Samurai Warriors 5

Whether you’re a series fan or a newcomer, there’s a lot to like about Samurai Warriors 5. This is without a doubt the best Samurai Warriors game yet, with a more engaging story, deeper gameplay, and luscious visuals. As ever, there are tens of hours of fun to be had, with repetition staved off that bit longer thanks to the new gameplay additions. And with a friend in tow, everything just becomes more chaotic and fun. Forget about the reduced character roster; if you love Musou games, consider this a must-have.

Samurai Warriors 5 takes the long-running franchise, gives it a wonderfully vibrant lick of paint, throws in some excellent new combat mechanics and fills its story mode with well-directed cutscenes, resulting in a slick and stylish addition to the series that's sure to please fans and newcomers alike. Yes, it makes a few fumbles here and there - we aren't fond of its grindy system of upgrading your Dojo and Blacksmith, it limits your character choices at times in the campaign and that stripped back roster is sure to irk some - but, overall, what's here is a fine addition to the Switch's line-...

Samurai Warriors has seen plenty of action since its first release in 2004. The hack-and-slash combat game has been a staple of every PlayStation console since the PS2, even including the handhelds (and, we’re sure in time, including the PS5). Hard to believe, then, that it’s been nearly seven years since the last numbered entry. But Omega Force and Koei Tecmo have finally produced a sequel, featuring some new battle mechanics, a cel-shaded art style that really stands out, while re-imaging most of the franchise’s characters. Most Warriors games suffer a bit from feeling the same every time, b...

Citadel mode also allows you to build bonds with allies. If you do enough missions with friends, they will unlock new scenes between the characters. They meant very little to me, but if you are into that thing, they are here. I played on the PlayStation 5, and I didn't notice any frame drops despite a ton of troops on the screen at once. I had no crashes or any other bugs either. Overall it seems to be the most technically sound Warriors game in a long while.

Small gripes aside, Samurai Warriors 5 still has all of the important elements that make it a fun Musou game, plus some bells and whistles from previous spinoffs that are much appreciated here. The new visual style looks so good in this game. Meanwhile, the main campaign keeps its scenarios generally spicy while utilizing good mechanics from previous Omega Force games. The Free and Citadel modes are good for grinding up levels for your characters or experimenting, but I never felt so outmatched that I needed to spend lots of time doing that. I lament that personal character movesets have falle...

Samurai Warriors holds onto its status as the best of the three Warriors series. Omega Force has refined their aged formula with a focus on narrative, more challenging combat, and more rewarding character progression. Let’s just hope they can hold onto this momentum...

Samurai Warriors 5 is a great way for newcomers to jump into the long-running series. With a redesigned cast and amazing new gameplay mechanics, this marks a new era for the franchise.

I’m a fan of the mindless button-mashing catharsis that is the Musou genre, but I’ve mostly played Omega Force’s licensed outings, such as Hyrule Warriors and Fire Emblem Warriors. The last proper Koei Tecmo-published “mainline” Warriors game I’ve previously played was Dynasty Warriors 9, the video game equivalent of replacing the brakes of a fully functional Mercedes with spoiled pancakes just for the sake of it. Suffice to say, I hated that trainwreck, and was worried about what...

Samurai Warriors 5 makes the series stand out from Koei’s other games and updates the musou formula in smart ways, but unfortunately cuts too much of what worked in the past to make it universally recommendable to hardcore fans.

Samurai Warriors 5 scratches the Musou itch but doesn't do too much to mix up the formula.

Samurai Warriors 5 is an excellent musou game for newcomers like me. It’s got the 1-vs-500 action gameplay that these titles (and their sister series Dynasty Warriors) are known for. It’s a self-proclaimed “new beginning” for the series, with streamlined gameplay, a gorgeous cel-shaded art style, and a story shining a spotlight on events the previous games hadn’t covered. I found it to be an amazingly accessible game, with virtually no feature bloat that newcomers would commonly see...

Samurai Warriors 5 runs well and has a solid story presentation, but it's barely different from the last entry in terms of gameplay, save for having less than a third of the movesets.