Of all of them, seven characters do not have stories, though they are given stories in the Moushouden expansion. Four characters Goemon Ishikawa, Gracia, Musashi Miyamoto, and Kojiro Sasaki do not return, although Gracia later returns in the Moushouden expansion. Most of the characters from previous games also return, all redesigned with several receiving new weapons.

Seven new characters made their playable debut in the Samurai Warriors franchise, most of them former generic non-player characters in past installments. An exclusive mode for the Wii version is the 'Murasame Castle' based on the Nintendo game Nazo no Murasame Jō, which allows for the control of its lead character Takamaru. Both Story Mode and Free Mode return, as does the shop system, which has been redesigned and is now part of 'Dojo', a section also dedicated to creating edit characters and color-edit existing characters. The option to create/edit characters from the original game returns and is required to access the new 'Historical Mode', which can be used to create an original story for edit characters by reenacting parts of historical battles. Each of the character's weapons are categorized under Normal, Speed, and Power types similar to Dynasty Warriors 6, except that each character still has unique weapons assigned to them.

Certain combinations of attacks from the Xtreme Legends expansions also make a comeback. It can also be combined with Musou attacks to perform an 'True Musou'. These occur depending on the level of the gauge. The game features many gameplay improvements over previous games in the series, the most notable being the addition of the Spirit Gauge, a gauge which allows for characters to cancel certain attacks to perform more powerful ones. However, the game has a slightly extended time frame compared to the previous game while Samurai Warriors 2 is mostly focused on the events leading to the great battle of Sekigahara, this game also covers the events beforehand. Like other games in the series, the game reinvents the story based on the Sengoku period of Japan, a period where Japan was ruled by powerful daimyōs and where constant military conflict and much political intrigue happened that lasted from the middle of 16th century to the beginning of 17th century.

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