Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls, the latest entry from Arc System Works, attempts to redefine the tag fighter genre, a space largely defined by the Marvel Vs. Capcom series. While it draws comparisons to its predecessors, Tokon establishes its own identity through a refined fighting system and a distinct visual style, aiming to stand alongside the genre's giants.

A New Approach to Team Combat

The most significant departure in Marvel Tokon is its four-on-four gameplay. Unlike traditional tag fighters where each character has their own life bar, all four chosen heroes share a single life bar in Tokon. Matches are won by securing three out of five rounds. This change fundamentally alters how players approach team composition and combat. Players can opt to focus on a single powerful point character supported by assists, or they can develop proficiency with multiple fighters to incorporate advanced tagging strategies. This design choice aims to make the tag format more accessible to newcomers while still offering depth for experienced players.

Further innovating the tag system, players begin a match with only two active characters: a point fighter and one assist. The remaining two assists must be unlocked during the match. This can occur through executing a wall break, which transitions the fight to a new arena and allows for character "assembly," or by losing a round, which unlocks an additional fighter for the subsequent round. This mechanic serves as a form of dynamic balancing, ensuring that a player with an early lead doesn't necessarily maintain a full roster advantage indefinitely. The gradual unlocking of the roster creates distinct strategic phases within each match, leading to unpredictable and engaging gameplay.

Special move inputs are simplified, adopting a system similar to Super Smash Bros. where a combination of button presses and directional inputs executes special moves. While advanced inputs are available for those seeking greater mastery, a basic set of commands allows new players to perform unique moves immediately. Assists function similarly, with an option to instantly switch control to an assist character by holding L2, enabling seamless combo extensions.

A Curated Roster and Character Deep Dives

The game features an initial roster of 20 characters, a number that may seem modest compared to some past tag fighters, but it contributes to the balanced approach. This smaller pool allows new players to learn matchups more effectively and veterans to quickly find their preferred characters. The roster includes established Marvel favorites like Captain America, Iron Man, and Doctor Doom, alongside characters making their fighting game debut, such as Carnage, Star-Lord, Blade, and Loki. The inclusion of Danger, the sentient X-Men training facility, offers a more obscure, yet intriguing, addition.

Deadpool is a standout inclusion, not just for his popularity but for how Arc System Works has integrated his fourth-wall-breaking personality. His character is a meta-commentary on fighting game history, replete with references to other titles. While some references are obvious, such as Scorpion's spear from Mortal Kombat, the depth of these nods extends to more obscure nods that reward dedicated fans and may even introduce newer players to forgotten aspects of gaming history.

Personal favorites among the roster include Peni Parker, whose drone-based distractions set up high-damage attacks, and Ms. Marvel, whose extendable limbs keep opponents on their toes. Black Panther (Shuri) also offers an enjoyable playstyle, though mastering Green Goblin's glider-focused approach is an ongoing challenge.

Diverse Modes and Online Performance

Marvel Tokon offers a range of single-player and online modes. The Episodes mode presents five distinct story campaigns, each animated by a different artist, providing a concise narrative experience that clocks in at about an hour per episode. All-Star Arena offers a more traditional arcade-style challenge with selectable paths against CPU opponents. Survival mode acts as a gauntlet, pitting players against up to 100 battles with health regeneration and boss encounters.

Arcadia Rumble introduces a hybrid mode that mixes standard matches with arena-style challenges where players collect items to score points and power up their characters. While entertaining in short bursts and offering a novel party game experience, it may not appeal to players who prefer to focus solely on traditional fighting mechanics.

The online suite includes ranked matches, casual matches, and custom lobbies. The Open Lobby provides a unique experience where players navigate a chibi-style world with customizable avatars, challenging others at arcade machines. This mode offers minor minigames and the thrill of engaging in matches with other players within a virtual arcade environment.

Playing on PlayStation 5, online connections have been consistently strong thanks to rollback netcode, with minimal technical issues reported. However, the PC version of the game has faced significant launch problems, including connection issues and performance drops both online and offline. While patches are being developed to address these problems, the initial experience for PC players has been substantially different and more problematic than on consoles. Until these issues are fully resolved, the PC version's stability remains a concern.

Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls succeeds in revitalizing the tag fighter genre with its innovative mechanics and engaging roster. If Arc System Works can successfully address the technical shortcomings on PC, the game is poised to become a foundational title for modern fighting games.