Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls is everything I was hoping for. Although I’ve not seen everything it has to offer, I’m confident that when the fighter releases, it’s going to be one of my favourite titles of 2026. I can see how many purists might expect more from the combat, but as someone who wants to dive in from the off and find familiarity with the roster and its various movesets, I couldn’t have been any happier. This open beta gave me hope that the full release will be everything I wanted and more.
Arc System Works has made a stunning fighter. As far as presentation goes, seldom games have looked this good. the anime-inspired character designs are flawless. Bold design with additional flair make them feel different yet familiar at the same time. It’s so colourful and striking, with every character popping right off the screen. Each stage is also filled with such a vivacity, too. My favourite being the X-Mansion, as heroes like Beast, Gambit, Iceman, and Charles Xavier are all chilling in the background.
All these little details are presented in such a fun way. There’re tons of Easter Eggs littered throughout the various stages, but also the Episodes. These Episodes are a way to experience different stories about how the various teams get together. The one available in the open beta is ‘Amazing Guardians.’ It tells the story of Spider-Man meeting Ms Marvel, Star-Lord, and Peni Parker. Told through a mix of visual novel and comic book panels, it’s fun, engaging, and so stylish. Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls is catering to fans in the best way.
When it comes down to the combat, there are going to be those that want more freedom with combos and button inputs, and those who love the simplicity of it. Each fighter has a light, medium, and strong attack. Hitting each, either the light over and over, or a mixture offers different results. At the beginning of every battle, it’s always 1v1 until different conditions are met. Gradually, teammates get added. Eventually, these 4v4 matches become an intense battle between teams of heroes and villains.
You can call in heroes to assist with one button. However, press that button with a directional prompt and you get a different attack. You can rack up combos with your heroes while switching to control them as well. Each character also has unique attacks, along with buffed versions of attacks. There’re also special movies that can be utilised as well. These do more damage, but your skill gauge needs to have enough in it to pull off these moves. There’s quite a bit to take in, but it won’t take long before you understand how fighting works.
What Marvel Tokon does so well is allow you to learn the basics quickly. Then, with this knowledge in place, you can experiment with different teams and movesets. Seeing how each character works with others was where I found most of the fun. It’s going to be disheartening stepping online and getting destroyed because there’re are a lot of great players around the world. I’m not one of those, unfortunately. However, there feels enough for the solo player, specifically the Episodes.
When the game releases fully, there’re other modes to explore and enjoy, but off the bat, I’m in love with Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls. The combat is simple yet intricate if you’re willing to experiment. Visually, it’s one of the best looking fighters I’ve seen. For Marvel fans, there’re plenty of cool references. For fighting fans, this features such a smooth and sophisticated battle system with lots to get familiar with. Once it clicks, there’s a great satisfaction to it. I cannot wait until release day.
Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls is coming to PS5 and PC on August 6th.
