Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls‘ open beta has come to a close, and between PlayStation Network outages and PC performance issues, it’s been quite the weekend. Nevertheless, overall impressions are pretty positive leading into its launch on August 6th for PS5 and PC, so what better time to delve into 15 more things you should know about the 4v4 fighter before launch? Without further ado, let’s start with…
Ease of Use Ratings
We’ve talked about each fighter’s unique playstyles, and suffice to say, mastering Star Lord’s elemental attacks is not as easy as simply pulling and swinging towards opponents as Spider-Man. That’s where the Ease of Use Rating comes in. The greater the number of stars, the easier a character is to play. Captain America is rated five stars, making him the easiest to start with, while Danger and Ghost Rider are rated two stars, making them the toughest to start with.
Start Up Battle
Training Mode, as you’d expect, is there to practice and refine combos with various settings to customize opponents. But Start Up Battle is where you’ll really get started, as it lays out every single mechanic, from Assemble to how the 4v4 format works, before challenging you to apply it all in a match. And if you’re comfortable enough with the basics, you can skip them and dive into Tōkon’s complexities more quickly.
Assemble Counter
Assemble is the term for Assists, and when you’re in neutral, you can bring out as many as you want with a very slight cooldown. But there’s one more. If you’re good at reading an opponent, hitting back + Light Attack + Assemble will cause your point character to counter the incoming hit and call in an ally for a follow-up attack, which costs one point of your Assemble Gauge.
Crossover
Unlike Assemble Counter, Crossovers are performed when you’re already in a blocking stance, i.e. when caught in the corner. By hitting Light Attack + Assemble while guarding, you’ll call in an ally to disrupt the opponent, which is great for interrupting any potential combos. This consumes one Assemble Gauge, but be careful. If your opponent hits Light Attack + Assemble at the right moment during your Crossover, they can execute a Crossover Reflect, countering it and briefly stopping you from performing any Assembles.
Assemble Smash
When executing a regular Assemble, an ally’s position in the top-left character grid indicates which assist they’ll perform. In the neutral position without any direction, a Shooter Assist is called in, good for long-range projectile attacks. Down + Assemble is the Vertical Assist – ideal for mid-air and whatnot – while Back + Assemble executes an Assault Assist for unleashing a powerful skill.
But what if you wanted to layeth the smacketh downeth on enemies with a barrage of coordinated attacks? That’s where Assemble Smash comes in. It’s performed with Light Attack + Assemble right when an enemy’s attack lands or even as an overhead, making it impossible to block when crouching. But if you hit the Assemble button again when the initial Smash lands, other allies are brought in for additional hits. And if that wasn’t enough, performing it in mid-air will bypass projectiles (though it doesn’t have armor so other opposing attacks are fair game). Sure, this will completely spend your Assemble Gauge with all the follow-ups, but it’s the style that counts. Speaking of which…
Combo Gauge
In a game where it’s easy enough to rack up combos once you know what to do, and how each character works, it makes sense to have a Combo Gauge. It’s the blue bar located right under the orange bar displaying the number of hits, and it effectively stops combos when maxed out. How you get around that is where Tōkon’s combat really comes together because performing Assembles will reduce the gauge and extend combos. Meanwhile, combos in mid-air cause the gauge to rise less than on the ground, thus allowing you to get some extra hits in and keep the combo rolling.
Surprisingly Extensive Accessibility Settings
Say what you will about PlayStation, but their games, even those from third-party developers, tend to offer a strong range of accessibility features. These include disabling excessive camera movement and effects for better visual comfort, a screen reader, mono audio, basic controller remapping, inverting sticks, and much more.
PS5 Features
Beyond the console’s SSD enabling faster loading times and rematches, the Tempest 3D Audio support, or even the support for DualSense’s Haptic Feedback (which can be turned off, of course), it’s nice to see Marvel Tōkon performing so well on the base PS5. Visuals are upscaled to 4K, and if you haven’t noticed from all the trailers and gameplay thus far, they look very sharp.
PS5 Pro Uses PSSR
Far be it from the PS5 Pro to be left behind, and to no one’s surprise, PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution is supported for improved image clarity. That means even crisper-looking battles and visual splendor in stunning 4K.
PC in 4K (But Locked to 60 FPS)
Marvel Tōkon supports 4K on PC at Ultra settings, but battles are locked to 60 FPS. Lest you think it’s a detriment, this is actually common for many fighting games on the platform, whether it’s Street Fighter 6 and Tekken 8 or ArcSys’s own Guilty Gear Strive. On the bright side, PC players can leverage Haptic Feedback on a DualSense wireless controller.
Easy Anti-Cheat on PC
Now the actual bad news: Easy Anti-Cheat is required to play on PC. This is a Kernel-level anti-cheat solution, and even if you uninstall the game, it must be manually removed. 2XKO received a fair bit of flak for its own Kernel-level Riot Vanguard, and though many other fighters can suffer from cheaters on PC due to the lack of anti-cheat, it’s a tough pill to swallow.
Full Voice Acting in 10 Languages
On the bright side, there’s full voice acting for 10 languages, including English, Japanese, Italian, German, Spanish, Korean, Mandarin and more. You also get support for 16 text languages, so if you want to play in Japanese or Korean with English subtitles, then go for it.
Standard, Deluxe and Ultimate Editions
Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls will set you back by $60 – the same as Street Fighter 6 at launch. Interestingly, that also applies to the Deluxe Edition, which includes the base game, Year 1 Characters and Stage Pass, Howard the Duck as a lobby avatar and the adorable Cosmo as a lobby pet – all for $85. The Ultimate Edition retails for $100 and includes everything from the Deluxe Edition, along with an Animated Chromatic color unlock and five character outfits, including Classic Iron Man, Classic Captain America, and Spider-Man’s Advanced Suit 2.0 from Insomniac’s titles.
Marvel’s Wolverine Collaboration Costume
Was anyone else thinking how strange it was that Marvel Tōkon and Insomniac’s latest were releasing so close to one another, both featuring Wolverine, and there was no sign of a crossover? Turns out, we were wrong – the “Battle Reborn” outfit from Marvel’s Wolverine will be available on September 1st for all Tokon players for free.
While Arc System Works admits that alternate outfits haven’t really been its thing, there’s “a much greater emphasis on costume development as one of the ways players can enjoy their favorite characters in new ways,” per producer Takeshi Yamanaka. The team is looking to add a “variety of costumes” later on, so make your wildest guess about what those could be.
The First DLC Fighter
Unfortunately, we didn’t learn which DLC characters would be joining the roster in Year 1 during San Diego Comic-Con, but lest we forget, that’s kind of how Arc System Works has always handled reveals. One after another for maximum hype, and the first DLC character is certainly out of this world in more ways than one – Phoenix Cyclops. Arriving in Fall 2026, this is Scott Summers fused with the Phoenix Force, as last seen in the comics crossover Avengers vs. X-Men. Details remain to be revealed on his abilities, but the usual Optic Blasts and fiery Phoenix powers are to be expected.
