Cute dogs from Path of the Midnight Sun — (Image credit: Studio Daimon)

Fraser is the UK online editor and has actually met The Internet in person. With over a decade of experience, he's been around the block a few times, serving as a freelancer, news editor and prolific reviewer. Strategy games have been a 30-year-long obsession, from tiny RTSs to sprawling political sims, and he never turns down the chance to rave about Total War or Crusader Kings. He's also been known to set up shop in the latest MMO and likes to wind down with an endlessly deep, systemic RPG. These days, when he's not editing, he can usually be found writing features that are 1,000 words too long or talking about his dog.