Marvel Tokon Fighting Souls review: Pure entertainment

RPGs, action-adventure, horror, choice-based – there are many gaming genres that I have enjoyed over the years. But, fighting games is something I haven’t tried that much. Still, I belong to a generation that grew up playing Tekken in Arcades so I have some experience. And when I heard about Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls, I knew I wanted to give it a shot. And yes, this was purely because I am a big-time Marvel fan and the idea of fighting as some of my favourite characters was just too good to ignore. The only problem? My fighting-game skills are nowhere close to what I would call impressive. I can manage the basics, but put me in a match against someone who actually knows what they are doing and things can get chaotic very quickly. And I found that out pretty quickly after picking up the controller against a veteran – my husband.

We played the game on my PS5 Pro connected to an OLED TV and this combination made the game’s colourful, anime-inspired presentation look fantastic. The character designs immediately caught my attention, while the combat reminded me a lot of Dragon Ball FighterZ. There is the same kind of fast-paced, flashy action, but with Marvel characters taking center stage.

So should you go ahead and get this game? Read on as I share my experience with it in this review. 

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Characters and visuals

For a game like this, it all begins the moment you look at the screen and witness those characters being introduced. For me too, the first thing that caught my attention when I started playing was the characters.

I have seen these Marvel superheroes in movies, shows, comics and games for years. So, I was curious to see what they would look like in a fighting game that clearly takes a lot of inspiration from anime. And I am glad to say that I really liked what I experienced.

The game does not simply take the familiar versions of these characters and put them into a fighting arena. It gives them a completely different look while still making them recognisable.

Iron Man is probably the best example of this. Instead of the familiar Iron Man suit that we have seen countless times, the game gives him an almost Gundam-inspired design. It is very different from the version I am used to seeing and that is exactly what made it so exciting. 

Now let’s talk about the character I played the most – Captain America. His costume design is much more stylised than the version I am used to, but he still looks and feels exactly like Cap.

And this is something I noticed across other characters as well. The developers have taken familiar Marvel characters and given them their own visual identity instead of simply copying what we already know.

The anime influence is also impossible to miss. The characters move with a lot of energy, attacks are flashy and special moves can take over the entire screen. There were moments when I genuinely felt like I was watching an anime fight play out in front of me.

Playing the game on an OLED TV made this even better. The colours really stood out, especially when multiple characters, attacks and effects were filling the screen.

Combat and gameplay

If you have played games like Tekken and Dragon Ball FighterZ, you will probably feel at home in Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls pretty quickly. I certainly did, even though I haven’t tried out those titles as extensively.

The fast movement, flashy attacks, assists and the sheer amount of action happening during a match immediately reminded me of Arc System Works’ Dragon Ball fighter. Now, since I had already seen something similar before, getting into Marvel Tokon did not feel as intimidating as I expected it to.

That was important for me because, as I mentioned earlier, fighting games are not exactly my speciality.

I was able to pick Captain America, start experimenting with attacks and eventually figure out a few combinations without spending hours studying the controls. The basic mechanics are easy enough for someone who is new to the genre, although there is clearly plenty more here for players who want to spend time mastering the game.

In other words, it is easy to start playing, but actually mastering it is a completely different story.

My husband proved that to me almost every time we played.

While I was still trying to remember which button did what and wondering why my character was suddenly flying across the screen, he was already chaining attacks together and making my health bar disappear. The gap between us was a pretty good demonstration of the game’s depth.

The 4v4 format also changes how you approach a fight. You are not just picking one character and repeatedly attacking your opponent. You have a team, assists and different abilities to think about, which means choosing the right combination of characters can make a difference. Now for new players, this can feel like there is just too much happening at once. 

When you are still learning how to play, trying to keep track of your own character while four characters are fighting and effects are going off everywhere can be confusing. There were several moments when I knew I was pressing buttons, but had no idea whether I was actually doing anything useful. So in my case, it definitely took me some time to get comfortable with the game. But once I did, I started enjoying the chaos a lot more.

Story mode

The story mode is quite different from what you might expect if you are coming into Marvel Tokon purely for the fighting.

Instead of relying heavily on traditional cinematic cutscenes, the game uses a comic-book-style presentation to tell its story. The narrative is split across different characters and teams, so you get to see different sides of the game’s world as you progress. And this just works in the game’s favor because it is a reminder of sorts to where it all began. 

The story itself kept me interested enough to continue through the chapters, although there is one thing that some Marvel fans may not love- the main villain is not someone from the MCU.

Personally, I did not have a problem with that. I actually liked the fact that Marvel Tokon is trying to do its own thing instead of simply recreating what we have already seen in the movies.

But if you are expecting to see the MCU translated directly into a fighting game, you may need to adjust those expectations.

Marvel Tokon has its own version of these characters and its own world, and I think the game is better when you treat it that way.

Music and sound 

In any game, music and sound effects matter more than you might initially realise. And in this case, both aspects are actually the highlights. 

The soundtrack has exactly the kind of energy you would expect from a fighting game. It keeps things moving during a match and becomes impossible to ignore when the fight starts getting intense.

There were several moments when I was already caught up in a match and the music would kick in at just the right time. It made the whole fight feel more dramatic and hyped me up while playing. 

The sound effects also do a good job of making attacks feel impactful. When you combine that with the flashy animations, the fights can feel much bigger than what is actually happening.

Verdict

As we’ve established already, I went into Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls knowing that I was probably going to lose a lot of matches. And I was right. But what I did not see coming was to have this much fun even though I was losing.

I could pick up the game, learn the basic controls and start having fun with my family pretty quickly. And after spending several hours playing the game, I do not remember the matches where I lost the most. I remember the ones where someone immediately said, “one more match.

Now as someone who has never been that invested in fighting games, that is probably the biggest compliment I can give Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls. The game costs ₹3,999 for the Standard Edition on the PS5 and it completely justifies its price tag.

Rating: 8/10

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