Fighting games feel like they’re coming out fairly regularly now, but plenty of them lack the bite needed to really cut through. There are huge mainstay franchises that are still as such for the right reasons – think Tekken, Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter. But others are still heavyweights that lost their way, like Marvel vs. Capcom. Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls feels like a revival of Marvel vs. Capcom in some ways, with the obvious omission of Capcom, but in other ways, it feels entirely like its own thing.
Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls follows the Champion of the Universe in a fairly simplistic storyline. He’s a beastly being who has destroyed all of the worlds that have not been able to produce a worthy fighter. Bored and looking to continue his domination, the Champion selects five heroes and villains to assemble teams and challenge him. It’s a fairly typical story that doesn’t do a lot with its characters, but it offers a clean and simple backdrop for why all of these heroes and villains are fighting.
And while the story is orthodox, the core gameplay systems underpinning Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls is anything but. A 4v4 fighter, you select a team of four to battle who will share a single life bar. You begin with only two characters at first – losing a round or beating enemies against a wall will bring the others in. I’ve previously mentioned this in my preview, and I’ll mention it here again: this is a clever way to encourage more aggressive play and helps matches to remain fast and snappy.
They also feel smooth, regardless of your experience with fighters. Tokon has a lot of systems in place that allow you to pull off all kinds of cool stuff even while mashing, which is sure to be a boon for less experienced players. Where Street Fighter 6 had a separate, more newcomer-friendly “Modern” control scheme, Tokon bakes it into the gameplay. Every attack or special move can be (optionally) performed with simple two-button inputs. However, such a system doesn’t come without its drawbacks.
Every special move can be input using these simple controls, though you can get more out of the moves by inputting them manually. Loki’s projectile, for example, is a standard projectile if performed with the simple input. Input the same move manually with the Medium strength attack button, however, and it will have a different speed, trajectory and an icy elemental effect. This feels like an appropriate trade-off between the ease of using quick controls versus more traditional ones, although this arguably defeats the purpose of including simplistic controls by leaving those players who use them at a disadvantage.
Regardless, battles in Tokon are fast, frenetic and fun. There are plenty of ways to control space and close space with the roster, and the assist system, like all assist systems, allows players to augment their playstyle appropriately. If you’re new to this, assists allow you to call in one of your other team members to pull off a quick move to extend combos or control space. Each character has four assist moves, and which one they take into battle depends on which slot you put them in during selection. It’s a fun system to experiment with, and it’s super satisfying to add an assist that synergises perfectly with your main character. It also allows for some gnarly combos.
Which brings me to my biggest gripe with Tokon – there is no reliable (or even formal) way to combo break. Plenty of other fighters offer limited options to do so when you’re being wailed on, but not Tokon. It feels like Arc System Works is drawing a line in the sand here between this and Fighter Z, their more casual fighting games, and their more serious ones like Guilty Gear by omitting it from Tokon. It’s a minor thing to complain about now, but it does feel like the gulf between eager newcomer and sweaty veteran will only narrow and, as a result, put players off as they get beaten up with no relief in sight.
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Beyond the core fighting systems, which are still strong, the roster is the next thing that is just as important in a fighter. Tokon largely nails the brief, drawing in a wide range of oddballs and series mainstays who are popular in the fighting game scene, comics, movies or all of the above. The roster is clever in that even if a character has had plenty of screen time in other games – like Deadpool or Spider-Man – they still utilise unique mechanics like healing factor and spider senses that aren’t often as visited in fighters. That being said, there are some duds here. Blade and Deadpool feel mechanically too similar, and both Carnage and Ms Marvel are characters I personally found boring to play. Over time, this problem will alleviate itself with character passes and the like, but right now, it’s not my favourite roster.
And while the roster is solid, I can’t help but feel there should be more here. Marvel vs. Capcom 3 launched in 2011 with 36 characters, and that was a 3v3 fighter. In Tokon, there are 20 characters that you take into 4v4 matches. You naturally churn through all of the characters pretty quickly before having to play repeats. I recognise that’s the whole point of fighters – to repeatedly play, find your favourites and good synergies – but this roster size feels at odds with the unique core conceit that Tokon is built around.
Whether playing solo or with friends, there’s heaps to do in Tokon too, though your mileage will vary more considerably as a solo player. The main story mode has you flipping through comic book scenes, drawn by different artists for each episode, and fighting battles at certain points. It’s okay, but it pales in comparison to other single-player offerings like Tekken 8, Street Fighter 6, and Mortal Kombat 1. Other single-player modes are typical – like Arcade mode, Survival and Training – as well as a gimmicky score attack mode that I could not vibe with.
Online modes are great and numerous and very feature complete, though it’s worth mentioning I am already running into matchmaking issues, which may be a dealbreaker for some. These things may (and probably will) change with time, but it would be remiss of me to not mention them here. When things were working properly, however, the netcode was stellar. I rarely had a bad match across ten or so hours of online matchmaking and lobbying.
I’ve been all over the place with Tokon so far, but without a doubt the strongest element of the whole package is its presentation. It’s packed to the brim with cute little visual nods to elements from the entirety of Marvel’s long history. But on a technical level, it is just such a looker. It’s bright and vibrant, running incredibly well even when the screen is filled with sparks, beams, and the like. You can clearly see the Guilty Gear Strive DNA here; the colourful, crisp artistic direction comes together to create an art style that feels like a moving comic book. Similarly, the soundtrack is also excellent. Peni Parker’s theme is the standout here, but almost every character theme is incredible, providing the perfect backdrop for your battles.
All in all, Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls is an incredible base with which I do not doubt that Arc System Works will build off of to grow into something special. It’s already special, mind you, but there are just a few too many little nitpicks that I have that stop it from catapulting itself to the top of my favourite fighters list. If you love Marvel, you’ll no doubt love this, regardless of your experience. If you’re a seasoned fighting veteran, you’ll also love this, though some cracks will no doubt be filled in the coming months.
