[00:02] >> It's a very rare feat when a fighting game manages to tick virtually every box across the board. Excellent fighting mechanics, fantastic [music] teaching tools, great netcode, and both hardcore extras like replay takeover alongside
[00:16] more casual treats like a worthwhile [music] story mode and ancillary modes. Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite is about as close as a game has gotten to checking all of those boxes since Street Fighter 6. This is a gorgeous and innovative
[00:29] fighting game that appeals to players of all levels with characters that are easy and satisfying to just smash some buttons with, but equally fun to dive deep into and tinker with in the lab. [music] The albatross that used to hang
[00:41] around its neck was the poor performance of the PC version at launch, but thanks to a recent patch that seems to have fixed most of those issues. Infinite is now a recommendation [music] that I can make wholeheartedly without any caveats.
[00:53] >> Get out of the way. >> Can you match the forces MY SPEED? >> WAY TOO SLOW.
[01:08] INFINITE IS A 4v4 fighter with a bunch of unique rules that attempt to control the inherent chaos of having eight swappable characters in a single match. [music] For example, all characters on a team share the same life bar, removing
[01:21] one of the core elements of traditional tag fighting games, which typically let damaged one can restore health while they sit on the sidelines. It's a smart adjustment that allows for a much cleaner UI, avoids the pitfall of 4v4
[01:34] long, and removes one of the big barriers of entry to any tag fighter, the need to learn multiple characters in order to have a competitive team. But what is especially cool is that while you can be very strong by knowing how to
[01:48] a ton of value in crafting a well-synergized team. For instance, if particular match-up, like maybe [music] your opponent plays Magneto and you zoning, you could have a better option waiting in the wings.
[02:04] Or maybe you have a character that you really like, but have trouble opening Blade. [music] You could lead with a more mix-up heavy character and once you and deal more damage than the mix-up character might have been able to get on
[02:18] character might have been able to get on their own. that you can add new elements to your game plan piece by piece rather than feeling like you need to have everything unlocked right from the start. When I
[02:33] >> [music] >> I learned some high-low mix-up options, some bread butter combos, got a basic understanding of how to use his web screen, and I felt ready to start playing against people online.
[02:50] just Spider-Man, I went back into training mode to learn more about Blade game plan. After that, I added in more damage off the low part of my high-low mix-up, and now I'm
[03:03] experimenting with the fourth position to find someone else with an assist that adds extra value to my team. This process of being able to start with a small foundation and build upon it is the ideal way to learn a fighting game
[03:15] and Tekken feels designed specifically for it. get a little bit strange. You see, Tekken doesn't begin as a 4v4 fighter.
[03:27] Instead, every match starts with just two of the characters on each team needing to be unlocked by either landing a light auto combo, hitting the opponent a stage [music] transition or wall splat, or losing a round. Unlocking
[03:41] these characters is important because each one increases [music] your overall assemble meter, which governs the ability to call assists during specific ability to call assists during specific moments.
[03:59] surrounding its assists, which leads to a system that can be fairly overwhelming take in for me, even as someone who's played many tech fighters like Marvel vs. Capcom, Dragon Ball FighterZ, 2XKO, and more. Before a match begins, you
[04:13] place your four characters into various positions: leader, shooter, vertical, and assault. These placements determine what kind of assist is used when you you're just standing still [music] or walking without pressing a button or
[04:26] point character is, shooters will use [music] a projectile, verticals predictably cover vertical hitbox, and the assault spot is generally reserved for each character's most powerful assist. These neutral assists don't cost
[04:39] assist after landing an attack to pick up a combo or to cover your recovery after a blocked move, you'll instead get a universal dash attack assist that a universal dash attack assist that costs one bar of the Assemble meter.
[04:56] assist call, because if it happens too early or too late, the assist won't come out. This extends to the active tag system, which allows you to switch control to your assist character for a brief period while they're on screen.
[05:13] >> [music] >> In 2XKO, you can basically swap to your assist character at any point, enabling some really tricky mix-up opportunities. Tocon, on the other hand, seems to be much more hesitant [music] to allow
[05:25] That isn't to say that you can't do gnarly [music] things with the active tag system once you lock your opponent down in block stun, just that the rules [music] more rigid than what I'm used to. And you know what? That's probably
[05:37] Given how cluttered the screen can get with four characters throwing nonsense out all at once, I think the amount of chaos that Tocon allows is already more than enough, especially when you've got characters like Penny Parker who takes
[05:50] up a huge portion of the screen and can send out a bunch of random drones, literal garbage that can enhance his attacks, and Magic who can summon giant fire pillars that cover a fourth [music] of the field, it can be very easy to
[06:03] There are some cool nuances to the tag [music] system as well. The raw tag outs have a bit of delay to them, so you can do cool stuff like tag, perform a move during the delay, and when you take control of the incoming fighter, the
[06:16] your approach without needing to spend a bar of the assemble meter. It's touches layer of depth that makes learning Toukoun on a deeper level so much fun. The characters themselves are Toukoun's
[06:28] greatest strength. We're no stranger to seeing a lot of these faces in fighting games before, but Arc System Works has gone above and beyond in making them counterparts, [music] while also ensuring that they're each a
[06:40] blast to play in their own particular way. Spidey is able to zip all across the stage, baiting anti-airs by hanging and then jumping off his webs, [music] Storm can manipulate the weather to push and pull objects and enemies, or even
[06:52] from half a screen away with a gust of wind that pushes [music] them forward. Deadpool is a walking love letter to the FGC with a kit that is almost entirely comprised of memes and special moves from Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, King
[07:05] of Fighters, [music] Tekken, Guilty Gear, and much, much more. It's an while there are certainly some notable omissions, especially on the X-Men front, and curious inclusions,
[07:18] good job of justifying their spot with very unique play styles that add something special to the roster. I can't imagine Green Goblin being at the top of anyone's list of characters to include in a Marvel fighting game, but he has
[07:30] interesting [music] thanks to his unique ability to fight both on and off his ability to fight both on and off his glider. that it's story mode is actually pretty damn good. It's broken up into five
[07:45] episodes with each episode essentially being its own graphic novel centered of four. The Fighting Avengers, The Unbreakable X-Men, The Amazing Guardians, Samurai Outriders, and Knights of Doom. The setup for all this
[07:59] infighting between Marvel heroes and anti-heroes and a few straight-up villains is the same throughout each of the five episodes. An otherworldly being five of the Earth's mightiest warriors to compete in a tournament with the
[08:12] winners getting the opportunity to do battle with him. And should they win, he'll grant them any wish they desire. So, it's basically a Marvel version of while that concept doesn't win any points for creativity, [music]
[08:25] themselves are presented like motion comics, [music] each illustrated by different famous manga or comic book artist. This gives and I love seeing all the different [music] takes on these iconic
[08:38] characters. It's especially cool as a big anime fan to see famous mangaka like Hiro Mashima of Fairy Tail fame and Betancourt, the creator of My Hero Academia Vigilantes, each apply their very distinctive art styles to classic
[08:51] Marvel characters like Captain America and Spider-Man. It's not just the art Kieron Gillen, the writer of all five mini stories, does a great job of tailoring each one to the strengths of the characters involved. The Amazing
[09:04] struggling with the need to be a leader and a reluctant mentor to Ms. Marvel while also trying to rein in the added chaos of having a wildcard like Peter Quill on his team. Meanwhile, The Unbreakable X-Men episode deals with the
[09:17] familiar conflict of Storm, Magic, and Wolverine being heroes to a population mutants. There's not a lot of time to explore these themes beyond anything but a surface level, but the fact that there's at least something to chew on at
[09:31] direction for fighting game stories. >> You are not ready for this fight. >> Go home. These episodes aren't the end of Tokkan's ancillary modes, either.
[09:43] There's a survival mode that challenges you to take on 100 fights against a variety of stat boosts to choose from as you increase your power level every Your progress is saved at those five round milestones as well, so it isn't a
[09:57] true survival mode since you get to restart without losing much progress, people who want another challenge to conquer before or taking the fight online. And then there's Arcadia Rumble, which is entirely its own beast. It's
[10:10] version of the city trial mode from Kirby Air Riders. In that, [music] it's split up into two phases that alternate for a total of five rounds with the your characters and the second phase being about taking your powered-up
[10:25] Juice Up fighters. [music] Up to eight players and their customizable avatars roam around Tokkan's gigantic lobby with the goal of collecting stars. Stars can and knocking them out, participating in limited-time events that pop up around
[10:40] the second phase, which are the traditional 4v4 battles. It's actually personally spending a lot of time with it beyond what I played for this review, where players of all skill levels can
[10:55] play together and still have a chance TO WIN. seen in a fighting game. General mechanics breakdown with playable
[11:08] lessons, character guides that explain the basics of each kit, practical combo explainers that cover things like how to convert a combo off of a unique skill, and my favorite feature, free-form combo challenges that simply give you a move
[11:20] that you need to include in the combo and a damage threshold you need to hit. I love this so much because it [music] really encourages people to actually experiment and learn the characters rather than just memorize a string of
[11:32] buttons. The props are given are often very practical as well, teaching me how overhead or [music] what I should do when I land a hit but don't have any assemble meter or what my big cash out combo is when I land a hit and have full
[11:45] resources. Not to mention the excellent training mode, [music] replay searching, replay takeovers, training presets and so on. It's everything I could ask for when it comes to learning tools and Tekken has it all right out of the gate.
[11:58] >> Hey, you know all about power and responsibility, Cap, but here >> I'd be remiss not to mention the PC performance woes that many people have had since launch and even the beta
[12:11] before it. Personally, I didn't have any notable issues on my rig, but I say that as someone running a GeForce RTX 5090 and AMD Ryzen 9 16-core processor with 32 GB of RAM. So, I would certainly hope that's the case. That said, on several
[12:27] this weekend, I'd be in a match where everything moved at a fraction of the against other PC players who had green network connections when I accepted the the standard experience of playing someone on a poor connection. My guess
[12:42] is that these opponents were having performance issues and that those problems were affecting my game even if I wasn't personally experiencing them. But wait, good news arrived just as I was finishing up this review. A patch
[12:54] dropped just a few days after release that has reportedly fixed many of the PC enough, since then I haven't seen any matches like what I just described. I I'll continue playing on PC and will update this review should any issues
[13:09] arise, but it seems like the Tekken team may have managed to nearly avert However, the one minor complaint I do still have regarding online play is the fact that matchmaking has been quite slow considering how many players Tekken
[13:22] has. The speed of getting in and out of matches is the one place Tokkan pales in comparison to other modern fighters, The which is a bit of a bummer, but since you can mess around in training mode during a queue, it's at least more time
[13:35] combos, and I certainly need THE PRACTICE. missing a few key ingredients, Marvel Tokkan Fighting Souls arrives as the
[13:50] total package. It's visuals are among Arc System Works best, and given the gorgeous Arc System catalog, that's saying a whole lot. It breaks down one of a tag fighter's most imposing barriers for new players by making it
[14:02] possible to be competitive with just one character. Its training tools are among the best I've ever seen, and even its story mode is great. The list just keeps going. The action can occasionally be hard to follow with all the chaos
[14:14] happening on screen, but considering everything that Tokkan nails, it's hard to label the entire package as anything short of amazing. make sure to check out my thoughts on Invincible Versus and Avatar Legends:
[14:28] The Fighting Game. And for everything else, give it here on IGN.
[14:40] >> [screaming] >> AMAZING.