Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls Review - Chaos in the Best Possible Way
Some of the best arcade memories I have were with the Marvel range of one-on-one fighters from Capcom. From X-Men: Children of the Atom right up to the Marvel vs Capcom games, these titles captured my imagination and my 20c pieces, as few other games did. Sadly, apart from the re-releases in Capcom collections, there hasn’t been much in the way of Marvel biffo since. That is, until now. Enter Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls, a new fighter not from Capcom but from Arc System Works, the crew behind the Guilty Gear series. It may not be from Capcom, but trust me when I say it proudly carries the feel of the classic fighters, while bringing a host of new tricks along the way.
The mechanics of Fighting Souls are both familiar yet unique. Unlike the older Vs games, there is only one life bar, not one for each character, and as this is a 4 v 4 tag situation, that is something that takes a little time to get used to. There is no tagging out a character to heal them mid-battle, just a continual flow of combos, specials and team-ups that create a sense of controlled chaos. This is further mixed with the fact that at the start of each battle, only two of your four chosen characters are available, with the other two jumping in once certain in-battle achievements, like smashing the opposition through a barrier into a new area or losing a round, are met. All this adds up to something that veteran fighters can pick up immediately, but still forces a learning curve and the introduction of new tactics into the mix.
The swapping between characters is handled with a simple button + direction press or by using the assist button, which brings one of your team in for some help, at which point you can decide to keep them in the battle or continue with your current character. If that all sounds confusing, that is, well, because it is. At least at first. After a little time, though, it all becomes second nature, making stringing huge combos together with all of your teammates a thing of ease, not challenge. This is all helped by a simple control scheme where all of the characters have the same move inputs. Quarter circle commands are here in force, but even then, if you are new to fighters, you can use the right trigger and a direction instead, letting anyone pull off fireballs, sword slices and teleport attacks at will.
The final part of the gameplay I want to talk about are the canned combos. These are simple repeated button presses of either the light, mid or heavy attack. If the player has enough special meter, they even finish with a super attack. Now, it may seem a little on the newbie-friendly side, but I found that their implementation, while initially basic, can be expanded and manipulated by more seasoned players. For example, if you manage things right, you can turn a four-hit canned combo into a 20-hit beast with a little timing and knowledge of your character’s moveset. I can’t wait to see what the pros do with these tools once the game hits the esport scene; I think we could see some truly amazing acrobatics and combos. I have to say that this is the best fighting game I have ever seen when it comes to catering to all player skill levels. From rookies to seasoned pros, this is a game that should appeal to everyone, and as a result, I can see it being a real gateway game into the genre for those who haven’t really dived in before.
Next I want to talk about game modes. The game is split into all the things you would expect from a fighter like this. There are online lobbies, arcade modes, story modes and training modes. There is also the addition of the battle arena, which is this cute little mini-game where players run around with Pop-Vinyl-style characters hunting for points and boosts before switching to the fighting mode to win rounds. It isn’t very deep, but it is a fun little distraction that should be a blast with friends. The online lobbies use a similar aesthetic, and the lobby itself closely resembles what Street Fighter 6 offers with its Battle Hub.
As for the story, there is a little more here than most fighters bother with. Split into five chapters, it explores five different teams as they challenge the Champion, a god-like character who promises to destroy Earth if a group of fighters can’t take him down in a battle. To determine who is worthy of that honour, the Champion creates a tournament and… well, I am sure you can work out the rest. The setup is a little naff, and the writing can be cheesy as hell at times, but it is still worth diving in and seeing each story play out. There are some genuinely funny moments (thanks mainly to Deadpool) and one or two uplifting beats that bring a smile to your face. It isn’t up to the level of the single-player epics that Mortal Kombat give us, but it is a fun way to play and, all up, gives about 5-6 hours of single-player fun.
The arcade modes are a little different than what genre fans would be used to as well. Here, there are five different challenges to undertake, one for each of the teams. These play like a traditional fighter arcade mode, only after some battles you have the choice to go down one of two paths. This means players will have to complete each team four times to 100% the mode and unlock all of the cosmetics and artworks they offer. It isn’t a drastic change, but it is nice to have a bit more single-player replayability built into these staple modes.
The look of the game is undeniably striking. If you have ever played a Guilty Gear game, you can clearly see that Arc System Works’ fingerprints are all over the character designs, and this has created some of the most striking Marvel character looks I have ever seen. I especially liked their interpretation of Blade, Ghost Rider, and Hulk; they really stood out to me, even when compared to the other excellent designs. I played on PC, and while initially there were some performance issues, these have since been resolved with a patch, so it all runs smooth as silk. It is, however, a little power-hungry, so while you don’t need the best PC in the world to make it work, it does struggle on low-end systems and handhelds. Just something to keep in mind if you are looking at diving in.
Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls, in my mind, is exactly the sort of game that the fighting genre has needed for quite a while. It steps over the inherent skill wall that most fighters have with a seemingly simple control scheme that anyone can pick up and have fun with. That simplicity hides a huge amount of depth, though, so those of us looking to master the game have plenty of room to grow and experiment. There is heaps to do for single-players, the netcode seems rock solid, and it all looks and sounds fantastic. Sony and Arc System Works have really mixed up some Marvel magic here, creating the best new fighting game franchise I have seen in an absolute age. We have already had a couple of good fighters this year, but this one is easily the best of the bunch, and I can heartily recommend it to players of all skill levels looking for some Marvel fisticuff fun.
Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls was reviewed on PC with code kindly supplied by the publisher.
