It’s been over five years since the release of Samurai Warriors 4, and fans of Koei Tecmo’s hack-and-slash series have been eagerly anticipating news of a potential sequel. Luckily, last night’s Nintendo Direct came through, featuring the official announcement of Samurai Warriors 5, coming to the Nintendo Switch in summer 2021.
The latest offering in the series will take place in the battle- and intrigue-ridden Sengoku period of Japanese history. It will focus on two supporting characters from previous installments: legendary warrior Oda Nobunaga and his initial ally and eventual betrayer Akechi Mitsuhide. A number of other characters from throughout the series will return to show off their samurai skills.
Samurai Warriors 5 will retain the classic Warriors gameplay first introduced in the Dynasty Warriors series, with characters primarily wielding swords and other classic melee weapons as they take down hordes of enemies in “1 vs. 1000” battles. It will also feature revised character designs and updated graphics perfect for the Nintendo Switch and other modern consoles.
Prior to the game’s release, developer Koei Tecmo will be hosting monthly Samurai Warriors 5 streams which will provide progress updates and show off more of the game. The first of these is currently planned for February 25. (These streams will be hosted in Japan and will run on Japanese Standard Time, so Western viewers should keep that in mind.)
In addition to the Switch, Samurai Warriors 5 will also release for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via Steam. Currently, no official release date beyond “summer 2021” is known. More information will be released at a later date.
Which historical samurai are you most excited to battle as when Samurai Warriors 5 arrives this summer? Let us know!
