MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls Review Summary

Fun with excellent mechanics and beautiful art, but poor PC performance and PSN requirement prevent stable 60 FPS.

Game is fun and amazing: Players consistently describe the game as fun, amazing, and fantastic, with great gameplay that feels rewarding. This positive sentiment is widespread and forms the core of the game's appeal.

Excellent fighting game: Reviewers praise the game as one of the best fighting games, especially from Arc System Works. It is considered fun, fast-paced, and great for all skill levels.

Great graphics and art style: The game's graphics, art direction, and animation are praised as top-notch, gorgeous, and visually stunning. The visual presentation is a major highlight for many players.

Runs well on varied hardware: The game runs well on a variety of hardware, including mid-range PCs, without requiring a high-end setup. This makes it accessible to many players.

High replay value: With multiple modes, unique characters, and satisfying combat, the game has high replayability, keeping players engaged for a long time.

Game runs poorly on PC: The game is widely reported to be poorly optimized on PC, with performance issues such as low FPS, stuttering, and crashes. Many players with systems above recommended specs still cannot maintain a stable 60fps.

Cannot maintain stable 60 FPS: A significant number of players cannot achieve or maintain a stable 60 FPS, regardless of in-game settings or hardware capability. This leads to frequent frame drops and inconsistent performance.

PSN account requirement disliked: The game forces players to sign in to a PlayStation Network account, even for offline play, which many find unnecessary and annoying. Sony's involvement in this requirement is also criticized.

Game is unplayable: For a subset of players, the game is completely unplayable, with constant freezes, crashes, and severe lag. This is often coupled with the inability to boot the game at all on PC.

Performance terrible on high-end PCs: Even on PCs that far exceed the recommended specifications, the game fails to run smoothly, often staying at 40 FPS or lower. This indicates deep optimization problems rather than hardware limitations.

Fighting game with rich mechanics: The game is consistently described as a fighting game with deep character movesets and a unique spin on the genre. It is a tag fighter with an assist system, combining complexity with accessibility.

Includes story and varied modes: The game features a story mode with illustrations, tutorials, and additional game modes like episode mode. This provides substantial single-player content beyond standard fights.

Beginner friendly with depth: The game is praised for being easy for newcomers to pick up while offering a high skill ceiling for advanced players. This balance makes it accessible to casual and competitive audiences alike.

Offers online and offline modes: Players highlight the presence of both online multiplayer and offline play options. This dual-mode availability caters to different play preferences and enhances replayability.

Auto combo system included: The game includes an auto combo system that simplifies execution, making it easier for novices to perform combos. This feature is separate from manual inputs, offering options for different skill levels.

Performance issues across platforms: Many users report poor performance, including low frame rates, stuttering, and crashes, even on systems that meet or exceed recommended specifications. The game struggles to maintain a stable 60 FPS in various modes, impacting playability.

Positive performance on some systems: Some reviewers report smooth performance, with a locked 60 FPS and no stuttering, particularly on high-end or mid-range PCs. These varied experiences suggest performance is highly dependent on specific hardware configurations.

Online netcode and rollback issues: Several players experience online performance problems related to rollback netcode, including frequent rollback frames and instability. These issues are particularly noticeable during online matches, affecting the overall multiplayer experience.

Performance issues persist from beta: Some users report that performance issues present in the beta remain unresolved in the final release. The game does not run better than the beta for all players, indicating incomplete optimization.

Lack of Linux and SteamOS support: The game fails to run on Linux or SteamOS, preventing Steam Deck and Steam Machine users from playing. This lack of platform compatibility is a significant barrier for a subset of the community.

Do not buy until fixed: Multiple reviews explicitly advise against purchasing the game until major issues are resolved. The consensus is to wait for patches that address stability and performance problems before spending money.

Recommended for Marvel and fighting fans: Fans of Marvel and fighting games generally recommend the title, praising its appeal to those audiences. Newcomers to fighting games also find it accessible and enjoyable.

PC version poorly optimized: Reviewers on PC report crashes and technical problems, leading to a negative recommendation for the PC version specifically. The port is considered subpar and in need of optimization.

Performance issues hinder experience: Many players cannot recommend the game due to performance problems, including frame rate drops and stuttering. These issues severely affect gameplay and discourage a positive review.

Overall negative recommendation: Several reviews give a flat 'cannot recommend' without specifying details, indicating widespread dissatisfaction with the current state of the game.

Community fair range: $20.00 - $40.00.

Story completion: 10.0h.

Session length: 5.0h.

The game's combat and presentation are immediately fun for most players, especially Marvel fans and fighting game newcomers, though technical issues and PSN requirements introduce early friction for some.

Friction: Tutorial cannot be exited without ALT+F4; PSN mandatory sign-in requirement; Performance stuttering and frame pacing issues; No SteamOS or Linux support.

Casual Marvel Newcomer: Casual, relies on auto combos, explores story and training modes, plays locally or for fun. Motivation: Fun and accessible entry into fighting games with beloved Marvel characters. Stance: buy.

Competitive Fighting Game Veteran: Competitive, focused on ranked matches, frame data, netcode quality, and balanced mechanics. Motivation: To engage in fair, high-level online competition and master the game's depth. Stance: no buy.

Wait-and-See Player: Interested in the core game but currently hampered by performance issues; waiting for a stable experience. Motivation: To enjoy the game's potential fully once technical problems are resolved. Stance: no buy.

Across mid- to high-end Windows systems, performance reports are sharply divided: roughly as many players achieve smooth 60fps gameplay as those who encounter stuttering, crashes, or sub-60 framerates, indicating inconsistent optimization even on similar hardware tiers.

Windows 12-15GB VRAM / 16-31GB RAM: mixed. Performance is mixed: many users report smooth 60fps gameplay, but a similar number report micro-stuttering, high CPU usage, and sub-60 framerates.

Windows <8GB VRAM / <16GB RAM: mixed. Reports are split: some users experience smooth performance after tweaking settings, while others describe the game as unplayable due to poor optimization and low framerates.

Windows <8GB VRAM / 16-31GB RAM: mixed. Feedback is divided: some players achieve 60fps, but many report CPU overload, stuttering, and framerates well below 60fps even on capable hardware.

Steam Deck: The game is effectively broken on Steam Deck and Linux due to deliberate blocking via Easy Anti-Cheat and Sony's overlay. Additionally, performance is poor across many systems, with crashes and high resource usage. Forced PSN account and region locking add further barriers.

Linux and Proton: The game is effectively non-functional on Linux and Steam Deck due to a deliberate choice by the developer to disable Easy Anti-Cheat's Proton support, despite the technology being readily available. Combined with misleading dismissals from community managers and heavy DRM, the game is unplayable for Linux users. Windows performance and other issues exist but the Linux/Proton barrier is the central compatibility showstopper.

Monetization: User reviews primarily complain about the cost of the season pass, early DLC announcements, and deluxe edition value, but no evidence of pay-to-win, gacha, lootboxes, currency obfuscation, or other predatory microtransactions is found. Traditional DLC and base-price complaints cannot push the score above 20 per scoring criteria override.

PSN account requirement criticized: A large number of players complain about the mandatory PSN account requirement on PC, even for offline play. This is seen as an unnecessary restriction that limits accessibility and region availability.

No Linux or Steam Deck support: The game does not support Linux, SteamOS, or the Steam Deck, with some pointing to the proprietary overlay and Easy Anti-Cheat as the reason. This has generated many negative reviews from affected users.

Unfavorable comparison to Marvel vs. Capcom: Players compare the game unfavorably to the Marvel vs. Capcom franchise, feeling it is not as good and not worth the high price. Some also compare it to Marvel Rivals in terms of presentation.

Game price considered too high: Several players feel the game is overpriced, with costs exceeding $80 or even $100. The high price is often cited as a reason for not recommending the game.

Blamed Sony for optimization issues: Some players attribute the game's performance problems to Sony's involvement, blaming the company for poor optimization. This adds to the frustration among the user base.