The Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls open beta is live now, and it offers a chance for players to try out multiple modes in the game, including its story mode.
And after revisiting it again this morning for the first time since earlier closed tests, I’m somehow even more excited for it than I already was. I have to preface this by saying, yes, I am a huge Marvel fan. Anyone who knows me or has read a little bit of my work knows that. But wow, I cannot help but feel floored by the presentation of this fighting game’s story mode, called Episode.
Along with online multiplayer fights and a practice mode, the open beta offers a small taste of its Episode mode, which is basically as if Marvel made a combo anime and manga and brought it all to life, with writing by actual comic book artist Kieron Gillen.
The first three chapters of Episode: The Amazing Guardians teases what’s to come in the full game when it launches in a couple weeks, and it’s genuinely a pure joy for anyone who’s into Marvel or Japanese culture (or both, like me). And that was especially apparent after the game’s opening cinematic, which is quintessentially “anime as fuck.”
Additionally, the Episode cutscenes that introduce big moments in the story look like they could (and maybe should) be a full-fledged Marvel anime, and interactions in between battles are manga pages come to life, fully voice acted and interactive. You can let them auto-play, or move forward and backwards through scenes with button presses. But it’s all so incredibly smooth and well-done.
The intro scenes showcase the stakes of the game’s plot: mysterious forces come to Earth to challenge teams of heroes to battle and defend the planet, lest it be destroyed if they lose. And that’s how the game’s five teams of four characters come together.
The Episode plays out with its awesome manga pages setting up battles, like the old classic Spider-Man vs. Green Goblin to kick things off, and reveal how the squads come together. I was wondering how Spider-Man ended up teaming with a rather random group of Ms. Marvel, Star-Lord, and Peni Parker, and it was all answered within a few fights, setting up the battles to come.
Tōkon’s gameplay itself is familiar, a four member tag team-fighter reminiscent of Marvel vs. Capcom and others like it, with buttery smooth framerate and awesome animations. But having played it before and knowing how good that part was already, I feel like this game has massive potential to be a big hit when it all combines in the final product after getting a taste of its story presentation.
You can try out the Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls open beta on both PS5 and PC for free this weekend, and the full game launches in just under two weeks on Aug. 6.
