History VideoGame / SamuraiWarriors

* ''Samurai Warriors'' / ''Sengoku Musou'' ([=PS2=], 2004)

* ''Samurai Warriors: State of War'' / ''Geki Sengoku Musou'' (PSP, 2005)
* ''Samurai Warriors 2'' / ''Sengoku Musou 2'' ([=PS2=], X360, 2006)
* ''Samurai Warriors 2 Empires'' / ''Sengoku Musou 2'' ([=PS2=], X360, 2006)
* ''Samurai Warriors 2: Xtreme Legends'' / ''Sengoku Musou 2 Moushouden'' ([=PS2=], X360, 2006)
* ''Samurai Warriors Katana'' / ''Sengoku Musou Katana'' (Wii, 2008)
* ''Samurai Warriors 3'' / ''Sengoku Musou 3'' (Wii, 2009 [JPN], 2010 [US/EU]; [=PS3=], 2011 [JPN], combining the contents of this and below.)
* ''Samurai Warriors 3 Xtreme Legends'' / ''Sengoku Musou 3 Moushouden'' (Wii, 2010 [JPN])
* ''VideoGame/WarriorsOrochi'' / ''Musou Orochi'' (''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'' crossver; PC, [=PS2=], PSP, X360, 2007)
* ''Warriors Orochi 2'' / ''Musou Orochi Maou Sairin'' (''Dynasty Warriors'' crossover; [=PS2=], X360, 2008)

* ''Warriors Orochi 3'' / ''Musou Orochi 2'' (''Dynasty Warriors'' crossover; [=PS3=], [=X360=], 2012)
* ''Sengoku Musou Chronicle 2nd'' (Nintendo 3DS, 2012)
* ''Samurai Warriors 4'' / ''Sengoku Musou 4'' ([=PS3=], PS Vita, [=PS4=], 2014)
* ''Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3'' / ''Sengoku Musou Chronicle 3'' ([=3DS=], PS Vita, 2014)
* ''Samurai Warriors 4-II'' / ''Sengoku Musou 4-II'' ([=PS3=], PS Vita, [=PS4=], [=PC=], 2015)
* ''Samurai Warriors 4 Empires'' / ''Sengoku Musou 4 Empires'' ([=PS3=], PS Vita, [=PS4=] 2016)
* ''Samurai Warriors: Spirit of Sanada'' / ''Sengoku Musou: Sanada-Maru'' ([=PS3=], PS Vita, [=PS4=], 2017)
* ''Warriors Orochi 4'' / ''Musou Orochi 3'' ([=PS4=], Switch, 2018)
* ''Samurai Warriors 5'' (Switch, 2021)

''Samurai Warriors'' started as a spinoff of Creator/{{Koei|Tecmo}}'s ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'' HackAndSlash series, porting the gameplay elements to a new setting: the UsefulNotes/SengokuPeriod of Japanese history.[[note]]Hence its Japanese name "[[PunnyName Sengoku Musou]]," compared to ''Dynasty Warriors'' being "Shin Sangoku Musou."[[/note]] Its success has lead to it becoming its own series, with a total of 4 main installments, all with their own offshoots and expansions. The playable scenarios span fifty years of Japanese history, and playable characters include [[UsefulNotes/OdaNobunaga Nobunaga Oda]], [[UsefulNotes/TokugawaIeyasu Ieyasu Tokugawa]], [[UsefulNotes/ToyotomiHideyoshi Hideyoshi Toyotomi]], [[UsefulNotes/SanadaYukimura Yukimura Sanada]], [[UsefulNotes/IshidaMitsunari Mitsunari Ishida]], [[UsefulNotes/MiyamotoMusashi Musashi Miyamoto]], [[UsefulNotes/HattoriHanzo Hanzo Hattori]], [[UsefulNotes/FuumaKotaro Kotaro Fuma]], and [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters many more]]. It should be worth noting that each version loosely sticks to a certain time frame and focuses on specific moments: case in point, the first game is all over Nobunaga while the second game's primary focus are the events leading to Sekigahara, and the third appears to try to cover just about everything in-between. The ''Chronicles'' games covers the whole lot, however.

** The invasion of Joseon during Hideyoshi's reign is completely avoided, though this decision is probably [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools better to stay]], since it would lead to some unfortunate implications (and most likely a bunch of protests and boycotts). The less controversial conquest of the Ryūkyū Kingdom is also not featured.

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Starting from ''2'', scenarios about Nobunaga's conflict against the Ikkō-Ikki sect in Ise Nagashima is removed altogether to tone down Nobunaga's former EvilOverlord looks. As a result, Kennyō Honganji is never mentioned or even be featured as an NPC again in future SW games.

** [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness The first game]] in the series is specially designed to be this both in tone and theme. As it is meant to depict the [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Demon King]] Nobunaga's rise to power, almost all stages are set in the nighttime (the most cheerful ones like Okuni's set in the afternoon at best). Castles are filled with traps and blades as if they are made to viciously kill anyone dare infiltrate. Also, certain characters' lower path stages depict their hopeless situations in a Japan shaped by the Demon King himself.

''Samurai Warriors'' started as a spinoff of Creator/{{Koei|Tecmo}}'s ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'' HackAndSlash series, porting the gameplay elements to a new setting: the UsefulNotes/SengokuPeriod of Japanese history.[[note]]Hence its Japanese name "[[PunnyName Sengoku Musou]]," compared to ''Dynasty Warriors'' being "Shin Sangoku Musou."[[/note]] Its success has lead to it becoming its own series, with a total of 4 main installments, all with their own offshoots and expansions. The playable scenarios span fifty years of Japanese history, and playable characters include [[UsefulNotes/OdaNobunaga Nobunaga Oda]], [[UsefulNotes/TokugawaIeyasu Ieyasu Tokugawa]], [[UsefulNotes/ToyotomiHideyoshi Hideyoshi Toyotomi]], [[UsefulNotes/SanadaYukimura Yukimura Sanada]], [[UsefulNotes/IshidaMitsunari Mitsunari Ishida]], [[UsefulNotes/MiyamotoMusashi Musashi Miyamoto]], [[UsefulNotes/HattoriHanzo Hanzo Hattori]], [[UsefulNotes/FuumaKotaro Kotaro Fuma]], and many more. It should be worth noting that each version loosely sticks to a certain time frame and focuses on specific moments: case in point, the first game is all over Nobunaga while the second game's primary focus are the events leading to Sekigahara, and the third appears to try to cover just about everything in-between. The ''Chronicles'' games covers the whole lot, however.

[[caption-width-right:350:Enjoy the ultimate battle for supremacy in the [[JidaiGeki Warring States Era!]]]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Enjoy the ultimate battle for supremacy in the Warring States Era!]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/samurai_warriors_4_empires_2015_09_17_15_013_1.jpg]][[caption-width-right:350:Enjoy the ultimate battle for supremacy in the Warring States Era!]]

** In ''Spirit of Sanada'', the Sanada Clan has ''three'' officers with NonStandardCharacterDesign who story-wise are ninjas and gameplay-wise are armed with a Ninjato and have Ninjato movesets. Even better: one of these three characters is a ''BadassGrandpa'' Ninja! And of course, not to forget Sasuke who made his debut here.

''Samurai Warriors'' started as a spinoff of Creator/{{Koei}}'s ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'' HackAndSlash series, porting the gameplay elements to a new setting: the UsefulNotes/SengokuPeriod of Japanese history.[[note]]Hence its Japanese name "[[PunnyName Sengoku Musou]]," compared to ''Dynasty Warriors'' being "Shin Sangoku Musou."[[/note]] Its success has lead to it becoming its own series, with a total of 4 main installments, all with their own offshoots and expansions. The playable scenarios span fifty years of Japanese history, and playable characters include [[UsefulNotes/OdaNobunaga Nobunaga Oda]], [[UsefulNotes/TokugawaIeyasu Ieyasu Tokugawa]], [[UsefulNotes/ToyotomiHideyoshi Hideyoshi Toyotomi]], [[UsefulNotes/SanadaYukimura Yukimura Sanada]], [[UsefulNotes/IshidaMitsunari Mitsunari Ishida]], [[UsefulNotes/MiyamotoMusashi Musashi Miyamoto]], [[UsefulNotes/HattoriHanzo Hanzo Hattori]], [[UsefulNotes/FuumaKotaro Kotaro Fuma]], and many more. It should be worth noting that each version loosely sticks to a certain time frame and focuses on specific moments: case in point, the first game is all over Nobunaga while the second game's primary focus are the events leading to Sekigahara, and the third appears to try to cover just about everything in-between. The ''Chronicles'' games covers the whole lot, however.

* VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory: This fluctuates with each game, but it keeps certain points very much intact - namely the deaths of Nobunaga, Mitsuhide, and Hideyoshi are always kept at when they're supposed to be, unless you're playing as them.

* BadassGrandpa: Shingen Takeda, Yoshihiro Shimazu, Ujiyasu Hōjō, Motonari Mōri (in ''4'', at least), and eventually Ieyasu Tokugawa himself at the end of ''Spirit of Sanada''. There's even an "elderly"-type generic officer.

* RegionalBonus: In the Japanese release of [=SW3=], there was a set of three DLCs that each cost 100 Wii Points, giving the player a portion of the Historical Mode, which acted as a story for custom characters. The international releases had the entire Historical Mode available out of the box.

** The invasion of Joseon during Hideyoshi's reign is completely avoided, though this decision is probably [[TropesAreNotBad better to stay]], since it would lead to some unfortunate implications (and most likely a bunch of protests and boycotts). The less controversial conquest of the Ryūkyū Kingdom is also not featured.

* CastFullOfPrettyBoys: While it's understandable that a game that revolves around battles fought in feudal times would have an overwhelmingly male cast, there's no reason for so many of them to be so damn [[{{Bishonen}} pretty]]. The first had a few pretty boys, but by the fourth game, it's taken to an extreme. [[TropesAreNotBad On the other hand]], unlike ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors'' characters, this might be justified with the fact that, some ''Samurai Warriors'' characters historically did gain fame when they're still considerably young, and this is sometimes stated in the game's story.

** Before there was ''VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriors'', before there was ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriors'', Koei's collaborations with Creator/{{Nintendo}} began in the original release of ''Samurai Warriors 3'' with a game mode based on the NES game ''VideoGame/NazoNoMurasamejo'' and its protagonist Takamaru as an unlockable GuestFighter.

See also ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara'' - which is what many say these games would be like on drugs, and ''VideoGame/PokemonConquest'' which uses the character designs from ''Samurai Warriors 3.'' See also ''VideoGame/NobunagasAmbition'', which uses the character designs from the series often and it's gameplay is the basis for ''Pokémon Conquest''.

* NameOrderConfusion: The localized versions of the games use the Western name order (given name first, family name last), despite the game taking place BEFORE the Meiji Restoration. This is particularly jarring in the entries that aren't dubbed, as the way the name is presented in the dialogue box contradicts the voice track.

** UsefulNotes/JapaneseChristian. Historically, Christians were a major population in Japan during the Sengoku period; and many daimyōs, particularly in Kyushu, converted to gain better benefits of trade with the Europeans. Yet, the religion or the Europeans in general didn't get a single mention in the series -- although two characters in the game, KKanbei Kuroda and Gracia, were Christian in real life (their "exoticism" is instead symbolized by their mystic and supernatural weapon of choice). Their phasing out also conveniently ignores Hideyoshi's and especially Ieyasu's rather [[WitchHunt genocidal attempts]] to completely eradicate Christianity from Japan.

** ''Chronicles 3'''s story will branch into hypothetical scenarios if certain conditions are met, such as "What if Yoshimoto survived the Battle of Okehazama?", or "What if Shingen didn't die on the way to the capital?"

* {{Xenafication}}: Like the parent series, female figures who generally stayed in the background in history are made to {{Action Girl}}s. However, it's slightly excused in this series since the women, while not active officers, were documented to have received self-defense skills befitting noble ladies, mostly so they could save themselves should enemies capture them. It's also averted in the case of Tachibana Ginchiyo and Ii Naotora, who actually ''did'' become military leaders of their respective clans, even if they did not participate in any significant battles. Ginchiyo and Kai are also fabled to participate in several of their respective clans' battles, though there are few historical sources to prove this claim.

* BadassGrandpa: Takeda Shingen, Shimazu Yoshihiro, Hōjō Ujiyasu, Mōri Motonari (in ''4'', at least), and eventually Tokugawa Ieyasu himself at the end of ''Spirit of Sanada''. There's even "elderly"-type generic officer.

** UsefulNotes/JapaneseChristian. Historically, Christians were a major population in Japan during the Sengoku period; and many daimyōs, particularly in Kyushu, converted to gain better benefits of trade with the Europeans. Yet, the religion or the Europeans in general didn't get a single mention in the series -- although two characters in the game, Kuroda Kanbei and Gracia, were Christian in real life (their "exoticism" is instead symbolized by their mystic and supernatural weapon of choice). Their phasing out also conveniently ignores Hideyoshi's and especially Ieyasu's rather [[WitchHunt genocidal attempts]] to completely eradicate Christianity from Japan.

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Starting from ''2'', scenarios about Nobunaga's conflict against the Ikkō-Ikki sect in Ise Nagashima is removed altogether to tone down Nobunaga's former EvilOverlord looks. As a result, Honganji Kennyō is never mentioned or even be featured as an NPC again in future SW games.

** Particularly noticeable in the first game if playing on the Oda side at Honnouji as anyone except Nobunaga, as when he's a NPC he absolutely ''insists'' on killing any and all enemy peons in the way instead of high-tailing it to the escape point.

* {{Fanservice}}: Since second game, almost every female character is attractive and many of them have revealing outfits.

* GaidenGame: Following up with ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara'' giving a GaidenGame for Sanada Yukimura, Koei Tecmo did the same with ''Spirit of Sanada'', even adding in Yukimura's father, Sanada Masayuki.

** It's averted, on the other hand, with ''Chronicle 2nd'' newcomer [[UsefulNotes/YagyuJubei Munenori Yagyu]]. He's been a victim of the trope so many times (''especially'' ''VideoGame/OnimushaDawnOfDreams''), but for his debut, he's a willing supporter of the Tokugawa clan's efforts to end the war, and is all around a just, virtuous, badass swordsman. The fourth game, on the other hand, zig-zag this. Munenori is first seen hanging around with [[ObviouslyEvil Matsunaga Hisahide]], but only does so because he's bound by his code of honor to repay those who helped him, and apparently Hisahide did, so he became his NobleTopEnforcer. Once Hisahide bit the dust, eventually Munenori ended up in the services of Tokugawa and remains a helpful person to his fellow retainers. But considering Koei's tendencies to put the Tokugawa as the antagonists for their poster boy Yukimura, Munenori would eventually play an antagonistic role, but thankfully, right now he's at worst a Type IV AntiVillain.

** ''VideoGame/PokemonConquest'', in the sense that the character designs for the Warlord cast -- Nobunaga, Ōichi, Mitsuhide, Shingen, Kenshin, etc. -- are all lifted directly from ''Samurai Warriors 3''.

* TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers: In ''4'', since the story mode is now faction-specific rather than character-specific, they give more focus to the development of the clan while CharacterDevelopment only occasionally appears. Except for Sanada. Notably, it's the ''only'' story mode that gives more focus to the relationship between Sanada brothers and few other characters like Ina, Keiji, Kanetsugu, and Mitsunari. The development of Sanada clan in the story is only vaguely referenced in the narrative.

* MoodWhiplash: Two immediate cutscenes post-Odawara in ''4''. First cutscene has Lady Hayakawa and Kai mourning Ujiyasu's death. Second cutscene has... Hideyoshi celebrating his achievement in uniting Japan by throwing a lavish picnic, complete with silly dancing.

* NameOrderConfusion: For some reason, the localized versions of the games use the Western name order (given name first, family name last), despite the game taking place BEFORE the Meiji Restoration. This is particularly jarring in the entries that aren't dubbed, as the way the name is presented in the dialogue box contradicts the voice track.
* NeverASelfMadeWoman: [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] as it's (mostly) based on historical events in 1500s Japan. Compared to ''Dynasty Warriors'' however, ''SW'' is more progressive regarding its treatment of women; even if they appear because of their connections to men, they still have individual goals to follow on and aren't overly clingy to their spouses. Then again, no matter the place, values of the 16th century are very different from the 3rd century.

** In ''Spirit of Sanada'', Sanada Clan has ''three'' officers with NonStandardCharacterDesign who story-wise are ninja and gameplay-wise are armed with Ninjato and have Ninjato movesets. Even better: one of these three characters is a ''BadassGrandpa'' Ninja! And of course, not to forget Sasuke who made his debut here.

** In ''Spirit of Sanada'', '''[[UpToEleven plenty]]''' of generics under Sanada, Takeda, and Toyotomi have unique design; to the point that the only thing that make them generics is their katana/spear/ninjato moveset. There are also few generics with unique design outside these three clans.

* ThePowerOfFriendship: Naoe Kanetsugu goes on at length about it. Several characters tell him to shut up.

See also ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara'' - which is what many say these games would be like on drugs, and ''VideoGame/PokemonConquest'' which uses the character designs from ''Samurai Warriors 3.'' See also ''VideoGame/NobunagasAmbition'', which uses the character designs from the series often and it's gameplay is the basis for ''Pokémon Conquest''.

* CameraAbuse: In pre-rendered cutscenes, specially the first one of Oda or Noh, you can see blood splatter on the camera.

* GameBreaker: In 4, the ''Stimulus'' weapon perk. One of its effects is allowing for level-capped (level 50) characters to keep increasing their stats beyond what is possible without equipping a Stimulus weapon. But that isn't what allows players to break the game with it. Whenever a Stimulus-equipped character gains a level (or just fills up the XP bar for those already at level 50), they are healed, given full Spirit/Musou and a level 3 buff from each of the stat-boosting items. Including the one which prevents the Spirit gauge from depleting for 45 seconds. By activating Rage Mode and combining it with an XP Scroll (causes enemies to drop small XP-granting scrolls; the Level 3 scroll lasts for ''four minutes''), you can start to ''chain Stimulus effects together'', refreshing the stat buffs in the process. With enough enemies (and abstinence from using a True Musou Attack), you can have a perpetual Rage Mode for most - if not all - of a battle.

* GrappleMove: Some characters have grab moves in their movesets, like [[FragileSpeedster Nene]]'s unblockable SpinningPileDriver grab move (though it's pretty weak). The Grabs' main advantage is that they are unblockable, with the obvious disadvantage of being rather hard to aim due to the combat being done in three dimensions.
** To note, this was no doubt carried over from its sister series ''Dynasty Warriors'' via its fourth installment, where it wasn't that refined (though it was revolutionary but soon removed). The second installment of ''Samurai Warriors'' managed to bring this mechanic back and improved upon it massively for the whole ''Musou Warriors'' franchise onwards.
* GrayRainOfDepression: Mitsunari's last scene in ''4''.
* HardModePerks: Like in VideoGame/DynastyWarriors, you get better weapon/item drops in all of the games and increased stat gain in the first game.

* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: [[UsefulNotes/FuumaKotaro Kotaro Fuma]] may not have been a nice man, but he certainly wasn't a chaos-worshiping {{Troll}} in real life. It's averted, on the other hand, with ''Chronicle 2nd'' newcomer [[UsefulNotes/YagyuJubei Munenori Yagyu]]. He's been a victim of the trope so many times (''especially'' ''VideoGame/OnimushaDawnOfDreams''), but for his debut, he's a willing supporter of the Tokugawa clan's efforts to end the war, and is all around a just, virtuous, badass swordsman. The fourth game, on the other hand, zig-zag this. Munenori is first seen hanging around with [[ObviouslyEvil Matsunaga Hisahide]], but only does so because he's bound by his code of honor to repay those who helped him, and apparently Hisahide did, so he became his NobleTopEnforcer. Once Hisahide bit the dust, eventually Munenori ended up in the services of Tokugawa and remains a helpful person to his fellow retainers. But considering Koei's tendencies to put the Tokugawa as the antagonists for their poster boy Yukimura, Munenori would eventually play an antagonistic role, but thankfully, right now he's at worst a Type IV AntiVillain.

* KeyStoneArmy: Scripted twists (such as body doubles and dramatic entrances) aside, as soon as the commander of the opposing force retreats clutching his side/keels over dramatically, the rest of his army beats it regardless of numbers. Of course, with how many of them you were likely cutting down before defeating the commander, it's amazing they wait that long to get out of your sight.

* LimitBreak: In ''4'', using a Musou Attack while Rage is active results in the devastating Musou Frenzy.

* {{Ninja}}: Kunoichi, ArtisticLicenseHistory Hanzō, Kotarō, and Nene -- all but Kotarō [[ArtisticLicenseHistory not having historically been ninjas]]. There are also ninja mooks. As of ''4'', there are even officers with "Ninja Master" model and armed with Ninjato and have Ninjato movesets, usually from Sanada (alluding Sanada Ten Braves) or Hōjō (alluding Fūma Clan). In ''Spirit of Sanada'', Sanada Clan has ''three'' officers with NonStandardCharacterDesign who story-wise are ninja and gameplay-wise are armed with Ninjato and have Ninjato movesets. Even better: one of these three characters is a ''BadassGrandpa'' Ninja! And of course, not to forget Sasuke who made his debut here.
* NonStandardCharacterDesign: As of ''4'', there are many generics with unique design, usually they are daimyo or important characters in history. Even Hideyori, who has exactly one appearance (Osaka Campaign) also got unique character design. In ''Spirit of Sanada'', '''[[UpToEleven plenty]]''' of generics under Sanada, Takeda, and Toyotomi have unique design; to the point that the only thing that make them generics is their katana/spear/ninjato moveset. There are also few generics with unique design outside these three clans.

* CutsceneIncompetence: If the game scenario calls for somebody to die in a cutscene, they ''will'' die, even a player-controlled, max-level BadAss.