If that sounds like a motley group without any sense of cohesion, you’re right, and Episode Mode, the game’s de facto story, focuses on how they start working together. As for their fighting styles, Blade harnesses Muramasa, which must be unsealed to deal significant damage, but he can also throw a stake to stop enemies in their tracks.

Loki, just like in the MCU, is all about illusions and magic. When he’s not countering foes, he’s using ice and fire attacks while moving around quickly to take advantage. As for Deadpool, he’s about as you’d expect – specializing in guns, swords, and more, though you need to beware of self-damage. Why do some of his moves resemble other fighting game characters? A mystery for another time, perhaps.

Throughout all this, we can see one of the new stages, Asgard, which features iconic locations like Yggdrasil and the Bifrost Bridge. But perhaps the most exciting news coming out of this is an open beta from July 24th to 26th for PS5 and PC (which requires a PlayStation account). Loki and Deadpool won’t be available, but you can harness Blade.

It goes live a week before the game’s launch on August 6th, so stay tuned for more details and character guide videos. Check out Ms Marvel’s repertoire here in the meantime.

It may seem simple at first but much like Captain America’s Trick Shield, the potential for combos and mix-ups is pretty strong. Not only can it be used in mid-air to reach the ground faster but she can also pull herself away and offers a unique dash for evading attacks and immediately following up. It’s also baked into her assists, which makes swapping to Ms. Marvel after a successful execution feel more fluid.

Of course, she can also use Embiggen as an Ultimate Skill to dish out some serious damage and clap fools with two gargantuan hands as part of her Tōkon Assemble attack. This is only available in the last round of a match where you could lose, though, so make it count.

Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls is available on August 6th for PS5 and PC, and while there are still plenty of character guides to go, we’ve also yet to see the final team, led by Robbie Reyes’ Ghost Rider. Stay tuned for more updates in the coming weeks.

Pressing any of Cap’s Light, Medium and Heavy attacks in quick succession will unleash some pretty hard-hitting combos. It’s when you use Trick Shield that things get interesting, as it can ricochet vertically, horizontally, and diagonally. Even better is that when it returns, you can hit it again to send it flying back at an opponent.

This also works with the dedicated projectile attack, Shield Strike, and is perfect for setting up combos that chain into other skills like Soaring Justice. It comes into play during one of his Assist types as well, and since you can actively swap during the same, it’s a great way to keep the other side guessing.

Of course, even with his five-star ease-of-use, there’s plenty more complexity to Captain America. The guide also offers a look at Tōkon Assemble, a comeback mechanic available when losing the current round would end the match. It lets you call in the Fighting Avengers for a four-on-one beatdown before ending in a massive Soaring Justice.

With Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls out on August 6th for PS5 and PC, expect even more Character Guides ahead of launch. There are also more characters yet to be revealed, namely Ghost Rider’s team, so stay tuned for a possible shadow drop in the coming weeks.

As a long-time nemesis (and sometimes ally) of the X-Men, Magneto utilizes magnetism to deal significant damage from afar and up close. Spider-Man’s arch-enemy keeps away and focuses more on bombs, while his other big-time foe, Carnage, leaps in with brutal strikes and an unhinged mentality. Suffice it to say that the heroes will have their hands full, especially when trying to defeat the Champion.

Launching on August 6th, Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls will be available for PS5 and PC. Previous trailers have confirmed groups such as the Unbreakable X-Men with Wolverine, Storm, Danger, and Magick, and the Fighting Avengers with Captain America, Hulk, Iron Man and Black Panther.

Beyond the online play, there’s also a story in Episode Mode where heroes and villains alike must participate in a tournament against the mysterious Champion with the world at stake. Though there was confusion about whether it would have any playable battles or remain non-interactive like Guilty Gear Strive, Arc System Works quickly clarified that they’re actually “everywhere.”

As for post-launch, the Year 1 Characters and Stage Pass is slated to include four new playable characters and a new stage.

Well, it finally revealed more details in a recent interview with 4Gamer. The publication initially asked producer Takeshi Yamanaka about a “substantial story mode.” While he said it was “difficult to directly compare the volume of content” to previous games’ stories, there is indeed an Episode Mode for enjoying the story.

“We had a manga artist draw the base manga, and then we added movement to each panel to advance the story, which is a fairly time-consuming way to present it.” With five playable teams, he claims it’s enough to offer “nearly 10 hours of gameplay in total.” It even utilizes the DualSense’s Haptic Feedback and includes voice acting in 10 languages (as opposed to the usual three).

Problems arose, however, when the publication reported that there wouldn’t be any actual gameplay battles. This was later corrected at the behest of Arc System Works, and the response now notes, “In Episode Mode, playable battles are included everywhere. The battle that leads to the content of the story is developed, and it is designed to be casually enjoyed by anyone as if reading a manga, so that you can experience the story more interactively.”

A mistranslation? A mistake, be it from the developer or the publication? Whatever the case may be, such a story mode wouldn’t be out of nowhere. Guilty Gear Strive’s narrative, for example, is completely non-playable.

Regardless, it’s good news for those who want a hefty single-player mode when Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls launches on August 6th for PS5 and PC. It’s entering the “final stages of development,” but there are still more characters to be revealed, so stay tuned for updates.

While the developer is bringing the newest build with these characters to Combo Breaker 2026 on May 22nd and Hong Kong Comic Con on May 29th, there are still plenty of reveals to come. That said, producer Takeshi Yamanaka confirmed on the PlayStation Blog that development is “entering its final stages” and that “the entire team is working hard every day to deliver the best possible experience at launch.”

Thus far, 13 characters and five stages (including Wakanda) have been revealed – all playable at the above-mentioned events. Based on rumors, there seem to be 20 characters at launch, so there’s still plenty of time before their reveals. We may even see the new additions included in the Year One Characters and Stage Pass alongside an open beta at some point.

Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls is available on August 6th for PS5 and PC for $59.99. It sees Earth’s mightiest heroes (and a few villains) teaming up to take on each other en route to facing The Champion, an Elder who craves combat and will destroy a planet if he’s not satisfied.

Instead of T’Challa, it’s his sister Shuri who’s taken up the Black Panther mantle and opened up Wakanda as a stage. Possessing incredible agility and razor-sharp claws, she further distinguishes her fighting style with the use of a spear. And that’s not enough, she even relies on an armor-clad panther to rush foes.

As for Hulk, well…he’s Hulk. Grabbing enemies, slamming them into the ground with aggressive grapples (even telling Wolverine to “heal from this, runt”) and losing his temporary. His appearance and dialogue seem to suggest this is his World War Hulk avatar, so hopefully the story mode will shine more.

The Fighting Avengers join the Amazing Guardians and the Unbreakable X-Men as the available teams. Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls launches on August 6th for PS5 and PC, and will reportedly feature 20 characters at launch. Four more characters will arrive post-launch in the Year One Characters Pass, so stay tuned for even more reveals in the coming months.

There’s also the mysterious Promoter, an Elder known as Xirena Awhina, who organizes a tournament between Earth’s superheroes and villains to determine the planet’s fate. Of course, whether she’s the key antagonist or simply another pawn in this galactic free-for-all remains to be seen, but her power is the real deal.

As for Peni, she brings a “wide range of gadgets and unique tools” to the fight courtesy of SP//dr, which combos pretty well with the other Guardians. Knowhere also joins the stage roster – a welcome addition for Guardians of the Galaxy fans.

Interestingly, Arc System Works also added a new feature to the game – Automatic Team Name Generation – which can generate a team name for your unit. Each combination is tied to Marvel lore and even gets announced before fights.

Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls is out on August 6th for PS5 and PC. It’s undergone numerous improvements since the last closed beta, which you can learn more about here (hurray for no more Link Attacks on whiffed moves). EVO Japan 2026 players can try it from May 1st to 3rd in Tokyo while also playing as Peni Parker and other recently unveiled heroes like Wolverine, Magik and Danger.

It’s quite the love letter to Marvel fans, bringing a veritable bunch of classics to your screens. You get to join the X-Men, Captain America, Silver Surfer, Spider-Man, and even Venom on adventures that you might remember from a time when you needed to slot a coin into a machine before you could play. Maybe you enjoyed them through 8-bit or even 16-bit cartridges.

With up to six players able to join in on the fun via online multiplayer on select games, and a whole lot of fun options like the Archives, a music player, a gameplay rewind feature for those tough encounters, a museum where nostalgia practically lives, rollback netcode for X-Men: The Arcade Game and even a cheat menu, there’s a lot to like about this one.

We’re itching to dive in when it drops on March 27, 2026, when it releases for the PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch, and PC via Steam. Until then, the trailer below should help pass the time.

Get your checklist out because some of these are a doozy:

• Tagging now has reduced frames and animation time, so extending combos feels a lot snappier.
• You can now cancel attacks to trigger non-Rush assists. Oh, and assists can now be triggered consecutively, so feel free to call in the entire squad for help.
• Ground assists can now be called while airborne. Great for keeping your opponent guessing and creating some space to retreat.
• Super Skills will no longer trigger wall breaks. Furthermore, characters will now enter a full knockdown state after a wall break.
• Link Attacks, aka auto combos, can’t be activated if you whiff. Truly a brave new world.

Of course, as producer Takeshi Yamanaka notes on Twitter, these aren’t all of the changes (the frequency of area transitions has also been tuned, for example). Those who want to go hands-on and try out all 11 characters, including Wolverine, Magik and Danger, can do so on March 20th at the ARC World Tour in Seoul. The development also has plenty to announce, from other characters to new modes, so stay tuned.

Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls launches on August 6th for PS5 and PC.