Marvel-ous Mayhem

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Marvel tokon: fighting souls 
Rating: 4.5/5
Developer: Arc System Works 
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment 
Platform: PC, PS5 
Price: Rs 7,700

Marvel has had a fairly good run with games recently. Spider-Man was excellent, Guardians of the Galaxy was surprisingly good, and even the various Marvel multiplayer experiments have had their moments. Fighting games, however, are a different beast entirely, especially when there is a rather large Marvel vs. Capcom-shaped shadow hanging over everything.

Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls tries to step out of that shadow by doing something completely different.

The game is developed by Arc System Works, the same people responsible for Guilty Gear and Dragon Ball FighterZ. This becomes immediately obvious the second the first fight begins. The game is bright, incredibly animated, and completely over the top. Superheroes fly across the screen, special attacks explode everywhere, and occasionally there is so much happening that I have no idea what I am looking at. I mean that as a compliment.

Tokon is a four-on-four fighting game. However, you aren’t constantly swapping between four characters like some sort of caffeinated octopus. Instead, you control one fighter while the others can be called in to help during attacks. As the fight progresses, more of your team becomes available. This means choosing your team becomes far more important than I initially expected.

At first, I selected characters using the highly scientific method of picking Marvel superheroes I liked. After playing for a while, though, you realise certain characters work better together because their assists can continue combos, interrupt opponents, or generally make life miserable for whoever is holding the second controller. This is where Tokon becomes interesting.

You don’t need to memorise a telephone directory worth of button combinations just to make Spider-Man do something interesting. Special attacks are easy enough to pull off, and even someone who doesn’t play many fighting games can pick up a controller and look reasonably competent within a few minutes. I appreciate that.

There are fighting games where I feel I need to complete a diploma before going online. Tokon lets you start having fun almost immediately. This confidence lasts right up until you meet someone who actually knows what they are doing.

There is a big difference between knowing how to perform an attack and understanding how the entire four-person team works together. Once people start chaining assists, counters, and special moves, the game becomes considerably more complicated. So while the controls are beginner-friendly, the game itself isn’t shallow.

Visually, Tokon is probably one of the best-looking Marvel games around. Instead of trying to recreate the actors from the movies, Arc System Works has created its own interpretation of the characters. The result is something that looks like Marvel accidentally wandered into an anime convention. It works extremely well.

Characters still look immediately recognisable, but everything has been exaggerated. Wolverine looks more aggressive, Iron Man looks suitably mechanical, and Spider-Man moves around the screen like someone forgot to tell him gravity exists. The animations are equally ridiculous. Even after playing for several hours, I still occasionally stopped paying attention to what I was supposed to be doing because something spectacular was happening on screen.

The stages are also filled with Marvel references and familiar locations. More importantly, some fights move between different sections of a stage, which makes battles feel far more dynamic than two characters simply punching each other in front of a pretty background.

There is also enough here for people who don’t want to jump online immediately. The game has story content, arcade-style modes, training, and the usual assortment of options to help you learn the characters. The story isn’t the reason I would buy the game, but it does a good job of giving you an excuse to try different heroes and combinations.

Personally, I had the most fun playing locally. Tokon is one of those games that works incredibly well when you have friends over. The basic controls mean almost everyone can join in, and the flashy attacks make even terrible players feel like something impressive is happening. That is probably the game’s greatest strength. It is fun.

That sounds obvious, but there are plenty of technically impressive games that forget this very important detail. Tokon understands that sometimes you just want Wolverine to launch somebody through a wall while another superhero jumps into the fight and causes even more chaos.

My one major gripe is the price. I bought my copy for Rs 7,700, and for that amount of money, I simply don’t think this game is worth it. I like Tokon a lot. I will continue playing it, and I am glad I have it. However, I don’t see this becoming one of those legendary games I will still be talking about years from now in the same way I would talk about God of War or Spider-Man. For one of those games, I might begrudgingly hand over Rs 7,700 on day one while complaining about the price to everyone within earshot. 

For Tokon, I would wait. Wolverine is out in about a month, and by then there is a decent chance this will start getting discounted.

So yes, I recommend Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls. It looks fantastic, it is easy to pick up, difficult to master, and most importantly, it is a lot of fun. Just don’t pay R7,700 for it. Wait for the price to drop and, if possible, buy a physical copy. Sony and the rest of the industry seem determined to drag us towards an increasingly digital future, and I would rather own a disc I can sell, exchange, or lend to a friend than a digital license permanently attached to an account.

At least with a physical copy, when your friend refuses to return it, you know exactly who stole your game.

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