Perhaps the most anticipated fighting game in a long time has had more details about its gameplay revealed. While some things are expected in a tag fighter, Arc System Works looks to be doing things that haven’t been done before.

When it was announced the game would feature 4v4 Vs battles the announcement was met with excitement but also intrigue. Since tag fighters are known for being chaotic, this sounds like a new level of chaos that seems very hard to control. Arc System Works appears to be drawing inspiration from every fighter they’ve worked on to make this one succeed. And, so far, from what was shown, Tokon does look very promising. There looks to be a good number of expected universal mechanics, such as all characters having a double jump and a super jump. However, as a competitor, it looks as if the developers are trying to create a number of systems that will mesh into each other as a match progresses.

How the Marvel Tokon Tag System Works

Taking a different approach, you actually don’t start off with all the characters in your team active. They build as the match goes on. The matches start as 2v2, but as characters land throws and moves, that causes stage transitions. As a result, the other two characters on the teams get unlocked. Unlike other tag games, Tokon only features one health bar as well and 3 or 5 rounds by default.

One character starts as the leader, while the others can be swapped in to perform assist attacks. Each character has different assists that are chosen before the match starts, much like other tag games. Some are better at controlling air space, while others may be more straightforward attacks.

The tag system will also be tied to two different gauges, the skills gauge, and the assemble gauge. The skills gauge is characters performing powerful versions of characters special moves, as well as super and ultimate skills. Both of these gauges will increase in size as you get more of your team available.

It’ll be interesting to see what strategies come about to get the team at full power first, and if characters that are grapplers have an advantage here.

The assemble gauge is the system for assists in Tokon,, and it looks like one of the most in depth assist systems in a tag fighter. Characters will have different assists based on which slot they’re put in before a match starts. Some are straightforward projectiles, such as shooter assists. Others, such as downward assists, are better for controlling air space. A different direction, along with a dedicated assist button, controls each character’s assist.

Assists can be performed in the air. They’re also how tagging characters out works. By pressing before or as an assist attack lands, you can swap out the lead character for one of the other team members. If you do multiple assists, then the last character to come out will be switched to. If an assist or the lead character is hit, however, a tag won’t be performed.

Another aspect of the assemble gauge are assemble smash, and assemble counterattacks. These are the universal offense and defense mechanics respectively.

Taking Inspiration From Other Titles

Overall, it seems like Arc System Works is taking a lot of cues from their other games. The game’s control scheme may remind people of Granblue Fantasy Vs, as it blends a simplified control scheme with a more traditional one. There are three normal attack buttons for light, medium, and heavy attacks. There’s also a unique skill button that can activate certain abilities, such as Iron Man’s repulsors or Dr. Doom summoning a shield that deflects projectiles.

The special moves can be done by doing known motion inputs, or a button press in a direction. This performs a quick skill. While quick skills are easier to perform, they do less damage. This will probably be the most noticeable when characters perform their heavy special moves or their super moves. These deal big damage but take up a larger percentage of the skill gauge.

Another mechanic that fans will recognize from Dragon Ball FighterZ is a string of auto-combo systems. You can do this by pressing light, medium, or heavy attack four times in a row. This will make a character perform a string of attacks that have different results depending on the button pressed. Light attacks will end with a barrage of assists, for example. A medium attack ends with an enhanced special, while a heavy attack ends with an ultimate skill. Adding a bit of depth to the system, the buttons can be mixed to get different ending results, i.e., pressing the light attack at the end of a heavy string to conserve some of the skill gauge.

Quite a Lot to Unpack

There looks to be a lot going into the game’s mechanics. To ,the point where I had to watch the video more than once. If you wish to view the gameplay breakdown yourself it can be viewed here.

Personally, as a die-hard fighting game player, I can’t wait for this game even more now. Hopefully, we’ll get more information about how the various characters play as well as more information of the roster. While we can expect characters like The Hulk and Wolverine to appear. Arc System Works have said that a few surprises should be expected (please let Cosmo be playable).

No official date is set yet, but Marvel Tokon Fighting Souls is set to launch on PC and PS5 in 2026. I imagine they’d want it out before 2026’s EVO tournament, so stay tuned.