Marvel Tokon Could Come With a Huge Asterisk Attached For Fighting Game Fans

In a recent State of Play presentation, it was revealed that Arc System Works would be developing Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls, a 4v4 tag fighting game featuring many beloved Marvel characters, including those who have yet to appear in a fighting game. From what has been shown in the official announcement trailer, Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls seems to be taking a different approach to the Marvel fighting games that were released before it, complete with the refreshing style of ArcSys’ previous titles.

While little is known about the game currently, its future seems very promising. Arc System Works are dependable fighting game developers who players can trust with Marvel’s characters, remaining true to the source material without being afraid to try new ideas. After years of waiting, Marvel Tokon has finally revived Marvel fighting games, but this release could come with unexpected implications.

Wild New 4v4 Fighting Game Looks Like Dragon Ball FighterZ With Marvel Characters

Arc System Works and Sony Interactive Entertainment unveil a brand-new fighting game that features Marvel characters and tag battles.

What Marvel Tokon Could Mean for Other Marvel Fighting Series

A Surprising New Take on a Marvel Fighting Game

The announcement of Marvel Tokon came as a surprise to many, especially since the last Marvel fighting game was released almost ten years ago. However, what was more surprising was the developer: Arc System Works. Most Marvel fighting games that precede Marvel Tokon were developed by Capcom, so to see these characters handled by a different team is a major change. The Guilty Gear developer seems to be taking its Marvel fighting game in a different direction than in the past, innovating the tag-team gameplay and redesigning its characters to emphasize Marvel Tokon’s Japanese influence.

Fans of Marvel fighting games were given some hope in 2024 of a possible new Capcom title. After a long hiatus following Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, the series’ legacy was celebrated with the release of Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics, finally allowing fans to play classics like X-Men: Children of the Atom and Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes once again with online multiplayer. Unfortunately, no new collaboration projects have been announced since its release, and with the news that Marvel Tokon is an ArcSys game, a new Capcom-developed Marvel fighting game is unlikely to appear any time soon.

Marvel vs. Capcom May Be on Hiatus

While it is great to see a new Marvel fighting game after such a long wait, it seems as though Marvel Games passing the baton to Arc System Works could have consequences for Marvel vs. Capcom fans. As to not overshadow the release of Marvel Tokon with another team-based Marvel fighting game, it’s unlikely that a new Marvel vs. Capcom game will be seen for some time. The rerelease of many classic Marvel vs. Capcom games appeared to be a glimmer of hope for the series’ future at the time, but now Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection may mark the end of an era.

This isn’t an inherently bad thing, though. The general reception for Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite was quite poor, marking it as a low point in the Marvel vs. Capcom series. The changes made to the game’s team structure and the introduction of the controversial Infinity Stones mechanic made the title very divisive. If given another chance, a new Marvel vs. Capcom title could tap into the greatness of the series’ earlier entries, but letting another team like ArcSys provide a fresh take may give the Marvel vs. Capcom series a necessary break to come back stronger.

Marvel Rivals Marvel Tokon Two Sides Same Coin

How Marvel Rivals and Marvel Tokon Fighting Souls are Two Sides of the Same Coin

Aside from their shared IP, Marvel Rivals and the recently announced game, Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls, are clearly two complementary halves.

Marvel Token Could Make A Marvel vs. ArcSys Game Possible

It’s safe to assume that the roster for Marvel Tokon will exclusively contain Marvel characters, leaving little room for crossover potential. However, if the game succeeds, this could open up the opportunity for a Marvel vs. ArcSys game, a crossover between Marvel’s greatest heroes and villains and the cast of other Arc System Works fighting games like Guilty Gear and BlazBlue. It would be interesting to see interactions between characters from each of these series and pit their abilities against each other in 4v4 tag combat.

A Marvel vs. ArcSys title wouldn’t be Arc System Works’ first foray into a crossover tag fighting game. After the release of all of its DLC, BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle includes characters spanning seven different properties, including Persona, Under Night In-Birth, and RWBY. BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle reuses some assets from the games it crosses over with, but meshes them together in a way to make them work cohesively. Arc System Works managed these existing characters and balanced them against each other well, and could be an indicator of what players could expect with a Marvel and Arc System Works crossover title.

It’s also possible that a hypothetical Marvel vs. ArcSys game could include crossover characters from IPs that Arc System Works has externally licensed and published. A mod has shown that adding Dragon Ball FighterZ’s Goku to Guilty Gear Strive fits the existing roster very well, and could work just as well alongside Marvel Tokon’s cast. As such, it’s possible that other 2.5D fighting game characters that ArcSys has worked with could translate just as well to a Marvel vs. ArcSys game, such as those from DNF Duel and Granblue Fantasy Versus. Some other characters from the company’s 2D fighters could be adapted to the 2.5D style, like Yu Narukami from Persona 4 Arena or Ragna the Bloodedge from BlazBlue, making for a packed crossover title.

The recent reveal of Persona 4 Revival, a remake of Persona 4, would make another appearance from Yu Narukami in a future ArcSys game especially appropriate.

The future of Marvel fighting games is now much more exciting thanks to the reveal of Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls, but it feels as though this new release also comes with the sacrifice of the Marvel vs. Capcom series. The wait for a new Marvel fighting game has been long enough, though, and the radically different take Marvel Tokon provides both visually and mechanically seems more like an addition than a replacement. With the potential for a Marvel vs. ArcSys game to follow Marvel Tokon, now could actually be the best time to be a Marvel fighting game fan.