On October 8th, the Japanese gaming website “GameWith” released a new exclusive preview of the upcoming Japanese mobile game Shaman King: Funbari Chronicles. Within this article they highlight many new screenshots as well as describe the game mechanics.
You can view the entire Japanese page for the game here at GameWith and below we include a rough English translation on some of the new information about the game. No release date for the game has been announced, except for a “2021” date. This information is based on a pre-release version of the game as well as translated from Japanese so there may be inconsistencies with the final product when released. Currently the game has only been announced for a Japanese release.
Gameplay
The game plays as turn-based RPG with a squad of 3 shamans where you can launch various attacks at enemies. In each fight all of the characters in the battle as part of your main team will appear in 3D models. All pre-release screenshots show the gameplay in landscape mode. In your main team of 3, you may also have 2 additional shamans in your sub-team. The details on how the sub-team works in the gameplay has not be described yet.
During your turn, each shaman has a “Furyoku” or “Mana” level, which is shown as a bar in the bottom right corner of the screen. You can then select a move that will use up a portion of that Furyoku level to attack the enemy or do other effects. Not all skills the shaman has are available from the start of a battle. The character’s signature move is shown as the larger icon on the far right that is only available once every few turns. In addition to Furyoku levels, each Shaman also has their own health or stamina that is shown on the bottom left of the screen. Then enemies remaining health is shown in the upper right of the screen. As part of a puzzle-element to the game, you will need to defeat the enemies within a certain turn allotment that is shown in the upper left of the screen.
Below is an English translated sample of these game mechanics during your turn playing as Yoh:
Acquiring and Leveling Characters
Every Shaman in the game have a ★ rarity associated with them along with their own individual levels. The maximum rarity is a 5★.
To acquire Shamans in the game, there is a “gacha” where you can collect various shamans. The higher ★ rarity for the Shaman, the more powerful skills and stats the character will have. If you already have one of the characters and you get a duplicate, you can merge the lower rarity Shamans together with the chance to increase the rarity. When a character moves to a higher ★ rarity they will also unlock alternate character designs and models that can be used within the game.
In addition to the rarity level there is various levels for the character and along with their signature move and basic moves. As you play through the game you will be able to increase their level in addition to the rarity system. The moves each characters has can also be leveled up which can increase the damage and other effects. The friendship level can also be increased by completing the corresponding character’s Friendship stories. There is also an Awoken level as well.
When viewing your individual Shaman’s stats page you also have some additional options. You can use the magnifying to view various images and 3D models of the character in-game. The paper icon allows you to learn more about the character, and can include images from the anime. The movie icon allows you to see clips of the 3D scenes made within the game and the sound icon allows you to hear voice clips as well. You can also click the heart icon to mark the character as a favorite so that you can see them as a wallpaper within the game.
Below is an English translated sample of the Character Details page which highlight these features above (The Japanese game will not have this English text):
Each Shaman can also have up to 3 “Vision Cards” attached. These can add stat bonuses and other skills to the Shaman. These “Vision Cards” can also be leveled up to increase their effects and may be limited to which Shamans they can apply to. The image displayed on the Vision Card can be scenes from the 2021 anime as well as new images made exclusively for the game.
Vision Card Details 
Team Selection, with Vision Cards shown below each Shaman
Story Modes
There are 3 main types of story modes in the game; the Main Story, Friendship Story, and Form Episodes.
The main story recreates manga-style layouts using scenes from the 2021 anime to help tell an original story for the Funbari Chronicles game. In addition to text, it will also use voices from the anime as well. This unique approach to the storytelling is being referred to as a “mangatic” style. This story will take portions of the anime story while intertwining new story elements for this mobile game.
The Friendship Story is a collection of side-stories which you can use to help increase individuals shamans stats. These side-stories contain completely original stories for each of the characters.
The Form Episodes are similar to the Friendship Stories where you can get some additional unique stories told from other Shaman’s point of view. These are unique to each character.
Currently the only enemies shown within the game have been un-named black and purple blobs.
Friendship Story 
Form Episodes
Additional new images can be found on the GameWith article page for Shaman King: Funbari Chronicle. The Japanese website has also been updating with more characters of their 3D models and other illustrations. The official Twitter also posts new images as well.
