Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls arrives with the heavy legacy of the Marvel vs. Capcom series, a franchise cherished for its breakneck speed and iconic moments. While this new entry, developed by Arc System Works, certainly attempts to forge its own identity, early impressions suggest it struggles to live up to the expectations set by its predecessors, both in terms of gameplay and technical polish.
Visually, Marvel Tokon is a standout achievement. Arc System Works, known for its work on titles like Guilty Gear and Dragon Ball FighterZ, has crafted a striking aesthetic. Characters blend classic comic designs with a sharp anime sensibility, brought to life with fluid animations and spectacular visual flourishes, such as the afterimages left by character movements and over-the-top energy attacks. Deadpool, for instance, breaks the fourth wall with a barrage of fighting game references, showcasing the meticulous attention to detail in character presentation.
The game's story mode also shows considerable promise. Set up as a tournament arc where Earth's greatest fighters face the Champion of the Universe to prevent planetary destruction, the narrative is presented through a blend of motion comics and anime cutscenes. Award-winning comic writer Kieron Gillen contributes to the script, allowing for small character moments within the grander plot. With five distinct playable storylines, each focusing on a different team of four characters, the mode offers a narrative depth that could appeal beyond the core fighting game community.
However, Marvel Tokon is currently plagued by significant technical issues, particularly on Windows PC. The PC port is poorly optimized, leading to persistent frame rate drops even on high-end hardware like an RTX 3080, making a stable 60 FPS difficult to achieve. Early reports indicate that even users with powerful machines are experiencing unavoidable micro-stutters. These performance problems extend to online play, where an opponent's low framerate can directly impact the smoothness of gameplay, regardless of one's own connection quality. This has contributed to a dismal user rating on Steam, with speculation pointing towards Sony's anti-cheat software and mandatory PlayStation Network integration as potential culprits for the poor PC performance.
Even on consoles, away from the PC-specific woes, Marvel Tokon's core gameplay feels sluggish and internally conflicted. The game's movement, including sprinting and air dashes, is notably slow, seemingly an attempt to avoid overwhelming newcomers. Attacks also feel lethargic, with significant startup and recovery times. This deliberate pacing clashes with the game's nature as a four-on-four tag fighter, which naturally lends itself to projectile spam and chaotic situations. High-level play is already seeing the emergence of complex, potentially overwhelming sequences and mix-ups.
The resulting experience attempts to balance a beginner-friendly pace with the high-octane possibilities of a tag fighter, but it satisfies neither audience fully. It lacks the tactical depth of slower, ground-based fighters and the speed and skill expression found in older air-dash-focused titles. Players who have been put off by recent Arc System Works releases like Guilty Gear Strive or DNF Duel may find similar design choices here to be problematic.
Furthermore, the game appears to facilitate overly long pressure sequences with limited opportunities for the defender to retaliate. While a "Crossover" mechanic exists to allow defenders to spend meter to create space, attackers can potentially counter this, prolonging combos and pressure. This could lead to gameplay where players spend extended periods blocking, waiting for an opening, which may not be an engaging experience for many.
While Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls might gain more appeal as players discover advanced strategies and leverage its tag mechanics, its current design issues and severe performance problems on PC present a significant hurdle. The launch suggests a game that has yet to find its cohesive identity, falling short of the heroic offering many fans might have hoped for.