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When it was first announced, I was miffed at what Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls represented. It felt like a concerted effort to step away from the hype-laden gameplay of the Marvel vs. Capcom games, a signifier that those games would be no more. While that’s almost certainly me catastrophising, Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls is, so far, an incredible idea on paper. A focused and honed roster of Marvel’s boldest and bravest, developed by the team who has brought us games like Guilty Gear: Strive and BlazBlue – Marvel Tokon sounds great. And, having spent considerable time with it during its closed beta this past weekend, it not only sounds great, but it actually is great too.
The way rounds play out in Marvel Tokon are intriguing. Billed as a 4v4 fighter, Tokon is doing its best to differentiate itself from other fighters. For one, while you pick a team of 4, these four fighters share a single life bar. Additionally, the third and fourth members of your team are only put into play whenever you carry out a combo close to a wall, initiating a wall break, or simply as more damage is taken. It’s an intriguing way to carry out a tag format like this one and genuinely unlike anything I’ve played before. The way your additional characters are unlocked in the match encourages more aggressive playstyles, which helps each match remain fast and snappy.
Beyond the basics, everything you expect from a typical assist-based fighter is here. Pressing the assist button plus a direction on the D-Pad will bring out another of your characters to perform a quick attack, at the cost of meter. Holding the button instead of tapping it will transfer control entirely to that character. For newcomers, Marvel Tokon allows you to do all kinds of flashy things by mashing, making it all sorts of fun if you’re not that well-versed in fighters. But mashing can quickly deplete your meters and leave you coming up short against more experienced players so, like most fighting games, efficient management of your meter is one of the main focuses of Marvel Tokon.
Although it’s still early days, the game’s performance is quite promising in this beta. Within minutes, perhaps even seconds, I was in a lobby and ready to join games, fighting with a large selection of strangers. Every game I played ran incredibly well, with minimal lag, and performance was rock solid. It’s becoming increasingly refreshing to find online-oriented games that just work at launch, and Marvel Tokon is no exception. Perhaps a damning indictment of where we stand with games, but a win is a win, regardless. If you had any concerns about Marvel Tokon not performing well online, don’t worry, Arc System Works has got you.
Though all of this is moot if the roster isn’t good, and so far, Marvel Tokon is shaping up nicely. The beta allows access to six of the seven announced characters so far; Ghost Rider was a benchwarmer during this test. Each character has a distinct range of special moves and unique abilities, making them feel unique from one another. Some moves have been lifted directly from Marvel vs. Capcom, which brings a comforting familiarity with certain characters. But overall, a good effort has been made to ensure that each of these characters feels like new interpretations of characters fighting game fans have been playing with for years. Storm, in particular, is my favourite. She has excellent command of the entire screen at any given time, thanks to her wind-based powers, but still plays quite differently from her Marvel vs. Capcom counterpart.
All of this comes together rather elegantly to offer up a fighting system that offers excellent flexibility. While I adore Mortal Kombat 1 (perhaps a controversial take), it could be disorientating to freeze in your spot while your kameos appeared to assist you. In Marvel Tokon, things feel quick and fluid. You still have great movement when calling in your assists, which offers you unparalleled flexibility, especially when all your assists are available for building your combos.
Of course, while the foundations here are incredibly strong, the beta only gives us a small taste of what’s to come with Marvel Tokon. Being a 4v4 fighter and only having access to six characters, it is hard to assess just how your team composition will synergise effectively. While I do not doubt that Arc System Works will pull it off, the roster must be large and varied enough in the final game to offer different team compositions that genuinely feel distinct. To be seen, obviously, but for now, it is the only mild concern I have coming off of this beta.
Although I can’t believe I’ve come this far without mentioning just how good Marvel Tokon looks. Although it should come as no surprise from a team that brought us Strive, Marvel Tokon has a visual style that I can only describe as crisp and fresh. It’s bright, colourful, runs incredibly well and feels like a moving comic book at times. While this is supposedly an early build, to think that Marvel Tolkon could only hone its visuals and start looking even better is promising
As the first beta ends, I’m left excited for Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls. But while the moment-to-moment gameplay is enjoyable, it really feels like we’re only scratching the surface. Hopefully, as more characters are revealed and the roster fills out, we can start to see more of the cards that Marvel Tokon feels so intent on keeping close to their chest. But for now, colour me keen for Marvel Tokon, Fighting Souls. It’s an unexpected collaboration but almost certainly a welcome one, and one I’m excited to dive into when it launches in 2026.
Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls launches in 2026 for PC and PlayStation 5.
