Marvel’s finally back in the fight. After many years of silence, and Marvel Vs. Capcom Infinite leaving fans split (I still rocked with it), Marvel Tökon feels like the real deal. I got into the closed beta and yeah…this game might be the one.
This Beta was a little weird, with time restrictions, no training mode, requiring you to play 30 minutes vs the computer and taking that option away and going straight to online casual matches. The lobbys had 64 people max and each region could hold up to 100 rooms from what the beta offered. Just by the feel of the game, right away I felt it’s an ArcSystem game. It feels like Dragon Ball FighterZ meets Guilty Gear, but layered with Marvel’s wild energy. It was really fast, fun, mental stacking, and a breath of fresh air for us Marvels fans.
When I heard this game was going to be released, I thought they were going to over simplify the game down too much, but they actually balanced it right. Auto-combos are there for beginners, but the ceiling is high for anyone who wants to freestyle and go deep. I even did a test to see how well you can play just by timing your auto combos and it worked out just fine. For those who want to take it to a higher level, you can still tag teammates mid-fight, use assists, mix it with your combos, and still have so many creative routes to make. Which keeps that Marvel DNA alive.
It’s not the classic 3v3 , but now 4v4. Gameplay wise with assists, it has a Marvel Vs Capcom 2 and the tagging between combos that comes from Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom 3. Although, it’s truly a 1v1 game at its core. Unique to this game, is the ability to draft a four character squad. This really changes how you tag and build your team since you can also switch to main another character if you need. Some rounds I was fully focused on building my team, other times I just zoned in and focusing on countering those rush downs.
When I loaded the game, I was ready to main Captain America, but ended up hooked on Storm. Once I stopped treating this like a “Capcom vs” game and leaned into ArcSys’ design, it all clicked. They did a wonderful job redesigning the characters, Storm truly manipulates the weather in the game, Cap’s solid as ever with no more stars and stripes, and Dr. Doom brings a whole new gameplay. They’re familiar faces, but with a fresh spin that fits Tökon’s flow. New Characters like Miss Marvel, and Starlord definitely shined, and may have shined the brightest. Miss Marvel hands down lacks an air dash but makes up for it with her unique ability, and Starlord has an amazing mix up and combo stacking game.
As for connectivity, here’s the shocker: I played on Wi-Fi (don’t ban me) and still ran 50+ matches with only a few hiccups. For a closed beta, the netcode felt way ahead of the curve. This has been a problem for many previous Arksys titles, and it seems they finally got it together on this one as well.
Marvel Tökon hits that sweet spot, flashy, approachable, and deep enough for the lab monsters. It feels like the revival Marvel heads have been waiting for, and the timing couldn’t be better with the FGC stacked with new titles. This isn’t just Marvel coming back, this is Marvel evolving, and yeah, the hype is absolutely real!
