Introduction

There have been plenty of crossover fighting games over the years — Marvel vs. Capcom, Tekken X Street Fighter, and many others — but it’s been a long time since we got a Marvel-only fighting game where the entire roster comes from within the same franchise. That’s exactly why I was so excited for MARVEL Tokon: Fighting Souls. Some of my favorite Marvel characters just going at each other with everything they have. Add to that the fact that the developer is Arc System Works, who need very little introduction at this point, and my excitement was sky-high. I played the closed beta, waited patiently for the full release, and now it’s finally here. Is MARVEL Tokon: Fighting Souls the next great fighting game, or has Arc System Works finally delivered a dud? We find out in our MARVEL Tokon: Fighting Souls review for PS5!

Gameplay

MARVEL Tokon: Fighting Souls is a 4-character tag fighter, but its mechanics don’t follow the most traditional ruleset. On paper, it plays like any standard fighter: low, mid, and heavy attacks, special moves, grabs, and launchers. Where it diverges significantly is in how the tag system works.

First, and importantly: your chosen team of four Marvel titans shares a single HP bar rather than each character having their own. On top of that, the shared bar depletes quickly, which keeps fights snappy and intense. Your team also shares an ultimate bar that powers several special attacks, all of which can be triggered through the auto combo system. We’ll get to auto combos shortly, because they’re one of the more contentious elements of MARVEL Tokon: Fighting Souls.

Learning the full breadth of mechanics (how to call in assists, how to counter specific attacks, and how to move beyond auto combos) will take some time, but the game does a solid job teaching you the baseline. Beyond the early tutorial, the Episode Mode (the game’s story mode) lets you cycle through all available characters and see how each one plays, which is a great way to find who clicks before taking things online. With 20 playable characters at launch and DLC adding more, there’s plenty to explore.

MARVEL Tokon: Fighting Souls offers several modes for those who aren’t ready to dive into online competition. There’s Episode Mode (which I’ll explain further in the Story section), a standard Battle Mode similar to Arcade, and a surprisingly deep Survival Mode that pits you through hundreds of battles with saveable progress and earnable perks. The progression feels rewarding and gives offline players a genuine long-term goal.

Online is split into Ranked, Casual, and Tournament. Ranked is exactly what it sounds like. Casual drops you into open lobbies to fight friends or strangers. Tournament mode facilitates community-run events with custom rules. As for the netcode itself: mostly good, occasionally rough. In my hours online, most matches ran cleanly with minimal lag or drops. When a connection does go bad though, be prepared for constant error popups or the game struggling to render what’s even happening on screen. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it’s frustrating. Also: expect rage quits in Ranked. It’s basically guaranteed.

MARVEL Tokon: Fighting Souls‘ biggest weakness is its accessibility ceiling. I won’t pretend I’m a top-level fighting game player (I’m average at best despite the years I’ve put in), but the ease with which fights can be cheesed here is noticeable. The auto combo system is designed to be welcoming to newcomers, and while auto combos deal less damage than proper manual strings, I’ve watched enough online matches to see them used to win even at higher levels of play. Fighting game purists will be frustrated by this. I understand why the accessibility was prioritized (this is a Marvel-branded title aiming for a broad audience) but a game still needs a meaningful skill ceiling, and that feels limited here. Character balance is also an issue at launch. Doctor Doom, Carnage, and Green Goblin in particular can string together combos that feel nearly impossible to answer, even for seasoned players.

Graphics

Heavily inspired by Japanese anime and manga while carrying the DNA of American comics, MARVEL Tokon: Fighting Souls has a lot of visual personality. As a lifelong Marvel fan, I have varying feelings about some of the design choices. Characters carry a strongly anime-heavy aesthetic (Iron Man’s armor is giving major Gundam energy), but that’s very much what this game commits to and runs with. Stages are pulled directly from the Marvel universe, filled with hidden nods and homages for fans to discover — assuming you can pay attention to the background while being punched in the face by Captain America or torn asunder by Carnage.

In Episode Mode, the visuals are a bit hit and miss. The comic book panel presentation is a nice touch but can look cheap and rushed in places. The animated cutscenes, however, are full-on anime fan service, and the opening (more on that in the Sound section) genuinely made me wish MARVEL Tokon: Fighting Souls was a full anime series. Some players will be put off by the aesthetic direction, but my love of anime probably makes me warmer toward it than most.

Sound

MARVEL Tokon: Fighting Souls sounds excellent, and that starts with the opening. “Stronger as One”, powered by artists including Keiko Terada, mayu, and MEG, immediately sets the tone and makes it clear this game’s music is going to bring the energy. The in-game OST follows through, matching the anime-infused visual style with tracks that pump you up during fights and sell the spectacle of the moment.

Voice acting is strong across the board, with many characters reprised by talent from their respective Marvel animated works. A few voice choices in the English cast don’t quite match their characters in my personal opinion, but that’s a subjective feeling rather than a quality issue. Overall, the sound department is one of MARVEL Tokon: Fighting Souls‘ most consistent strengths.

Story

Let’s be honest: MARVEL Tokon: Fighting Souls‘ story isn’t particularly original, either for a fighting game or for a Marvel narrative. A cosmic threat forces the world’s greatest fighters together and puts Earth’s fate in the hands of heroes and villains is about the only way this premise was ever going to work. And it works fine — I didn’t dislike the character interactions, and the game is packed with fan service moments that Marvel fans will love — but the narrative itself has been done before and doesn’t do much to distinguish itself. Realistically though, how many people came to MARVEL Tokon: Fighting Souls for the story? Most of us just want to see who wins in a fight between Doctor Doom and Magneto.

Overall Impression

As both an Arc System Works fan and a fighting game player, I genuinely enjoy MARVEL Tokon: Fighting Souls. There’s plenty here that needs work — character balance patches, online improvements, and a deeper skill ceiling would all go a long way. But there’s also plenty to appreciate: a stacked roster, a unique visual identity, and solid tag fighter fundamentals that make for an entertaining experience. Whether it earns a place among the great tag fighters is another question. But as a Marvel-focused fighting game after a long drought of exactly that, it delivers.

Conclusion

MARVEL Tokon: Fighting Souls was never going to be Arc System Works’ finest hour, but it tries its hardest to reach that tier. A huge character roster, a bold visual style, and a variety of gameplay modes make it genuinely accessible for newcomers and entertaining for veterans. It drops the ball in areas that keep it from ever reaching the heights of something like Marvel vs. Capcom — but let’s be real, I doubt any tag fighter will surpass that franchise (not counting the last one). As a Marvel fan, I love MARVEL Tokon: Fighting Souls and plan to keep playing it until the next big fighter pulls my attention away. And that, honestly, is exactly what you want from a game like this.