Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls Review

Round 1: Fierce Start

What’s going on everyone, it’s ShadowJin here coming in with the review of probably one of THEE most hyped fighters of the year, Ladies and Gentlemen, MARVEL TOKON FIGHTING SOULS!!! Yes, that’s right, it’s finally out for the public to play after waiting what feels like forever for it to be released. Arc System really put in a lot of love and dedication into this project, and you can tell. They dug really deep into the lore of Marvel and pulled it off with some very unique characters. 

For example, The Champion, the main antagonist of the story, first appeared in the comics in 1982 and has only appeared a handful of times. That’s an interesting pull, and that’s coming from a big Marvel fan. This game is just a love letter to Marvel fans but also to fans of fighting games. Even though it’s not Marvel vs Capcom, it doesn’t need to be. However, it respects the roots of that series and draws a little influence from it while being its own thing, and I love that. The combo system and the assist/tag system are really unique to it. 

Round 2: Episodes of Champions

In story mode, you have the choice to play out 1 of the 5 different teams and get their respective group ending. I love how it’s more like a motion comic with good voice-overs. Plus, each team’s story is illustrated by a different artist. You can also earn colors and unlock The Champion by completing the story. However, there are also missions that you’re tasked with whenever you do come across a fight. Doing these missions unlocks some cool content. At the end of the story, your team has to face The Champion. His fight plays out exactly how you would think a boss fight goes, leveling up a couple of times before it’s all finished.

 The character lineup is pretty expansive as well. We’ve got Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Black Panther(Shuri), Storm, Magik, Wolverine, Danger, Spider-Man, Ms.Marvel, Peni Parker, Star Lord, Dr.Doom, Magneto, Green Goblin, Carnage, Ghost Rider, Blade, Loki, and Deadpool. As far as DLC goes, 4 characters are coming, and one of them is Phoenix Force Cyclops. This line-up is fantastic and has a wide variety of characters to choose from, and don’t even get me started on how many combinations there are because that’s a lot. With this many characters, spectating tournament matches should be very interesting.

Round 3: Assemble Finish!

This game is highly fun and addicting. If you’re new to fighting games, there’s a simple mode that makes doing input commands a bit easier. As for veteran fighters, you can also play using the input commands. Granted I have my own personal opinion about easy input controls, I can’t deny that having more people to play with is fun too.

 I simply love Marvel Tokon. It’s the most fun I’ve had with a fighter recently, aside from 2XKO. There’s so much to love about this game. From character designs to the cool Easter eggs each stage has for you to see. A prime example of that is if you fight on the New York nighttime stage, you can catch Daredevil sneaking a look at the fight while Bullseye watches too.

 The game is extremely fun and hard to put down. I know those of us who have played it here at Born with a Controller are definitely loving it. As I said earlier, there was a lot of love that was put into the game, and it shines really bright for it. Marvel Tokon Fighting Souls gets a 5 out of 5.