Kessen III

Kessen III is an action-strategy game and the final known Kessen title. It implements gameplay elements from the Warriors series and is the longest title of the three. The game claims to recount the history of the Samurai Warriors characters (a similar notation was also made for Saihai no Yukue). In the game's manual, the producer gives the following foreword:

''"Kessen III" represents a new style of game play, standing at the confluence of Action and Strategy geners, which unifies the worlds of interactive entertainment and cinema. May you be carried away in the excitement of battle and the thrill of commanding legions of your own troops in your quest for peace and power.''

Nobunaga Oda is the uncommonly heroic protagonist with a sincere ambition to end the land's chaos. He and his generals visually age as the game progresses and adopt a new attire various times throughout the game. As time passes, Tokichiro and Motoyasu will also be called by their recognizable historical names. The game's story remains modestly faithful to his historical battles until Mitsuhide's betrayal at Honnoji. Additional playthroughs unlocks cinematics that show a second side to the story as well as an additional ending.

It is the only game in the series to include a dual language option, allowing the player to switch between the English and Japanese voices. It is currently the highest ranked Koei title in the Famitsu charts with a score of 37 out of 40 (10/9/9/9).

Gameplay
Though the gameflow is structured in a similar manner as the previous titles, each stage is greatly expanded.

Planning
The time spent between battles in which Nobunaga and his closest allies plan their next step from their home base. Each chapter has three types of battles: minor, major, and decisive. Minor battles are on the side and are the best ways to earn extra experience. Major battles affect the story's progress and are sometimes available for a limited amount of time. Decisive battles are often the concluding confrontation in the chapter and opens more fights on the map.

Players can also use this time to buy equipment for their army such as troop types, horses, weapons, manuals, accessories, and armor. Equipping items additionally changes the character's appearance so the player is free to customize their army's appearance. Aesthetics only affect the visuals in the planning and battle stages; they will not change in the game's cinematics.

Officers
Unlike the previous titles, the stats and capability of an officer are explored in depth. Their progress is now visually charted through a leveling system similar to the Warriors games with the maximum level being 50. Experience is gained by participating in battle, defeating an enemy officer, or scoring more items in the Rampage sequence, a skill given to every general. Rank determines the number of enemies they lead into battle. Thanks to manuals, officer skills can now be learned by any unit. Officers, however, need the required Skill Slots to perform each skill. Skills are separated into five unique categories.
 * Support - momentarily boosts ally's stats; can be mutli-targeting with the X spells
 * Tactical - adds a negative status effect for the enemy; can be mutli-targeting with the X spells
 * Offensive - offensive spell that damages enemies in the targeted range
 * Ninjutsu - offensive tactic that damages with an additional status effect (ie: Silence, lower defense, ect.); often requires three or four skill slots
 * Samurai - only contains Rampage and only needs one Skill Slot to use; learned by all units

All officers are listed under one of five classes.

Similar to the first title, officers may also experience different levels of fatigue. Their condition is shown by a colored arrow next to their names, a green upright arrow being the highest (Excellent) and a downwards red arrow being the lowest (Down). Generally, a vassal who continuously participates in battle will have a faltering condition while resting units will be in better shape. Winning against an officer in a Rampage raises their state one level; losing will lower their condition by one. If an officer is routed in battle, they will return in a Down state. Officers in their optimum condition have better fighting power and all four Skill Slots fulled.

War Council
The time when players decide how to place their units on the battlefront. The presentation of this phase depends on the type of battle that the player chose. In minor battles, the only information given is presented on the map. During decisive and major battles, Nobunaga will presented with reconnaissance data regarding the enemy's location, ally reinforcements, and other participants on the field. Before deciding his units' positions, one or two generals will personally address their lord. These speakers will often be in Good or Excellent conditions for this battle.

After the initial sequences, the player is given the chance to place their men on the field. Similar to the first title, their armies possible locations are marked by a white box with a x in the middle. Each army is usually lead by one main general and two minor generals that serve them. During the confrontations that affect the game's story, dull gray units on the map -usually Nobunaga- cannot have their position changed. The player can also make last minute changes to their officers' equipment before sending them out on the field.

Hints and the conditions for victory can be checked in the data box on the left side of the screen. Additionally, players can choose to let the computer auto deploy their units on the field.

Battle

 * Battles all have a ranking system that judges how well the player has performed based on their time, troops killed and lost, and successful troop skills. Earning a S rank is often the only way to unlock rare items and unit types. Additionally, some ally generals will only appear to Nobunaga if their previous battle rank was high. If the rank the players receives is unsatisfactory, they are always given a chance to retry the battle.
 * Taking inspiration from Kessen II, armies can be ordered to move from an overhead map and manually controlled by the player on the field. While minor generals cannot be ordered to move, the player can select them and move them to perform a separate task.
 * The importance of keeping an army in formation is emphasized with the newer level of movement. When an army loses its shape, it moves slower and is prone to losing unexpected numbers. Holding R1 calls for traveling men and retains the army's ranks.
 * When two opposing armies first face each other on the field, they have the chance to ram each other for damage. The basic battle controls are similar to the Warriors series: and undefined serves as the army's basic attacks and guarding/strafing is performed by pressing L1. Attacks can also be combined in a Warriors manner with different effects (ie: ,,,undefined will make the first line of men charge into enemy ranks).
 * Armies can now perform unique Troop Skills by holding undefined and releasing it once the skill is ready. These abilities can be very damaging and affect the player's battle rating. Since minor generals can support the leading general with troop skills, it is recommended to team unit types that are compatible with one another. General can call for aid by pressing R1 when their supporting units are free. If their opponent is pushed back, they can trigger a combo multiplier by also tapping the same button. Ally troop skills do not harm each other but it does breaks their formation and lower the rating the player recieves.

The available troop skills is determined by the unit type assigned to the officer and their performance is defendant on the unit type's quality.
 * Mounted Spears - Cavalry Charge: the entire army plows through the field, damaging anything it touches. Good for many situations and best for attacking an enemy's flank.
 * Mounted Bows / Bows - Arrow Volley: an long ranged attack that travels in an overhead arc. Ideal choice for supporting units.
 * Mounted Rifles / Rifles - Rifle Volley: slow yet powerful ranged attack that travels horizontally.
 * Katana - Deathwheel: Slow, short ranged, spinning attack by the entire army. Ideal for triggering the close quarters critical attack.
 * Spears - Spearwall: Powerful spear thrusts. Good defensive skill and is a good contributor for combos.
 * Mattocks - Bombard: Long ranged bomb attack that is good for whittling enemy's defense and breaking their formations.
 * Ninja - Shadow Strike: A sword strike in which the entire army slices through the enemy. Loses to other troop skills.
 * Shuriken: Quick, close ranged attack and a decent support skill.


 * Retreating is no longer an order-only command as players can withdraw their unit from battle by moving and holding . The fleeing unit will have lower defense and cannot perform any other actions.
 * Various items and people on the field are symbolized on the map as glowing golden objects. Items can either restore lost troops or contain new equipment or unit types. People can reveal new hints about the enemy or be recruited after the battle.
 * Defections and ambushes are triggered by the player's movement on the field. When an enemy army is confused, they cannot take any action and will have a lower defense.
 * Officer skills are usually ranged affects on the field and momentarily pause the action on the field. The skill the pauses the field's actions the longest is Rampage. Rampage replaces the Raid and Duel skills from the first two titles and lets the player control their general in a limited Warriors experience. It momentarily pauses any actions on the field and switches to its own unique screen.

Rampage Screen
During Rampages, the character will ride on horseback to defeat soldiers in the nearby enemy army. Controls are the same as the field except generals gain a jump and Musou named "Kessen Attack". Kessen Attacks can only be performed if the player has enough light orbs in stock.

When a player has 100 KOs, the enemy general will appear. The goal is to defeat him, which lowers their condition by one rank and raises the ally general by one. When the player defeats a soldier with a war banner, an item will drop and is either one of the following. The item's effectiveness depends on the officer's bravery stat.
 * Mask - after the Rampage sequence is over, the enemy unit will be confused
 * Sword - gain experience points
 * Rice Ball - restores player's life
 * Rice Bag - lost troops are restored when they resume battle
 * Treasure - acquire gold
 * Light Orb - gain another Kessen Attack slot

New Game
Allows players to begin playing. A higher level of difficulty is unlocked once the player clears the game on a different setting. To fully experience the game's story, three or four cycles are required.

Scrolls
The gallery section that displays all acquired equipment, generals, and battles. Battles display a brief description, some historical info, and allow the player to replay for better rankings. If the player unlocks the game's secret battles, they can also gain new items or unit types for their second play through.

Main Army

 * Nobunaga Oda
 * Toshiie Maeda
 * Nagahide Niwa
 * Yoshinari Mori
 * Kicho
 * Katsuie Shibata
 * Tokichiro Kinoshita
 * Koroku Hachisuka
 * Yoshino
 * Amalia
 * Ranmaru Mori
 * Yoshitaka Kuroda
 * Nagayoshi Mori
 * Oichi

Additional Allies

 * Kazumasu Takigawa
 * Narimasa Sassa
 * Sessai Taigen
 * Oyuki
 * Ittetsu Inaba
 * Ujisato Gamo
 * Hanbei Takenaka
 * Tenkai Nankobo
 * Sakon Shima
 * Hanzō Hattori
 * Sanchez
 * Masanori Fukushima
 * Kiyomasa Kato
 * Otsune
 * Saizo Kani
 * Takatora Todo
 * Yoshitsugu Otani
 * Joki Kaisen
 * Ginchiyo
 * Bokuden Tsukahara
 * Muneyoshi Yagyu
 * Musashi Miyamoto
 * Shikanosuke Yamanaka
 * Goemon Ishikawa
 * Keiji Maeda - with a Samurai Warriors savefile
 * Ina - with a Samurai Warriors: Xtreme Legends savefile
 * Sen Rikyu - only with the Enjoy Disc from the Treasure Box set
 * Kotaro Fuma - ''
 * Matsu - originally exclusive to the Enjoy Disc but also available for the US release

NPC allies

 * Motoyasu Matsudaira
 * Tadakatsu Honda
 * Okatsu

Shogunate Forces

 * Yoshiaki Ashikaga
 * Fujinaga Isshiki
 * Fujitaka Hosokawa
 * Mitsuhide Akechi
 * Toshimitsu Saito
 * Murashige Araki
 * Nagayasu Miyoshi
 * Masayasu Miyoshi
 * Tomomichi Iwanari
 * Tatsuoki Saito

Takeda Army

 * Shingen Takeda
 * Katsuyori Takeda
 * Nobukado Takeda
 * Masakage Yamagata
 * Masatoyo Naito
 * Nobuharu Baba
 * Baisetsu Nobukimi
 * Masayuki Sanada

Uesugi Army

 * Kenshin Uesugi
 * Kagekatsu Uesugi
 * Kanetsugu Naoe

Sub Enemies

 * Yoshimoto Imagawa
 * Nagamasa Azai
 * Yoshikage Asakura
 * Hisahide Matsunaga
 * Tanba Momochi
 * Terumoto Mori
 * Kennyo Honganji
 * Magoichi Saika
 * Masamune Date
 * Petro

Others

 * Dosan Saito
 * Luis Frois
 * Philip II of Spain

Allusions

 * Super-deformed dolls of Da Qiao and Yukimura Sanada appear as two objects from Tokichiro's goods. Nobunaga says he'll take everything the merchant has and two soldiers run off with the dolls.
 * When Toshiie first starts out, he is seen wielding Yukimura's third weapon from Samurai Warriors.
 * Ieyasu's theme in this game is a reprise of his music from Kessen.