Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls arrives with serious expectations behind it. A Marvel fighting game developed by Arc System Works, the studio behind Guilty Gear Strive and Dragon Ball FighterZ, immediately sounds like a winning combination.
Thankfully, the finished product delivers.
The game establishes its own identity with a unique four-on-four fighting system. It features an impressive roster, striking anime-inspired visuals and enough mechanical depth to keep experienced fighting game players invested.
This is one of the most exciting fighter games since Street Fighter 6.
A Fighting System With Its Own Identity
At first glance, Fighting Souls may remind players of traditional tag-team fighters, but its four-character format gives it a very different feel.
You begin a match with a duo, while additional members of your team become available as the fight progresses. Support characters become available to deliver additional attacks and defenses, enabling you to control multiple fighters during the match.
Interestingly, you can approach the game almost like a traditional one-on-one fighter. Your other characters become tools that can supplement your main fighter.
However, there’s clearly much more depth waiting beneath the surface.
The tag mechanics aren’t always as responsive as they could be, but as players become more familiar with the system, there’s considerable potential for advanced combinations and strategies. Sweaty players will likely find ways to integrate the entire team into increasingly deadly combinations.
The designers prevent newcomers from facing an intimidating fighting-game experience right away. Auto-combos and simplified special-move inputs make it relatively easy to pick up and start fighting.
Mastering individual characters and their more advanced combo routes provides a much higher skill ceiling. It’s a system that manages to welcome beginners without completely abandoning experienced players.
An Incredible Marvel Roster
The 20-character launch roster is another major highlight.
Naturally, you’ll find household names such as Spider-Man, Hulk and Captain America, but Arc System Works has also reached deeper into Marvel’s history for some less obvious selections.
Characters such as Danger help make the roster feel more interesting than simply assembling the most famous Marvel characters possible.
Even better, every character feels distinct.
Captain America, for example, uses his shield both offensively and defensively, allowing players to control space by bouncing it around the battlefield. Ghost Rider has an overheating mechanic that can dramatically increase his power, although allowing it to get out of control can work against you.
These character-specific mechanics aren’t simply gimmicks. They fit the personalities and abilities of the characters while giving players additional systems to learn.
The presentation is arguably even more impressive.
Arc System Works has given the Marvel cast a distinctive anime-inspired makeover, and the results are fantastic. Iron Man’s design has an almost Gundam-like quality, while Peni Parker’s enormous SP//dr mech can dominate the screen.
Every character is beautifully animated, making even ordinary battles feel spectacular.
The stages receive similar attention. Locations such as Marvel’s New York and the X-Mansion are packed with Easter eggs and small details for fans to discover.
The team delivered an exceptionally well-made game, although a few more stages would have been nice.
A Surprisingly Strong Single-Player Experience
Fighting games aren’t always known for their substantial single-player content, but Fighting Souls makes a respectable attempt.
The main campaign is divided into five episodes, each focusing on a different team of characters. Instead of presenting the story like a traditional fighting game campaign, these sections resemble animated comic books.
Each episode has its own visual identity, with different artists contributing to the presentation.
The writing is also stronger than expected. The stories give individual characters more room to breathe, with Ghost Rider’s story line particularly effective at exploring the character’s internal conflict.
The campaign isn’t as expansive as Street Fighter 6’s World Tour mode, but it doesn’t need to be.
Depending on your skill level, the story should provide around six to eight hours of content, giving players plenty of time to experiment with the roster while learning more about the Marvel universe.
Beyond the campaign, there’s an All-Star Arena that functions similarly to an arcade ladder with branching routes. Completing different paths unlocks artwork for the game’s gallery.
There’s also Survival mode, complete with some roguelite-inspired elements, along with Arcadia Rumble.
Arcadia Rumble is perhaps the least essential mode of the bunch. It takes the game’s chibi-style online lobby characters and places them into something resembling a Mario Party-style experience.
It’s not necessarily the reason you’ll buy Fighting Souls, but it’s another option for players who want something different from traditional fighting matches.
Online Battles Are Where It Really Shines
While the single-player content is solid, competitive multiplayer is clearly where Fighting Souls expects players to spend most of their time.
The game uses rollback netcode, and on PS5, the experience is generally excellent.
Matches against other PS5 players are typically smooth and responsive, although connection quality will always depend partly on your opponent. Casual matchmaking can occasionally struggle to find opponents, but the overall online experience is remarkably polished.
Unfortunately, the PC version has encountered technical problems, and those issues can spill over into cross play.
Some matches can experience brief interruptions, including pauses during stage transitions. It’s disappointing, particularly for a game that relies heavily on competitive online play.
The good news is that the PS5 version itself is in fantastic shape.
A Presentation Worthy of Marvel
If there’s one area where Fighting Souls consistently impresses, it’s presentation.
The character animations are excellent, the environments are packed with detail and the soundtrack covers a surprisingly broad range of genres.
The voice acting is nothing less than impressive.
There are plenty of contextual lines and character interactions, helping matches feel more dynamic. Deadpool is particularly entertaining, with his dialogue frequently breaking the fourth wall and even referencing other fighting games.
The PS5 version also makes excellent use of the DualSense controller.
Haptic feedback adds subtle tactile effects throughout the game, including during the single-player episodes and various presentation sequences. It’s not something that fundamentally changes the gameplay, but it adds another layer of polish.
A Strong Foundation for the Future
Perhaps the most exciting aspect of Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls is that this feels like the beginning of something rather than the end.
Arc System Works has a strong history of supporting its fighting games over the long term. Both Guilty Gear Strive and Dragon Ball FighterZ have received extensive post-launch support.
That gives Fighting Souls a promising future.
The first DLC character, Phoenix Cyclops, is already planned, and the developers have discussed a much longer-term vision for the game.
Of course, that future depends on players continuing to support it, but based on the launch package, there’s plenty of reason to be optimistic.
Verdict
Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls is an excellent fighting game and one of the strongest new entries in the genre in recent years.
Its four-on-four mechanics give it a distinct identity, while the streamlined controls ensure newcomers aren’t completely overwhelmed. At the same time, the depth hidden within the tag and support systems should give competitive players plenty to master.
The Marvel roster is excellent, the character designs are outstanding and the presentation is arguably best-in-class.
The single-player offering isn’t quite as ambitious as Street Fighter 6, and the tag mechanics could be a little more responsive. The limited number of launch stages is also noticeable.
Most importantly, the PS5 version is exceptionally polished.
The PC port’s problems are unfortunate, particularly because they can affect cross play, but they don’t take away from what is an otherwise superb PS5 experience.
With strong combat, excellent presentation, an entertaining roster and plenty of room to grow, Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls isn’t simply another Marvel fighting game.
It’s a superhero brawler with a personality of its own.
Final Score: 9/10 – Excellent
