Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls is a visual carnival, a celebration of comic books, movement, and wall-to-wall action. Having played a bunch of Sony and Arc System Works’ upcoming 4v4 tag fighting game at Evo last week, I came home with the bug. Yes, the usual convention sickness too, but it’s the Tokon bug keeping me awake at night.
The game made a shock showing at Sony’s State of Play back in June, and almost immediately I was gripped by the boisterous, almost ink-and-water uniqueness of its art style. Believe it or not, the game looks even better in person. Marvel fatigue is a powerful thing, but a blend of vibrant colour and Arc System Works’ distinct style reinvent the cast in refreshing fashion.
It goes beyond the characters. The single stage I was able to play was set in a densely packed arena filled with fun little landmarks – though ones competitive players will be glad to know still don’t overcrowd the screen as to be distracting. You’ve got more obvious examples, like a large statue of golden age Marvel heroes, as well as secrets hidden for those with an eye for detail. Matt Murdock listening in on a brawl from an apartment window.
This visual flair is more than just eye candy, it’s a blank canvas on which Marvel Tokon can channel love for Marvel comics with each stroke and splatter. Not the films, to be clear; explicitly the comics. The character select screen even creates a custom comic book cover once you select your team.
As the match starts, the linework comes in first, then the colour fades in, as if the fight you’re about to have is being drawn in right before you get to it. When you unlock more of the full team, they pop up in comic panels as if they’ve just arrived at the brawl. It’s an inspired spin on adapting a comic book style that frankly only Arc System Works could have done.
All that style aside, I’m confident in saying Marvel Tokon is an innovative, bordering on experimental take on the tag genre. For those who aren’t familiar, tag fighters have typically been one of the more intimidating subgenres within the fighting game scene thanks to the fast-paced nature, high execution requirement, and an overwhelming amount of action happening at any given moment. Marvel vs Capcom has scared away many an aspiring player, for instance, though with the upcoming 2XKO and Invincible VS, the space’= is having a little mini resurgence of sorts. Marvel Tokon’s approach is to take steps to make things easier, but there’s still room for ample skill expression.
Tokon is a 4v4 fighter, but you don’t start with all four characters at the start of a match. Instead, you start with two and unlock the rest through play. Stages are split into three sections, and you can blast enemies through to these other sections to unlock one of your characters. You also unlock one by losing a round. The result is Tokon ramping up in intensity as a match progresses, concluding each match with a ferocious free-for-all as heroes leap in from off screen, bouncing fighters off each other’s beam blasts and surging strikes. Usually, that sort of chaos starts from round one, but Marvel Tokon slowly builds up the momentum to a bombastic final round.
I’ve mentioned breaking opponents through the walls of the stage, in a similar fashion to how Arc System Works approached it in Guilty Gear: Strive. Throwing or blowback attacking an enemy will cause this stage transition – which provides you benefits, sure, but it also resets each character’s position to neutral where no one has a clear spatial advantage.
I am a little worried about the long term impact this will have on the momentum of a match in Marvel Tokon. It’s a question of whether or not removing corner pressure (i.e. the notion that when a player has their back to a wall, it’s harder to defend) except at the far sides of the three-section stages will rob experienced players of well-earned offensive opportunities. But to be frank it’s too early to tell. Something to keep an eye on.
All this, plus link combos that require players to mash a single button (light, medium, or heavy) to dish out decent damage, alongside the quick skill button that removes the need for directional inputs on special moves, means that Marvel Tokon is an exceptionally accessible tag fighter. We’re talking the same degree of new-player-friendly that Riot Games’ 2XKO offers. One could argue it might even be coming for 2XKO’s lunch.
It’s early days for Marvel Tokon, but as far as first impressions go, the partnership between Marvel, Sony, and Arc System Works appears to be a match made in heaven. This is decades of comic fiction boiled down to its heroic core, realised with a balance of bold novelty and classic tone. It’s an early build, but it already shows a true understanding of not only what makes Marvel endearing all these years later, but a deftness in knowing how to thrust an external license into the fighting game genre with vigor and reverence.
