Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls shows promise as next major fighting game

The closed beta for Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls ended last weekend, but the game hasn't left my head. While others were diving into Hollow Knight: Silksong, I was getting my first real hands-on time with Arc System Works and PlayStation Studios' upcoming fighting game. After six hours in the beta, it's become clear that Marvel Tokon has serious potential to be something special.

The beta gave us a window into the game's core mechanics, though even that limited window felt like barely scratching the surface. This is one of the densest fighting games I've encountered, mechanically speaking. Yet it manages to be accessible enough that newcomers can jump in and pull off impressive moves almost immediately. The balance between depth and approachability is genuinely impressive.

If you're expecting Marvel Tokon to be a spiritual successor to Marvel vs. Capcom, you'll want to reset that expectation. The game owes far more to Dragon Ball FighterZ and Guilty Gear Strive—both Arc System Works titles—than it does to the Capcom classic. The pace is noticeably slower than Marvel vs. Capcom, which actually works in its favor. That extra breathing room lets you be more deliberate with your combos, more precise with your inputs. It feels like a more controlled, methodical version of Dragon Ball FighterZ.

The control scheme is straightforward: three standard attack buttons, a special move button, and a dedicated "unique" attack button, plus a tag mechanic I'll circle back to. Mashing any attack button triggers an auto combo, with different endings depending on which button you're holding down. Light attacks end with a tag attack; medium and hard buttons finish with super and ultra moves respectively. I have mixed feelings about this system. Auto combos are great for beginners—they almost always result in something satisfying happening on screen. But if you want surgical precision, they can feel like a cage. There's currently no way to disable them, which could frustrate players who want full control over their inputs. The good news is that traditional fighting game inputs still work. Instead of pressing three buttons simultaneously for a super move, you can perform a half-circle motion on the stick and press medium and hard. That flexibility matters.

The beta roster included Captain America, Iron Man, Star-Lord, Storm, Ms. Marvel, and Doctor Doom. Captain America is the obvious entry point—his moveset is straightforward and intuitive. Doctor Doom sits at the opposite end of the spectrum, his ranged attacks adding layers of complexity. The real surprise was Ms. Marvel, whose stretchy limbs let her attack from distance or pull opponents toward her. This initial character spread hints at the kind of mechanical diversity the full roster will eventually offer.

Marvel Tokon is a 4v4 tag fighter, which sounds ambitious compared to Marvel vs. Capcom's 3v3 format. But here's the catch: you're really only playing one main character. The other three exist primarily as assist characters, called in for quick attacks that extend combos or create openings. This has real trade-offs. On one hand, you can focus on mastering a single character instead of juggling four. On the other hand, since the entire team shares one health bar, there's little incentive to actually swap characters mid-match. I found myself forgetting I could call in assists at all. Most of my opponents seemed to feel the same way. This might be a case of players not yet understanding the system's depth—the beta had no training mode to experiment with advanced scenarios—but it raises a legitimate concern: if nobody's actually tagging out, what's the point of a 4v4 tag system? The game might be functioning more like an assist fighter in the vein of Mortal Kombat 1 than a true tag experience.

The online performance, though, is genuinely impressive. Aside from a tutorial and some CPU matches, the beta was almost entirely player-versus-player. Arc System Works' signature chibi lobby system is in place—you navigate a hub world as a tiny version of your character and approach arcade cabinets to find matches. It's not my favorite approach to matchmaking, but I've made peace with it over the years. What matters is that nearly every match ran smoothly, feeling like I was playing offline against someone sitting next to me. This is especially remarkable given that most of my opponents were on Wi-Fi rather than wired connections. The netcode is genuinely strong.

Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls has a tentative 2026 release window, so there's time before the next beta arrives. What I'm hoping for most is a training mode—something to actually understand what I'm doing instead of just mashing buttons and hoping for the best. I want to try characters that haven't been revealed yet, like Spider-Man and Ghost Rider. Given how much runway there is before launch, I'm confident PlayStation will keep feeding us information. Right now, this is my most anticipated new fighting game, and I'm hanging on every word.