Samurai Warriors: Spirit of Sanada

 PlayStation 4
Metascore
74

Mixed or average reviews - based on 31 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 31
  2. Mixed: 17 out of 31
  3. Negative: 0 out of 31
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  1. Vandal
    May 30, 2017
    74
    Spirit of Sanada is an enjoyable musou that improves its narrative, but that doesn't evolve the formula much.
  2. Hobby Consolas
    May 23, 2017
    72
    This Samurai Warriors spin-off feels outdated in many aspects, but it is fun to play and offers deep strategic options for a "musou" game.
  3. ZTGD
    Jun 2, 2017
    70
    As someone thoroughly tired and uninterested in anything Musou, I can say without hesitation that Spirit of Sanada did very little in changing my opinion on the genre. Having said that, the focus on telling a tighter, more involved story along with the addition of a variety of RPG elements is a step in the right direction and deserves praise- hopefully pointing towards a renaissance for the genre.
  5. God is a Geek
    May 31, 2017
    70
    Come for the historical Japanese setting and story, stay for the pleasing, fast-paced combat. Spirit of Sanada puts combat, its best asset, front-and-centre, and it pays off.
  6. GameCritics
    May 31, 2017
    70
    When all’s said and done, Samurai Warriors: Spirit of Sanada is a fine game, but not a very memorable one despite all the tweaks. I had a blast plowing my way through waves of disposable bodies and feeling like an unstoppable juggernaut, but once the carnage came to an end, the high was fleeting. I doubt I’ll ever revisit this game, nor even remember it a month from now.
  7. SpazioGames
    May 26, 2017
    70
    If you are fans of the musou genre you will probably enjoy this title, but if you already dislike them it won't change your mind.
  8. Multiplayer.it
    May 25, 2017
    70
    Samurai Warriors: Spirit of Sanada focuses on the fate of a single family rather than different characters, introducing some pleasing activities but also suffering from the same old problems the series is known for.
  9. Eurogamer Italy
    May 23, 2017
    70
    Quotation forthcoming.
  10. Game Revolution
    May 23, 2017
    70
    Samurai Warriors: Spirit of Sanada caters to a specific audience that is looking for something different in terms of story and characters compared to other Musou games. A heartfelt, emotional tale of friendship, family, and politics provide an intimate counterpart to its mainline games. This difference carries over to its smaller pool of playable characters, each varied and employing the classic Musou hack and slash gameplay.
  11. We Got This Covered
    May 22, 2017
    70
    The extra weight added by the RPG side of things and the dungeon-style challenges means that Samurai Warriors: Spirit of Sanada has more to recommend the franchise than before. Whether it’ll be enough to draw new players in, however, remains to be seen.
  12. The Games Machine
    Jun 1, 2017
    65
    Samurai Warriors: Spirit of Sanada is not the best musou ever created, but if you're looking for something simple and fun, this new offering from Koei Tecmo might be a good choice. Unless, of course, you have a peculiar dislike for the genre.
  13. COGconnected
    May 24, 2017
    65
    Fans of the genre will find plenty to love about this game as it keeps enough of the genre staples while still trying to keep you on your toes with some variations. I, however, think I have to hang up my Musou holster. I can respect that Omega Force has made strides to stand out from all of the other games in the genre, but after so many years, it isn’t enough to keep me interested.
  14. IGN Spain
    May 23, 2017
    63
    Because of its characters, Samurai Warriors: Spirit of Sanada is more recommended than the franchise before. Musou genre doesn't allow so many novelties, but we like the RPG elements.
  15. GamingTrend
    Jun 8, 2017
    60
    Samurai Warriors: Spirit of Sanada is a fun and heavy slasher game, where you’ll mow down thousands of enemies in the spirit of war and blood letting. The game captures so much of what makes the Samurai Warriors series well loved, while bringing in a few new features and environmental adaptations that allow the game to stand on its own. Several issues with balance and presentation betray an otherwise solid game.
  16. TheSixthAxis
    May 23, 2017
    60
    The combat system remains completely untouched since Samurai Warriors 4 and for all its minor tweaks and nuances, time’s running out for this ageing brand of battlefield action. Even long-time fans will agree that, after being pulled in just about every direction, the series desperately needs to move on. No pressure, then, Dynasty Warriors 9.
  17. Push Square
    May 23, 2017
    60
    Samurai Warriors: Spirit of Sanada attempts to shake things up with a bigger emphasis on RPG elements and a more personal story, but it doesn't always hit the mark. Seeing events unfold from the perspective of just a few characters does make for an interesting and engaging narrative, but the pacing is bogged down by boring filler missions. Likewise, chopping huge historical battles into bite-sized chunks adds depth to each scenario, but the epic scale and the thrill of thriving battlefields are lost in the process. Spirit of Sanada certainly isn't a bad game, but it is one of the weaker Warriors titles on PS4.
  18. GameOver.gr
    Jun 30, 2017
    50
    It would have been better for Samurai Warriors Spirit of Sanada if it was released as an additional content for a recent Warriors games than as a stand alone title. As it is, it does not deliver anything new and it looks more of a rehash of elements from previous games.

User Reviews

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User Score
7.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 23 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 23
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 23
  3. Negative: 5 out of 23
  1. Nathan1423
    Jul 27, 2017
    6
    Man...I don't even know how to begin. I love the Warriors series. I've played maybe over 1000 hours in them. Including DW2, DW3, DW4, DW5, SW,Man...I don't even know how to begin. I love the Warriors series. I've played maybe over 1000 hours in them. Including DW2, DW3, DW4, DW5, SW, SW2, SW4, SW4-2, SW4E, SWC3 and a few "Empires" and "Extreme Legends" mixed in there somewhere. Unfortunately this game is just not as good as the recent SW4 trinity, all of which are incredible and easily the standouts of the Warriors history, harkening back to the quality of the early games like DW3 and DW4. ---I feel like Spirit of Sanada took some big risks in presentation and maybe even game engine, which pay off in the long run with other games, but which leave this game looking like almost a science experiment or a lab rat. The Presentation is bad. I think on PC it must be good because I've seen good images from this game. I'm playing it on PS4 Pro on a 4k tv and it looks bad. So much pixel popping. Almost a frame rate jutter, or perhaps a locked frame rate that's too low. The exact opposite of smooth anything, especially between battles. Many fundamental assets like grass and structures are simply bad looking from a mix of asset resolution, lack of post processing maybe, and abundant aliasing problems. This looks like it would run fine on the Nintendo Switch, but the PS4 is worlds above that kind of thing. The other problem I had was the flow/fun factor. It's like they said "lets use only our existing assets and concepts and formats, and insert into that something to simulate another type of game, but without actually adding any of the gaming elements that those other games require." Another way to say that is there are simply roadblocks in your way from enjoying the fun gaming experience they created long ago and have endlessly refined. They convolute it with these "other game simulations" that don't actually innovate or change the actual game material. Imagine playing God of War but only with Crash Bandicoot and only with his move set. It's would be goofy and stupid. They would have to rework everything and give crash an all new move set, new animations, maybe new engine, maybe new...everything. Well this game is a lot like that only less goofy. I'm sure the story is actually pretty good but I couldn't keep playing long enough to enjoy it. Please avoid this game. Any of the Samurai Warriors 4 games are WAY better and FAR more deserving of your time and money.… Full Review »
  2. Xelion
    Feb 8, 2019
    7
    Good game that develops the Sanada clan story with more details and some new character aditions. You'll be using the same characters forGood game that develops the Sanada clan story with more details and some new character aditions. You'll be using the same characters for almost the whole game, with a couple others on side scenarios.
    While the town part is nice, it still feels the lack of activities. Most are pretty dull and you'll just enjoy most of your time fighting.
    For some reason, performance is worse than SW4, SW4-II and SW4E on a base PS4, even though it seems to look the same. While it's not a bad game, it doesn't feel that it changes enough from the other three.    … Full Review »
  3. jrdnnn
    Jan 30, 2019
    8
    This may be biased given that I am a fan of Musou/Warriors games, but Spirit of Sanada is comfortably the best entry in the franchise for me,This may be biased given that I am a fan of Musou/Warriors games, but Spirit of Sanada is comfortably the best entry in the franchise for me, and I am trying to remove myself from my fan status to write this! It is set apart from other entries in the depth of its story and character development. I never expected to feel emotionally connected to this game, given that the others tend to introduce characters, let you play as them, and then move on. By focusing on the exploits of the likable Sanada clan, everything is seen from a different perspective. Each victory and defeat means so much more in this format, and the introduction of other characters makes sense.

    Gameplay-wise, there's nothing new in the combat system but the 1 vs. 1000 hack-and-slash system is refined to perfection, with the usual versatile light, power, hyper, special and musou attack combos. With 50+ characters to play as (divided into story-relevant and peripheral), each with unique styles, special moves and strengths, it has never been more fun to smash through hundreds of petty soldiers with ludicrous weapons. The tactical depth of gameplay is at an all-time high too with the introduction of the Stratagem/Feat system. By performing Feats in previous stages (e.g. taking out a specific enemy, capturing all bases, or allowing a specific ally to survive), you unlock extra Stratagems in the next stage. These turn the tide of the battles immensely by uncovering map information, weakening bosses or speeding up player movement. Add to this the necessity to play as two characters and strategically command your partner to accomplish tasks at opposite ends of the map, and I loved every single battle. AI is generally quite good when given instruction, but occasionally allies can die at other ends of the map, ending the mission, when up against seemingly fair opposition, so be careful.

    The story is reasonably historically accurate (albeit exaggerated and perhaps adapted to a Sanada focus). Most characters are true to their historic motivations and major events in Japanese Sengoku history are all here (the Battle of Sekigahara, the two Sieges of Osaka etc). I truly learned something playing this and I can say that despite the same setting, SoS tells the story SO much better than Nioh (this isn't saying anything about their relative gameplays, mind). Furthermore, once a character has been encountered in the story, they are unlocked to play in Free Mode - you can play any stage you want with any character you want from the base camp Libraries. You can even 'buy' non-story characters from the mid-game onwards with items acquired through gameplay. It's so satisfying to see every single character across all of the SW entries available for play!

    My main criticisms of the game would be the necessary uninteresting 'skirmishes' where you roam around non-battle environments completing monotonous tasks between missions, collecting upgrade materials. They absolutely stall the pace. I can see the purpose of these, but the endless trawling around castle maps followed by 4 end-to-end skirmishes took the shine off the 'exploration' focus. The upgrade system for weapons didn't feel very relevant either, and the loot/gold system felt a bit shallow. Adding extra EXP to officers was available but almost impossible to use. I perhaps upped 10 levels in total across ALL playable characters using this feature. It seems broken. Finally, the camera drove me crazy sometimes. When entering Rage state, the camera swirls and zooms to your character dramatically (cool effect) but often moves the camera wildly away from the action, leaving you exposed, I died a couple of times due to this which is massively frustrating.

    Overall, I hate to see the way Warriors games are shunned when the amount of love and attention shown by Koei to Spirit of Sanada is evident at every turn. The greatest stress relieving game of all time, which I encourage other to pick up, learn some history, experience the most OTT samurai costumes ever, and destroy legions of puny enemies. What a blast!    … Full Review »
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