Marvel Tokon Developers Share New Insight About the Game's Development

The latest video on Evo's channel shares a little discussion between members of the FGC (Yipes, Jwong, Sherryjenix, and Tasty Steve) and developers of Marvel Tokon. Specifically, ASW producer Takeshi Yamanaka, ASW director Kazuto Sekine, Marvel Games senior product development manager Michael Francisco, and Playstation Studios senior producer Reed Braid.

Starting off, everyone commended Marvel Tokon for its style, which was initially rather different. Yamanaka points out that their initial pitch was for a game that would mimic the classic comic book aesthetic, which is often defined by hard inked shadows. However, Michael wasn't too keen on that version and after after discussing things with Marvel, they figure out what they wanted out of ASW. That's how "From Japan to the World" key phrase was born, and the game was to be a uniquely Japanese take on these heroes and their designs.

When asked about what they like the most about the game, the developers pretty much unanimously cited the 4v4 format. While it was a risk, this game them an opportunity to figure out an entirely new system and make something new. It wasn't without issues, but they cite community feedback as major help in figuring out how to make all the elements click into place.

Speaking more on collaborations, developers said that ASW really started expanding with the release of Strive, and established more presence in the western scene. Combined with Sony's analytics team that offered accurate and easy to parse reports, they had a lot of opportunities to take in exactly how community feels about the game, and figure out how to make something people really would want to play.

Of course the discussion also touched upon all the references and deep cuts, so the devs were happy to elaborate on trying to really convey characters personality through their playstyle and deliver a game that is brimming with fashion. They knew it was important to highlight that this wasn't just a licensed game and they do care about these characters, so developers were even using company funds to just go and watch Marvel movies together. Since it's the first time ASW worked with the IP, they went all out in conveying the care through the game, and it really shows.