Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls [REVIEW] – A Marvel Fighting Fan’s Dream

For the longest time, whenever anyone mentioned a Marvel fighting game, the word Capcom immediately followed (but don’t mention EA… nobody wants to remember Rise of the Imperfects). So, when it was announced that Arc System Works – the developer behind fighting masterpieces such as Guilty Gear, Dragon Ball Fighterz, and more – were teaming up with Sony to take a crack at a superhero brawler, expectations were understandably massive. The result is Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls, a simply brilliant experience that manages to capture everything you could want from a Marvel fighting game, all whilst carving its own unique sense of identity.

Check out some screenshots down below:

The overarching narrative of Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls offers plenty of entertaining action. Written by comic veteran Kieron Gillen, the episodic story mode follows various fighting teams made up of Marvel heroes and villains as they go up against an antagonist called The Champion and his sidekick the Promoter as a means to save the planet. The plot unfolds through graphic novel panels, with some slick animations and expertly delivered voice-overs bringing each tale to life. Admittedly, the campaign is a bit light on actual interactive fights – they’re actually pretty lengthy but leaning heavily into cinematic exposition – but the writing is so good that it’s hard not to see them as a highlight of the package. Whether following the tale of the Fighting Avengers, the Samurai Outriders, or even the Knights of Doom, you’re definitely in for a really fun ride.

Of course, it’s in the core combat of Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls where things get genuinely fascinating. Instead of the traditional three-on-three format we are so used to, this game bumps the roster up to four-on-four clashes. At first glance, managing eight heroes or villains in a single match might sound like an absolute headache (and it can be during early battles as you figure things out), but the developers made a brilliant choice to streamline the chaos: a shared health pool. You do not have to worry about constantly tagging fighters in and out just to keep them alive – in fact, you don’t even start a round with your full team, with your backup squad unlocking as the match progresses or if you take a beating. It adds a bit more cinematic presence to fights and ensures that there’s a real sense of unpredictability across each round.

This design choice heavily shifts the focus toward assists, because rather than playing musical chairs with your roster, you use your bench to extend combos or cover your blind spots. Sure, you can swap in-and-out, but it’s something that’s better to bring into your combo as opposed to something you simply do on the fly. Interestingly, the type of assist a character provides is tied directly to their specific slot in your lineup, making team composition incredibly strategic. The exact same hero might behave completely differently depending on where you place them, meaning there’s plenty of room for experimentation and fine-tuning as you work out your perfect setup.

“Arc System Works have truly delivered an exceptional brawler here, proving that Marvel’s heroes and villains don’t need to be part of a crossover to make their mark on the fighting game genre.“

It might sound like there’s a lot to take in, but Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls makes things easy for newbies to the genre. The game features a modern control scheme that allows newer players to pull off flashy combos and super moves with minimal effort, relying on simple button sequences and directional inputs to keep combos flowing with minimal fuss. However, it is worth noting that traditionalists have not been left out – classic motion inputs are present and actively rewarded, granting slightly higher damage output and faster gauge generation for those willing to put the time in. This dual approach, alongside brilliant onboarding tools like individual character lessons, makes it incredibly easy to find your footing.

Speaking of those gauges, managing your in-match resources is the real secret to pulling off the game’s most devastating superhero smackdowns. The combat interface revolves around two main meters: the Skill Gauge and the Assembly Gauge. The Skill meter acts as your standard battery for beefed-up special moves and cinematic supers, whilst the Assembly bar strictly governs how often you can call on your backup for those crucial assists. What makes this setup so brilliant is how smoothly it integrates with the combat flow for any skill level – if you are relying on the simplified controls, repeatedly tapping the medium attack button will automatically cash in your Skill meter to cap off a combo with a flashy finisher. Should you happen to have some Assembly charge banked as well, holding the assist button prompts a benched teammate to vault in and stack a second super right on top of it. It creates a satisfying rhythm where building up and spending your energy always yields a spectacular payoff, whilst the increased accessibility means that players of all skill levels will get to experience them.

The base roster features twenty-one characters, including one secret unlock, and it is a brilliant mix of household names and unfamiliar faces. Playing as heavy hitters like Captain America or the Hulk obviously feels fantastic, but getting to control lesser-known mutants like Magik (who I admittedly only know from my time playing Marvel’s Midnight Suns) or Danger (who I had never even heard of) adds a massive amount of variety… heck, even having The Champion as the main villain feels like a deep cut (albeit a very appreciated one). Every fighter has unique quirks that keep things fresh too, like Ghost Rider’s heat management system or Captain America bounding his shield around the screen to control space, ensuring that Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls is absolutely rich in variety and there’s always something new to learn when playing.

Check out some screenshots down below:

Outside of the core battles, there is a decent selection of things to do, rewarding you with unlockables as you go along. All-Star Arena acts as a branching arcade ladder, and Survival mode throws in some roguelite upgrade elements to keep you going after tough boss fights. There is also Arcadia Rumble, a surprisingly relaxed mode where you run around as a customisable avatar collecting power-ups in a board game style setting before transitioning into standard fights. While it is a shame there is no traditional, straightforward arcade ladder, there is more than enough here to keep you busy.

When you are ready to take things online, the game uses a brilliant interactive lobby system where you can sit at virtual cabinets and challenge people. Thanks to rollback netcode, playing against other PlayStation 5 users is buttery smooth. There have been some issues when playing with PC players at the moment, but recent patches have looked to rectify that… it’s something that’s worth keeping in mind when considering which platform you plan to play on, though.

It is hard to overstate just how bloody good Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls looks. The hand-drawn character models are astonishingly detailed, blending perfectly with slightly retro 3D backgrounds. We get to see some brilliant reinterpretations of classic designs too, like an incredibly slick anime-inspired armour for Iron Man and a screen-filling mech suit for Peni Parker. If anything, I’d have liked to have seen the game take some liberties with other character designs – whilst everyone looks great, it’s the characters that bring something truly different that stand out the most. But yeah, it’s drop dead gorgeous and easily one of the best-looking fighting games you’ll play.

Developer: Arc System Works
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Platform(s): PlayStation 5 (Reviewed), PC
Website: https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/games/marvel-tokon-fighting-souls/