Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls closed beta: What we learned

After much anticipation, the closed beta for Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls has come and gone in a flash. Held from September 5 to September 7, players who managed to get in were able to play a variety of matches with one another, choosing three characters from the eight available in the newest tag-team brawler from Arc System Works.

The reception from the closed beta has already been very positive, with many posts on social media sites talking about how fun Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls is, and how many can’t wait for its impending release in 2026.

With the closed beta fresh in many players’ minds, we’re seeing what we can glean from the two-day event and whether there were any disappointments to be found.

Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls is reportedly in the beta stage at the time of writing. This means the game is ‘content complete’, where it can be played in an almost-finished state. However, there may be objects, graphics, or more out of place, which are yet to be finished and implemented into the title. With a 2026 release date and the closed beta having concluded, the next step for Arc System Works will likely be refinements on a bunch of the game’s mechanics, based on the feedback that players gave during the closed beta.

One of the big takeaways from the closed beta is how similar Marvel Tōkon is to Dragon Ball FighterZ, another title from Arc System Works. Despite both games sharing a 3v3 tag-team system and a hand-drawn art style, mechanics like auto combos, throws that aren’t interrupted by attacks, and switching between fighters feel improved from what occurred in FighterZ. In many ways, Marvel Tōkon feels like an unofficial successor to FighterZ, and that’s only a positive for Arc System Works.

Players also enjoyed using Star Lord and Ms. Marvel the most, thanks to their fast attacks and combos, especially when mixed with Iron Man. But some mentioned how calling for assists and switching characters felt slow, and the controls for doing these two functions felt awkward. Allegedly, this was more prevalent when combos were being attempted, and when an assist was requested, they were either too slow to respond, or when they did appear, the attacks felt similar to every other character.

The hand-drawn graphics and animations have been widely praised, particularly for how much of a perfect fit this is with Marvel characters. Compared to the graphical styles in other titles like Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and X-Men vs. Street Fighter, Marvel Tōkon feels like a breath of fresh air. Also, with just eight characters to choose from, fans are hoping to see others like the Fantastic Four, Venom, Black Panther, and more be revealed in the lead-up to the game’s release.

A comment repeated across sites is also an ironic one — that the closed beta felt very short, as it only lasted two days. Players have pointed out that it’s simply not enough time to digest how the mechanics and characters work in a game like Marvel Tōkon. From what has been played, it’s a clean sweep of a promising fighter that’s only helped to build up anticipation for its final release. 

From the reception we’ve seen across social media, websites, and YouTube breakdowns, the two-day closed beta has only increased anticipation. Since its reveal in June via a trailer, expectations have been high, due to Arc System Works being the key developers for Marvel Tōkon. In addition, the title is one of the first major Marvel tag-team fighting games to have appeared in years, since 2017’s Marvel vs.Capcom Infinite.

With the reactions and impressions that have been published, it looks like Arc System Works is continuing its winning streak of fighting games and understanding the content. From Dragon Ball to Guilty Gear, Marvel Tōkon looks like the next step in how the developer approaches the fighting game genre, building on what it did with its previous titles and implementing it into this one.

Combined with the valuable feedback the developer will have received from players who managed to get into the two-day closed beta, we wouldn’t be surprised to see Marvel Tōkon appear again before the end of 2025. Whether that’s announcing more characters or another beta session, the closed beta has clearly increased anticipation and expectations in one fell swoop.

It’s safe to say that Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls had a successful closed beta session. Players clearly enjoyed the 3v3 tag-team gameplay, as well as the art style that developer Arc System Works is known for. The title is clearly a successor to its previous titles, like Dragon Ball FighterZ and Guilty Gear Strive, and taking what it’s learnt from these, then putting it into Marvel Tōkon.

The tentative 2026 release date means that the closed beta has given the developer some valuable feedback to work on in the meantime. This could include the damage of certain moves, blocks, and much more. While we’re yet to see if another beta period will be announced, it could be a good move for Arc System Works to build upon the anticipation that this closed beta test has clearly made.