Marvel Tokon - First Impressions and Thoughts

"drinks water* Marvel Tokon is dope. In fact, the game is so good and popular, I think it's gonna be nominated for Best Fighting Game at the Game Awards, so today, I'm gonna share my first impressions and thoughts about what do I think of Marvel Tokon so far.

First off, if you have been living under a rock, Marvel Tokon has recieved a Metacritic score of 85 out of 100, making this a critically acclaimed tag fighter to secure a nomination for Best Fighting Game at the Game Awards, indicating that this game has killed it with a Sonic Heroes-esque format in story mode that has five stories, 4v4 tag mechanics and a decent cast of Marvel heroes and villains despite some challenges like issues on the PC version that are the source of mixed reviews.

Danger_Bot over on the official Marvel Tokon Discord announced that a patch is coming on Friday, which is old news, to include fixes to performance issues on PC and provide PC and PS5 stability improvements.

And there are reactions to the post that are overwhelmingly positive because the patch they pushed in had alleviated performance issues that became the continuous point of contention since launch. It also have emojis of Marvel Tokon characters. The one with the most reactions is Black Panther. Both Black Panther and Magik came nip and tuck to each other.

The most recent patch came out and it remedies the issues in the PC version and brings in stability improvements for both versions, including fixes for several crashes.

All of the reactions are positive, praising devs fixing issues on PC. This post has the Wolverine emoji having the most reactions so far to honor his Battle Reborn Suit being available to all players for free and his new game by Insomniac coming out soon. It's a good thing I'm not playing it online until the patch comes out to fix issues. But enough with the patch. Let's get into the nitty gritty of this post.

Marvel Tokon is near perfect. The gameplay is decent and its 4v4 tag mechanics became the best. The characters and environment having a blend of American comics and Japanese manga are incredibly charming. The special moves are the best in the game. It has two ways to perform special moves, one button specials with directional influences like in Smash and motion inputs and attack buttons. Both are the same, but the motion input versions deal 100 more damage than the one button versions, which is how the "Good!" text appears in game. The comic book-style cutscenes in the story are the best in the game. I could just sit there and watch them al dayl.

So, when you assign your team on Battle Settings, the main menu screen displays the four characters on your team and the trim color varies by character you make as leader. That is the coolest thing about this. What you're seeing now has parts of the main menu screen colored blue because Magik is the leader of my team. Now, I will be the first to say, I am not a pro with Magik as I typically am with Annie in Skullgirls or Akali in 2XKO and will be with Atom Eve in Invincible VS when it comes to playstyles. But regardless, I had fun with her.

And what is even cooler is that it generates a front cover of your four-person team when you lock it in on the character select screen. It has the Marvel logo with the player number below it, a barcode on the lower left hand corner and the name of your team. I did find me a team already. What is the initial team I'm using?

Well, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, Hellbound Shapeshifters, featuring Magik, Ms. Marvel, Star-Lord and Green Goblin.

But there is a small caveat to this. I am still working on learning Green Goblin since an iconic Spider-Man villain rides on his glider in his Skill attack to contribute to his C-tier ease of use and his combos are a part of it. Star-Lord is relatively easy to learn. He gives you a nice dopamine rush when shooting projectiles as a typical gun and ball gamer. He is not a Noel-like, but he is fun, though. Ms. Marvel is essentially the Cerebella of Marvel Tokon with a lumpsum of punches. I did a livestream showcasing this team to use online. To make myself clear, the livestream dropped before the recent patch came out.

I can't help but wonder what this team makes me think of. I can't quite put my finger on it. Oh yeah, it sounds a lot like the Adventures of Flynt Buckler. You know, the fictional storybook in Escape From Ever After entailed Flynt's mission to defeat Tinder the Dragon became a backfire and new characters join in? It exactly sounds like that.

When you used the "It's Mahvel, Baybee!" term when Marvel Tokon was announced, it served as a spiritual successor to the Marvel vs. Capcom franchise. Marvel vs. Capcom has been a long line of tag fighting games for almost three decades, with games like Marvel vs. Capcom 2 being a masterclass in tag fighting. Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, however, sold poorly to not have a second season. Well, Marvel Tokon is a spiritual successor to Marvel vs. Capcom, but it's not Marvel vs. Capcom.

But to the general public, there's nothing that can come close to Marvel vs. Capcom 2, until one game that did. And that's Marvel Tokon. Marvel Tokon proved that you can make a new Marvel fighter to be a masterclass to the general public. Again, Tokon is the masterclass of a Marvel fighter to be met with overwhelming positivity. This shows that Marvel has been a product for decades with web-slinging, slicing with claws, causing destruction and so on. The success of Dragon Ball FighterZ allowed Marvel Tokon to come to fruition as the masterclass of a tag fighter because they have rich innovation, right tools and resources and a smaller team. Speaking of, I seem to realize something.

Remember what happened weeks after 2XKO came out on console? Half of the team was laid off due to its flop at launch. The cause of this is that 2XKO has started development when the team was large. However, that contributed to laying off half of the team weeks after console release and ending active development in December after a year due to low player retention falling short of revenue goals, leaving a long chain of disappointment and sadness and the game available and online for the foreseeable future.

They knew that larger teams have no idea what they are doing while smaller and independent teams have the creative freedom and tendency to stay focused on making games properly without the distractions and establish an overkill player base. That's how Highguard became an utter commercial failure to contribute to shutting it down.

Here's the thing. Marvel Tokon was developed by Arc System Works, a small studio that Sony doesn't own. They only helped publish it, which makes it a stark difference in comparison to a modern AAA studios today. Now, imagine if a smaller, independent and focused team started developing 2XKO while staying small. Upon launch, the game would have an overkill player retention and momentum would reach the level needed for long-term sustainability because small scale teams are always focused and have creative freedom to develop games well. This is something that is basically intended to explain how Overwatch is the only commercially successful live service game that survived the impact.

Marvel Tokon isn't the only tag fighter that was developed from the start by a small team. Invincible VS and even SEGA vs. Capcom: The Next Level were developed from the start by small teams of Quarter Up and 4CYDE Studios. 2026 now has a trifecta of tag fighters that were developed from the start by small teams that have the tendency to take creative risks and drive a high-to-overkill player retention at launch. However, they have made a rocky launch like 2XKO did.

We can cross out Invincible VS for now because I don't think that it's gonna have years of support, especially since over 20 employees were laid off from Quarter Up. We'll cross it out and move on. SEGA vs. Capcom will be getting years of support like Marvel Tokon is since we have a treasure trove of characters and character themes just straight up confirmed during the livestream I watched. That's something we'll be looking forward to and I have future plans for it.

Well, that one just aged... poorly. Apparently, SEGA vs. Capcom has been sadly shut down and was given a cease and desist order due to the use of Capcom's characters and likeness. While I'm saddened to hear this darning and devastating news, this one is not depressing nor maddening for me. It genuinely stinks, but that's how things go sometimes. I think the reasoning for shutting down SEGA vs. Capcom is because it wasn't pitched to Capcom for approval. Now, with 2XKO ceasing active development in December and SEGA vs. Capcom shut down, we apparently only have Marvel Tokon left to support. But we were told to stay tuned to find out what original project 4CYDE is working on. What will the original project gonna be? Will it be an original 2v2 tag fighter to be a spiritual successor to 2XKO? We'll have to wait and see.

But thankfully, two things are happening in regards to Marvel Tokon. Firstly is longevity. Executives are planning to give this game a lengthy 10-year support it deserves, especially giving how high and amazing its player engagement is. A while back, I made a post that claimed that Marvel Tokon is the new heart of the FGC in exchange of the Marvel vs. Capcom heart. Now, I hereby add that Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls is the new chapter of the FGC to be in exchange of 2XKO's chapter in the FGC coming to a close on top of its active development ending after an ephemeral one-year run. I'm not saying Marvel Tokon killed 2XKO. It just couldn't stand a chance because of how low player retention is.

After looking through the scroll, no, book of Marvel characters, I have found not one, but two Marvel characters that could potentially be an Ulala-like and a Lux-like shoto in Marvel Tokon. And while it genuinely sucks and a total shame that after we lost 2XKO and SEGA vs. Capcom, I had to delete and edit posts that pertain to the future of both games, they are Songbird and Luna Snow. They are the two heroines to meet the criteria and they would be straight up dope in Marvel Tokon. And just so you know, I may not be able to pop some heads with Lucian since 2XKO is ceasing active development, but at least I can pop some heads with Star-Lord in Marvel Tokon.

Not only we have Marvel Tokon because we also are experiencing another tag fighter on the DC side of things. And that is DCKO, a 2v2 tag fighter with various characters across the DC Universe. Suffice to say that DCKO is going to be left in the dust as it's gonna be a Mobile game.

Now, if there is one thing I want in Marvel Tokon, I would say an online co-op game mode. An online co-op game mode in Marvel Tokon sounds like a great idea to me. It allows four players on the same team to battle against four players, like how KOF and Dragon Ball FighterZ handled having an online co-op game mode to have three players against three players and how 2XKO handled Duo Play where two players work as a duo. Think about it, I can team up with three of my friends and take on four of our opponents. That would be straight up crazy, don't you think?

In conclusion and summary, Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls is dope. I loved the comic book stylization and the designs that have a blend of American comics and Japanese manga for characters. I am loving every second of it. These are my first impressions and thoughts regarding Marvel Tokon. Evo France is around the corner and that's where Marvel Tokon will have its first appearance at. Expect announcements in regards to Marvel Tokon there.

Why Did 2XKO Flop at Launch?

A lot of people became disappointed that 2XKO is ceasing active development in December due to a low retention. So what happened? Why did 2XKO flop at launch? Let's jump right in.

Before we can actually answer why 2XKO flopped at launch and cite the factors that contributed to its low player retention at launch, we need to go back to the beginning of the game's development.

2XKO started out with six characters in Alpha Lab 1. It became a starting point for the game's development. After Alpha Lab 1 concluded, feedback went all over the place and the devs evaluated their feedback for the next playtest, Alpha Lab 2. It introduced a cast of seven characters, with Jinx as the newest addition. It was a disappointingly smaller playtest as Riot was working on an infrastructure. If we go straight to Early Access, it was criticized for having a small character roster when other tag fighters have a large roster of characters.

So now, we can answer this question. Why did 2XKO flop at launch? There is one thing we need to get out of the way. The game was criticized for having a small roster, especially when choosing two of them. You can't have a tag fighter, in this case, 2XKO, with a small character roster. It's has been the point of criticism for small rosters on a tag fighter, so whoever did this, pays the price.

The small free pool of six characters made it harder for new players to try out the game. That's another subject of 2XKO's low player retention along with having a small character roster at launch. 2XKO launching with eleven characters and a free pool of the first six characters contributed to its flop. This brings me to monologue how development of 2XKO should've unfolded before launch.

February 2025 - 7th and 8th character reveals
March 2025 - 9th and 10th character reveals + Alpha Lab 2
April 2025 - 11th and 12th character reveals

May 2025 - 13th and 14th character reveals

June 2025 - 15th and 16th character reveals
July 2025 - 17th and 18th character reveals

August 2025 - 19th and 20th character reveals
September 2025 - 21st and 22nd character reveals + Closed Beta

October 2025 - 23rd and 24th character reveals + Early Access

Again, a small roster of characters and a small free pool of the first six characters are the two things that made it harder for new players to approach. Other tag fighters I know have a largeer character roster at launch. Invincible VS launched with 18 characters, Hunter X Hunter: NEN Impact launched with 16 characters, Marvel Tokon launched with 20 characters, and 2XKO should've launched with 24 characters and they all should've been free by default because a small roster at launch with the first six characters being free by default is the factor that made it harder for new players, contributing to its low player retention.

In reality, we're having 17 characters this year and will remain that way. The suggestion to how it should've been during development has seven characters. It makes it a total 24 characters. Tatsunoko vs. Capcom has 24 characters if you're excluding the two juggernaut characters, PTX-40A and G. Lightan. With 24 characters free at launch and post-launch characters to be unlocked with Credits, KO Points and through Recruitment Events, 2XKO would have a high to overkill player retention so that it would recieve content for years to come and the team would remain intact. That said, I decided to list the seven characters that should've been confirmed before 2XKO launched.

1. Katarina

Right off the bat, I'm going to talk about the only character that has been absent, Katarina. I have been chasing her for quite some time, until I seem to figure out why Katarina had to be absent. If you look back at the earlier stages, Katarina's kit did not fit well in a tag fighter that she had to be Thanos-snapped from the game. While I am lamenting Katarina's absence, there is one silver-lining to all this.

The first is that if Katarina's kit did fit well in a 2v2 tag fighter, then maybe 2XKO would've had an even number of characters in Alpha Lab 2, Closed Beta and Early Access and cease active development at 18 characters, because Katarina's absence would contribute to having an odd number of characters and that's the one thing that became a hiccup. That's why I talked about her right out of the gate.

Character roster that should've been (Includes Katarina):

Ahri
Akali
Blitzcrank

Braum
Caitlyn
Darius
Ekko
Illaoi
Jinx
Katarina
Lux
Samira
Senna
Teemo
Thresh
Vi
Warwick
Yasuo

Before we get to the next six characters, let's take a look at the SEGA and Capcom sides that should've been if Katarina hadn't been absent and the key points across the board. We'll start with the SEGA side.

Ahri, Blitzcrank, Caitlyn, Ekko, Jinx remain. Lux, Senna, Thresh and Warwick move. The SEGA side would've been Ahri, Blitzcrank, Caitlyn, Ekko, Jinx, Lux, Senna, Thresh and Warwick.

Akali, Braum, Darius, Illaoi remain. Katarina introduced. Samira, Teemo, Vi and Yasuo move. That would've been Akali, Braum, Darius, Illaoi, Katarina, Samira, Teemo, Vi and Yasuo on the Capcom side.

SEGA side:

Ahri
Blitzcrank
Caitlyn
Ekko
Jinx
Lux
Senna
Thresh
Warwick

Capcom side:

Akali
Braum
Darius
Illaoi
Katarina
Samira
Teemo
Vi
Yasuo

Key points:

Ahri on the SEGA side = NiGHTS
Blitzcrank on the SEGA side = Vectorman
Caitlyn on the SEGA side = Gain Ground
Ekko on the SEGA side =  Pulseman
Jinx on the SEGA side = Jet Set Radio
Lux on the SEGA side = Space Channel 5
Senna on the SEGA side = Bayonetta
Thresh on the SEGA side = Mansion of Haunted Souls
Warwick on the SEGA side = Altered Beast

Akali on the Capcom side = Power Stone
Darius on the Capcom side = Knights of the Round

So we now have the SEGA and Capcom sides and the key points for when Katarina hadn't been scrapped. This is the only info to have without a subjective information.

2. Kennen

Kennen is located at background of Bandlewood Crossing, indicating that Riot has deconfirmed none of the characters. He would've been confirmed up front and could be a Sonic-like in 2XKO, but he will never make it to the roster because active development on 2XKO will cease.

3. Ashe

A while back, I mentioned that 2XKO never had a bow and arrow character. In this case, Ashe can be the one that the game would've answered with. She could swing her bow and fire arrows with S1 like how Caitlyn swings her rifle and fired it with S1. I would love to see the Frost Archer, but my hopes have been kaput because the game is ceasing active development and it's not a good thing.

4. Leona

2XKO never had a Targonian character and Leona would've been the first Targonian to ever come to the game if Riot revealed two characters per month up until Early Access where it should've had 24 characters instead of 11. I do love to see the Radiant Dawn, but she won't see the light of day. Heh, light. You get it because Leona has the power of light in her sword.

5. Garen

So, Lux is on her way to 2XKO and I said that her brother is likely to debut as his sister did. However, we are getting Lux, but her brother will never make it as the game is going to cease active development. I just want to experience the brother and sister duo too...

6. Miss Fortune

When the game had its Alpha Lab 1, the Brazen Hydra is one of the stages in Bilgewater. And if you look at the background on the far right, there are wanted posters for Gangplank and Tahm Kench. Miss Fortune should've been in the game in the first place because of the tavern in Bilgewater having wanted posters. Not including her in the first place along with others would contribute to the game's small roster and the misdirection Riot has taken, especially with the tavern in Bilgewater. Our red-haired pirate will never make it.

7. Sett

Sett has been the most popular request and that's something I have heard when watching 2XKO Pools. He, in fact, would've been the desired fourth Ionian character if development of 2XKO keeps going. I was gonna choose Lee Sin, but Sett is the highly requested.

Character roster that should've been:

Ahri
Akali

Ashe
Blitzcrank
Braum
Caitlyn
Darius
Ekko
Garen
Illaoi
Jinx
Katarina

Kennen
Leona
Lux
Miss Fortune
Samira
Senna
Sett
Teemo
Thresh
Vi
Warwick
Yasuo

As I have said before, the 24 character roster is good for a tag fighter. This is how it should've been in Early Access if Riot revealed two characters before Alpha Lab 2 and two characters every month up until Early Access, so I have decided to divide the 24-character roster into the SEGA and Capcom sides that should've been across the board and state the key points. We'll start with the SEGA side.

Ahri, Jinx and Samira remain. Ashe, Garen, Kennen and Sett get added. Braum, Darius, Lux. Thresh and Warwick move. The SEGA side would've had Ahri, Ashe, Braum, Darius, Garen, Jinx, Kennen, Lux, Samira, Sett, Thresh and Warwick.

Akali, Illaoi and Senna remain. Katarina, Leona and Miss Fortune get added. Blitzcrank, Caitlyn, Ekko, Teemo, Vi and Yasuo move. That would've put Akali, Blitzcrank, Caitlyn, Ekko, Illaoi, Katarina, Leona, Miss Fortune, Senna, Teemo, Vi and Yasuo on the Capcom side.

SEGA side:

Ahri
Ashe
Braum
Darius
Garen
Jinx
Kennen
Lux
Samira
Sett
Thresh
Warwick

Capcom side:

Akali
Blitzcrank
Caitlyn
Ekko
Illaoi
Katarina
Leona
Miss Fortune
Senna
Teemo
Vi
Yasuo

Key points:

Ahri on the SEGA side = NiGHTS
Ashe on the SEGA side = Skies of Arcadia
Darius on the SEGA side = Valkyria Chronicles

Garen on the SEGA side = Shining the Holy Ark
Jinx on the SEGA side = Jet Set Radio
Kennen on the SEGA side = Sonic the Hedgehog
Lux on the SEGA side = Space Channel 5
Samira on the SEGA side = Valkyria Chronicles
Sett on the SEGA side = Streets of Rage
Thresh on the SEGA side = Mansion of Hidden Souls
Warwick on the SEGA side = Altered Beast

Akali on the Capcom side = Power Stone
Blitzcrank on the Capcom side = Mega Man X
Caitlyn on the Capcom side = Alien vs. Predator (Arcade game)
Senna on the Capcom side = Darkstalkers
Yasuo on the Capcom side = Onimusha

With no fighting game goggles on, looking at the stats, this should've happened in the first place if Riot revealed two characters before Alpha Lab 2 and every month up until Early Access because again, a small roster on a tag fighter contributed to its low player retention at launch. Then something hit me.

The roster went heavy on Arcane characters, with Lux being the sixth one. That was in 2021 when Ekko was introduced. Jinx was introduced in Alpha Lab 2. Vi was introduced in Closed Beta. Warwick was introduced in Early Access. Caitlyn was introduced in Season 1. And finally, Lux will be introduced in September's patch. It is kind of weird that 2XKO would be influenced by Arcane because of the graffiti in the lobbies. But listen, I don't want to put a slant on Arcane. I liked Arcane. I thoroughly enjoyed the fight scenes in it and the part where Caitlyn and Vi had sex with each other, contributing to wanting Caitlyn in 2XKO because of Vi.

Expectations:

• Two character reveals per month after Alpha Lab 2 starting in April up until Early Access
• 22 characters and 14 stages during Closed Beta
• 24 characters and 16 stages during Early Access
• All characters and stages in Early Access free by default
• Heavy reliability on League of Legends characters
• Cross-region support
• Arcane Bundle costs $50
• Materializing Katarina
• Custom lobbies
• All above points contribute to a high to overkill retention to continue active development for years to come

Mistakes:

• 8th character reveal in June
• 9 characters and five stages during Closed Beta
• 11 characters and seven stages during Early Access
• First six characters and first four stages free by default
• Heavy reliability on Arcane characters
• Region-locked
• Arcane Bundle costs $100
• Scrapping Katarina
• Private lobbies
• All above points contribute to a low retention to shrink the team and cease active development

If Riot hadn't made any mistakes and met up with the expectations I have listed above during development, 2XKO wouldn't flop at launch. And even if player retention is low enough to not cover rising costs, they could rely on the community like how Blizzard did with Overwatch.

And that is my story about how 2XKO's development should've been and how did it have a low player retention at launch with factors that I have pinpointed. While it is a darn shame that 2XKO is ceasing active development, it's not as bad as the part where WB Games has had a small chip on their shoulder on what happened to MultiVersus as Riot is giving me a refund. What happened to MultiVersus, you ask? It's all of it is what happened. Whether it's predatory microtransactions, the misdirection they were going with the game and abysmal marketing at launch.

But Coach TJ Puma has started a #Save2XKO petition to rally talent and support. Maybe a new 2XKO team can pick up where the old team left off and learn from their mistakes the old team has made like the ones I listed above, who knows?

2XKO is Ceasing Active Development...

So, Season 3 and Lux are fast approaching and we have been waiting for news about them since the Coven Bundle came out. An update popped up and unfortunately, it is not looking good. Let's jump right in.

I'm back with a brand new post that has me quite shocked. So, with fighting games rolling around like tumbleweeds in the wind for decades, you would know that the fighting game community has been thriving, especially recently with the recent ones, starting with Invincible VS, to Avatar Legends: the Fighting Game, Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls and even SEGA vs. Capcom: The Next Level. There are a ton of fighting games beyond them coming. But specifically, I like to point out to the direction of the tag fighter on this post, the League of Legends tag fighter, 2XKO.

So, this game has came out of Early Access and launched on console in January, being met with positive buzz for innovative tag mechanics and co-op gameplay. However, as soon as the game launched on console, things took a turn for the game. Half of the 2XKO team was laid off. Momentum has not reached the level need for long-term development despite the buzz.

You would know that Riot is gonna remain committed to supporting 2XKO to deliver future characters to make all of the fighting game fans that play League of Legends swoon and commit happy outbursts. Well, sadly, I have some sad news for you guys. I understand there a lot of characters that have been itching in the roster. Now, it might be 2XKO 2.0. I am not ruling out that possibility, but in terms of 2XKO getting the same upgrade treatment as Granblue Fantasy Versus, don't get your hopes up.

Riot has posted an article about the future of 2XKO and it's... not a good one.

Seriously, there are so many words that make me want to punch a hole in the wall. They literally said that 2XKO cost them substantially more to operate than it brings in that ceasing active development was the best route forward due to its low player retention. This just tells me that Riot seems to be holding on to the fact of revenue goals the current retention fell short of as I realized that live service games are not as sustainable as we once thought as evident on Wikipedia.

Today, sustainability is something that fighting games have been banking on and it's working. Street Fighter, Tekken, Guilty Gear Strive, Granblue Fantasy Versus and even Fatal Fury have achieved sustainability, with smaller fighters like Skullgirls, Rivals of Aether II and Saturday AM: Battle Manga to follow suit soon. People have been chanting for these games to get supported long-term. The perfect example at this moment is Guilty Gear Strive. The game sold around an estimate of over 10 million copies, which contributed to Strive having a long-term support up to the 2.0 era. Granblue Fantasy Versus sold over 5 million copies. It's enough to confirm Rising, the updated version to the vanilla Granblue Fantasy Versus. Both of these games are literally out there selling like hotcakes and building momentum.

It appears that 2XKO is not the first fighting game to have such an ephemeral development cycle. If you don't remember, Mortal Kombat 1 couldn't get a third year of support to have a Year 3 pass due to its poor sales that fell short of its goal, citing that Mortal Kombat 11 was better than Mortal Kombat 1.

The worst thing about this is that I am cancelling my future plans by deleting and editing posts that pertain to the future of 2XKO. I have a follow up post that have the factors that cite 2XKO's flop at launch coming soon.

It is a hard knock life for us fighting game fans since Riot does not have the hunger to attempt another year and has to conclude active development on a buzz-worthy free-to-play tag fighter after an ephemeral one-year development cycle for safety and responsibility, especially when there are FGC members that played League of Legends that are fans of Riven, Sett, Garen, Vayne, Sona, Gangplank, Miss Fortune, Lucian, Veigar, Malcolm Graves, Leona, whoever you can think of! A precedent seals the deal. If 2XKO could end active development after a disappointingly short one-year run due to low player retention, then I'll probably have to follow Diaphone's footsteps just by quitting my job showing my support.

If Riot wants to curb rising costs and give 2XKO a second wind, at least license the 2XKO IP to another company. They are heading off into the sunset, so why not make some cash on it? Heck, might as well just license it to Arc System Works. They have Granblue Fantasy Versus and Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls. At least they're sustaining engagement on these games and not letting them fall into irrelevancy after an ephemeral one-year development cycle. But that is simply my thoughts.

Joe's Monologues - 8/16/26

I'm back with a brand new Joe's Monologues that I felt passionate about doing. We are in the second half of 2026 and approaching autumn, the time when everything cools down and the forests change their color of the leaves to yellow and orange and they fall down to the ground on the way to winter. Let's get into the post.

Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sapling

Let's kick it off with talking about something I did not do during my main playthrough on Bug Fables. On stream, I had to do couple of things that I should've had done during my main playthrough. First off, befriending Chompy. It is an optional companion not part of the main story, but it's a side quest. On stream, I have befriended Chompy and also got the Tardigrade Shield badge.

Now let's go on to another thing. I came across another badge that I found useful as the Tardigrade Shield badge, the I Owe You One badge. It allows the Explorer's Permit to manifest NPCs you helped in need in certain side quests to assist you in battle. To get a summary of them, if I had befriended Chompy and gotten the I Owe You One badge during my main playthrough, then maybe I would have not been having any trouble defeating later enemies and bosses.

I am on the verge of uploading the rest of my Bug Fables Let's Play and I am closer to uploading every one of them. I have wanted to start the game and do a Bug Fables Plus Let's Play series to cover the things I should've had done, but it is under concept right now. The Plus term refers to covering things I haven't done in my original Bug Fables playthrough. Also, I'm about to upload a video that you'll never believe...

As a reward for beating the game a while back, I have submitted my logo request for this game to Broken Saw. Guess what? My request has been fulfilled. Let's take a look at the video covering the logos.

SEGA vs. Capcom: The Next Level:

4CYDE Studios has released their fangame and I am amazed by all of their work they have done. But it was a terrible release because there are a few bugs like the one bug where Sakura Shinguji would not flinch when taking damage, and summon her mech like crazy. I have captured all of that and uploaded a short covering that on my gaming channel. Upon upload, it went viral despite not having my mic on. Thankfully, the bug has been fixed as they pushed out a hotfix before working on the next update that is certainly to have two new characters as you're seeing the slots with a question mark on it on the character select screen to indicate that they are coming soon.

Since Beat temporarily replaces Akira Yuki, it's likely that he's gonna return to the game in the next major update. The one on the Capcom side is unknown. It is only a matter of time before Season 1 gets into its post-Alpha glory. That's the Alpha phase they were referring to.

As you beat Arcade Mode, "To Be Continued..." appears. But what does it apply to? What does that exactly mean? Well, the game currently has 10 characters and will have more characters to come during the course of Season 1.

Here are the voice actors that voiced the respective characters. On the list, there are 12 of them. But something's not right. If we look at the bottom of the SEGA side of the cast, we can see that Sapphire is being credited for voicing Honey from Fighting Vipers, yet she is not even in the game yet. Why is it on there?

Well, a while back, 4CYDE Studios was looking for a voice actress to voice Honey for the main menu screen. Sapphire applied to be Honey's voice actress for the main menu screen. That's why it's on there. Ladies and gentlemen, we might be experiencing an indication that Honey from Fighting Vipers is confirmed to also be a playable character, which has me very excited for this.

Update Regarding Sony Ending Discs:

After Sony made and update that they are going to stop producing PlayStation discs for games that release in 2028 and onwards, it was met with record backlash, with the Change.org petition having over 500,000 signatures, the planned blackout boycott and multiple lawsuits. Then they posted after six days with the fighting stick, ignoring backlash like they are going to forget about the backlash-worthy announcement they made. The lawsuit against Sony is going strong. Even Stop Killing Games is joining the rebellion against Sony's all-digital future. However, the CFO said that there is a majority of digital purchases in Q1 of this and their decision is final.

However, a former Square Enix executive named Jacob Navok said that PlayStation culling discs is gonna make the PlayStation Store cheaper. Wait, what? I actually agree with this, but what's the point of people getting angry at Sony's decision to kill discs if it's gonna make the digital store cheaper?

What am I Going to Do Next:

What am I doing next? Well, there's an indie game that I am planning a Let's Play series on, which I can't reveal yet. There's a post that contains wanted posters for future 2XKO characters in the works and it's what I'll probably post next. There's also a post in the works that I want get something off my chest. I tied up most loose ends for the 2XKO livestream to couple with the Sonic Racing CrossWorlds livestream and put $30 on hold for when I get paid next month to buy Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls on Steam and have my initial team of Magik, Star-Lord, Ms. Marvel and Green Goblin in the full game. The regular story is that I made Magik as leader of the team and the truth lies a little more than that. You'll see what I'm talking about.

Conclusion:

Well, this one has a lot to go through. Before I end this post, I am going to share what am I gonna do when Sony culls discs for games releasing in 2028. After hearing from the former Square Enix executive stated that Sony ending discs in 2028 is gonna make digital purchases affordable, I am coming to a decision. I am remaining as a PlayStation fan. But on one condition. Sony must follow Xbox's footsteps by having a disc-to-digital feature. It's the only way to win back players.

4CYDE Studios' NEW Game in the Works

As SEGA vs. Capcom's full-fledged launch is tomorrow, today, 4CYDE Studios has launched a website. We know that they have SEGA vs. Capcom in there, but they also have another project in the works. Let's jump right in.

Today, we're gonna talk about the official 4CYDE Studios website. That's right. 4CYDE Studios.

Here is the official header for the official 4CYDE Studios website with the "We create 4 U" slogan and the metal thing that moves with your cursor.

If you look closer, it shows that there are two games deployed and a number of players that refer to those who signed up so far. But how there are two games in there?

Here are the two games deployed so far. They are SEGA vs. Capcom: The Next Level and the untitled new game that is in the works.

Let's take a look at the mystery game's hub.

The picture that has the PS4 controller has the words "Coming Soon," indicating the untitled game is not yet revealed.

An untitled new game has some firm information. It is hinted as a fighting game to use the Ikemen GO engine and comes out in 2028 for PC and Mac.

It turns out that the untitled new game will also be Linux and Steam. SEGA vs. Capcom is also coming to the next two platforms.

Ladies and gentlemen, we might be looking at a potential new fighing game being in the works and I am very excited. I have to make this post because they have a new fighting game. SEGA vs. Capcom's full-fledged launch is tomorrow, so get ready for the next level, everyone. To download SEGA vs. Capcom and the untitled game and have access to them and their new patch releases, you can do so via the official 4CYDE Studios website and you will need to have a gamer account. Here's the link below.

https://4cydestudios.com/