Over the weekend, I was able to attend EVO 2026 at the Las Vegas Convention Center to watch tons of fighting game tournaments, browse an amazing selection of game-related merchandise and crafts, and catch a few games on the show floor.
Arc Wants To Support Marvel Tokon In The PS6 Era
The arc is in it for the long haul.
What’s really exciting to see is that MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls, the latest game from fighting game champions Arc System Works, was shown not only to the media, but to the entire public crowd at the show.
There is no regular demo for Tōkon yet, so, I immediately got in line to check it out and see what it will bring to the table in August 2026.
Preview Scene
Aside from the actual tournaments, it’s probably safe to say that Tōkon’s EVO preview section was the most popular part of the show as a whole. I checked it out on a Friday, the first/least busy day of the show, but there was always a healthy line to go along for the 10-15 minute demo.
After waiting in line and being matched with one other player in line next to me, we got to choose whether we wanted to play with the PS5 DualSense, a leverless game pad, or an arcade-style joystick. I won’t lie; I’m not a fighting game pro, so I personally waited 10 minutes or so to be able to use good ol’, trusty DualSense.
With that, my new friend and I sat at the station, plugged in our headsets, and played four or five rounds of Tōkon by ourselves.
Fast, Crazy, Fun
Aside from the controller, Tōkon and its programs are fast and responsive. You can check out all the standard map buttons above to get an idea of everything you’ll have here. Finally, in a high-level fighting game, it’s not a ton to wrap your head around, which I think will work the game very well. Easy to read, hard to understand, blah blah. You know the tropes.
Still, Tōkon clearly does things differently from other fighters, especially the “Assemble” mechanics, which act as assists, but can be deployed multiple times to keep fights fun and electrify your bench heroes jumping into the fray every now and then to make a mark on the game.
Tōkon also does something interesting where you have a total of four chosen champions to start the game, but only two are available to start. If you lose a round, the next/third fighter is unlocked. When you are on the verge of elimination, all four can be used. This shifts some of the momentum back to the losing player (usually me in this demo), as the winning fighter starts to feel cut off when it becomes a two fight game against four at any time.
The artwork, sound design, and voice acting are also consistently impressive, if anyone was concerned in any of those areas.
In balance
All of the above, of course, speaks to balance, and the philosophy that Tōkon seems to take to integrate things throughout the game without feeling it. again abandoned. Hardcore hardcore might laugh at the idea of giving a lost player so many tools to come back, but a little rubber-band and matchmaking power is interesting.
Character balance seems good overall, but like any fighting game, you’ll find your Mains quickly. The question then becomes, “Is this character really good, or am I just being silly about him?” For example, Ghost Rider would be my top choice right now, as I’ve seen the most success with his medium chain whip. My opponent, however, was also good with Ghost Rider. Is this a balance issue, or was this character just unfriendly/unbalanced?
Either way, I fully expect Arc System Works to add things like this quickly and balance the patch as it goes from here, so I don’t mind it at all. Even in its current, pre-launch form, Tōkon is a lot of fun indeed. From a non-fighting game person, I can see this is one I get into every time.
More to come soon
More news about Tōkon is coming out all the time, including a report from Push Square that says the game’s open beta is coming soon from July 24-26. If you want to see what the game is all about for yourself, that’s obviously your next best chance if you missed EVO.
Even in its current, pre-launch form, Tōkon is a lot of fun indeed.
In any case, the full launch is coming soon, with MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls scheduled for release on August 6, 2026. The list of full characters to be launched has now been confirmed, so start thinking about how you want to build your ideal team of four.
Villains Reign Supreme in Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls’ Knights of Doom Showcase
Arc System Works has revealed a rough lineup for Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls’ Knights of Doom.
- Released
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August 6, 2026
- The ESRB
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Teen / Blood, Language, Sexual Themes, Violence, In-Game Purchases, User Interaction
