If there is one thing that has remained true in the entire Dynasty Warrior franchise, it’s that Koei Tecmo knows how to develop a stellar roster. Even the first Samurai Warriors in 2004 had a great cast, with Koei Tecmo continuously trying to tweak said cast as well as expand it. This game is one of the most ambitious yet.
Samurai Warriors 5 is set in the younger days of Nobunaga, chronicling his rise to power. That means that many other characters are younger as well, and were thus changed to reflect that age difference. Ieyasu went from spears to twin swords for example. Who else has changed and who among the old and new cast are the best to play in this new PS4 and Switch game?
10 Nobunaga
Nobunaga starts off as one of the less fun characters to play as. He is plenty powerful but a little slower than some of the other, better characters as well as slower than himself in other games.
There is a time skip in Samurai Warriors 5 and at that point, he becomes the more recognizable Demon King. He still uses an odachi rather than his standard broadsword but he is still plenty powerful.
9 Oichi
Oichi uses a different tool than her normal ninja weapons in the other games. She has talismans that look like pinwheels. That fits in with her youthful, bubbly personality.
Oichi is super fast as a ninja-like character and her talismans are good for sweeping up large amounts of enemies in a single area. She’s not that strong, but her speed makes up for this fact downfall.
8 Hanbei
Hanbei uses a drum and that sounds just as weird as using talismans like Oichi. He somehow figured out a way to unlock the power of sound because his drumbeat packs a lethal punch.
He’s not as fast as Oichi but he is stronger, and Hanbei has the same type of area coverage as Oichi. One of the best parts about his character is that he can summon spheres to surround himself which helps both with offense and defense.
7 Ieyasu
Ieyasu is well-known in other games in the series for being a slow, but powerful heavy spear user. Like most characters in this game, he appears much younger and instead uses twin katanas.
This is a huge change in the series. He’s a much faster character but still remains pretty strong. Ieyasu is one of the better katana users in Samurai Warriors 5 . The dual-wielding helps attack more enemies at once.
6 Hanzo
Hanzo has always been one of the most fun characters to use in this series. He’s still a ninja in Samurai Warriors 5, but his look is a little different compared to the stereotypical ninja garb he usually sports.
Hanzo instead packs a sort of blend between his normal costume and traditional Japanese garb along with a mask. The mask really sells how cool and mysterious he is. He’s fast and has a bunch of great moves in his repertoire to take out single enemies or groups of them.
5 No
No, or Lady No as she is sometimes referred to in the series, has always been one of those lower-tiered characters. This time around, the developers tweaked her character to give her more oomph in battle. Her bow is fast, has a good reach, and its area spread is great.
It is also imbued with ice which is great for freezing enemies into place. If one plans to play this game in co-op, combining this freeze ability with a stronger character is a great combo to take advantage of the opportunity.
4 Hisahide
Hisahide is an absolute powerhouse that sort of breaks the game early on. His weapon is referred to as a cannon in the game, but it’s really just a gun. It has less range compared to bow users like No, but the strength is better and highly volatile.
He also likes to uses cartoon-style bombs in his attacks to make these explosions even bigger. There is no stopping this guy on the battlefield and his cockiness in the story is proof of that. He knows he’s one of the best characters in Samurai Warriors 5.
3 Hideyoshi
Hideyoshi is often depicted as monkey-like in many adaptations of his character in the series and the anime. To coincide with that, Hideoshi is an agile fighter.
Unlike the other fast characters like Oichi and Hanzo, Hideyoshi has the power to back up his quick maneuvers which is pretty close to characters like even Nobunaga. His weapon is usually a pole but this time around he has a Naginata, which is like a spear that may help lend more damage to his attacks.
2 Yasuke
Yasuke is one of the new fighters in Samurai Warriors 5 and is one in very few black characters in the franchise overall, including Dynasty Warriors. This true-to-life historical character is a blast to play in-game, and his anime was pretty good as well.
Yasuke lets his fists do the talking and is sort of like a breakdance fighter similar to how Mugen fights in Samurai Champloo, another samurai anime. He's indeed a great new addition to the series.
1 Sandayu
Sandayu is another new character and is also a ninja. Typically Hanzo, Fuma, or Kunoichi are the best ninja characters in these games. The new champion seems to be Sandayu, who wields a sickle and chain.
This makes him perfect for taking on large swathes of enemies. His mysterious nature in the story is also fun to watch. It’s obvious he is always planning something in the back of his mind and when he does, it is devastating. Getting Sandayu and Yasuke together would be perfect for a good couch co-op night.