Shaman King: Power of Spirit

Shaman King: Power of Spirit
Developer(s)	Konami
Platform(s)	PS2
Release date(s)	NA November 9, 2004
Genre(s)	Adventure / Strategy (minor)
Mode(s)	Single player, multiplayer - linking
Rating(s)	T

Shaman King: Power of Spirit is the second Shaman King game released on the PS2, while the first being Shaman King: Funbari Spirits which was a Japan exclusive cel-shaded fighter. Much confusion has erupted over if the two games are related, but are in fact, not. Power of Spirit was developed for the 4kids Entertainment dub by Konami, and released only in the U.S. and Europe. Power of Spirit is one of the only "tactical RPG" esque Shaman King games ever made, aside from the Japan exclusive strategy versions for GBC.

Storyline

Shaman King: Power of Spirits starts off when the Shaman Fight Begins. The first chapters are mostly centered on the episodes that took place in the anime, but with a bit of a twist here and there with some new villains joining the ranks. They are known as Force Millennium and their mission is to find the vessel and acquire as much furyoku for their evil plan and they have their sights set on Meril Inugami a new protagonist in the game that becomes a part of Yoh's team during their adventures together. Throughout the story Yoh and his team must stop Force Millennium from awakening an ancient evil that's old as time itself, but through this new adventure they will face obstacles and trials to make them stronger and powerful than ever to save their friend Meril from the clutches of Captain Vinuvall and the Five Sages.

Information

Shaman King: Power of Spirit features an overall adventure system that also incorporates elements of strategy. When in battle, strategic elements are featured when you are to maneuver on a large grid to a certain position. When you are in front of a specific enemy on the field grid, you can initiate an attack on them. This leads to a segment like a fighting game in which you and that specific enemy battle it out. This portion of the game has received criticism due to having few combos (resulting in repetitive gameplay) and large health bars . The battlefields are simple and square-shaped, with few objects, which has led to more criticism. Before all of this comes about, cutscenes will take place in which a large amount of dialogue will be covered to reflect a perfect amount of tension before the coming battle. Most of the cutscenes use still drawings and text, but the game also makes use of 3-D models and/or voiceovers at times. At some points, it is known that you will be fighting the spirit of a specific shaman instead of the shaman himself. Despite the added depth from certain special moves and the range of characters, Shaman King: Power of Spirit is generally regarded as mediocre, due to the aforementioned simple, repetitive fighting system, the long cutscenes made up of static images, and an overall lack of polish.^[1]

Tao Len battling it out against Yoh Asakura

Playable Characters

• Yoh Asakura
• Tao Len (VS. Mode only)
• Trey(VS. Mode only)
• Lyserg (VS. Mode only)
• Silva (VS. Mode only)
• Zeke (VS.Mode only)
• Captain Vineuvall/Heckel/Ruby/Zerumo(Vs. Mode only)
• Rio (VS. Mode only)
• Faust VIII(VS. Mode only)
• Kanna/Matilda/Marion (VS. Mode only)
• Meril/Masked Meril (VS. Mode only)

References

1. ^ Gamespot review

Gamespot - Shaman King: Power of Spirit