Amid all the fancy team reveals, the latest being the Fighting Avengers, there was some concern about the single-player content in Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls. Arc System Works previously discussed its motion comic presentation, but hadn’t clarified whether it included actual gameplay battles.
Well, it finally revealed more details in a recent interview with 4Gamer. The publication initially asked producer Takeshi Yamanaka about a “substantial story mode.” While he said it was “difficult to directly compare the volume of content” to previous games’ stories, there is indeed an Episode Mode for enjoying the story.
“We had a manga artist draw the base manga, and then we added movement to each panel to advance the story, which is a fairly time-consuming way to present it.” With five playable teams, he claims it’s enough to offer “nearly 10 hours of gameplay in total.” It even utilizes the DualSense’s Haptic Feedback and includes voice acting in 10 languages (as opposed to the usual three).
Problems arose, however, when the publication reported that there wouldn’t be any actual gameplay battles. This was later corrected at the behest of Arc System Works, and the response now notes, “In Episode Mode, playable battles are included everywhere. The battle that leads to the content of the story is developed, and it is designed to be casually enjoyed by anyone as if reading a manga, so that you can experience the story more interactively.”
A mistranslation? A mistake, be it from the developer or the publication? Whatever the case may be, such a story mode wouldn’t be out of nowhere. Guilty Gear Strive’s narrative, for example, is completely non-playable.
Regardless, it’s good news for those who want a hefty single-player mode when Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls launches on August 6th for PS5 and PC. It’s entering the “final stages of development,” but there are still more characters to be revealed, so stay tuned for updates.
