Samurai Warriors: Spirit of Sanada

Samurai Warriors: Spirit of Sanada (戦国無双 ～真田丸～, Sengoku Musou ~Sanadamaru~) is a spin-off Samurai Warriors 4: Empires game centering on the exploits of the Sanada clan. Its Japanese release coincided with the similarly named 2016 NHK Taiga drama Sanadamaru; this game even reuses the same Kou Shibusawa supervised 3D maps that are used in the drama and Nobunaga's Ambition: Sphere of Influence.

Hisashi Koinuma is the general producer, Osamu Mieda is producer, and Jun Kawahara is the director. They remark that Koei has shared friendly relations with NHK ever since their Gunshi Kanbei collaboration. While the developers were working for the drama Sanadamaru, the wish to produce a Sanada-themed work involving Samurai Warriors began. The Japanese subtitle was permitted with NHK's full consent. Omega Force's goal for this particular game is to further emphasize the drama between the cast. The general concept is "forty-nine years of Yukimura", with the added aims of highlighting the historical feats of his father Masayuki.

Buy the game new to receive a Sanadamaru Nobushige costume for Samurai Warriors Yukimura. The Treasure Box edition includes an artbook, Six-Coined themed coasters, and an original soundtrack CD. Reserve the game at Gamecity Shopping to receive a red Sanada colored costume for Kunoichi. Other bonuses were offered at various Japanese stores.

Gameplay
The Sanada camp acts as the player's headquarters for the main story with free roaming features similar to those introduced in Shin Sangoku Musou Multi Raid 2. The player may talk to various characters to gain varying perspectives of the current time setting. As the player progresses with the main narrative, their base will be further expanded into Ueda Castle or Osaka Castle's castle-town.

The castle-towns come with various facilities that will be unlocked based on the player's progress with the main narrative.
 * 1) Gate - Exit for battles or searches.
 * 2) Raifuku Temple - Ueda Castle feature. Talk to the temple's administrator who is a conche collector. Give him conches earned from battles to earn the chance to use characters outside of Story Mode in main story battles.
 * 3) Field - Place to harvest plants and to play the "hoe digging" mini-game. Mash on to make the character dig; the higher the gauge is filled, the better the harvest and rewards. Keep playing the mini-game to raise the rank of the field and to obtain better materials.
 * 4) Jizou - Visit the stone statue and play a card drawing mini-game. Pick one of three facedown talismans to obtain materials.
 * 5) Teahouse - Call over characters for conversations and gift-giving over a cup of tea. Place to potentially raise affinity ratings. Each character has their gift preference and two favored gifts that will always boost their affinity ratings. Maximized affinity ratings allows players to bring them along for the Search feature.
 * 6) Unusual Shop - Osaka Castle feature. Randomized merchandise and rare items.
 * 7) Blacksmith - Buy weapons, or customize weapon skills or elements with materials found through the Search feature. Maximum level for weapon skills is 99. Advance the story to gain additional skills.
 * 8) Store - Sells materials, bait, and other miscellaneous goods. The only place to purchase "Secret Medicines", which can alter the ally army during battles and are similar to the Strategies from previous titles.
 * 9) Dojo - Practice character actions or pay gold to level up a character's Charge Attacks.
 * 10) Warehouse - In-game gallery and encyclopedia feature. Provides in-depth details of battles, characters, and so forth. Treasure Box feature has previously earned BGM and movies for viewing. Once the player has unlocked the stable for their castle-town, warhorses can be purchased from here.
 * 11) River - Ueda Castle feature. Fish for specific fish that can be given as gifts. Each fish has their preferred bait and each region has their specific fish. Press to fish and wait for a bite. Once the fish is caught, press  on the meter before the line breaks and fish gets away (red zone). Quicker reactions may yield better fish.

Exiting the base area will lead to the world map screen. undefined reveals the battles and search maps. Battles that directly affect the main story are marked with signpost icons. returns the player character to their headquarters.

"Sanada Six Coins" is a new feature which affects ally morale for battles. The more filled the gauge, the higher morale will be at the start of battle. These coins can be filled by performing optional "Tasks" in the base area, fulfilling special conditions during battle (which can be checked by pressing Select in the battle preparation screen/pause menu), or achieving a high evaluation grade after battles. Tasks within the base can often be triggered by talking to characters with the Six Coin icons hovering by their character names; their tasks may include locating items within the campgrounds or spreading information.

During battle, the player can trigger the tactic "Next Move" if they have the coins completely filled. In exchange for losing the Six Coins, the player can send in ally reinforcements to drastically change the flow of battle. It can be used to save a losing battle or to completely dominate opponents.

"Long-term Battles" act like story chapters: they are Sanada-centric campaigns that progress the main story. Each long-term battle will be split into smaller conflicts that took place during each major campaign. These battles will have a contextual character selection, and may be restricted to soloing or partnering with a character to complete them.

Battles that don't focus on the Sanada clan's perspectives are called "Sub-Battles". These battles allow players to focus on conflicts that are happening at the same time as the long-term battles.

Outside of the major battles and the castle town, the player may choose to "Search". This feature allows the player to freely wander battlefields to hunt for materials scattered across Japan. Certain materials are exclusive to specific regions; these materials are needed for altering weapons. Boost character affinities to max to have different partners. If the player's home base is not Ueda Castle, the fishing mini-game can be accessed near rivers found during Search. Gracia and Chacha will have special tasks through this feature.

Other traits for this game include:
 * A day and night cycle is in battles to alter aesthetics and to limit the time available for a stage. Certain missions may be reliant on the time of day.
 * Weapons are given grades that affect their base attack. Grade ratings are E (lowest) to A (highest) and can be boosted by repeatedly using a particular weapon.
 * Similar to Neoromance titles, character dialogue now includes an optional glossary feature. Press undefined to read an encyclopedic aside regarding specific highlighted text.
 * Generic officers retain their customized appearances from Samurai Warriors 4: Empires.

Story Mode
Starts with Masayuki's first battle (fourth Kawanakajima campaign) and ends with Yukimura's final battle during the Osaka Summer Campaign. Since the story aims to be more faithful to history, the early chapters of the main story will star Masayuki since his children will be too young to fight. The Sanada clan, Chacha, Hidetada, and Ieyasu will visually age their appearances throughout the narrative. Their movesets and gift preferences will change based on their age.

Download
Downlodable content includes Sanadamaru collaborations, weapons, and costumes.

Characters
The entire cast returns with the following new additions.
 * Masayuki Sanada
 * Chacha
 * Sasuke
 * Katsuyori Takeda
 * Hidetada Tokugawa
 * Lady Muramatsu - unique non-playable character

Related Media
The game was brought on stage for the first three days of Tokyo Game Show 2016. A press completion conference took place November 18, 2016. Another livestream to tease the game before its release took place November 21, 2016.

From September 27 to 28, 2016, Yomiuri Giants fans could purchase acrylic key holders of Yukimura and Mitsunari donning the team's colors.

The game was featured at Sanada Jyuyushi Garden Place on November 20, 2016 with Hisashi Koinuma as the event's main guest. The event included live paintings of Yukimura that were done by OKAZU.

The complete guidebook was published on December 10. Merchandise for the game was offered at Koei's 91st Comiket booth.