The first public playtest for Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls, available on PlayStation 5 and PC, has concluded, leaving a divided player base grappling with both technical shortcomings and gameplay critiques. While the weekend event attracted a solid peak of 33,233 players on Steam, many experienced significant issues that overshadowed the game's visual flair and combo potential.
Players encountered a rocky start as a PlayStation Network outage rendered the game unplayable for some. This was followed by extended server maintenance. A more persistent problem emerged with the PC port, which many described as being in a "very rough shape." Reports and videos surfaced detailing glitchy visuals and severe frame drops, with the game demanding substantial PC resources despite its stylized aesthetic. Even launching the game could be a slow process, with a choppy PlayStation Studios intro taking several minutes to load due to hitches.
Despite efforts by players to implement workarounds like pre-compiling shaders and adjusting Nvidia control panel settings, achieving a stable 60 frames per second proved challenging. This performance barrier is particularly critical for fighting games, where smooth gameplay is paramount. Speculation among players pointed towards aggressive anti-piracy DRM and forced PlayStation Network integration as potential culprits for the performance issues. Even for those not directly experiencing technical problems, online play could become choppy if an opponent's system was struggling.
Arc System Works has acknowledged these issues and promised to investigate them. For players who could engage with the game, opinions on its core mechanics were mixed. On the positive side, social media quickly filled with clips showcasing elaborate combos and complex resource management. The diversity of the cast was also praised, with players highlighting varied playstyles, such as Spider-Man's ability to frustrate opponents and Black Panther's mix-up potential.
The game's aesthetic received widespread acclaim, with many agreeing that Marvel Tokon looks gorgeous, featuring flashy animations and inspired character designs. Magik, in particular, stood out as a fan favorite. She was the most selected fighter at Vibranium rank, the second-highest tier in the ranked mode, and garnered additional praise for her idle animation and overall presentation as a powerful character wielding a large sword. Her popularity mirrors her status as an X-Men fan favorite in other titles like Marvel Rivals and Marvel Snap.
However, a significant portion of the player base expressed disappointment with the game's pacing. Compared to many other tag fighting games, Marvel Tokon was frequently described as slow. Character movement speeds were perceived as sluggish, air movement felt floaty, and attacks often had considerable recovery frames, contributing to a general feeling of sluggishness. This slower pace was seen as counterintuitive for a tag fighter, a genre typically known for its rapid, mix-up-heavy gameplay.
Many of Marvel Tokon's systems appear designed to limit high-speed offensive plays, with considerable protection on cross-ups and slow overhead attacks. Top player Sonic Fox reportedly commented that the game felt like a constant struggle against its own mechanics. While opportunities for opponent mix-ups exist, they often felt like an afterthought rather than a core design element.
Further gameplay concerns included a "wonky" input reader, which frequently registered accidental moves. Specifically, the game often misinterpreted uppercut motions as quarter-circle inputs unless executed with extreme precision. With the official release date of August 6 for PC and PS5 approaching, it remains to be seen how many of these issues Arc System Works can address in the remaining time. The beta has offered a glimpse into the game's potential, but significant hurdles in both technical performance and core gameplay pacing need to be overcome before its full launch.