Samurai Warriors 4 is a hack and slash game, and sequel to Samurai Warriors 3. The game was made to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the series. The game features a character-switching feature, similar to the spin-off, Samurai Warriors: Chronicles, with which players can take two characters into battles simultaneously, and freely switch between the two. Two new moves, "Hyper Attacks" and "Rage Mode" are featured in this game: Hyper Attacks is a secondary moveset available to all characters that allows the player to sweep through and clear out crowd of enemies with a dashing animation, although it is useless against enemy officers, as they will either deflect it or are otherwise immune against it. Rage Mode renders the player invincible for a period of time, and also enhances the player's attacks as well as empowering their Musou attack by using the Spirit Gauge.

Samurai Warriors 4 is set during Japan's Sengoku period, a turbulent age when the country was splintered into domains ruled by rival warlords locked in near-constant war. Across its campaigns, the game follows the famous commanders and clans of the era through a romanticized retelling of history's great battles. Players witness the long struggle to unify the land, culminating in the decisive conflicts that gave rise to a new ruling order. A parallel path highlights the celebrated Sanada clan and its own place in these sweeping events.