The Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls beta came and went, leaving fighting game fans eager for more of that sweet tag fighter action. After playing for close to 10 hours, I can say Tokon has a lot going for it, particularly in the gameplay department (as one would expect from Arc System Works), but there’s still room for tweaks that would make the game even more rewarding.
Right out of the gate, the presentation is reminiscent of those old arcade Marvel games from the 90s: a bombastic announcer introduces the game’s title before your standard tutorial kicks off. It was very extensive, covering every mechanic the game has to offer. Although not quite up to par with ones I’ve seen from Street Fighter 6, if you’re not familiar with tag fighters, it does a decent job of giving you the basic tools before sending you on your way to online lobbies.
A big downside of this beta period, besides the somewhat restrictive times you could play, was the lack of any training mode. It’s understandable, as the whole point is to test server connectivity, but recent betas like Street Fighter 6 and 2XKO did allow players to practice combos without the stress of fighting an opponent.
Once it was finally time to duke it out with some iconic Marvel heroes and villains like Iron Man, Captain America, Dr. Doom, or Star-Lord (sadly, despite being revealed, characters like Ghost Rider and Spider-Man were not available during the beta), the game felt very good to control, and perhaps most importantly, unique.
Tokon combines a bit of Dragon Ball FighterZ with Granblue Fantasy Versus. There are auto combos that change properties depending on which version you’re mashing (light, medium, heavy), as well as simple inputs for special moves (you can still do motion inputs for an extra bit of damage).
It is a great way to get newcomers not to feel overwhelmed; however, it came to a point during my final hours of playtime that it became a bit frustrating to play against people constantly mashing auto combo and getting infinitely more rewarded than by using more intricate combos, which combined manually timed assists and special moves.
That’s one gripe Tokon does get to fix in future betas and the full release. Auto combos should not be close to optimal; however, they still should be good enough to get newer players the serotonin boost they need to chase growth. It’s a tough act to balance, but Arc Sys has proved with DBFZ that they can pull it off.
Combining the strict beta times with no training mode meant that, sadly, I didn’t get much chance to experiment with a lot of the more nuanced mechanics, opting to rock a single character for the majority of my time: Iron Man. Visually, this is perhaps one of Tony Stark’s best designs in anything I’ve seen, including comics, films, and other video games. The first-look video shown back at the June State of Play made a point of using Iron Man as the perfect example for the style Arc Sys was going for, and they nailed it perfectly: a slick, mecha-like suit of armor that gets complemented with some incredible gameplay.
As expected, Iron Man is a zoning-demon, able to use his repulsor blasts, missiles, and other neat tricks to keep the opponent at bay, however, he also gets some amazing mobility, able to eight-way dash and even float for a few seconds, making him an extremely versatile character that can pester with a ton of projectiles or mix you up when he decides to get close.
Feeling that I was getting better, leaving the auto combo training wheels behind, felt fun. Towards the end of my play session, I was able to pull off some more intricate combo routings that mixed heavy launchers into dive kicks with assist extensions that led into super for wallbreak. Which led me to another big gripe: corner control is key in fighting games. In Tokon, you are somewhat incentivized to “break the wall” (similar to Guilty Gear Strive) in order to gain an extra assist. Breaking the wall with super in Strive at least gives you a hard knockdown to continue pressure, that doesn’t exist in Tokon: you’re choosing between adding an extra assist or retaining corner control.
As for how the rollback worked, it was fine. It is a beta, and while Arc Sys is one of the best developers when it comes to crafting a more than competent netcode, I experienced a few hiccups here and there. Noticeable rollback, and even outright disconnects. I’ve no doubt the devs will figure it out as they’ve got a proven track record, so not too fuzzed about it, but it was still worth mentioning.
Visually, the game also has a very clear identity: it’s going for a very comic-book style, with colorful impact frames and stage transitions that literally look like multiple comic panels. The music also played a big part in my enjoyment, with some incredible tracks taking the spotlight, particularly Star-Lords: an 80s-inspired synth-rock banger that fits the character perfectly.
Overall, for a first impression, Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls is hitting all the right notes, and I can’t wait to see what Arc System Works has in store for further betas and the impending full launch of the game. I do hope they get a bit more creative with the character choices and give us an unexpected goofball to add some variety.
That’s it, stick with us at Gfinityesports.com: your best source for all things Marvel Tokon.