This game should not always be taken seriously. It's similar to Samurai Warriors in that it takes the Sengoku period of Japanese history to the hack and slash genre. Here's what to expect:
- Tackle hundreds of soldiers in style! Try out as many different moves as you can.
- Lots of characters to choose from. Every character has their moment.
- Outrageous boss encounters and crazy objectives. You won't be bored with those.
Basic Actions[edit]
For moves specific to characters, see the page of that character. For how to perform these actions, see controls.
The basic actions of the game are actions that all characters have access to. The simplest of them all is the dash. When using the directional buttons to move your character in a desired direction, tap the button twice to perform a dash. The dash can be used for an unlimited amount of time and is a quicker way to get from point A to point B. Additionally, two characters in the game (Kotaro Fuma and Tadakatsu Honda) have the ability to fly (Sasuke Sarutobi and Kasuga are added to the list of characters with the ability to fly in Utage). Press the jump button twice and all eligible characters will soar through the air, making travel even quicker (Tadakatsu must have Flight Mode activated to accomplish this). Attacks can also be performed while airborne. Additional actions are guard (note that guard can eventually be broken, especially when going against a boss), parry (press the guard button right before an attack lands to parry), and evade.
The most basic of the attacks are Normal Arts. These are the simple actions available to the character (such as swinging a sword or firing a gun) that can often make for easy combos. Unlocked from the start for every character, these attacks are also not very powerful. Use them to chain your Special Arts/Super Art together to get your hit count up and collect those Zennys. For some characters, the Normal Arts button can be held to execute a special attack.
Special Arts are attacks unique to each character that, in many cases, become more powerful as your character levels up. Each character obtains four Special Arts throughout the game. They deal much more damage than Normal Arts and are also much more stylish. A variety of Special Arts can be executed with different button combinations. Combine them with Normal Arts for an endless amount of combos. An additional art is the Super Art. Three of these are obtained as the character levels up, but only one can be equipped at a time. Go to the Equip screen pre-battle to equip the Super Art you're most comfortable with.
The final two abilities are more powerful than the others, and require full gauges to be activated. Hero Time can be activated once the green gauge by the character's portrait is full, and makes everything except for the player(s) appear in slow motion. In truth, the player's abilities are heightened to such an extreme that enemy movements only appear as if in slow motion. Hero Time can be useful against challenging bosses (such as vehicles, which tend to be irritating for their ability to quickly escape the player's attacks) but it can be tough to get the gauge full - use it wisely. Fill up the blue gauge under the character's health to be able to perform a BASARA Art. A BASARA Art acts as a long, powerful combo specific to each character. You are invincible when performing the special attack, so there's no need to worry about being interrupted mid-combo. In addition, the Ultimate BASARA Art can be performed by activating your BASARA Art during Hero Time.
Battles[edit]
Throughout battles, your goal will be to take all camps and defeat the general(s) of the region. Take camps by defeating Camp Commanders, and stop them from being reclaimed by defeating enemy Squad Leaders and Occupation Chiefs. Occasionally, you'll find crates scattered around camps. These crates can contain a possibility of six items:
- Rice Ball: Used for health recovery. Found in red crates. Rice Balls are also rewarded for every 100 KOs.
- Water Bottle: Used for Basara boosts. Found in red crates.
- Water Barrel: Used for both health recovery and Basara boosts. Found rarely in red crates.
- Money Mallet: Activates a Zenny Rush. Earn Zennys for every hit you make. Found rarely in blue crates.
- Hatena Box: Accessories which can be attached to weapons can be found inside. Found in hidden blue crates.
- Zennys: The game's currency. Found commonly in blue crates.
Horses are also found in camps, though they're quite rare (with the exception of Dragon Race at Oshu, a stage designed as a race track for horseback-riding). Simply jump toward a horse to mount it. Keep in mind that Tadakatsu Honda and Yoshitsugu Otani aren't capable of mounting horses.
Another major element of battle is combos and hit counts. Enemy soldiers are all over the place, so getting a high hit count shouldn't be a problem (achieving one is even easier when playing with another player in cooperative mode, as hit counts are shared). Zennys can be obtained easily as long as you maintain a high combo. The higher the hit count, the higher the Zenny multiplier. Get to a minimum of 100 hits to start earning Zennys; for every hundred the multiplier bonus increases by 1 (for example, the Zenny bonus for a 400 hit-count would be 4). Land 500 consecutive hits to enter Frenzy mode, and land 500 more to activate Super Frenzy mode, netting you a Zenny bonus of x10.
Lastly, every stage (excluding The Last Stand) has a main boss character. The strength of the location's leader generally depends on the size of their territory; generals like Kenshin Uesugi and Mitsunari Ishida with large maps under their control can be expected to put up a rough fight. At times, when playing the game's single-player mode against a boss character, you'll enter a duel with them. Press the designated button as fast as you can to win the duel and stun the general; otherwise you'll lose a great deal of health. Once you gain access to the boss, simply defeat them to complete the stage.