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.

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.

Rampage Screen
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. 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 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

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.