The Fight of Your Life! ‘Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls’ Review

I often tell people that there are video games, and there are fighting games. While, yes, fighting games are a genre of video games, there is such a gap between playing them and truly knowing them that it is like learning a whole new language.  (Image via Shoryuken) Some examples: cross-up, footsies, happy birthday, merry Christmas, poke. These phrases and terms all mean something but are altogether different in the context of fighting games.  I say all this to say – Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls is a Fighting Game. It is pretty. It is bright. It is, as my (now fiancée!) says, “Delightfully over the top”. And it is not for the faint of heart. So very anime. (Image via Sony) The Basics Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls is the latest project by Arc System Works, famous for creating capital-F-capital-G Fighting Games such as Dragon Ball FighterZ, BlazBlue, and Guilty Gear. The game sees the player assembling a team of four characters and fighting an opposing team of four in a tag-team system, with assists and changing of characters being core mechanics.  I know Deadpool, I saw too! (Image via X) One of the unique mechanics of this game is that teammates must be unlocked through a “crash” mechanic; in practice, stage transitions unlock characters until a team is full up. The system is very combo-heavy rather than move-heavy, and rewards strong execution while still being fun to pick up and mash a few buttons. The game has a user-friendly auto-combo system and advanc…