Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls had been at the top of my most anticipated fighting games since its reveal. The visual mastery of ArcSystemWorks combined with Marvel’s gallery of heroes made this a must-play for me.
Sure, some of the initial gameplay reveals left me a little skeptical of how the game would feel, but ArcSys listened to the fans and sped the game up after early impressions made it look sluggish. It lowered the reliance on wall breaks, too, so everything was looking good.
And then that PC beta launched, and Tokon hasn’t socially recovered since. If you haven’t, take a look at Tokon’s Steam reviews, currently sitting at a cool 45%. That is totally unheard of for an ArcSys fighter, especially one early play testers were so adamant about. So what happened, and what does ArcSys need to do to save Marvel Tokon from the launch spiral it’s found itself in?
Tokon’s performance is still broken
The biggest bummer about Tokon, both the beta and the launch version, was that I couldn’t even play it. Now, I don’t have the most powerful setup, but I’ve never had a game, especially one with realistic minimums like Tokon, struggle as much as it had.
This was largely thanks to the massive amount of backlogged software running Tokon forces you to run alongside it. As a PlayStation console exclusive, Sony has forced the requirements of a PSN account login, as well as several anti-encryption programs to prevent modding and data mining.
These hidden programs absolutely slash performance, demanding massive amounts of work from players’ CPUs. As if this wasn’t bad enough, the requirement of a PSN account has blocked over 100 countries from ever playing the game, as PSN doesn’t cover the entirety of the globe.
Both socially and mechanically, the reliance on PlayStation’s parent services has crippled Marvel Tokon, denying millions the ability to try it at all while bottlenecking the systems of those who do. The PS5 version of the game plays like a dream, completely free from the shackles of these programs.
These issues were only slightly alleviated by the time of the game’s launch, leading to waves of refunds and negative reviews – many of which I can’t help but agree with. First impressions are everything, and for the majority of its potential players, Tokon feels like it’s fumbled.
When combined with lighter complaints like the relatively small roster and middling DLC roadmap for a tag fighter, Tokon is easy to pick on. At this point, ArcSys need a podium and a miracle, and they seem to have started on the latter.
Saving Marvel Tokon
ArcSys has already made strides to save Tokon’s reputation, releasing a patch during this article’s writing that alleviates a good chunk of the CPU strain the game was outputting. This is a great start, but the damage is already done for most.
Tokon is a genuinely stellar game. I can say that now that I can actually play it, but asking for a third chance from people after fumbling both first impressions is nigh impossible. Especially for $60 USD, I think it’ll take some seriously big steps from ArcSys.
Namely, just being more forthcoming with the players. They’ve shown an amazing willingness to adapt, and hopefully this whole incident shows Sony how hard its meddling has interfered with ArcSys’s work. Though, I can’t pretend that the developers are fully without blame; they agreed to the project, but Tokon really should have been the next big thing for the fighting game community.
It still will have staying power, but things need to change now. Ideally, lowering the price, or maybe some sort of apology sale, and the complete removal of the PSN requirement.
This definitely isn’t realistic, but for a community as grassroots and low-cost as fighting games, the concept of having huge swathes of the world just barred feels wrong. Some of the best players come out of nowhere, flown out by their communities to show their stuff.
I still remember Arslan Ash’s out-of-the-blue appearance and dominance of the 2019 Evo circuit, establishing the legends in waiting that are the Pakistani Tekken community. Barring certain sections of the world from participating is entirely against what makes the fighting game community such a bright spot in the shaky world of modern gaming, and Tokon missing that boat is tragic.
Marvel Tokon is a genuinely amazing game, some of the most fun I’ve had with a new fighter in years, but it feels like watching someone who had their earliest opportunities sabotaged from the start. I want to see this game be the best it can be, and I’m sure ArcSystemWorks does too; it needs to cast off these shackles of corporate consolidation and be the hero we all need.
I think Tokon will have a long life, but when it eventually dies down, I’ll always wonder what could have been. I want to see it find the rebirth it deserves, as unrealistic as it may be. Happy to be proved wrong.
