Hiya!
During the most recent Sony State of Play, Arc System Works revealed the Unbreakable X-Men roster of characters who are going to be showing up in Marvel TOKON: Fighting Souls. The group is kind of odd as, while it includes popular mainstays like Storm and Wolverine, it also has lesser known X-Men characters like Magik and Danger. I’m guessing this ruffled a few feathers as most expected the likes of Cyclops or Gambit to make it in.
This reveal does show Arc System Works isn’t taking the safe route and just drawing from characters we’ve seen in the “other” Marvel fighting game franchise, Marvel vs. Capcom. This does put a damper on all previous predictions regarding who will make it to Marvel TOKON. If Marvel is allowing Danger, a virtually unknown and new character, all bets are off! Showing that they have a dedicated roster just for the X-Men characters also hints that the rest of the game’s roster will follow suit. So, once again, a lot of predictions will have to take this into account.
Now, I’m not completely versed in Marvel comic lore. I know some but not a lot. However, I would still like to throw my hat into the prediction ring. So, I did some research (around an hour or so) and I’ve come up with a list of who I think Arc System Works might add. I’m going to try to go deep here and look at Danger as an example as, well, she’s a weird character! I’m going to try to make my most outrageous predictions because I really believe Arc System Works is the type of company to really go out there!
I’m also going to be basing my predictions by taking into account what “group” that character will be placed in. As Arc System Works already confirmed Marvel TOKON’s base roster will be 20 and we already have one group, the aforementioned Unbreakable X-Men, this just leaves 4 more groups, which means I’ll be only predicting 4 characters for this list as well as the group they’ll be designated.
#1 Street Level: Luke Cage
There are already several street level heroes who are confirmed to be in Marvel TOKON. Those would be Spider-Man and Ms. Marvel. So, I do believe this is going to be another grouping of characters. Initially, I thought the logical choice would be someone like Daredevil or The Punisher. While I wouldn’t be surprised if they are planned for the launch roster, I think that would be a mistake. Daredevil would play a little too much like Spider-Man and The Punisher, with all his guns, would be just a terrestrial version of Star-Lord.
This is why my pick is Luke Cage to fill in one of the slots for the Street Level group of Marvel TOKON’s launch roster. There really isn’t a character in the game as of yet who fills the “big bruiser” archetype. I can kind of see The Incredible Hulk filling this role but, like I said, I do think Arc System Works would like to surprise fans. So, Luke Cage fits the bill.
I can see Luke Cage being a mix of a heavy hitting character as well as a grappler. He would play a lot like another character from another Arc System Works game: Guilty Gear Strive‘s Potemkin. Luke Cage would be a slow and lumbering character but will have a special move which can launch him forward quickly. I can also see him have some kind of armored moves to sort of balance his speed. Honestly, I can see it work.
#2 Villains: Carnage
I’m pretty sure Arc System Works is adding a Villains foursome in Marvel TOKON because of Doctor Doom. It would be ludicrous if they didn’t add Magneto to the game. There would be riots if he’s not part of the launch roster so I won’t be predicting him. That would be too easy! I like to make it hard for myself but this does lead into an issue: I don’t really see any other villain who’s of the same caliber of those two legendary Marvel villains!
So, in lieu of that, I had to pick a villain who’s never been in a Marvel fighting game before. It had to be someone with the same level of gravitas as Doctor Doom and Magneto but still be popular enough to pique people’s interests. The character also has to allow Arc System Works to go all crazy when designing this character’s moveset. This is why I’m going with Carnage.
As far as I know, Carnage is more than just a lesser version of Venom. Carnage is more “pointy” as he likes to use his shapeshifting powers to create things like blades. He can also toss these blades out as projectiles. So, I can see Arc System Works developing Carnage into this character who’s really good in the midrange as he can control the space with his projectiles as well as extending his symbiote… thingies to attack opponents.
#3 Space/Galactic: Beta Ray Bill
The main reason why I do believe there will be a space/galactic group in Marvel TOKON is because of Star-Lord. Now, this would lead to some to predict the entire Guardians of the Galaxy to fill in this group. It would be him as well as, most probably Rocket and Gamora. They might even throw in Yondu or Adam Warlock if they’re feeling frisky. That would be too easy and, also be a disservice to the myriad of the other Marvel heroes who traverse the emptiness of space.
My initial pick to fill one of the space/galactic group was Silver Surfer. He seems like the most logical choice as he’s super popular but still hasn’t been featured in a fighting game. However, I also thought that would be too easy and also pretty boring! I mean, he’s a silver dude! That’s not really going to pop on the screen. Like I said, I believe Arc System Works is really diving into the Marvel lore. So, I too went digging, which is when I came upon Beta Ray Bill.
Now, this is a really cool character! He’s a humanoid alien with a face of a horse but can weird Mjolnir? Sign me up! Honestly, I would be okay if Thor didn’t show up in Marvel TOKON and, in his place, was Beta Ray Bill. He would be a much more interesting character! Also, I would love to see Arc System Works’ character designers give him a glow up!
Speaking of Thor…
Right now, there are already 3 Avengers members in the game: Captain America, Iron Man and, I was really surprised to learn this, Ghost Rider (Robbie Reyes). If this is actually the case, then that would mean there would only be one slot left for another Avengers member… and it’s not Thor! Hey, if they have the Robbie Reyes version of Ghost Rider here, then I believe they have to add another member who’s not that well-known!
This does make things a whole lot tricky as there have been a myriad of Marvel heroes who have joined the Avengers in the past! There’s simply a lot of pick from! Strangely enough, this is one of those instances wherein I had to pick someone who is more mainstream just because I believe Arc System Works would have a blast transferring his abilities into the game. That character would be the sentient android, Vision.
Vision has a plethora of powers. He’s got the typical superhuman strength and he can also fly. He can also blast out beams from the jewel on his forehead, meaning he would have a good projectile game. However, the most interesting power Vision has is his ability to phase through physical objects. I’ve never seen this work in a fighting game but I would like to see Arc System Works try.
Byee!
Who are your picks to fill out Marvel TOKON’s 20-character roster? Let me know in the comments section below!
3rd World Geeks 