The bruisers who develop Guilty Gear are making a Marvel fighting game

Capcom are not invited

The developers who create Guilty Gear, the punishing 2D fighters with slick anime visuals, are working on a Marvel fighting game in partnership with the comics giant. Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls is a flashy over-the-top wreck sesh, at least judging by the trailer shown off during last night's State of Play, the showcase of new games by Playstation. You can very quickly see how punchin' pros Arc System Works have put their own spin on some Marvel staples such as Iron Man, Spider-Man, and Storm. There is a (to me) terrifying catch - the fights are 4v4 tag battles.

Wonderful. Total chaos. No idea who is even punching who. The 4v4 tag element is scary to me, yes, and the developers appear to anticipate such trepidation, seeking to reassure players that there will be means of simplifying fights if you are likewise overwhelmed.

"Generally, a team VS fighting game requires the player to learn multiple characters, but for Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls, you only need to master one character in order to play the game," said game director Kazuto Sekine in a PlayStation blog. "We have designed the mechanics in such a way that you can perform a variety of actions with either traditional fighting game inputs or simple inputs. With the press of a few buttons, multiple characters can appear on screen to provide backup or attack together...."

Characters will have "normal" , "special" and "unique" attacks, we're told, as well as "ultimates" that align with their characters' particular wheelhouse. Ghost Rider does a lot of whipping, and his motorbike will make a violent appearance. Storm will cause a vicious whirlwind. You get the idea, but here's the full roster of fighters, because I know you want to see if Taskmaster is there (he's not).

• Captain America
• Iron Man
• Star Lord
• Storm
• Ms Marvel
• Spider-Man
• Ghost Rider
• Doctor Doom

That seems like a decent slice of the Marvel pie. Regarding their visual design, the developers reportedly went back and forth with Marvel, trying to stick to some traditions. But some honchos at Marvel kicked the designs back and insisted the devs do things their own way.

"Early on in the project, we experimented with a shader to recreate a more western comic-book visual style," said Takeshi Yamanaka, "but the Marvel team expressed a desire for us to lean into something more Arc-like. It was then that we switched our approach to the game’s visuals and began to lean more into the Japanimation style Arc is known for."

Makes sense to me. Arc System Works are generally well-respected fighting game developers among fisticuffs fans, having continued the Guilty Gear series for years, most recently with Guilty Gear Strive. They also made Dragon Ball FighterZ, which contributor Aron Garst enjoyed in his review, and the equally outlandish BlazBlue brawlers, which everyone at RPS is afraid to play. That includes me, the only person here who likes fighting games. I am not fooled by Arc System Works' words of reassurance, I just know Dr Doom is going to crush my windpipe and I won't get a single hit in. I'll stick to my beloved Tekken.