I couldn’t believe it when site founder/editor David Silbert told me that I first shared my impressions of Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls back in September of 2025. I’ve been playing so much of it for so long that I was surprised it’s been that long. However, that extended open beta period should be seen as proof that extensive testing works — developer Arc System Works (“ArcSys”) has fine-tuned Tōkon into an incredible video game fighter.

With fighting games, it can feel like there is never enough time to polish, but that isn’t the case here. After 11 months in beta, Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls has refined an experience that combines some of the best ideas of modern fighting games with true Marvel Comics lore.

My initial impression of Marvel Tōkon left me stoked for what could be one of the best fighting games we’ve seen this generation and beyond. From the comic-inspired designs and flashy scene transitions to how each character attacks and moves, Marvel Tōkon felt like something truly special.

Humble Beginnings: The Beta Tests

However, my September 2025 optimism was crushed by the gameplay of Tōkon’s December 2025 beta test. It was overbalanced compared to what I had first seen in September. I desperately felt the game needed more defensive options, because getting caught in possible endless combos, let’s face it, sucks. Additionally, characters felt a lot different than the first beta, almost slower and showing off less flair. My experience in matches consisted of either A) players who were doing 18-hit combos with Star-Lord or B) lackluster slugfests where we barely moved screens. 

ArcSys delivers one of the best new fighting games we’ve seen in a while, offering us the Saturday morning cartoon hand-to-hand action we used to reenact with action figures.

Fortunately, this was all corrected in the July open beta, which I played a lot of. With almost the entire roster at play and the furious fighting speed I anticipated, it was by far my best experience to date with the title, which officially launched on August 6. ArcSys handled the defensive issue by adjusting many characters’ combos, making it harder to string hits together endlessly without knowing the move sets well.

Following its hit 2D-fighting series Guilty Gear and BlazBlue, ArcSys shows it could have another hit on its hands with Marvel Tōkon’s layered combat system — one I anticipate competitive fans will love for years. Granted, over the last 24 hours since launch, many PC players have reported lag and other issues, despite the game performing smoothly on PlayStation 5. That said, if you can get Marvel Tōkon to work, you’ll have an amazing time, even if you’re brand new to fighting games.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Fighter

Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls is very beginner-friendly. A lot of people still look at fighting games as a niche genre that they missed the boat on because they don’t already play them. Marvel Tōkon lowers the barrier of entry with simple light, medium, and heavy attack options. Each character has a special skill that smoothly breaks up routine attack patterns and forces players to anticipate what their opponent could attempt.  

Teams are composed of four fighters. You start each match with just two (your controlled character and one assist/tag fighter) but unlock additional characters by smashing your opponent into new parts of the fighting area or by advancing the round. These assists are vital to battle strategy; by finding the right timing, you can extend attacks that otherwise might break your combo flow, interrupt your opponent, or counter them.

Tips for New Players in Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls

• Smashing a singular attack type by itself will lead to an auto-combo of an ultimate skill. So, it’s important to use each character’s special skills to mix up combos and not get blocked immediately.
• Don’t be afraid to use your meter. Special skills can be enhanced with a bit of skill gauge, evolving into enhanced (EX) move sets that punish enemy mistakes.
• Your Burst is a failsafe available once per round to escape combos. This will help smooth the defensive experience if you’re caught in other players’ relentless attacks.
• Assists are a great opportunity to switch characters. With the right timing, your old character can block attacks for you like a decoy shield.
• The best way to get better at the game is to simply run as many bouts as possible in casual matchmaking. You’ll get to see what the latest strategies are and test out your team combos on opponents. 

Finally, ultimate skills and team assemblies provide the momentum-shifting, single-move health damage needed to swing the momentum of a match.  It really feels like a superhero team working together.

Marvel Tōkon Default Teams: Building the Squad

The final roster caps out at 20 characters, with four DLC characters coming over the next year. Organized into teams of four, you’ll learn how these teams formed in the game’s story campaign, “Episode Mode.” The characters and teams are as follows:

• Unbreakable X-Men: Storm, Magik, Wolverine, Danger
• Amazing Guardians: Spider-Man, Ms. Marvel, Star-Lord, Peni Parker
• Fighting Avengers: Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, Black Panther
• Knights of Doom: Doctor Doom, Magneto, Green Goblin, Carnage
• Samurai Outriders: Ghost Rider, Blade, Loki, Deadpool

While these default teams aren’t required, they are good references to help balance out your preferred team. At a glance, this roster is a mix of close-combat, ranged, defensive, heavy-hitting, agile, and versatile characters. Finding the right balance of who works with your play style versus who fits in your team will determine your final lineup. Thankfully, there’s no right or wrong setup, leaving it up to the player to explore. 

Marvel Tōkon Characters From the MCU

Most characters appearing here will be familiar if you’ve played Marvel Rivals or tuned into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) any time in the last decade. However, a really neat thing about palette swaps (e.g., Cosmetic appearances) in Tōkon is that they’re references to existing costumes for many characters. I appreciate ArcSys’ effort to keep Tōkon as more of a comics spin-off than most superhero-influenced games. 

Here are a few of Marvel Tōkon’s stand-out characters (and palette swaps):

Black Panther

This game’s Black Panther is Shuri, building nicely from the MCU’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. It’s really cool to see her as both queen and “Chief Scientist.” Maybe we’ll get T’Challa’s son appearing later since Marvel recently announced Black Panther 3, slated for December 15, 2028. 

Green Goblin

Green Goblin appears as his usual cantankerous self, but one of his palette swaps is actually Hobgoblin. Historically, Hobgoblin’s a character who has taken the perfected formula that drove Norman Osborne crazy.

Hulk

Hulk appears in a style reminiscent of Planet Hulk, which is probably an acknowledgement of that story arc from the comics. In that series, a secret group thought Hulk was considered too dangerous and sent him away to another planet to fight like a Gladiator.

The Story Thus Far…

July’s open beta was the first time the game’s story campaign, Episode Mode, was shown off. While I haven’t gotten to dive in since launch, it was clear from the open beta that the story explores the motivations behind each team’s formation and what’s at stake. From what’s been shown, the developers have found intentional and comical ways to explain how these teams were formed using original comic panels designed for the game. 

Outside of Episode Mode, there is the standard Versus Mode for fighting against another player or the CPU. If you need to practice, you can hop into the Training Mode and work on your team combinations or refine your favorite character’s combos. There’s also, of course, a Ranked Mode. Still, casual matchmaking is the best not just for fun, but for testing out combinations and skills. There are a few different ways to set up casual matches; the most common is simply one win (three rounds per fight), but some can go up to three wins if you want to really up the stakes with your fellow competitors.

Speaking of which, the online experience offers an open lobby where you run around with a character of your choice’s avatar. The lobbies are bigger than ever, with iconic areas from the Marvel universe filled with arcade machines acting as the hub for competitive battle. Customization options for characters have expanded, providing four palette swaps for each character’s costume and more costumes for each character coming down the line. Additionally, avatars can equip different items like the Silver Surfer’s board (if you pre-ordered at GameStop) and similar unique items like a purchasable lobby pet. These little details make even the lobby feel playful.

Simply put, Marvel Tōkon is fun.

Saturday Morning Cartoon Fighting

ArcSys delivers one of the best new fighting games we’ve seen in a while, offering us the Saturday morning cartoon hand-to-hand action we used to reenact with action figures. It’s unclear how it will compete long-term with juggernauts like Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, or Tekken, but there is a clear niche and audience ready to play this game. 

Simply put, Marvel Tōkon is fun.

It’s an exciting time for fighting game fans and newcomers alike, with a growing number of IPs offering their own universe’s take on the genre. Avatar Legends launched at the end of July, 2XKO finally released at the beginning of the year, and Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero is getting another DLC update. Similarly, it’s a good sign for the industry, as maintaining these games keeps revenue flowing in and people on the payroll.

Speaking of updates, expect Phoenix Cyclops as the first new character being added to Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls this fall. I’m still hoping we get more X-Men (give me Bishop or Jubilee!), but I anticipate we’ll get more villains and anti-heroes instead. Based on how ArcSys filled out the rest of this roster (Carnage over Venom is a choice), it feels like anybody’s name could be called.

Until then, good luck suiting up!

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Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls, developed by Arc System Works in collaboration with PlayStation Studios (XDEV) and Marvel Games, released on August 6, 2026, for PC and PlayStation 5. MSRP: $59.99. Version played: PlayStation 5 (via July open beta).