If you’re heading to EVO 2025 or just itching to find out more about what Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls is all about, Game Director Kazuto “Pachi” Sekine has you covered. In a newly released video, Pachi breaks down the fundamentals of the upcoming tag-based fighter, giving players a crash course in everything from team composition to controls. Whether you’re trying the game at EVO or watching from home, here’s what you need to know.
Check out the video below.
Team-Based 4v4 Combat
At the core of Fighting Souls is its 4 vs. 4 tag-team format. You’ll build a squad of four Marvel characters as you play throughout your matches, although you’ll only have access to two characters at first.
As the match progresses and certain objectives are met, like losing a round, being slammed through a stage corner (which seems like a watch to get out of being stuck in that corner), or via a wall break that triggers a stage transition. During matches, you’ll tag characters in and out, swap positions mid-combo, and take advantage of team-based mechanics to dominate your opponent.
It’s also important to note that your entire team shares a single health gauge, which is a major departure from other Marvel fighting games, such as Capcom’s Marvel vs Capcom titles. In addition to the health bar, there are two other resources, the Assembly and Skill gauges.
The Assemble gauge will power Assemble Rushes, Assemble Smashes, Assemble Assists, Assemble Counters, and Crossovers.
Assemble Rushes brings in a teammate to perform a lunging attack and can be used to extend a combo or to recover from an attack. Assemble Smashes act as a quick move with some armor that can be performed right as you’re being attacked. Assemble Counters are counterattacks performed by your allies. Super Assembles call in an ally to perform their special attack, with that ally swapping in after that attack. And finally, Crossovers are performed while blocking and calls in an ally to attack for you, but can be countered with another Crossover attack called a Crossover Reflect.
As you can see, the Assemble gauge is important for utilizing your teammates during a match.
The Skill gauge is what is used to perform enhanced skills, called Extra, Super, and Ultimate Skills. Extra Skills and Super Skills will cost 25% of the Skill gauge, while Ultimates will cost the entire bar.
Still, it does raise some concerns given that you need to earn your team in some regard, which some players may be able to take advantage of early on in a match. That’s all speculation on my part, so we’ll have to wait until EVO 2025 arrives and we’re flooded with tons of footage and new information.
Simplified Controls With Optional Quick Skills
The control scheme uses five buttons: light, medium, heavy, a special move button, and three dedicated Quick Skill buttons. Quick Skills are designed for accessibility, allowing players to perform key moves without traditional motion inputs. You don’t have to use them, but they’re a great option if you’re new to fighting games or just want to focus on timing and positioning over execution.
There’s a tradeoff, though; moves done with Quick Skills deal slightly less damage. That means players who put in the time to learn full inputs will have a slight edge in power, while others can still stay competitive with easier inputs. It’s a smart way to balance the playing field without dumbing anything down.
Ease of Entry, Depth in Strategy
What stands out most from the guide is how the team wants to make this game feel immediately playable while still offering long-term depth. You’re not just picking characters for cool factor (though there’s plenty of that), you’ll need to understand how your squad functions together. Some characters may work better as openers, others as closers, and assist timing is key to keeping pressure or extending combos.
This is just a quick and simple breakdown, so I highly recommend watching the Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls Beginner’s Quick multiple times, as there’s a bunch of information in it that is sure to get you up and running.
Not to mention that this game looks beautiful, and this video gives us way more gameplay than we’ve ever seen since the game’s reveal. Even if you don’t plan on attending EVO 2025 or don’t play fighting games, this is a very pretty video to watch.
Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls is slated for a 2026 release for the PlayStation 5 and PC.
