Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls delivers a striking visual experience, reflecting the spirit of comic books, fluid motion, and relentless brawling. After getting hands-on with a solid stretch of Sony and Arc System Works’ upcoming 4v4 tag fighter at Evo last week, I came back energized. Sure, I picked up my share of the usual convention cold, but it’s the sheer excitement around Tokon that keeps me up at night.
The game first showed up in a big way during Sony’s State of Play in June, and I was hooked almost immediately by the artwork’s lively, ink-and-water-inspired personality. Even better, it looks more impressive firsthand than it does in motion trailers and screenshots. Marvel fatigue is real for plenty of people, but the combination of bright colors and Arc System Works’ distinctive style refreshes the lineup in a way that feels genuinely energizing.
It doesn’t stop at the characters, either. The only stage I was able to play on takes place in a lively arena filled with charming landmarks—though more competitive players will be glad that the details don’t crowd the screen. You can spot major touches right away, like a grand statue honoring Marvel’s golden age heroes, plus smaller elements hidden for anyone paying attention. For example, there’s Matt Murdock listening in on the action from an apartment window.
This visual flair isn’t just decoration; it works like a blank page where Marvel Tokon pours its affection for Marvel comics into every stroke and splatter. And to be clear, not the movies—specifically the comics. Even the character selection screen generates a custom comic book cover once you commit to your team.
When the match begins, the linework shows up first, then the colors fade in, like the fight you’re about to jump into is being drawn in real time. As you unlock additional members of your full team, they appear inside comic panels as though they’ve just rushed into the fray. It’s a smart creative approach to capturing a comic book look—one that only Arc System Works really could pull off.
With all that style in place, I’m comfortable saying Marvel Tokon offers an inventive, almost experimental take on the tag format. If you’re new to the idea, tag fighters have often been among the more intimidating flavors of fighting games, thanks to their breakneck pace, demanding execution requirements, and the constant sense that something is happening at every moment. Marvel vs Capcom, for instance, has turned away many hopeful players. Still, with the upcoming 2XKO and Invincible VS, the category is starting to get a bit of momentum again. Marvel Tokon’s goal is to streamline the experience, while still giving players plenty of room to show off skill.
Tokon is a 4v4 fighter, but you don’t start the match with all four characters available. Instead, you begin with two, then earn the rest by playing. Each stage is split into three parts, and you can push opponents toward the other zones to unlock one of your teammates. You can even earn an unlock by losing a round. Because of that, Tokon ratchets up in intensity over the course of a match, ending each one with a hard-charging free-for-all as heroes sprint in from off-screen—colliding with enemies, crashing into other fighters’ beam blasts, and landing heavy strikes. Chaos like this usually shows up right away in many games, but Marvel Tokon builds pressure gradually, reaching its most explosive moment in the final round.
I also noticed that it can shove opponents beyond the stage boundaries, similar to how Arc System Works handled that in Guilty Gear: Strive. Using a throw or landing a blowback-style attack on an enemy triggers the transition to a new stage section. It brings some advantages, but it also resets each character to neutral positioning, removing any guaranteed spatial edge.
I do have a question about what this could mean for the long-term flow of a Marvel Tokon match. It makes you wonder whether removing corner pressure—meaning the challenge of defending when you’re backed into a wall—only affects gameplay at the outer ends of those three-section stages, or whether it could take away meaningful offensive opportunities that seasoned players have earned. That said, it’s simply too early to tell. For now, it’s worth keeping an eye on.
Alongside everything else, Marvel Tokon also includes link combos that let players hit a single button repeatedly (light, medium, or heavy) to deal big damage, as well as a quick skill option that removes the need for directional inputs on special moves. Together, that’s what makes Marvel Tokon an especially welcoming tag fighter. We’re looking at a level of newcomer accessibility comparable to Riot Games’ 2XKO—and it’s reasonable to think it may even be aiming for a similar audience.
It’s still very early for Marvel Tokon, but based on first impressions, the collaboration between Marvel, Sony, and Arc System Works feels like a strong match. This is decades of comic-book mythology pared down to its heroic core, brought to life through bold originality while still honoring the classic tone. Even as an early build, it already shows a real grasp of what makes Marvel resonate years down the line, plus a thoughtful, energetic approach to introducing an external license to the fighting game space—with care and respect.