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Arc System Works can do just about anything, including convincing me to pick up a Marvel-themed 2D anime fighter. Not that I've got anything particularly against either of those things. But as someone who grew up firmly in the 3D fighting game scene (and continues to dwell there) and traditionally doesn't care much for superheroes beyond Spider-Man, Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls should be a hard sell for someone like me.
And yet Arc System Works has utterly enamoured me to its riff on both the Marvel universe and tag fighters, having me grumble significantly less about anti-airs and jump cancels than I traditionally would. Its low skill floor and high skill ceiling leaves tons of room for expression, from casual autocombo mashers to professionals who can hit you with a two-touch death combo if you're not careful.
Avengers Assemble
Whereas most tag fighters are a conservative 2v2 or 3v3 battle, Marvel Tōkon pits a whopping four characters against each other. That would be downright terrifying by usual tag fighter rules—learning two characters has put more than enough folks off the likes of Tekken Tag Tournament and 2XKO—but Tōkon grounds its larger teams by giving all characters a shared health bar.
It means you can essentially play Tōkon as a 1v1 with the odd assist here and there, while letting you go ham with a full team if you want to. But the game doesn't give you access to all four outright. Instead, you'll start with two characters, continuing to build out your team throughout the match through things like stage breaks, wall splats, and… well, losing the round. It folds in an element of strategy that I really like and stops Tōkon from feeling like a total snowball fest.
(Image credit: PlayStation Publishing LLC)
Its roster of characters is genuinely stellar, too. Each fighter is already loosely grouped up into a team—you've got the classic Avengers with Captain America, Iron Man, Black Panther, and Hulk. My personal favourite is the Samurai Outlaws comp made up of Ghost Rider (I am now a little obsessed with Robbie Reyes), Blade, Deadpool, and Loki.
Arc System Works has done such a fantastic job of making each character's moveset fit with their personality. Spider-Man thwips around the stage with his webs, Magik can go for an all-out assault from her portals, and Deadpool's penchant for being all meta absolutely shines through his moveset—essentially chock-full of easter eggs like Kauzya's Electric Wind God Fist, the Jack-O crouching pose, and Scorpion's signature "Get over here!"
I'm grateful to see Arc System Works incorporating both its regular motion inputs and a more simplified control scheme similar to Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising here as well—allowing newer players to forgo quarter-circles in favour of basic directional inputs and a special button. The trade-off is a little less damage than going for the classic method, but it's one that makes Tōkon far more approachable from the get-go, a problem that fighting games often struggle with.
Tag me in
All of these fancy moves can be put to use across Tōkon's (admittedly small) range of modes. For the lore enjoyers, Tōkon offers five Episode stories that cover each of the game's teams. They're penned by comic author Kieron Gillen, complete with gorgeous comic book panel art with a handful of anime cutscenes thrown in for extra pizzazz.
Narratively, they're pretty formulaic for a fighting game, and not all of them are equally interesting. I enjoyed the Samurai Outlaws and Masters of Doom stories significantly more than the likes of Avengers, but they mostly just serve as a fun 11-chapter mode with a lot of reading and not a whole lotta fighting.
(Image credit: PlayStation Publishing LLC)
Tōkon's multiplayer is where most folks are going to end up spending their time, and in true anime fighter fashion, the game comes with full-blown rooms where you can run a little anime avatar around, or simply dive into casual and ranked matches from the comfort of your training mode.
This is where I really need to start talking a bit about Tōkon's platform-specific issues. For starters, the game has a mandatory PSN sign-in for PC players—anyone familiar with the Helldivers 2 fiasco will know what the deal is here. While it's not exactly the most detrimental thing, it's a frustrating and unnecessary step that Sony has folded in as Tōkon's publisher.
The game also, as it stands, does not run on Linux. As someone who loves taking their fighting games on the go with my Steam Deck, it's a huge dampener. Especially when it's become one of the easiest ways for me to bring a quick and dirty setup for some casual matches at my fighting game locals, having Tōkon closed off to Linux users entirely feels like a ridiculous oversight on Sony's part.
(Image credit: PlayStation Publishing LLC)
And while Arc System Works has put out a patch in the time I've spent reviewing Tōkon, the game still suffers from unfortunate PC-specific performance issues. Frame drops and microstutters that can lead to rollback frames making online matches impossible, which has been a huge issue for some players. It's something I only experienced once across a handful of online games, but I've got friends with better setups than myself who aren't even able to run the thing at a smooth 60fps, which is completely criminal for a modern-day fighting game.
It really is frustrating to see a fighting game perform poorly on PC in the big 2026, and has already led to PlayStation users switching off crossplay and narrowing the matchmaking pool on our end. Not that I blame them, mind, but it's a real stain on what is otherwise a robust fighter.
PerformanceArc System WorksMarvelNotI'veSpiderManMarvel TFighting SoulsNeedKnowRelease
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