Thank you Koei Tecmo for sending us a review code!

The Samurai Warriors series has been around since 2004 and is based in the Sengoku period of Japanese history. Many of the characters are based off of historical figures, though I think they have been “artistically licensed” to be better looking. While most of the characters fight with traditional weapons like swords and spears, some of them use guns. During the battles you can often pick a partner to fight alongside and it’s wise to mix up weapon/fighting styles here. If you have a friend or family member handy, they can play as the partner in battle.

Upon launching Samurai Warriors 5, you can pick between one of two game modes. In Musou Mode you get to play through six chapters of the intertwining stories between Nobunaga Oda and Mitsuhide Akechi. Later in the game, you’ll unlock a Reverie route that will let you play extra levels if certain conditions are met. In Citadel Mode, you get to defend your base and aim for the highest score possible. As you play through Musou Mode, you’ll unlock characters and unit types for both modes.

In each mode, you’ll have a Dojo, Blacksmith, Shop, and Stables. The Dojo is for training your characters and upgrading their weapon and fighting skills. If you haven’t played a character much, you can power level them by spending experience points on them. The Blacksmith can affix gems onto weapons with open slots to add elemental affinities and other attributes to them. The shop is where you go to purchase and sell materials and scrolls. You can also sell unneeded skill gems. Materials like lumber, fabric and minerals are needed for upgrading all of the facilities and you can’t buy them in bulk, but you can buy more after each battle. These materials are often given as spoils for winning battles in Citadel Mode. The Stable is where you go to purchase and combine skills for mounts used in battle.

In Musou Mode the battles are pretty cookie cutter and other than terrain, there’s not much variety. If you’re conquering a clan you’ll have to take down its leader, but they are behind multiple gates that won’t open until certain objectives are completed or a gatekeeper is killed. Bosses typically have a drum captain walking around banging their drum; it’s wise to take them out to lower the morale of the opposing army. Barracks captains are also good to eliminate as their bases will become yours and prevent enemy units from spawning there. If you see anyone with a name above their head they’re probably related to an objective and worth targeting. In some levels, your army is retreating and must reach an escape point to be victorious.

Some of the objectives are timed and will impact the level difficulty if ignored. When a mission is timed, it’s game over once the timer runs out. I found those missions rather frustrating. Perhaps they’re easier with co-op as the AI isn’t the greatest.

In Citadel Mode you have a base that needs defending against waves of enemies. If playing solo, your AI partner will stay behind while you can charge ahead taking out the swarm of soldiers and their leader before they get close to your base. Random objectives will pop up like requiring you to defend one of your captains or eliminating one of the enemy’s. As you play and pair up different characters in Citadel Mode, they will form relationship bonds and may eventually unlock various cutscenes to watch.

The hack ‘n slash fighting is similar to other games in the series. I find KO’ing twenty soldiers with a single swing of my sword to be quite stress relieving. The ragdoll physics is rather humorous too. Having a high kill count impacts your level’s score so you’re encouraged to wipe out as many soldiers as possible. As you attack and receive damage, your musou gauge will fill up and once it’s full you can unleash powerful attacks unique to your character. If your partner is nearby, electricity will form between the characters and they can do combo musou attacks which do a lot of damage and provide a good amount of eye candy while the enemy is getting smacked around.

As violent as this game it, I’m happy to report that it’s bloodless. I’ve been accustomed to blood spraying everywhere in first person shooters, and there isn’t a drop to be seen here. Even when soldiers are run through or a character commits suicide by slitting their throat, they just collapse on the ground and die. There are themes of revenge and some wars are incited to prove a point. It’s not just about self-defense.

The voice acting is in Japanese and thankfully there are subtitles for the rest of us. Some language such as d*mn and b*stard are present. There’s a lot of emotion in the lines and the voice acting is well done. I found the background music to be enjoyable too.

Steam achievement hunters will find fifty-six achievements to acquire. I have nearly half of them from Musou Mode alone. I spent over thirty-five hours in the game so far and there’s a ton of DLC content to add further characters and missions if desired. The DLC ranges from $2-$3 and you can save a few bucks by purchasing the Season Pass. The $90 deluxe version of the game includes the Season Pass along with other in-game items. No matter which version you get Samurai Warriors 5 is sure to scratch your Hack N’ Slash itch.