Marvel Tōkon Becomes the New Heart of the FGC

There is a new Marvel fighting game developed by Arc System Works in association with PlayStation Studios that becomes the new heart of the FGC as it became a successor of the Marvel vs. Capcom franchise. Let's jump right in.

This post is gonna give us news for fighting game fans. As we all know, fighting games were established when the original Street Fighter released in arcades. But there is one game that was announced during June's State of Play to make the FGC go wild. You see, as part of the FGC and a fighting game fan, I have been hunting for announcements for fighting games while watching tournaments. And when I watched the trailer of the game, the quality hit me real bad, so without further ado, let's dive into the post.

Marvel vs. Capcom has been the long line of tag team-based fighting games since the mid 90s. Though the previous two fighting games were all-Marvel, they were presented and developed by Capcom. After the release of Marvel Super Heroes, the franchise was established, starting with X-Men vs. Street Fighter. After Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, the next games point out to the Marvel vs. Capcom name when they replaced some of the X-Men and Street Fighter characters with characters from other IPs. After a decade, Marvel vs. Capcom 3 was released and it's a starting point for the franchise's use of 3D models, along with the updated version and retained 3v3 battles from Marvel vs. Capcom 2. And finally, after five years, Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite came after Disney decided to cancel their Disney Infinity series and switch to a licensing only model to license their characters to third party developers, including Capcom. But became a flop due to its UI and trimmed down roster.

For almost three decades, not counting compilations of retro titles, Marvel vs. Capcom was the heart of the FGC that they showcased Marvel vs. Capcom 2 for several earlier years at EVO, until it was crushed and landed into the hands of Arc System Works. They are the ones who led the way of developing tag team-based fighting games based on anime, Dragon Ball FighterZ and Hunter x Hunter: Nen Impact. And now, following the success of Dragon Ball FighterZ, ArcSys is developing their new Marvel fighting game in association with PlayStation Studios announced at State of Play, Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls. We've seen Marvel Comics in different genres of a puzzle, strategy RPG, card game, side scrolling beat 'em up and a hero shooter in a modern setting. Now it's going to the fighting game genre in a modern setting.

Watching the announcement trailer, I was blown away by the gameplay, graphics and the character designs and stage transitions from Guilty Gear Strive. I am shocked that the game is gonna be not 2v2, not 3v3, but a 4v4 tag based fighting game, which broken the boundaries of a tag-based fighter. It blew me away with the quality of this game they put into. Looking at the reactions, the announcement of a new Marvel fighting game became the hypest of them all that the gameplay trailer was met with widespread positivity. This is the first upcoming tag team fighter set to be critically acclaimed and release next year in 2026. But it's gonna be only on a Sony console since PlayStation Studios became a part of the project, as well as PC. Usually, we master multiple characters on our team, but in Marvel Tōkon, we can only master one character since the whole team can be in battle simultaneously.

But days later, Marvel Tōkon will not be the only tag team-based superhero fighting game that is coming out in 2026 because there is another tag based superhero fighting game announced at Xbox Games Showcase also coming out in 2026 and that is NOT developed by Arc System Works, and that is Invincible VS. This is a 3v3 tag based fighting game based on the critically acclaimed adult animated series on Amazon Prime and the superhero comic book and this marks the first ever M-rated tag team-based fighting game to have an M-rated Marvel vs. Capcom-style combat. The gameplay trailer dropped and the gameplay blew me away that it became very bloody. Plus, they have finishing moves that cause mutilation of body parts like Mortal Kombat X's Brutalities, but flashier.

The gameplay trailer also received widespread positivity, making it the second upcoming tag team-based fighting game to be met with widespread acclaim. However, because Invincible VS is the first ever M-rated tag team fighting game with and has extreme violence and strong language, it is only suitable for mature audiences, meaning no children under 17 are allowed to play this game. I am personally glad the ESRB was established because it shows parents that the games have mature content in it.

Marvel vs. Capcom has defined a tag-based fighting game genre that is known for tag team combat, air combos, assists and super gauges that come in multiple levels and follow-up supers. After the release of Marvel vs. Capcom 3, other companies were inspired to make their tag team-based fighting games with core mechanics Marvel vs. Capcom is known for without the involvement of Marvel characters. It pretty much went well with Skullgirls. Then Dragon Ball FighterZ came along to have 3v3 tag team battles. Then an upcoming free-to-play tag team-based fighting game 2XKO was announced to have 2v2 battles and a fuse. Hunter x Hunter: Nen Impact came to be 3v3 like Dragon Ball FighterZ. And finally, Invincible VS was announced and becomes an M-rated tag team-based fighting game with very bloody 3v3 tag team combat only for mature audiences.

The fighting game community has a bit of a competitive trope. Marvel vs. Capcom wasn't the only one that defines a genre because Smash was the first to craft a formula of gaming. The release of Smash Ultimate comes with other companies making their own crossover platform fighter that competes with Smash. I know that those of you who are jumping up to say "what about MultiVersus?" That can apply to that too.

MultiVersus was a free-to-play platform fighter known for its Warner Bros. characters. During Open Beta, it was well received. After launch, it became a failure due to the lack of player satisfaction caused by developers not listening to the players' feedback and prioritizing monetization over everything else. That led to the premature shutdown of the game and will never rise again due to the closure of the studio and Warner Bros' shift to bringing their collaborations to Fortnite and other games. The failure of what could've been a phenomenal platform fighter indicates that it became a lesson learned by the gaming industry so that they can make their games enjoyable, and also an issue with modern gaming.

When Marvel vs. Capcom 3 came out, they have been using the "Mahvel" and "It's Mahvel, Baybee" terms to commemorate of the franchise. Despite Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls being a tag team-based Marvel fighting game developed by Arc, the terms will still be used. ArcSys has been supporting Guilty Gear Strive for five seasons, which is why we hadn't heard from them about their new game for years. And we finally got word from them about their new fighting game, and that is Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls.

Plus, the game will have a large roster of characters. If they asked that who we would like to see in Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls, I say Thena from Eternals because she would be straight up dope and so would Emma Frost, who would be way sexier than Palamena from Visions of Mana that her thighs are so wide that they classified her as a Tank in Marvel Rivals. But people would like to see characters that are fun and can cater to the audience, like Squirrel Girl, Luna Snow, The Punisher, Ant Man and many others. But these are the characters I also like to see, though, considering that the game will have characters from the original Marvel Comics rather than the MCU like Marvel Rivals.

As I said above, Marvel Tōkon will become the new heart of the FGC after the old one was crushed by Infinite's lackluster reception that soured the relationship between Marvel and Capcom. The desire for a new Marvel fighter was beared for so long, and the desire was fulfilled by Arc System Works with the inception of Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls as Capcom is pursuing Resident Evil Requiem and their new IP, Pragmata.

Interestingly, Marvel Tōkon and Invincible VS will not be the only tag based fighting games based on other media that we'll be waiting for because we're also waiting for 2XKO, which is coming out this year. It's possible that the devs of this game are making their next public stop at EVO 2025, which is around the corner and that where they will be making an announcement at the EVO Showcase, so we can look forward to that too.

But that's not all. Arc System Works is having their showcase this week where they will be announcing their updates on their new games and a mystery project in the works by Daisuke Ishiwatari. Maybe BBTAG 2?. We don't know if Marvel Tōkon will be involved in the showcase or not. The Arc System Works Showcase goes live June 26 at 6PM here and June 27 at 10AM there in Japan due to different time zones, so be sure to check it out to also find out what project Daisuke is working on.

Joe's Monologues - 6/3/2025

It's that time again, folks. It's time for the first Joe's Monologues of June. This month is when everything gets hotter for the summer. But to cool you down, I am going to give you a few topics to go over, so without further ado, let's dive right in.

The Demise of MultiVersus:

You heard it right here, ladies and gentlemen. MultiVersus has died, so be sure to show up to its funeral. Then show up to its gravestone and give it some flowers, carrots, pies and sandwiches. I sure it would love it. Now, as you can tell that it became a saddening end to a platform fighter with Warner Bros. characters, I was not amused that the game has prematurely bitten the dust. It's because of one thing that is the source of its failure, lack of player satisfaction from not listening to players and priortizing monetization over everything else. We talked about this a while back. That was the reason why MultiVersus has failed and had to bite the dust after five seasons prematurely.

PFG did this by removing Gold and replacing it with hard to difficult currencies. Gold was the source of the Open Beta era being better than the launch era. As it turns out, MultiVersus was not the only victim for shutdown because Star Wars Hunters is also facing shutdown. Effective now, MultiVersus has been delisted from digital stores and is no longer available. It's a good thing I downloaded the game during Open Beta way before it was delisted. The Beta was better because of Gold, the old UI and something that I love watching. The Open Beta era has a deep and silent flow of having the copyright and trademark notice screen before the logos. But when the game launched, it's no longer silent and deep.

Since announcing the shutdown of MultiVersus, Warner Bros. shifted their business to bringing their collaborations to Fortnite. And it pretty much went well with the return of DC skins. Then Mortal Kombat came along to shake things up. And there are Adventure Time skins. So far, none of the collaborations from Warner Bros. flopped. They are all met with a critical acclaim that their practice of bringing them to Fortnite turned out to be a hit more than having a platform fighter that was met with a critical flop because of monetization and lack of player satisfaction.

What is really cool is that when May 30th comes, their X profile has an avatar of a gravestone with the MVS logo and a profile banner of characters facing the sunset. They show that MultiVersus has died and will never rise again. How ironic that Mightykeef, a black comedian, would make an emotional skit covering MultiVersus' shutdown. The game will never again see the light of day now that it is dead due to the closure of Player First Games, the focus on bringing collaborations to other games and Warner Bros' focus on Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, Mortal Kombat and DC Universe.

Upgrading to a Higher RAM:

As I get ready to play a game, I have learned what is the important thing when it comes to multitasking, which is RAM. The gaming computer I have now is an 8GB RAM. It is not ideal for modern gaming or multitasking as I must close all programs before I boot up my game and play it at lower settings to speed up performance. The amount is ideal for older and less demanding games I have on my Steam library. Now, I went to Google and search for information about playing a memory intensive game on a higher amount of RAM. Let's take a look at the higher amount of RAM and its benefits.

16GB RAM - This amount is ideal and a sweet spot for most modern games and leaves some room for multitasking. In fact, it is recommended to speed up loading times on most demanding games. Even though, some can be disappointed without being obvious they won't to be able to play an even more demanding game every other player is playing right now.

32GB RAM - This amount is optimal and it is ideal for serious gamers, future-proofing so that it can play both current and future memory intensive games, heavy multitasking and content creators. This is the only amount that will make gamers look cool in front of their friends and become the most savage gamer on the block.

64GB RAM and higher - An amount of RAM like this is expensive that it leaves a lot of room for multitasking and it is overkill for pure gaming. This amount of RAM will make a gamer a legend.

It takes a gaming computer with a higher amount of RAM for memory intensive games to work well, and even though I closed other programs before booting up a memory intensive game on an 8GB RAM gaming computer, it still struggled with working smoothly. And even in the case of SEGA vs. Capcom: The Next Level, it doesn't work well on an 8GB gaming computer that it consumes over 2GB RAM due to being a memory intensive game.

Due to this, I will be limiting myself to playing older and less demanding games as they consume less RAM until the time I upgrade to getting another gaming computer with a higher amount of RAM after closing other programs, including the upcoming Hunter x Hunter fighting game. I'm leaning towards upgrading to a 32GB RAM gaming computer so that I can play most modern games well without experiencing a bottleneck, especially when I'm multitasking. And I don't know if 2XKO is gonna have the recommended amount of 8GB RAM or not when it launches.

Returning to My Old Stomping Grounds:

My big brother is wanting me to come to Indiana for my nephew's birthday on July and I have been thinking about it, until something has driven me. One of my cousins is loaning me their empty house to stay for a week or two. I approve of this. Well, pre-approved because my main concern is the bathroom. The bathroom on my big brother's house was so nasty as heck that I saw toothpaste stains on a tube of toothpaste and someone has forgot to flush the dang toilet and left the toothpaste stain on the sink. That's how I felt uncomfortable pooping there and I was right to get a couple of nights at the hotel and use the bathroom there. They have a nice walk in shower too. That's where I come across a lot of people to bolster seeking my old friends from back in the day, along with the bowling alley.

I am very excited to visit my old stomping grounds for the third time and it's gonna be on the summer time. I thought that things are gonna get warmer on the spring, but it stays cool on that season. Since I am having my own place in Indiana and I'm staying there for a month, I am bringing my gaming computer, along with my PS5 and my Nintendo Switch now that I have Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics. And the best part about it is that it's gonna on the summer time, which is by no means a bad time. But the only conflict is that since school's out for the summer, I won't be able to visit any of my schools I have enrolled and I won't be able to look for a female teacher who looks like Edna Krabappel from The Simpsons.

I sure do miss the charmingness of my old stomping grounds that I visited twice last year. Once for my brother's wedding and once for my father's funeral. The first time was better because of the fact that it was on a summer time that leaves were present on all trees there. I was even thinking of Elora the moment I stand near and go through the woods and that's what I told the purple haired woman who works at the place where I get my tuxedo for the wedding about that and my brother believed that she doesn't know what I'm talking about, which was very interesting. The place where the reception took place at is even located at the area where it's abounding in woods. That made me think of Elora to the max. And of course, Bianca. They are two of the best female characters in the Spyro franchise. But it doesn't work during the fall when leaves change their color and fall down to the ground.

Update on Spyro 4:

And speaking of Spyro, Canadian Guy Eh recently posted a video covering that Spyro 4 is gonna be big and ambitious. I watched the video and he did an interview with Paul Yan, the director who did Spyro: Reignited Trilogy. Now, what I mean by big and ambitious, I meant that I recall what CGE said. He said that according to what Paul Yan said, the upcoming Spyro will not be getting the same treatment as Crash Bandicoot 4, meaning that it will not have the standard of hub worlds with several levels, a boss level and a flight level, collecting gems and partaking on missions. It's gonna be much more than that.

What this means is that it's gonna be open world and have a deeper narrative, RPG elements, a skill tree and dedicated combat. I'm down with Spyro being open world and having dedicated combat, a deeper narrative and a skill tree. But do you know what I want for an upcoming new Spyro? Different playable characters with their own skill tree. Think of Sonic Frontiers where Sonic and his friends have their own skill tree. And I believe a new Spyro game could work like that.

Reading the words, the project may not be called Spyro 4 at all due to it not being a by the numbers Spyro game as it's not gonna have the same treatment as Crash 4. It may be called Spyro Frontiers or whatever they will be calling, but I think it might likely be announced at The Game Awards. Spyro is indeed a charming 3D platformer and it is more charming than Crash Bandicoot.

Sony's Upcoming State of Play:

Sony's digital showcase is coming tomorrow, right before Summer Game Fest. We are looking forward to see what Sony has been up to. It's gonna be 40+ minutes long Sony has confirmed. On the previous State of Play, we got a look at upcoming new games like Saros. Tomorrow is gonna be even bigger. Maybe we might see a new game from one of the franchises that have not gotten a new game get announced. Since previous State of Plays given us a look at the classic games coming in that month, it's likely that we can see what classic games are coming in tomorrow's showcase.

The only thing about State of Plays is that they show the ESRB rating screen at the beginning. It indicates that games that are shown are rated RP-M, meaning that some games up front received an ESRB rating while some others are not yet rated as they temporarily carry an RP rating until the final ESRB rating is determined. The RP rating comes with the "May Contain Content Inappropriate for Children" warning disclaimer, meaning that the upcoming game will have content that may be inappropriate for young audiences due to violence, mature content, language or other elements.

This week is gonna be fun for gaming because we got State of Play happening tomorrow, the Nintendo Switch 2 releasing June 5 and Summer Game Fest coming June 6th as the cherry on top of it all. Let's not forget that Summer Game Fest was created to fill in the void created by E3's death and it will likely be the new standard of an exciting weekend of game reveals.

Conclusion:

We're at the thick of the year as we are down to the final month of the first half and moving to the second half of the year. Here's to later months.