# Marvel Tokon tutorial overwhelms newcomers with mechanics

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/marvel-tokon-fighting-souls-commits-a-cardinal-video-game-sin/
- Published: 2026-08-11T18:32:38+00:00
- Updated: 2026-08-12T00:47:26+00:00
- Original publisher: Polygon
- Original article: https://www.polygon.com/marvel-tokon-fighting-souls-tutorial/
- Topics: Entertainment, Gaming

## Key points

- Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls has strong visuals but a weak tutorial
- Writer struggled to retain moves taught all at once early on
- Street Fighter 6's gradual World Tour mode held up as a better model

## Summary

Polygon columnist Ethan Gach argues that Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls, a new fighter from Arc System Works featuring characters such as Spider-Man and Blade, undermines its own appeal with a poorly designed tutorial. Despite praising the game's stylish art, varied movesets and dramatic matches, he says its onboarding overwhelms newcomers by cramming every mechanic into one long tutorial, leaving players unable to retain what they've learned once they move into actual matches. This matters because it echoes a long-standing weakness across the fighting game genre, where dense tutorials continue to deter casual or mainstream players from a genre that could otherwise appeal beyond its dedicated fanbase.

The tutorial teaches every mechanic, including blocking, Link Attacks and Assemble Assists, within roughly the first half hour, but the writer found much of it faded from memory once he moved into the single-player story, leaving him unsure how to counter attacks or execute certain combos. He draws a similar comparison to Invincible VS, another fighter with a bare-bones tutorial, and contrasts both with Street Fighter 6's World Tour mode, which he holds up as a stronger model for gradually teaching techniques through practice. Despite the criticism, he says he intends to keep playing Marvel Tokon regardless.

## Coverage

- [Polygon: Marvel Tokon tutorial overwhelms newcomers with mechanics](https://www.polygon.com/marvel-tokon-fighting-souls-tutorial/)
- [Destructoid: Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls review – Cosmic comic chaos at its finest](https://www.destructoid.com/reviews/marvel-tokon-fighting-souls-review/)

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.