Odawara Castle

Odawara Castle (小田原城) is the home of the Hōjō clan during the Warring States period. Due to their wealth and influence, they were subject to several battles with their rivals within the Kantō region. The castle's bountiful surroundings and fierce natural defenses made it a difficult castle to take. Ujiyasu uses the surroundings to his advantage and successfully repels his rivals, Kenshin and Shingen, for a decade. When Shingen retreated from his unsuccessful siege, Ujiyasu's sons pursued his army at Mimasetōge. The castle's defenses during these battles gave birth to its reputation as an impenetrable fortification.

Years later, after the Tokugawa and Hōjō dispersed their alliance with one another, the Hōjō's relationship with Hideyoshi began to sour. Ujimasa then opposed Hideyoshi and their aggression's lead to war. Hideyoshi calls upon a massive army to suppress them and leads the Siege of Odawara (小田原の役, Odawara no Jin), also called the Subjugation of Odawara or the Pacification of Odawara. Odawara Castle was the Hōjō's last stand. During the siege of the castle, the Toyotomi army also surrounded one of the Hōjō's nearby castles, Oshi Castle. Suppressing the Hōjō was Hideyoshi's last victorious war campaign.

Samurai Warriors
Samurai Warriors only allows players to invade the inside of Odawara Castle and pits a lone character against the entire Hōjō army. Depending on the scenario, players can end the family by defeating either Ujiyasu or Ujimasa. It is a five-storied castle that has a unique feature on the first and third floor. The first floor has a long runway stationed above a water-filled room. As the players walk onto it, a panel of the runway will mechanically dismantle. If a character falls into the water, they will need to run against the water's current to reach the other end. Spears also jut out from under the southern part of the room to prevent a character from staying in one place. The third floor features six exits, five stairs being fake and one being real. Players may have to defeat a defense captain before accessing a set of stairs.

Shingen faces Ujiyasu regarding their broken alliance and the refusal to transfer salt yet he decides to send Yoshimoto in his stead during the Xtreme Legends expansion. Kenshin heads to defeat Ujimasa since the Hōjō threaten his borders. Keiji, in his story, appears before Kenshin and defeats Ujimasa for him. Masamune hears that both Shingen and Kenshin are fighting here and heads to this castle to defeat both of them at once. Kunoichi's version takes place during the Osaka Campaign, as she tries to weaken Ieyasu by attacking the Tokugawa forces within the castle.

In Samurai Warriors 2, Odawara Castle focuses on Hideyoshi's siege and is given two different versions of the battle. The western side is controlled by Hideyoshi with the eastern side under the command of Ieyasu accompanied by the Shimazu, Tachibana, Date, and Chōsokabe clans.

If fighting for the Toyotomi army in the west, there are two different scenarios. The first one makes players begin by clearing an area to build a new castle. If the area is successfully cleared, Kanbei will arrive with engineers to start building the castle and if it is built, Hideyoshi orders his army to charge. Entering the inner grounds of the castle will trigger various missions to protect allies from the Hōjō. Defending allies will help keep morale high. When entering the castle, players must destroy the statues keeping the inner doors closed to open them. After opening the door on the first floor, Kotarō will try to prevent the player to reach Ujimasa and Ujinao. Once he is defeated, players will encounter and kill an impostor Ujimasa. When the impostor is revealed, Ujimasa, Ujinao and other Hōjō retainers will appear outside of the castle. Outside, Kotarō will deter the player again. Players must prevent Ujimsa and Ujinao from entering the main camp and the rest of the other officers attacking the newly built castle.

The second scenario is quite different as the castle is initially under the Toyotomi's control and their army greatly outnumbers the Hōjō. The main goal is to secure either the north or south garrison to place a siege ramp and find a checkpoint to attack the castle. Once this happens, the Hōjō lose morale, and Hideyoshi charges out. If Hideyoshi reaches the main ward, Ujimasa will tell Ujinao to counterattack, ramming the Toyotomi from behind, and the players are advised to protect the main camp. Kotarō will also appear to eliminate Hideyoshi, and his men. When the players defeat both of the Hōjō's attacks, it is a matter of time to crush the last resistance of the Hōjō army and players may seize the storehouse to gain a morale boost, if they wish. Once they reach Ujimasa, Kotarō re-appears and the players only need to defeat Ujimasa to complete the stage.

If fighting for the Tokugawa army from the east, players defeat enemies outside the castle to place a ram. If the ram is broken, a new ram will appear. When the ram is placed, the player is allowed entry inside the castle walls to defeat the enemies within. From here, players must open the gates for their allies. Once the gates have opened, players can find the enemy's storehouse to further raise allied morale. Players will have a mission to silence the cannons firing at allies near the gate. The stage ends once Ujimsa and Ujinao are defeated.

The third installment replaces Ujimasa with Ujiyasu as the universal Hōjō leader and once again features the earlier confrontations of the time period. Kenshin's siege is referred as The Kantō Campaign, and is one of the earliest battles in the game. While the conflict begins with only the forces of Hōjō and Uesugi fighting, Shingen later appears as an ally for the Hōjō. Kenshin gets this version as part of his first stage, while Ujiyasu gets this as his third stage. In the expansion, Aya gets this as her first stage.

The later part of Odawara Castle has UJiyasu became the leader of the Hōjō against Hideyoshi despite the fact that he died of illness after Mimase Pass. Only the Toyotomi side is available, and Masamune, Hanzō, Ina, Yoshihiro, Ginchyo, Nene, and Muneshige gets Odawara Castle as part of their story. Hideyoshi would usually position himself at the Northwestern camp and must sometimes be saved. Ieyasu would usually start at the southeastern part of the map. Depending on which character is played, the battle will played out differently:

For Masamune's version, Kanetsugu will show up as part of the Toyotomi Army.

For Hanzō's version, he must protect both Hideyoshi and Ieyasu while defeating Ujiyasu. Yukimura, Kunoichi and Nene also shows up as part of the Toyotomi Army.

For Ina's version, Yukimura is part of the Toyotomi Army. The Ujiyasu inside the castle is actually Kotarō. After defeating Kotarō, the player must defeat Kai and quickly head towards Ujiyasu Hojo, who is attacking Hideyoshi.

For Yoshihiro, Ginchyo, and Muneshige, the battle is the same for all three.

For Nene's version, she must protect Hideyoshi, Kiyomasa, and Masanori, as any of these three's defeat will count as defeat, making it the hardest Conquest of Odawara. The player can also have an option to save Ieyasu from Kotaro.

In Sengoku Musou 3: Moushouden, Toshiie, Kotarō, Masanori, and Yoshimoto gets Odawara Castle as part of their story. For Toshiie's version, he fights for the Toyotomi. The difference is that Hideyoshi starts out from the southeast, while Ieyasu starts from northwest. Once Ujiyasu is defeated, Toshiie must defeat Keiji in a duel in order to win.

For Kotarō's version, the battle stick to its historical ways, with Ujimasa Hojo leading the Hōjō Army instead of Ujiyasu, who died of illness during Kotaro's story. Kotarō also fought on the Hōjō side and must protect both Ujimasa and Kai. After taking down Muneshige and a couple few officers, Nene and Hanzō will launch an ambush on the main keep, causing Ujimasa and the rest of the Hōjō Army to retreat and surrender, save for Kai. After defeating Nene and Hanzō, the player must escort Kai to the escape point, which is located in the southeastern part of the map. After Kai retreats, Kotarō will attack Toshiie, Kanbei, and Hideyoshi, as he makes his way towards the Toyotomi main camp. After Hideyoshi's defeat, Keiji will appear in the center battlefield, in which Kotarō will challenge him to a duel and must be defeat in order to win.

For Yoshimoto's version, he also fights on the Hōjō side. Ujiyasu is also present as the leader of the Hōjō Army. The player must protect Ujiyasu to avoid defeat. In addition, Yoshimoto can have an option to rescue Kai and the Hōjō Officers from Hanzō, Masamune, and Muneshige. Kotarō will show up later in the battle and must be escorted to the western gate in order to open up the path to the Toyotomi main camp. The player will need to defeat Ieyasu, and then Hideyoshi in order to win.

For Masanori's version, Ieyasu is the leader instead of Hideyoshi. Masanori also must defeat officers to capture each stronghold in order to defeat Ujiyasu.

Warriors Orochi
Orochi ambushes the Toyotomi and Hōjō armies as soon as the new world is created in the serpent king's scenario. The snake men army proceed from two main fronts -the north and the south- encountering the invigorated Hōjō forces first. Orochi's swift destruction of the initial defenses for each garrison crushes the spirit of the remaining Hōjō generals. Kotarō attempts to defend the castle's front gates yet suffers defeat as well. Amused by the uncanny chaos caused by Orochi, he turns against his former masters and joins the serpent army. When the northern garrison falls, Keiji charges the troops in the north. He may also succumb to defeat and will be captured by the victors. Hideyoshi, wanting to observe the situation from afar, barricades himself in the castle. Meanwhile, a bored Da Ji schemes to lighten up the scene by ordering a fire attack to drive Hideyoshi out. Players have the option to entertain her and/or take out the enemy storehouse in the southern part of the castle walls. Nene guards the front of the castle as the Orochi forces invade. Defeating her or carrying out the fire attack will break down the castle gates and leave Hideyoshi forced to defend himself.

The first title has the stage act as the fifth chapter in Wei's story. With Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan regaining their trust in him, Cao Pi decides to finally defect against Da Ji by invading her position. Mitsunari assists him since they both share the same gambit. While they storm the upper keep of the castle, they calmly realize that it is a trap as the castle is set on flames. Backtracking to escape the flames, they realize their allies in the north are still being kept outside the keep. Simultaneously, Huang Gai tries to push from the south, as he heard that his lord is held captive here. Cao Pi decides to head to the northern front while Mitsunari agrees to support Huang Gai. Mitsunari exits from the western gate while Cao Pi needs to defeat the general guarding the northern inner gate to gain comfortable access to ally troops. While they proceed, Da Ji creates illusions of Hideyori, Cao Cao, and Sun Jian to demoralize the ally forces. Hideyori appears before Mitsunari, Cao Cao before Cao Pi's allies, and Sun Jian before Huang Gai. Defeating any one of the illusions weakens Da Ji and decreases morale for the Orochi forces. High-leveled characters may choose to forgo saving their allies in order to fight an extremely powered up Da Ji, but it will be a challenge to try the same on the first run.

The western parts of Odawara also serve as one of Samurai Gaiden stages. The battle begins with Nobunaga and Huang Zhong fighting inside the castle and after the routing's of Cottonmouth and Mamushi, the two strategists, Sima Yi and Zhuge Liang appear outside. Just then, Yellowbelly and Urutu appear outside the castle and try to run off with Zhang Ren in pursuit. Nobunaga discovers that they are preparing ambushes for the Oda forces and defeats them quickly. Sun Shang Xiang and Ina also appear on the enemy side. When the battle is won, Zhuge Liang flees while Sima Yi joins the Owari lord.

In the Dream Mode stages for Warriors Orochi 2, Xiahou Dun and Lu Meng team up with Guan Yu to rescue Liu Chan from Hideyoshi's army. Liu Chan has few defenders remaining and he is endangered within the castle's top floor. Pushing aside their differences for the same goal, they may first choose to assist the castle defenses by having rescuing Guan Ping, Gan Ning, and Xu Zhu. Lu Meng suggests making use of the castle's cannons against Hideyoshi's forces outside the castle walls. Raising ally morale helps bolster Wang Ping's defense, who is the lone general who stands guard at Liu Chan's position. The trio escort Liu Chan out of the castle as they reunite while defeating Nene and Sakon's troops during their departure. As they progress westward, Liu Chan will complain about hunger so the party detours to the storehouse, where they find Goemon scarfing away. Defeating him for the food, they proceed to the south and intercept Magoichi and likely Keiji. As Liu Chan escapes to safety, ally reinforcements lead by gradually Wei generals, Lu Xun, and Zhou Cang enter the field. At this point, Hideyori stands guard at the enemy main camp and must be defeated to trigger Hideyoshi's arrival. The enemy commander orders Ginchiyo and Yoshihiro's armies to come to his immediate aid, offering a strong last resistance at the enemy main camp.

In Warriors Orochi 3, the castle was one of the last strongholds left for the humans, and one of the most important as well. In the original timeline, Odawara Castle was besieged by the Demon forces, causing Sima Zhao, Ma Chao and Hanbei Takenaka to leave their posts at Ueda Castle, Yiling, and Dongkou respectively. The castle never received the reinforcements on time however, and it, along with the other three outposts, fell. The three generals, having altered the timeline, later return to join the castle's defense. They must first assist Kai and Sun Shangxiang before rushing to retake the castle from Da Ji, who has already killed Musashi. Once the castle is recaptured, Kiyomori sends Yoshihiro to fight the coalition. The party may also find Ding Feng and Xiaoqiao defending the castle. Near the enemy camp, Keiji will try to ambush the heroes. When the battle is over, Hanbei and his troops set up base in Odawara.

In the redux version, Musashi can be saved by the players who brought Munenori Yagyū and Shigekata Togo in time. Also, Ujinaga Narita is in charge of the castle. Once the player does save the swordsman, Da Ji will try to do the evil deed herself.

In Ultimate, Odawara castle is where the final attack on Kyūbi is waged. Initially the Wei-Toyotomi general Cao Pi, Kiyomasa Katō, and Guo Jia begin their advance. Masanori Fukushima and Xiahou Dun accompany Kiyomasa, Cao Pi, and Guo Jia. Kyūbi attempts to retaliate by sending in clones of major warlords and loved ones such as Sun Quan, Nobunaga Oda, Ieyasu Tokugawa, and Liu Bei. After her initial defeat in the castle with Hideyoshi or Cao Cao, she appears outside within the gates, this time with clones of Cao Pi, Kiyomasa, and Guo Jia. Once again being defeated, she flees to the outer garrison, now with clones of Lu Bu and Orochi X guarding her. After being defeated again, she attempts to flee through the castle. Her attempt inevitably fails, and she is soon sealed by Guo Jia.