As the release date of Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls gets closer and closer, fans have eagerly viewed any new information about the game’s various features. One such feature is Episode Mode, the classic fighting game “Arcade” mode where players assemble a team and go through single-player story-adjacent content by fighting multiple AI-controlled opponents. However, some initial footage of Episode Mode shows off gameplay behind two new characters, whose absence from the shared roster implies they could be unlocked as you meet certain goals.
Ever since the first team trailers for the game, Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls has slowly hinted at its story, with various leaders gathering teams of iconic Marvel characters to face the challenge of The Champion of the Universe. This cosmic figure is looking for the world’s strongest fighters, using their ally The Promoter to send invitations to battle, with a threat of destroying everything upon his victory. Although The Champion is clearly the final boss of the game, fans have wondered if the character’s role will be any deeper.
The “Introducing Episode Mode!” trailer for Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls shows off five different narratives in the single-player content, all written by Kieron Gillen, a legendary comic writer. Each of the five teams in the game get their own story, from the Amazing Guardians, Fighting Avengers, Knights of Doom, Samurai Outriders, and Unbreakable X-Men. However, in each story, every team has to eventually fight The Promoter and The Champion, who have been revealed to each be fully functional boss characters.
Much like Goro is to Shang Tsung in the first Mortal Kombat, or how Sagat precedes M. Bison in Street Fighter 2, The Promoter is a sub boss players face right before taking on The Champion’s challenge. The Promoter is shown to have a full array of combat moves, from a protective bubble to the ability to summon various objects as traps or projectiles. Teleportation and keep away seem to be The Promoter’s strategy, building an interesting character with a far deeper set of tools than players were expecting, if they even anticipated the character to fight at all.
The Champion is far less surprising, shown to be a fighter with plenty of close combat moves players will have to deal with. Various kicks with cosmic energy attached lead to flashy combos from The Champion, while large super moves could put a dent into a player’s health bar fast. Although it remains to be seen how these boss fights are structured, initial reactions to these gameplay snippets are hopeful, as both The Promoter and The Champion seem to be completely original fighters developed with the same care as the rest of the roster.
Two Boss Characters From Episode Mode Could Be Unlocked Through Completing Story Content
With The Promoter and The Champion’s status as very different fighters, players have started to theorize that either boss could become a playable character. Some fans assume that DLC may add these two, but others highlight the team structure of roster expansions as a limitation to that idea. As a result, there could be a way to unlock either The Promoter or The Champion by completing Episode Mode, with various goals being tied to adding either character to the game’s selectable fighters.
For example, The Promoter could be a character unlocked when players simply beat Episode mode on varying difficulty with one of the story’s established teams. Defeating The Champion with the Knights of Doom could unlock The Promoter, but perhaps players have to do this task with every team in the game to do this. Alternatively, players might be able to get The Promoter through one successful Episode mode run, while The Champion is added to their playable fighters by beating the boss on Episode mode with every team.
Past Arc System Works Fighting Games Have Also Hidden Powerful Characters Behind Progression
There could be other parameters tied to unlocking either Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls boss, but it would hardly be the first time developer Arc System Works locked extra fighters behind some form of progression. Dragon Ball FighterZ had unlockable characters Super Saiyan Blue Goku and Super Saiyan Blue Vegeta tied to story progression and other requirements. Super Saiyan Blue Goku could either be bought using 500,000 in-game Zeni currency, or by getting an A-Rank or higher on the “Hyperbolic Time Chamber” course in Arcade mode on Hard difficulty.
Super Saiyan Blue Vegeta had similar unlock demands, rewarding players who participated in the story mode extensively. It’s possible that The Promoter or The Champion are characters within Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls that players can simply buy for in-game currency too, but it makes more sense if they were additions gained from the Episode mode. With how much attention Arc System Works is putting on the story of this Marvel fighting game, it stands to reason that they put some sort of incentive for playing it.
If both boss characters are secret fighters players can get, it would solve a common complaint players have pointed out about the title’s roster size. The addition of powerful characters like The Promoter and The Champion will help diversify the roster too, as they seem to be a far cry from the play style of any character we’ve seen so far. By including a healthy goal to work toward, Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls adds replayability through hidden unlockable characters as well, getting players more invested in its story than ever.
Do you think The Promoter or The Champion will be playable characters in Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls? Leave a comment below or join the conversation in the ComicBook Forum!
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