With lesser options around, choosing your next best tablet shouldn’t be as daunting as buying a shiny new smartphone.

However, that seems like a misconception. Buying the right budget tablet that matches your needs is still, and will always be, a hard task.

But, the presence and existence of the all-new TECNO MEGAPAD 2 might just persuade and prove you otherwise.

Luring allure

The TECNO MEGAPAD 2 review unit I rock comes in this Light Green colorway.

Personally, I prefer this a whole lot better over the overhyped Cosmic Orange hue or the plain ol’ Space Grey shade.

Now, despite the category it belongs to, TECNO’s MEGAPAD 2 is surprisingly built premium.

As opposed to icky plasticky budget tablets (or a mix of metal and plastic), this pad features a full metal build — buttons included.

And now that it’s mentioned, the trim is oh-so-slim at just 6.6mm — which is one of (if not) the slimmest in its class so far. Most tablets measure close to or beyond 7mm.

Whether you use it one-handed (or two), holding it won’t be too sore with its heft of 547 grams.

And with the given material, it feels solid enough when held without the budget feel.

Its size is the prize

Unlike usual 10- or 12-inch tablets, the TECNO MEGAPAD 2 features the sweeter screen spot.

On paper, it’s an 11-inch 90Hz LCD display with a 2.5K display resolution. This makes it sharper than other Full HD+ tablet displays in the market today.

Of course, the main purpose of a tablet’s existence is none other than its visual immersiveness.

Admittedly, I enjoyed binge-watching Netflix’s Spooky In Love — which is starred by the very versatile Park Eun-bin together with the uprising actor, Yang Se-jong.

They both perfectly define what TECNO and the MEGAPAD 2 are in a nutshell: an uprising brand that offers a versatile tablet in both features and price range.

Color accuracy looks settling enough with colors that truly pop. Display bezels are surprisingly narrow too.

However, under harsh sunlight, that 550 nits of maximum brightness simply won’t make the cut. The panel is just too glossy and reflective for it to not to be mentioned.

The MEGAPAD 2 also boasts quad speakers powered by DTS. It’s a complete delight to make this tablet a portable music player.

On my queue are none other than Young K’s jampacked ‘YOUNGEST’ full-feature album consisting of 15 tracks.

That goes together with summer-studded comeback tracks featuring KISS OF LIFE’s ‘SWEAT’.

Let’s not forget fromis_9’s long overdue full album after three long years starred by ‘Vitamin ME’.

Although this isn’t the best-sounding in any tablet I’ve tried as it doesn’t have such thumps and oomphs. However, loudness is more than enough to fill the void of my room — reaching all the way to the nearby living room and bathroom.

Also, having four speakers are still better than the usual (two) stereo speaker setup of most tablets in this segment.

Passable and plausible

The elephant in the room is none other than the inclusion of MediaTek MT8781 — or popularly known as Helio G99.

Obviously, this SoC (System on a Chip) can only do so much. That excludes power-hungry games.

Albeit, it can still run most titles — as long as you set it in lowest graphics settings possible. Lucky if it runs medium at best, like how it did in Bus Simulator: EVO.

That being said, the MEGAPAD 2 can still do more than just the basic of tasks.

Given my weeks with this tablet, it surprised me how TECNO’s HiOS 16 felt fast. Animations are fluid. Scrolling was buttery-smooth. App-switching was also a breeze.

This proves that benchmarks aren’t everything — and not all mall promodisers go past beyond the usual sales talk.

This is also me trying to say that the brand of chipmaker and number of cores in a processor aren’t enough basis to say how “fast” and “capable” a device is. Software optimization shouldn’t be downplayed as it’s also an important factor to consider.

Sentiments aside, the MEGAPAD 2 has a slot for one nano SIM card that can provide speedy 4G LTE speeds. That’s a good addition if you work outdoors a lot.

Aside from the usual 128 or 256GB internal storage, it also supports a microSD card (up to 2TB) just beside the SIM slot — which is something you cannot have in modern smartphones and high-end tablets nowadays.

Base pad for two base users

The MEGAPAD 2 is a tablet that can be for everyone. However, two base users came up to my mind when writing this piece.

1. Learners and yearners

Students are obviously one of the biggest target markets of budget pads.

First, there’s the AI Problem Solving feature. Feed it your complex problem through typing or use its 8MP rear camera to capture the whole page and let TECNO AI do the process for you.

For the smaller kiddos, there’s a dedicated study hub dubbed “LearnUp” with free learning resources and a child-friendly interface. Another would be the Learning Center featuring thousands of K-12 lessons, stories, cartoons, songs, and so much more.

For those learning new languages, AI Translation can be of a great help.

It’s not limited to just translating texts, images, and app content, there’s even AI Captions that can translate 30+ language offline (and 160+ languages when connected with the cloud) while watching videos.

Thankfully, TECNO has a dedicated OneTap AI button to summon these AI features in one go. Best thing is that, they don’t want to completely lock you in as app assignments are still configurable in settings.

Lastly, if your child is feeling extra artsy, there’s even the TECNO MEGA Pencil that’s sold separately. Fire up the AI Drawing Board and the MEGAPAD 2 can transform your sketches into better ideas.

2. Productive pros

Other than kids and students, the MEGAPAD 2 is also directed towards working professionals. Teacher, manager, you name ’em!

Aside from its rear camera, that 8MP front camera matters too — mostly for video calls and meetings on the go.

AI SnapMemo and MindHub are also helpful tools that do more than just capturing and keeping screenshots. And by that, it can analyze and even summarize the content you kept.

With that bundled Bluetooth keyboard alongside the ability to do split-screen multitasking, it’s easier to switch between two active apps side by side.

One can even scroll through spreadsheet cells or do several slides — especially with the WPS Office pre-installed upon initial set-up.

My only gripe about this accessory is how flimsy and easy it is for the display to fall down.

I just wish the recessed part on the keyboard would have been much deeper for the display stand to sit and lock in securely.

It’s also worth pointing out that it’s paired via Bluetooth and not pogo pins. That means you have to turn on that side switch and charge it via the USB-C port separately.

Still, it’s a bundled accessory that feels solid and also serves as the tablet’s full-on protection.

Moving over, TECNO’s OneLeap Ecosystem is also helpful as a productivity leverage. Not only it eases file transfers across your devices, it even maximizes a triple-screen setup when paired with your TECNO smartphone plus laptop (or PC).

Overall, the MEGAPAD 2 serves a great purpose not limited to doom-scrollers and binge-watchers. It can also be a trustworthy companion for students and paid professionals alike.

Made to last

The TECNO MEGAPAD 2 admittedly doesn’t have a MEGA battery capacity.

Compared to its competitors that boast 9000+mAh, the MEGAPAD 2 has a smaller 8200mAh tank.

Use-case will always vary. If you use the tablet for binging several episodes of a single K-Drama or lengthy documentaries on YouTube as early as 10 in the morning at around 70% brightness, it can last until dinner time.

When placed in standby mode or left to rest overnight on your table top, it won’t consume much and can last more than a day (or two to three days at max). That’s shocking to witness considering it has an aging and less-efficient 6nm Helio chipset.

If its battery completely depletes, TECNO has bundled a proprietary charging brick and cable out of the box.

@gadgetmatch

MEGA in size for 2 base users. Meet the TECNO MEGAPAD 2 💪🏼✌🏼

♬ original sound – GadgetMatch – GadgetMatch

However, it has a painfully slow 18W charging — requiring you at least two hours to fully fill it.

	TECNO MEGAPAD 2 8200mAh Battery 18W Bundled Charger + Cable
START TIME (From 0%)	3:40PM
5 minutes	3%
10 minutes	5%
20 minutes	12%
30 minutes	19%
45 minutes	28%
1 hour	38%
1 hour 15 minutes	50%
1 hour 30 minutes	60%
1 hour 45 minutes	70% 5:25PM

I obviously just gave up counting right after going over the 100-minute mark.

Is the TECNO MEGAPAD 2 your BudgetMatch?

With a starting price of PhP 16,999 for the 6+128GB model and PhP 19,999 for the 8+256GB variant, the TECNO MEGAPAD 2 is strategically situated along the budget tablet league.

If you value performance, the MEGAPAD 2 is obviously a Swipe Left. There are other tablets that offer the newer and more power-efficient MediaTek Helio G100 SoC such as the OPPO Pad SE, REDMI Pad 2, and even the TechLife Pad Plus 2.

Samsung even offers the Galaxy Tab A11+ with a 5G-capable Dimensity 7300 chipset. Albeit, it has a higher price mark despite having the same base configuration and smaller 7040mAh battery.

That only means the MEGAPAD 2 still stands a chance.

Although the HONOR Pad X8b (its closest rival) is compelling enough with its beastly 10,1000mAh battery, the MEGAPAD 2 still gains a Swipe Right with its larger memory (6GB versus 4GB). How can I even forget the keyboard bundled when you purchase this mighty pad?

And in all honesty, it still surprises me how TECNO managed to make their latest pad run a smooth, well-optimized, and even AI-powered software suit despite its aging core.

Given that HONOR’s Pad X8b rocks a Snapdragon 680 4G chipset, it only has the a limiting AI ability with Google Gemini — which cannot do everything for users who rely on AI assistance for the apps they use and/or tablet tasks they do for work or school.

Let alone, the MEGAPAD 2 is an afforda-blet with a full metal body and full-on audiovisual experience — especially with its brighter and sharper display. Camera flash for document scanning not even forgotten.

Not too long ago, I had my hands on the DJI Osmo Pocket 4, and I’ve taken to calling it a solo creator’s very own production crew. Rumors about a two-lensed Osmo Pocket had circulated for months. I’m not one to revel in hot goss, so I waited. And waited.

And while waiting, turning 30 crept up on me. The DJI Osmo Pocket 4P arrived like a small, well-machined reminder of a life I didn’t end up living.

If I’d pursued filmmaking the way I once wanted to, this is the camera I would’ve dreamed up for myself. After all, the Osmo Pocket 4P is a creative director’s fantasy, built at the scale of a passport.

The unit landed on my desk just days before launch, with barely enough runway to put it through its paces properly.

Luckily, it arrived right as July began, which happens to be the month I always disappear on a long vacation. It’s my birth month, and I treat it accordingly. There’s no better way to test a device built for cinematic shooting than to hand it a full month of actual life.

The filmmaker I almost was

I always dreamed of directing sweeping cinematic films. As a broke teenager with big ambitions, I strategically pivoted into advertising instead.

I convinced myself it was a clever way to stay close to film sets while guaranteeing a steady paycheck. That creative pull never really vanished. It resurfaced in my early twenties during an extended phase of chasing beaches and climbing mountains.

I spent those trips half-watching travel vloggers and wondering why they were living my dream life instead of me. The Osmo Pocket 4P dug up an ambition I thought I had buried under sensible career choices.

I once wanted to be a National Geographic Explorer, mapping gorgeous terrain for a living. Instead, I became a competitive trail runner who works as a creative director, which brings its own chaotic terrain.

Life did not give me the exact script I wrote as a teenager, but this camera gave me a way to direct my story anyway on my own terms.

Earning its keep

To celebrate my birth month properly, I took the camera to Cagayan de Oro City, sprinted across the wild landscapes of Bukidnon, and boarded a flight to London for a dose of summer style and city architecture.

Both trips are honest reflections of who I am: a person pulled toward nature, and a person who will always, at heart, be a city boy. London doubled as work, too. I was there to cover Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked.

Across both continents, the dual lenses earned their keep. I captured crisp architectural details from miles away using the 240mm 12x zoom.

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by mj (@hemjaye)

However, I spent most of my time using the 60mm 3x medium telephoto lens. It delivered a natural background blur that made mundane street moments look like movie stills.

In Cagayan de Oro, I checked into a Marrakesh-inspired boutique hotel filled with intricate design details. I relied mostly on the 20mm 1x and 60mm 3x range for the entire stay.

Knowing I had 6x and 12x zoom in reserve gave me a sense of security, like carrying a luxury safety net in my handbag.

A sensor built for the way light actually behaves

The new 1-inch CMOS sensor is what changes the equation for cinematic travel footage. Light does most of the emotional work in a shot, and this is the first Pocket that seems to understand that instinctively.

With the new sensor, I didn’t have to fight to keep a face lit while the background held its own exposure. It also preserved highlight and shadow detail cleanly, even in scenes with harsh contrast, the kind that used to flatten out or blow up on older pocket cameras.

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by mj (@hemjaye)

That said, auto exposure wasn’t flawless. On a handful of occasions, it leaned toward overcorrecting and blowing everything out a touch too bright. Switching to manual, or Pro Mode, put me back in control and kept the shots true to what I was actually seeing.

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by GadgetMatch (@gadgetmatch)

What I appreciated most was shooting solo for a Samsung campaign and having nearly every take be usable footage for my editor. Fewer discarded clips means less footage lost to the compromises of shooting alone.

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Matchketeers by GadgetMatch (@matchketeers)

That’s mostly thanks to ActiveTrack, which now extends to the Med-Tele lens. Shooting portraits at 3x zoom, it delivers precise face recognition and tracking, holding exposure steady and skin tones consistent even while the subject is moving.

Shooting solo is genuinely difficult. With ActiveTrack, especially in portrait framing, it made the footage look more considered than the reality behind it… which was one person, alone, trying to land a single good shot without a crew to call it.

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by GadgetMatch (@gadgetmatch)

Built-in polish, without the retouching pass

This is the section that matters most if you’re the kind of traveler who shoots, stars in, and edits your own content, because you don’t have the luxury of a color grade session or a retouch pass before something goes up. The Osmo Pocket 4P seems to understand that, and builds the polish in at the point of capture instead of leaving it for later.

Glamour and Film Tones work as an in-camera pass on skin, handling softening, brightening, and color temperature so a face still reads clean and true even lit by a random hotel lamp or the wrong side of a sunset.

Paired with that are stylized film filters that lean into an instant Fuji aesthetic. They give that warm, slightly desaturated look that used to take a preset and a few minutes in an app. Here, it’s baked into the file before you’ve even opened your phone.

That instant polish is the difference between going to sleep after a long day of travel and staying up until midnight editing clips. I’d land at a hotel after a full day, pull the footage straight off the camera, and post it with barely any correction. There was nothing to hide, and nothing left to fix.

Fill Light does the same job on the physical side of things. It adds soft, flattering light in night and backlit scenes. It balances uneven indoor lighting that usually ruins a vlog, and gives selfies and portraits a lift without a ring light or a second person holding one.

More importantly, shooting alone at night in an unfamiliar city is usually where a solo creator’s footage falls apart. Here, it held up.

Between the two, the camera is doing a version of the job a beauty producer and a gaffer would normally split between them, in real time, for a crew of one.

Room to actually direct

Beyond the automated conveniences, the Osmo Pocket 4P gives you real creative range if you want to reach for it.

D-Log and the newer D-Log 2 color profiles hold onto far more dynamic range than a standard picture profile, which matters if you’re planning to grade footage later rather than post it straight off the card.

Slow motion goes up to 4K at 240fps, which is enough headroom to pull dramatic, controlled slow-motion out of moments that happen far too fast to shoot deliberately.

Slow-shutter video is the underrated feature here, but it’s the one that can give you the most cinematic frames: light trails pulling through a night street, clouds smearing gently over a skyline. They’re mostly shots that usually needs a tripod and a plan, but done handheld and on instinct.

Made to disappear into a trip

None of this matters if the camera can’t survive the actual mechanics of travel. This is where the Osmo Pocket 4P does the most work. At 230 grams, it’s compact and portable enough to live in a jacket pocket.

The physical joystick and quick shortcuts save the day when you are shooting one-handed on the go.

The 4K Live Photo feature captures a short burst of motion around a photo, which turned out to be the most authentic way to remember my race finishes. Meanwhile, the 37-megapixel stills were crisp enough to capture fine architectural textures across London.

Storage rounds it out sensibly: 103GB built in, with transfer speeds up to 800MB/s. Between a race in Bukidnon and a flight to London, the last thing I wanted to manage was a memory card. This let me not think about it at all.

Is the DJI Osmo Pocket 4P your GadgetMatch?

I didn’t become the National Geographic Explorer I once imagined for myself. I became something adjacent to it instead, a trail runner with a day job in creative direction, chasing landscapes on weekends and screens on weekdays.

The DJI Osmo Pocket 4P didn’t hand me back the life I once mapped out as a teenager. It just made the life I actually have look, for a month at least, exactly as cinematic as I’d always wanted it to be.

Swipe right if you’re the kind of traveler who shoots alone and needs a camera doing the work of a small crew, handling color, light, and tracking without anyone else in the room.

It rewards creators who jump between wide landscapes and close portraits with zero lens changes. And if you’ve ever landed somewhere with a dying memory card and no laptop in sight, the built-in storage and fast transfer solve a problem you’ll actually recognize.

Swipe left if your bag already has a mirrorless body and a gimbal in it, since the Pocket 4P will mostly repeat what you’re already carrying.

It’s also not the camera for someone who shoots static, tripod-locked setups and wants manual control as the default. And if the price sits well above what you’d normally spend on a pocket camera, it’s worth being honest with yourself about how often you’d actually reach for this over your phone.

For a solo creator who travels for both work and the version of themselves that only comes out on a trail or in a new city, the DJI Osmo Pocket 4P earns its spot in the bag. It’s not trying to replace a full production; it’s trying to be one. And for that, it deserves the GadgetMatch Seal of Approval.

MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls feels like a spiritual successor to the Marvel vs. Capcom fighting games of old — just without the Capcom bit, obviously.

That comparison isn’t just because it features a roster of Marvel heroes and villains throwing hands at each other. Tōkon captures that same feeling of putting together a team of characters you love, watching them bounce off one another, and slowly figuring out how to make them work together.

I’ve always been a casual fighting game player. I can play a little bit, but I’m a benchwarmer at best. I do watch tournament matches every now and again, though, and I can tell when real skill is involved.

It’s kind of like basketball to me. I may not be particularly good at it, but I know a good play when I see one.

After spending some time with Tōkon, I can see the appeal.

It’s welcoming enough for someone like me to jump in and have fun, but there’s enough depth underneath the simple controls to reward players who want to take the time to master it.

The tutorial is important

I handled the tutorial portion during the demo, so when I got the full game I jumped straight into Story Mode.

That said, the tutorial is very important.

The button presses seemed easy enough to follow at first. But the deeper the tutorial went, the more complex it started to feel.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it does a good job of gradually guiding you through the game’s mechanics instead of throwing everything at you at once.

Anyone who’s ever played a fighting game at any capacity will have an understanding of how the general mechanics work.

But Tōkon layers its own systems on top of those familiar fundamentals.

The tutorial essentially takes you through the Training Mode. It’s great for getting a feel for how to execute the unique moves per character.

I’m a firm believer that you should just throw yourself at a match and only go back to training if you hit a wall and can’t advance or seem unable to overcome your opponent.

That’s how I prefer to learn.

And Tōkon makes that approach viable because the fundamentals don’t feel intimidating.

The game’s official materials also emphasize this balance. It offers adjustable controls, traditional and quick inputs, easy chain combos, character guides, training, and other ways to learn the game’s systems.

There’s more than enough here that the game should feel welcoming to both casual and hardcore fighting game fans.

Four characters, one fight

The biggest thing to wrap your head around is probably the game’s 4v4 structure.

You pick four characters: one main fighter and three assists. But you don’t immediately have access to your entire team.

You only get access to the first assist initially. You unlock the other two after a Stage Break happens in a match. A Stage Break is when you finish a combo with the opposing character flying through an extended area of the fighting stage.

So it’s entirely possible to go an entire match without unlocking all your assist characters.

Now that I’ve spent more time with it, though, getting to a Stage Break is actually fairly easy. Landing and chaining combos doesn’t feel too complicated to pull off, so you can get access to the rest of your team without having to perform some impossibly technical sequence.

The assists are great.

You simply hit X or Cross (or the bottom-most face button) for a generic assist, but combining right + X or down + X gives you long-range and air-launch assists.

These are great for opening up your opponents to combos or countering their moves.

Once you have all your assists available and fill the gauge all the way up to 150, you can execute a Super Attack with every single one of your characters joining the assault.

It’s a fantastic payoff for building up your team.

This is also where Tōkon starts feeling like more than a simple fighter.

The controls are easy enough to understand, but the deeper you get into a fight, the more you start thinking about when to call an assist, how to extend a combo, when to counter, and when to save your resources.

It’s the same kind of satisfaction I get from Dragon Ball FighterZ or Guilty Gear Strive.

Simple controls can get you started.

The complexity comes from figuring out what you can actually do with them.

Spider-Man is my guy

I spent most of my play time using my favorite character of all time: Spider-Man.

Honestly, he feels a little trickier to play than most.

His special move involves him shooting a web, and you can either follow it up with a combo or use it to swing away from attacks.

That little bit of flexibility makes him feel very Spider-Man.

You’re constantly darting around the fight, looking for an opening while also having a way to get yourself out of trouble.

I initially played him with his teammates set by the game: Ms. Marvel, Peni Parker, and Star-Lord.

But outside of the story, I usually always have Wolverine up next.

He’s an aggressive damage dealer and a button masher’s delight.

That’s part of what makes Tōkon’s roster work.

Going through Story Mode gives you a chance to get a feel for how each character handles and who fits your style the most.

With 20 characters available at launch, there’s enough here to mix and match, and you’re bound to find a set that you feel at home using.

And sometimes the character you expect to like isn’t the one you end up enjoying the most.

The characters change how you play

The character I wasn’t particularly interested in but was surprisingly fun for me to use was Blade.

It probably has to do with the types of movement I associate with each character.

With Spidey, I’m always darting around.

With Wolverine, I’m always rushing the enemy.

But with Blade, I suddenly move with more measure.

Something about his stance and attacks makes me want to approach the fight a little more deliberately.

Ms. Marvel was also a character I didn’t care much for at first but ended up enjoying using.

Mostly also because she forces me to dial back a bit and be more deliberate with my movements.

That’s one of the more enjoyable things about Tōkon.

The roster doesn’t just give you different characters with different movesets. It encourages you to approach fights differently.

You’re not necessarily going to play the same way with every character. And that makes finding the right team more rewarding.

Deadpool, meanwhile, has a lot of Easter egg references from other games and franchises.

I haven’t seen them in my own playthrough, though, so it’s frustrating me a bit.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Daddy Player One (@daddyplayeroneph)

That probably says something about how much Marvel fan service Arc System Works has packed into the game.

Even when I’m not finding the references myself, I know I’m probably missing something.

Losing doesn’t feel cheap

This might be one of the biggest compliments I can give Tōkon.

When I lose matches, it never feels like it’s because the opponent got some sort of buff or something.

I can clearly see where I mistimed a block or a counter, and that led to a devastating string of combos that led to my demise. I don’t mind losing when I understand why I lost.

There’s a difference between getting beaten and feeling like the game simply decided that you were going to lose. Tōkon generally makes me feel like the former.

I’m not suddenly going to pretend I’m good at fighting games. I’m still a casual player. But I can recognize when I made a mistake.

And when I watch a really good player put together a sequence, I can appreciate the skill involved even if I have absolutely no idea how to replicate it.

That’s where I think Tōkon strikes a good balance.

The game lets me enjoy fighting games at my level while leaving the door open for players who want to take things much, much further.

It’s anime as hell

The anime-coded art style has been telegraphed since the game was first announced, so there shouldn’t be any surprises here.

There are plenty of character costume color combinations to choose from, while the animations are truly eye-popping without feeling extremely overwhelming.

The characters move with the kind of exaggerated energy you’d expect from an Arc System Works fighter, but it still feels distinctly Marvel.

Every fight feels like a comic book panel suddenly came to life.

The presentation is particularly good at making the big moments feel big without turning every attack into visual noise.

And then there’s the opening sequence. It is so anime intro-coded and I NEVER skip it. It’s so hype!

Don’t expect a deep Marvel story

You don’t have to play through each character for Story Mode.

The characters are divided into teams of four, giving each group its own story. The presentation is a mix of anime cutscenes and comic-book-panel-style storytelling.

It’s… alright.

If you’re after any real deep storytelling here, you’re not playing the right game.

There’s enough to keep you mildly entertained, but halfway through your third team you’d probably be over it and would want to just jump straight into fighting — which is the core of the game anyway.

The story gives you an excuse to spend time with different teams and characters.

It lets you learn how they play while giving you a little context for why they’re fighting together.

But Tōkon’s real appeal isn’t its story. It’s what happens when the fight starts.

The fighting is the story

The more time I spend with Tōkon, the more I think this is where the Marvel vs. Capcom comparison makes the most sense.

You pick characters you love, put them together, and figure out how they work.

Then you discover that the character you weren’t interested in is suddenly the one you can’t stop playing.

That’s the loop. And it’s a good one.

Tōkon feels like it understands that a fighting game doesn’t need an elaborate narrative to make you care about its characters.

Sometimes all you need is a character you like, a team that feels good, and a fight that makes you want to hit rematch.

The sound of a good fight

I have to be honest — and a bit embarrassed — I love listening to music, but audio is almost always the last thing I notice when I review games.

I want to say the audio here perfectly complements the visuals.

Nothing feels jarring or out of place.

The music feels appropriate for every stage of the fight, while the in-fight dialogue matches the reactions to what’s happening on screen.

(My setup is an LG C2 TV with a Samsung soundbar. Suffice it to say, I FEEL every hit adequately).

Arc System Works also specifically called out music and sound as areas of focus for Tōkon. After playing it, I can see why.

It runs excellently on PS5

On PS5, MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls runs excellently.

My runs were mostly PvE, and I encountered no issues whatsoever.

Any input lag is just me having stubby fingers — nothing to do with the game’s performance.

The game also benefits from the PS5’s presentation, with its colorful effects and huge character animations looking particularly good on a big screen.

I played on a 55-inch TV and it made those big super attacks especially satisfying to watch.

The PC version, however, had a much rougher launch.

It was only recently that a patch was released, and we also had challenges redeeming the PC version.

So if you’re deciding between platforms, the PS5 version is the one I can comfortably speak for based on my experience.

Online is where I struggle

I don’t like talking about this. I get my ass handed to me too much. But if you’re talking about getting into matches, it does get challenging.

I wait a good five to seven minutes before I can hop into online matches.

And once I do get into a fight, let’s just say my win rate isn’t exactly something I’m going to frame on the wall.

The game’s online offering includes Casual and Ranked matches, along with online lobbies and Room Matches.

The real question for more competitive players will be whether the online community can sustain quick matchmaking as the player base settles after launch.

For a casual player like me, though, the bigger hurdle is simply finding someone willing to beat me up.

A cute little detour

There’s also Arcadia Rumble, a bit of a platformer-type game with the characters rendered in chibi form. 

It’s nothing groundbreaking. But I particularly enjoyed the chibi looks as a chibi enjoyer.

The chibi version is an Arc System Works staple, and it’s a cute little change of pace from the much more intense main game.

You don’t need to play it to appreciate Tōkon. But I like that it’s here.

I’m already looking forward to more

The launch roster is already substantial, but I’m particularly excited about the first DLC character: Phoenix Cyclops.

Scott Summers is my guy. And we’re getting the cosmic version? I am waiting with bated breath.

That’s probably the best place to leave Tōkon. 

I came into this expecting a fun Marvel fighting game.

What I got was a fighter that is easy enough for a casual player like me to pick up, while constantly reminding me that there is a much deeper game waiting underneath.

It’s not that Tōkon is simple.

It’s that it does a good job of making complexity feel approachable.

You can mash buttons with Wolverine and have a great time. You can swing around with Spider-Man and look for openings. And you can slow things down with Blade or Ms. Marvel and learn to be more deliberate.

If you want to go deeper, the systems are there waiting for you.

Now pickup a controller and take on MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls