Much like classic superhero-themed fighting games of the 90s, including X-Men vs. Street Fighter (1996) or Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes (1998), tapping on known faces to build a playable roster of characters can sometimes be the ultimate combo in crafting a memorable fighting game, supplementing an already loyal genre player base with new fans enticed by the ability to control and fight as their favourite heroes.
With developer Arc System Works already a major name in the fighting game industry, well-known for the popular 2D fighting game franchises like Guilty Gear and BlazBlue, it’s no surprise that the studio is dipping its toes into a more globally-renowned IP with Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls, the upcoming 4v4 2.5D fighter that pits Earth’s mightiest heroes and villains against each other.
Unlike established rules of combat in traditional fighting games, Fighting Souls’ 4v4 system puts players in control of a primary character, and up to three assist fighters who can be swapped out and individually controlled, but each quartet’s victory or loss is determined by a single health bar.
During a recent preview event for the game held in Seoul, South Korea, during the ARC World Tour 2025-2026 Finals at Kintex, we were able to try our hands at a demo build of the game, and more specifically, learn more about its three latest hero additions – Wolverine, Magik and Danger.
With the arrival of three new X-Men, this rounds off one of Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls’ five “teams”. The game will launch with a roster of 20 total characters, and with the game adopting a 4v4 format, these heroes and villains will be further divided into five teams of four, although players are free to mix and match as desired.
Wolverine, Magik, and Danger will join forces with their previously announced leader, Storm, and form “The Unbreakable X-Men”, and we were also able to find out a little more about these three additions thanks to a pre-hands-on media briefing with Arc System Works producer Takeshi Yamanaka and lead game director/lead battle designer Kazuto Sekine.
First off is perhaps the most recognisable of the group, Wolverine, who brings not just a sense of familiarity, but also offers the most accessible gameplay style. Armed with his adamantium claws and healing abilities, Wolverine is a frontline fighter through and through, built with an aggressive playstyle in mind and is made for those who prefer to advance and close the gap.
With the game also featuring an episodic Campaign Mode – which will centre on the journeys of each of the five teams as they face a yet-to-be-revealed threat – Wolverine’s role in The Unbreakable X-Men will be that of a mentor figure, as being the oldest of the group, it’s up to him to guide the newly minted team leader Storm, as well as serve as something of a father figure to the two other younger members.
As the kid sister of Colossus, fans of the recent hero shooter Marvel Rivals or the 2020 film The New Mutants would be familiar with Magik, who has been steadily gaining popularity over the years with her distinct style and powers.
Armed with both her massive Soulsword and portal-based teleportation abilities, Magik is designed to hit hard and from any range, but requires players to have a good grasp on positioning and timing. While her Soulsword is reliable enough to perform powerful basic combos at close range, properly utilising her portals gives her both added flexibility and range, as not only is she able to hop into summoned portals and then emerge for a sneaky strike at a specific location, she can also summon pillars of flame from the ground that damage foes at varying ranges.
And finally, there’s Danger… wait, who?
Unless you’re a comic book fan, chances are this is the first you’ve heard of the android hero (and sometimes villain). First appearing in the 2004 comic series Astonishing X-Men, Danger is an incarnation of the Danger Room, the AI training facility of the X-Men, which becomes self-aware and manifests as an android.
As a robot, Danger possesses the ability to transform any part of her body into various weapons at will, something that translates into her fighting style, which caters to players who prefer a more technical fighting style. While equipped with basic melee and ranged moves, such as a drill formed by her “dreadlocks” and a massive arm canon akin to Megaman, Danger can also summon spherical devices on the map with her “Calibrate” unique ability, which then changes effects based on the skills used, such as redirecting her fired lasers, making her an excellent zoning character.
Apart from being able to try out the three new X-Men, the Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls demo also allowed us to try out some of its updated moves, including the revised Assemble assist system, a move where a player calls upon one of their three backup characters for a follow-up attack mid combo. While the controls for changing characters and performing an Assemble assist were previously tied to the same button, Arc System Works has addressed fan feedback and implemented a separate button for changing characters, adding fluidity to combat, as players will no longer have to fumble with either pressing or holding the same button in the heat of battle.
While playing around with the game’s litany of systems and combos, such as Stage Transitions, a flashy background-changing move performed when throwing an opponent near the edge of the map that unlocks a player’s third or fourth backup character slot, or Link Combos, an easy-to-perform series of moves catered to newcomers that culminates in an epic finisher, we were also able to try out the games newly-revealed “ultimate attack”, the Tōkon Assemble.
Designed to allow losing players to turn the tables, the Tōkon Assemble can only be performed by a player when they have lost two rounds (the winner of the game is determined by who wins three total rounds first). Once on their last legs, and provided they have 150 Skill Gauge and all three bars of their Assemble gauge, players can then input a set of commands to pull off an incredibly flashy “comeback” attack, which sees all four heroes teaming up together and striking at once, with the currently chosen character performing the final blow. In our case, this was Magik, and she used her Soulsword flame powers to summon multiple fiery dragon heads that lunged at the opponent all at once, culminating in a badass finish.
While by no means an “insta-kill” or game-winning move, Tōkon Assemble is instead designed to better level out the playing field and give those on the losing end a chance to make a comeback, and for a game made for the competitive scene, this will no doubt lead to some insane, crowd-rousing moments.
While the hands-on session was brief, and we were only able to try out Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls’ standard arcade mode and not its other gameplay modes like its Episodic Campaign, this little snippet of gameplay was already enough to feel just how much effort Arc System Works has put into building a deep, feature-rich fighter that’s also pretty easy to pick up for beginners.
With its base system locked down, all eyes are now set on the remaining nine unannounced characters and how the studio can bring their iconic anime-styled spin on some of the most famous Marvel characters, or possibly, just like they have done with Danger, bring some lesser-known comic characters to the limelight with their video game debut.
Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls launches on 6 August 2026 for the PlayStation 5 and PC.
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
Si Jia
