Yesterday marked the arrival of Sony's hotly anticipated PlayStation State of Play showcase, a live stream providing fans with a glimpse of the most impressive titles to come – including Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls, a 4v4 tag fighter featuring Marvel superheroes and a unique anime-esque aesthetic.
Although the art style is far more adjacent to developer Arc System Works' other games, like the iconic Guilty Gear series, it was actually a choice pushed by Marvel Games. Speaking on the decision to utilize the anime-like vibes, Arc System Works producer Takeshi Yamanaka explains in a new behind-the-scenes video that devs initially proposed a different aesthetic more true to the source comics – but Marvel Games senior product development manager Michael Francisco wasn't a fan.
"When we first submitted our designs to Marvel, I got the impression that Michael-san's reaction wasn't particularly positive," recounts Yamanaka, who "kept wondering what was wrong." It turned out that Francisco wanted Arc System Works devs to use the style true to their previous games. "After talking with him directly, he said something like, 'Show us the Marvel that you (Arc) want to create.'"
Arc System Works then changed things up, giving the fighter the anime-esque style featured in past titles like Guilty Gear. Francisco, unsurprisingly, was thrilled. "I remember personally, the first time I saw Iron Man was really when I felt we had something special," admits the Marvel Games lead. According to Francisco, "the fact that they added anime mech elements to him just felt really natural" – more in line with Arc System Works' own style.
Yamanaka recalls the moment Marvel Games reacted to the new anime-like Iron Man design, stating that the team "really loved it" right away. "If you take a look at our Iron Man design in this game, that distinctive Japanese design and Arc System Works design sensibility will be visible," states the dev. "Marvel's team really loved it. It was like, 'yes, that's it!'" PlayStation Studios senior producer Reed Baird adds that the art style is culturally important, too.
"One of the mantras that we have for this project is 'from Japan to the world,'" says Baird, "and really trying to take, not just the IP, but gameplay mechanics and say, 'what can we really take from Japan, the creators that are doing awesome work here, and bring that to the global platform?'" That's where Arc System Works' anime art style comes in – and if I do say so myself, it's undeniably a striking way to set Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls apart.
Need even more to look forward to? Here are other new games coming this year and beyond.
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