Players have the opportunity to create their own character to serve in the lower ranks of the army, gradually rising through the ranks to eventually rule the entire land through their conquests.

Samurai Warriors 4 Empires marks the return of the Empires brand in the Samurai Warriors universe after a nine year hiatus. Since the 2007 release of Samurai Warriors 2 Empires for the PS2, Samurai Warriors has grown to become one of the most successful and acclaimed titles in the Warriors universe. This revamped version of the fan-favorite installment features improved gameplay mechanics and an expanded, intuitive governing system, and explores the effects that building in-depth relationships and alliances have in times of war.

The Castle provides players with a single, intuitive dashboard for all of their pre and post-battle decisions, and elevates Samurai Warriors 4 Empires from a tactical action title to a strategy-focused epic. Essentially a command center, the Castle is where the player can regulate interior and foreign affairs, formulate political and military strategy, and utilize their allied officers’ skills to grow their army’s size, power, and loyalty.

Starting off as a cluster of small rooms and growing to a multi-tiered stronghold, players can use the Castle interface to assign various tasks and Magistrate titles to their most trusted and valued allied officers. These tasks can vary from Recruitment to Diplomacy and from Development to Strategy. Regardless of the direction the player chooses to take, a careful, skill-based selection of allies will yield better results, such as more soldiers, more allies, and more gold, etc.

As relationships are pivotal toall Empires games, pairing allied officers with a friendly disposition will create high synergy, which will produce faster and better results. Furthermore, since all officers in Samurai Warriors 4 Empiresare based on historical figures with real personalities, assigning them to an appropriate position will generate unique results and trigger specific events!

Aside from allowing the player to manage recruitment, commerce, provisions, and other domestic and political affairs, the Castle can also be used to prepare for battle. The Military Magistrate will analyze the situation and make proposals to aid in battle, Foreign Affairs Magistrates will suggest alliances and diplomatic interventions, and Strategists will present the player with ideas for sabotaging and weakening the enemy. With their assistance, players can then choose how to charge the battlefield by considering how large of an army to take along, how many provisions or gold to invest, and whether a diplomatic solution is preferable to conflict.

In this way, Samurai Warriors 4 Empires blends the best of the tactical action gameplay genre with an easy-to-learn, in-depth strategy system to create the most exciting installment in the Empires franchise yet!

Samurai Warriors 4 Empires will be available as a physical release on PS4, digital only releases on PS3 and Vita handheld.