I love fighting games as much as I love comic books. Growing up, I was a massive fan of games like Street Fighter, X-Men: Children of the Atom, and of course, Marvel vs Capcom 2. So of course, during Sony’s State of Play last June, when I saw the initial announcement trailer for MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls, I completely lost my mind! I’ve been a fan of Arc System Works for a very long time, with games like Dragon Ball FighterZ and Blazblue Crosstag Battle. So now having my favourite Marvel characters in a brand-new fighting game, I knew that this was something I would be interested in.
I had the opportunity to play the latest demo build of MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls, the same demo on the EVO show floor this year. The demo featured 15 of the confirmed 20 characters planned for launch, along with two additional options—Black Panther and Magneto. I played the demo for approximately an hour, which allowed me to become familiar with the full roster of characters. The build included six stages to choose from, including New York City, which offers both daytime and nighttime variants.
Upon entering the playtest area, I was delighted to see that I would be able to play against a fellow journalist during this hour-long session. I really enjoyed this as we were both learning this game in real time. We were given a cheat sheet with all of the characters’ movesets that we could flip through during the match. I skimmed through it and allowed my fighting game muscle memory to do most of the heavy lifting.
MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls is an eight-button fighting game with some interesting mechanics. You have your basic light, medium, and heavy attacks, as well as your assist and assemble buttons that can be used for your ultimate full team attacks. You also have the option to have three specialized quick-action buttons for skills, dash and throws.
For my initial round, I chose Wolverine, Spider-Man, and of course, Doctor Doom. Having some experience with the game’s alpha version, I had a general understanding of the gameplay. I played the demo using a DualSense controller, but typically, I prefer to play fighting games with a fight stick, so it took some time for me to adjust to using a controller. Additionally, I reminded myself that I was not playing Marvel vs. Capcom 3; while I love that game and have spent many hours playing it, the move sets in MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls are quite different from those in Marvel vs. Capcom 3.
“…the move sets in MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls are quite different from those in Marvel vs. Capcom 3…”
The combat in the game was very smooth and enjoyable. I have experience with many tag-battle games, but MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls offers a uniquely different experience. Notably, your team consists of four characters, which differs from the traditional two or three. Each match is a best-of-three, and after each round, one of your four characters is added to your squad. This setup allows for a great deal of strategic planning when building your team. Each character can be assigned a role—such as leader, shooter, vertical, or assault—providing numerous possibilities for team composition. Additionally, the game can generate a customized name for your squad based on your choices.
Though I already played the alpha, I really enjoyed this much-improved demo of MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls. The fighting mechanics did take a little bit of time to get used to, but once I figured it out, things started to click immediately. Though this isn’t a Marvel Vs Capcom game, MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls stands on its own as something that could be taken very seriously as a top-tier fighting game.
I am a massive fan of Arc System Works, and they did not disappoint with MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls. I look forward to playing the full game when it releases.
MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls releases on PlayStation 5 and PC on August 6, 2026.
- Pre-Order Bonuses Include: Infinity Gauntlet (Lobby Equipment), Baby Groot (Lobby Pet), Cosmic Surf Board (Lobby Ride)
- Assemble your team of legendary Marvel characters in the ultimate 4v4 tag team fighter from PlayStation Studios, Arc System Works and Marvel Games.
