Anime style 4v4 tag team fighter 'MARVEL Tokon: Fighting Souls' revealed

A new tag-team fighting game, MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls, has been announced as a collaborative effort between PlayStation Studios, Arc System Works (Arc), and Marvel Games.

The title promises a reimagined Marvel Universe experience with new character designs, stages, a vibrant soundtrack, and accessible yet deep gameplay mechanics.

Arc System Works, known for its distinctive 2.5D anime art style and critically acclaimed fighting games like Guilty Gear and BlazBlue, brings its expertise to the Marvel universe.

Marvel Games is the gaming division responsible for guiding the creation of Marvel-themed video games, working with various developers and publishers.

Kazuto Sekine, Game Director and Lead Battle Designer for MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls, explained the focus on broad player appeal:

“From the beginning, we aimed to make MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls a title that could be enjoyed by a wide variety of players,” Sekine stated.

He highlighted that while team versus fighting games usually require mastering multiple characters, MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls allows players to focus on a single character.

The game’s mechanics are designed to support both traditional fighting game inputs and simpler commands, enabling varied actions.

A significant feature is the ability for multiple characters to appear on screen to provide backup or attack together with just a few button presses, creating a new team battle experience.

“At its core, we felt that the appeal of team VS fighting games is the intensity of battles with multiple characters on screen at once,” Sekine continued, justifying the decision to implement a 4v4 team versus system to create “over-the-top moments” and further evolve the tag fighting genre.

Michael Francisco, Senior Product Development Manager at Marvel Games, commented on the collaboration:

“Since day one, our long-time and trusted collaborators at PlayStation and the team at Arc System Works have poured incredible amounts of talent and passion into reimagining the Marvel Universe in a way that only they can. MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls demonstrates that they are absolute masters of their craft and are true Marvel fans at heart. Players are in for a wild ride.”

The initial roster includes well-known Marvel heroes and villains such as Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Doctor Doom, Storm, Ms. Marvel, Star-Lord, and Ghost Rider (Robbie Reyes).

Each character will feature Arc’s unique interpretation of their design and gameplay style.

Arc Producer Takeshi Yamanaka elaborated on the character selection process:

“There are so many amazing Marvel characters that it was quite a struggle to choose our roster, but we did have some criteria for the selection process.

First and foremost, we wanted to include characters who we feel to be the ‘face’ of Marvel.

At the same time, we also needed to select characters that would give us a balance of battle types and styles.

Lastly, we wanted to sprinkle in a few surprises and leave room for characters who have never been playable in a fighting game before.”

Yamanaka also revealed an early visual development decision. “Early on in the project, we experimented with a shader to recreate a more western comic-book visual style, but the Marvel team expressed a desire for us to lean into something more Arc-like.

It was then that we switched our approach to the game’s visuals and began to lean more into the Japanimation style Arc is known for.”

Beyond individual character gameplay, significant effort has been placed on redefining the tag team fighter experience.

Each character will have a bespoke set of Normal, Special, and Unique attacks inspired by their Marvel lore abilities, from short-ranged jabs to cinematic Ultimate Skills.

Arc aims to ensure that the gameplay style, movement, and feel of these characters are fresh and unique to MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls.

The game’s stages are designed to be dynamic and interactive, filled with Easter eggs for fans.

Most stages also feature multiple areas, with transitions between these areas being both visually impactful and strategically significant. Screenshots from Marvel’s New York City stage offer a glimpse into these environmental details.