Warriors All-Stars 2

Warriors All-Stars 2 (Japanese: 無双★スターズ2 ) is an action hack-and-slash game developed by Omega Force and Existence Software and published by Koei Tecmo initially for the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. The game is a successor to the 2017 game Warriors All-Stars and, just as its predecessor did, features a cast of characters from a variety of different titles developed by Koei Tecmo throughout the history of the company, as well as its predecessors of Koei and Tecmo and subsidiary Gust. Warriors All-Stars 2 was also later published for the Nintendo Switch by Nintendo as Warriors All-Stars 2 Special (Japanese: 無双★スターズ2 SPECIAL ), with several additional characters based upon the collaborations between the two companies.
The game continues following the events of the true "Virtuous Goddess" ending of Warriors All-Stars, where the deity named Yomi is purified and the world reverted to its original state. Taking place six months later, the story focuses upon the unexpected return of the Heroes as multiple new events begin occurring simultaneously.
== Heroes ==
The following Koei Tecmo series receive representation in the form of playable Heroes. Of these thirty franchises, sixteen did not receive playable representatives in the original Warriors All-Stars. The five series that receive five playable Heroes each represent different parts of Koei Tecmo and their subsidiaries: Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors represent Omega Force and Koei, Dead or Alive represents Team Ninja and Tecmo, Haruka: Beyond the Stream of Time represents Ruby Party, and Atelier represents Gust. The only major branch of Koei Tecmo not to receive five playable characters is Kō Shibusawa's self-titled division, which is represented solely by series with only one playable character each.
In all instances where series logos are used, the game uses the Japanese logos for all series in all regions.
 Warriors All-Stars (3)
 Atelier (5)
 Dead or Alive (5)
 Dynasty Warriors (5)
 Haruka: Beyond the Stream of Time (5)
 Samurai Warriors (5)
 Toukiden (4)
 Nights of Azure (3)
 Ninja Gaiden (3)
 Nioh (3)
 Deception (2)
 Blue Reflection (1)
 Bomb Jack (1)
 Crimson Sea (1)
 Destrega (1)	
 Geten no Hana (1)
 Kessen (1)
 La Corda d'Oro (1)
 Monster Rancher (1)
 Nyabraham Game Park (1)
 Opoona (1)
 Rio (1)
 Samurai Cats (1)
 Solomon's Key (1)
 Stop That Roach! (1)
 Surge Concerto (1)
 Tokobot (1)
 Uncharted Waters (1)
 WinBack (1)
 Zill O'll (1)
=== Returning Heroes ===
Tamaki · Shiki · Setsuna · Zhao Yun · Zhou Cang · Wang Yuanji · Lu Bu · Yukimura Sanada · Mitsunari Ishida · Naotora Ii · Ryu Hayabusa · Ayane · Kasumi · Marie Rose · Honoka · Nobunyaga Oda · Rio Rollins-Tachibana · Millennia · Laegrinna · Hajime Arima · Darius · Sophie Neuenmuller · Plachta · William Adams · Ōka · Horō · Tokitsugu · Arnice · Christophorus · OpoonaNew Heroes · Special Heroes
All returning characters retain the same movesets they possessed in the original Warriors All-Stars, barring Sophie and Arnice whose attacks have been updated to reflect their growths through their respective series and latest (canon) appearances in Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey and Nights of Azure 2: Bride of the New Moon respectively. Alongside the two aforementioned, Plachta's visual design has been updated to match that used by Sophie while Kasumi also uses her updated design for Dead or Alive 6. The designs used by all four of these characters in the original Warriors All-Stars can be unlocked.
Opoona, who was a Hero released as a pre-order bonus for Warriors All-Stars, is treated as a new character within the story of Warriors All-Stars 2 as he played no role in the story of the previous game.
=== New Heroes===
Diaochan · Masamune Date · Yoshitsugu Ōtani · Momiji · Leifang · Misaki · Nozomi Kasuga · Azusa Takatsuka · Kohaku · Totooria Helmold · Logix Ficsario · Reisalin Stout · Okatsu · Obsidian Samurai · Nagi · Aluche Anatoria · Cleo · Dana · Ion · Sho · Nemea Langaster Dyneskal · Hotaru · Reiji Myōga · Jean-Luc Cougar · Bolt · Hinako Shirai · Jack · Catalina Erantzo · Lilly · Gradd · Amalia van Kyre · Nyabraham LinnyahnReturning Heroes · Special Heroes
=== Special Heroes ===
Link · Zelda · Lana · Lucina · Robin · TakamaruReturning Heroes · New Heroes
These Heroes are exclusive to Warriors All-Stars 2 Special, the Nintendo Switch release of the game. These characters do not appear in story mode sequences, but do have their own special route in story mode and can be unlocked in any route.
== Gameplay ==
Warriors All-Stars 2 is a hack-and-slash game that pits the player against large armies of enemies. Combat is performed through a combo-based system. A single button each is relegated for Regular and Charge Attacks, with Charge Attacks changing (and often getting stronger) as more Regular Attacks are performed leading up to it. Combos are named from C1 to C6, with each number designating how many buttons must be pressed in order to perform the combo: C1 is performed simply by pressing the Charge Attack button ( on PlayStation/ on Nintendo Switch/ on Xbox), while C6 is performed by pressing the Regular Attack button ( on PlayStation/ on Nintendo Switch/ on Xbox) five times followed by the Charge Attack button; every character also has a unique finisher should they perform six Regular Attacks in a row.
Many of the gameplay mechanics in Warriors All-Stars also return for Warriors All-Stars 2 including the Bravery system, the different Base types, the five-character party system, and Hero Skills.
The Bravery system replaces the morale system included in many Warriors titles by essentially giving each playable character a temporary Level that must be raised throughout the course of each battle. Every Hero character - both ally and enemy - has their own Bravery Level that designates the strength of their attacks and the amount of damage they take from enemies, thus requiring players to complete missions (both required and optional) in order to properly complete goals. The player's Bravery Levels can also be lost by having allied Heroes be defeated in battle or by failing objectives. Bravery Levels extend between 1 (which the player begins each mission at) to 10.
Spread out across each map of the game are different Bases, a gameplay mechanic present in many of Koei's licensed Warriors titles. Unlike the keeps in games like Hyrule Warriors, the Bases offer different bonuses for whichever army controls them, and there exist five different kinds of Bases in this regard. These five types are:
* Standard — Will drop Orbs that removes the cooldown for charging Hero Skills when controlled by the player. Otherwise Standard Bases do not have any benefits. Enemy Heroes instead gain a slight attack bonus when in Standard Bases controlled by their army.
* Restoration — Five healing items are spawned within the keep every minute, which the player can collect to restore health. Enemy Heroes instead gain a slight defence bonus when in Restoration Bases controlled by their army.
* Treasure — Rare Bases that offer no bonuses in the midst of battle, but instead grant the player additional rewards should they complete the mission. In many scenarios, an enemy Hero is spawned within a Treasure Base whenever the player attempts to capture it.
* Attack — Once captured, arrows will be rained down upon a Base controlled by the enemy; the targeted base is designated by an arrow on the minimap, and is often the closest enemy Base. This effect is active for enemies as well, thus the player's keeps can also be targeted by enemy Attack Bases.
* Defence — Increases the defence of all foot soldiers present in the Base and grants a temporary defence boost to all allied Heroes that persists for a short time even once they exit the Base. Defence Bases controlled by enemies will also grant enemy Heroes an additional Bravery Level while within it; in the rare cases when enemy Heroes have a Bravery Level of 10, this offers them no extra bonuses.
Bases can be captured by defeating the foot soldiers spawned within it. Doing this will cause the Base's "Health" Gauge to deplete, with a "Base Captain" (often a stronger foot soldier with greater health) spawning once it is fully emptied. The army that defeats the Base Captain will then take control of the Base and whatever benefits it may grant them. The overall health of a Base increases should it be surrounded by other allied bases.
When going into battle the player is able to create a party of up to five characters, though the way this party system works differs in Warrior All-Stars 2 compared to its predecessor and many story missions limit the amount of characters that can be chosen for the battle or the amount of party members the player can bring into combat. One character is designated as the "Leader" and is the one controlled by the player, while the others act as "Support" and are CPU-controlled. These Support characters will help complete necessary objectives and capture bases, though the player can also command them to target specific locations through the pause menu's Command section. Though the player is not able to control the Support characters normally, they can do so for a temporary time; doing this causes the Support character's Hero Skill to begin recharging however and as such the player is unable to use any Hero Skills while controlling any Support character. The player summons the Support Character from their place on the map to "link" with the Leader (whom the player also controls simultaneously), increasing the attack strength of both Heroes. The player can link all five members of their team together, granting them a great, albeit temporary, boost in attack, at the cost of temporarily disabling the use of any Hero Skills.
Perhaps the greatest change between Warriors All-Stars and Warriors All-Stars 2 comes in the Hero Skills system. Previously, every Hero had two Hero Skills that would grow stronger alongside the player's Bravery Level. In Warriors All-Stars 2 however, Hero Skills are now linked to Destiny Cards that can be equipped by the player thus allowing them to use any Hero Skill with any Hero. Destiny Cards still gain different bonuses as the player's Bravery Level increases. Destiny Cards have cooldown timers that prevent players from using the ability too often. Due to the changes in the way Hero Skills are used, Warriors All-Stars 2 does away with Combined Skills.
Unlike the Hero Skills from the previous game, Destiny Cards have a persistent "level" that increases by whatever the player's Bravery Level was at the end of a successful battle; should the player end the battle with a Bravery Level of 6 for example, all Destiny Cards equipped by the player will grow by six levels. A Destiny Card's level can only grow to 99, once it reaches what would be Level 100 it gains a persistent bonus and resets to Level 1. Each Destiny Card can accumulate a total of 500 levels, at which point the player will begin the battle with the ability as strong as it would be if the player's Bravery Level was 10. Every character is only able to equip one Destiny Card at a time, meaning the player can take a maximum of five into battle with them at any time; Destiny Cards equipped by Support characters will gain half as many levels (rounded down) as that equipped by the player, no matter the Bravery Level of the Support character that had it equipped.
Rarely when enemy Heroes are defeated, they will drop a Musou Star. By collecting the Musou Star, the player is then able to enter a Musou Rush mode that continuously spawns hoards of enemies around the player. By defeating enemies, the player's party members will appear along the edges of the screen and give bonuses to the player. The player's attack power is boosted significantly every time a party member appears, and the party members will also appear to perform an attack to assist the player or drop healing items. During Musou Rush the player is unable to use Hero Skills, though any Hero Skill with an active cooldown timer will be reset and available for use.
=== Destiny Cards ===
Destiny Cards are support abilities that players can equip before battle. Every Hero in the player's party is able to equip one card each, thus the player can bring up to five cards into a battle at any time. These cards have abilities ranging from stat boosts to weak attacks, and must recharge after use; these powers are known as "Hero Skills". A Hero Skill's recharge timer is dependant on two factors: the card's default cooldown rate as well as the player's current Bravery Level: the higher the Bravery Level, the faster Hero Skills recharge. The player can also cause a Hero Skill to instantly recharge after use by collecting special orbs dropped by defeated Heroes and spawned at allied "Standard" bases.
As Destiny Cards level up, the colour of the card's background changes. Between Levels 0-99 the card will have a white background, which will change to red for Levels 100-199, bronze for Levels 200-299, a light silver-blue for Levels 300-399, gold for Levels 400-499, and finally back to red, albeit with a golden border and a white sparkle effect, for Level 500.
Destiny Cards feature artwork of characters that otherwise do not appear in the game, and serve as a way to represent series through smaller roles. When the Destiny Card's Hero Skill is activated, artwork of the character depicted on it appears on the screen for a split second.
== Plot ==
=== Prologue ===
With the help of the Heroes summoned from other worlds, the royal siblings - Shiki, Setsuna, and Tamaki - were able to purify the deity Yomi of all evil and revert the world to a peaceful state. After the Heroes that aided them were returned to their homes, the three worked together in order to bring about a new age of prosperity by spreading the magical power of the Spring that gives life to their land to the four corners of their land.
After crowning Tamaki the new ruler of their world, the three siblings discovered a series of ruins hidden beneath the Sanctuary that surrounded the Spring. As they begin investigating the mysteries of this underground city, Heroes - including those that assisted them before - begin appearing in their world again, seemingly for no reason. At the same time, monsters that appear to be celestial in nature also begin tormenting the land. Believing the appearance of the Heroes, unearthing of the Spring's ruins, and the invasion of the celestial beings to be connected, Shiki sets off to begin excavating other areas that may contain more ruins while Setsuna and Tamaki begin tracking down new allies.
Unfortunately for them, a mysterious spectre appears from the skies intent on brainwashing the Heroes from other worlds and using them for their own goals.
=== Character Routes ===
There are 12 different routes (13 in the Nintendo Switch version) that primarily focus around a single character; with three exceptions, the characters with their own routes are all based around new Heroes that were not available in the original Warriors All-Stars. These routes are all separate to one another; though some events may overlap, the events also contradict each other in most ways. Thus none of them are considered explicitly "canon". Additionally, the routes all end so that there is a "true" route that concludes the story in a canonical way. This true route can only be chosen once all character routes are completed. The character after whom the route is named is the only character that the character may control during the route's introductory mission during their first playthrough.
Every character route has two endings: one ending focused around the route's main character and the "canonical" one that leads to the true route. Other endings are present in the game, which are instead based around small groups of characters that may hail from any route, can be reached at any time regardless of which route is chosen; the player can also choose to reach these endings during the true route if they so choose. For those endings, see below.
==== Yukimura Sanada Route ====
==== Ōka Route ====
==== Arnice Route ====
==== Opoona Route ====
==== Diaochan Route ====
==== Momiji Route ====
==== Azusa Takatsuka Route ====
==== Reisalin Stout Route ====
==== Obsidian Samurai Route ====
==== Dana Route ====
==== Hotaru Route ====
==== Nyabraham Linnyahn Route ====
==== Takamaru Route ====
    Note: This route is exclusive to the Nintendo Switch release of the game, Warriors All-Stars 2 Special.
=== True Route ===
=== Alternate Endings ===
== Scenario Maps ==
Alongside a number of Heroes, various locales from different worlds have also been brought into the world. These locations are imitations of their original forms, built from the memories of those who have traversed them originally. Due to the Spring not being the one to summon the Heroes, as previously, the locations have been brought into the world in an incomplete state, and feature elements of the original landscapes they took over.
=== Returning Maps ===
=== New Maps ===
As with the original Warriors All-Stars, some of the new maps reuse map layouts from previous Warriors games - primarily Dynasty Warriors 8 and Samurai Warriors 4 - and simply have new aesthetics to match areas from other series.
== Development ==
Existence Software's Warriors All-Stars 2 project went through a number of different iterations prior to the final version present today. The earliest iteration of the game, also titled "Warriors All-Stars 2", was to feature a large cast of 92 characters. Development on this iteration did not proceed very far however, as the game was scrapped very quickly and only the roster is known. Another iteration of the game was a project titled "Warriors Orochi NeXT", which was to be a spin-off of the Warriors Orochi series. Taking place after the events of Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate, Orochi NeXT was to feature the casts of the Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors characters alongside the playable rosters of Hyrule Warriors and Fire Emblem Warriors in addition to a number of guest characters from both Koei Tecmo and Nintendo.
The current iteration of Warriors All-Stars 2 began development on January 18, 2020. While work was being done on another Warriors title, Warriors Ultimate, Existence Software began drawing influence from the aforementioned projects that had been scrapped. While work continued on Warriors Ultimate, an idea for a revitalization of the Warriors All-Stars brand grew into the idea for a new game. Additionally, the then-upcoming English release of Warriors Orochi 4 Ultimate inspired speculation as to what the additional plot for this title may entail, leading to some of these ideas being expanded into a full product. While originally conceived to be a DLC story for Warriors Ultimate, Existence Software felt the idea would work best on its own, and instead decided to retool it into one focusing on the three royal siblings of Warriors All-Stars.
At the start of development, the team briefly considered cutting some of the characters from the past game for Warriors All-Stars 2: Naotora Ii and Zhou Cang. Existence Software noted that these characters were originally added into the game to promote the recently released and then-unreleased Samurai Warriors 4 and Dynasty Warriors 9 respectively and, unlike William Adams who hailed from the then-unreleased Nioh, did not represent a new franchise. In the end the developers decided to keep the roster of characters from the first game and simply add on top of it with newcomers, a practice which is common for Warriors titles.
During development of Warriors All-Stars 2 a large cast of characters from the histories of Koei, Tecmo, Gust, and Koei Tecmo as a whole were considered. While looking primarily towards characters ranked highly on popularity polls, Existence Software also kept in mind character interactions and plot details while narrowing down the roster. Additionally the polls regarding characters wanted by players for potential DLC for the original Warriors All-Stars were also looked at and researched thoroughly, with the results of the poll held by Famitsu regarding the subject being of particular interest, as were the results of the Warriors Orochi 4 Ultimate popularity poll. Furthermore, an effort was made to represent more series than the predecessor; one goal of the developers was to double the amount of series represented in the game through playable characters while also adding in more Heroes from the series that had been included in the original game. As with the original Warriors All-Stars, the cast was restricted so that there were no overlapping incarnations of one character; for instance, Nobunyaga Oda's presence in the original game prevented Nobunaga Oda from Samurai Warriors or Geten no Hana from being added to Warriors All-Stars 2. In addition to keeping in mind these restrictions, the developers also wanted to limit the maximum amount of Heroes a single series could have to five as to not too greatly over-represent any one series.
Additionally, care was put in to consider characters from series that Koei co-founder Yōichi Erikawa (who is credited as Kō Shibusawa for most projects) has been directly involved in, as he noted that none of the characters in the original Warriors All-Stars originated directly from IPs he worked on; this is despite producer Masaki Furusawa considering Nobunyaga Oda and William Adams to represent him due to his ties to the Nobunaga's Ambition series and the first version of Nioh that was scrapped in 2008. The final roster includes characters from three series on which he served as producer: Kessen, Uncharted Waters, and Stop That Roach!, though others were considered alomgside these. Hotaru from Geten no Hana was also chosen to represent his wife (and fellow co-founder of Koei), Keiko Erikawa, who produced that title. Elements from FabStyle, a game in which Keiko Erikawa was heavily involved, were also considered for the game.
:In the end a field of characters were chosen and eventually narrowed down to the 32 new Heroes included in the final game. A full list of characters that were considered for the roster, but ultimately not playable, is below:	
:In the end a field of characters were chosen and eventually narrowed down to the 32 new Heroes included in the final game. A full list of characters that were considered for the roster, but ultimately not playable, is below:
* Achilles (Warriors: Legends of Troy)
* Akira Yamagata (Enigma)
* Akram (Harukanaru Toki no Naka de)
* Allura (Trapt)
* Ami (Metamode)
* Anjie (Destrega)
* Areus (TRINITY: Souls of Zill O'll)
* Arthur (Legion: The Legend of Excalibur)
* Cao Cao (Dynasty Warriors)
* Cao Pi (Dynasty Warriors 5)
* Casty Rianoite (Ciel nosurge)
* Catherine Edward (Enigma)
* Celia (Destrega)
* Chacha (Samurai Warriors: Spirit of Sanada)
* Chaika (Opoona)
* Cheng Pu (Dynasty Warriors 9)
* Cher Mulligan (Dark Hunter)
* Da Ji (Warriors Orochi)
* Delta Lanthanoir (Ciel nosurge)
* Dong Bai (Dynasty Warriors 9)
* Edward (Bladestorm)
* Edward Kelley (Nioh)
* Emilio Kota Ferrini (LoveφSummit)
* Ephemera (Deception IV: The Nightmare Princess)
* Filena (Quantum Theory)
* Firis Mistlud (Atelier Firis)
* Genghis Khan (Genghis Khan)
* George Washington (Liberty or Death)
* Ginchiyo Tachibana (Nioh)
* Gracia (Samurai Warriors 2: Xtreme Legends)
* Guan Yinping (Dynasty Warriors 8)
* Guo Jia (Dynasty Warriors 7: Xtreme Legends)
* Gwen (Toukiden 2)
* Gwenevere (Legion: The Legend of Excalibur)
* Hanbei Takenaka (Samurai Warriors 3)
* Hanzō Nyattori (Samurai Cats)
* Hatsuho (Toukiden: The Age of Demons)
* Hayate (Dead or Alive 2)
* Heavenly King (Bandit Kings of Ancient China)
* Hektor (Warriors: Legends of Troy)
* Hideyoshi Toyotomi (Samurai Warriors: Xtreme Legends)
* Hisahide Matsunaga (Nioh 2)
* Hitomi (Dead or Alive 3)
* Ieyasu Tokugawa (Kessen)
* Joan of Arc (Bladestorm)
* João Franco (Uncharted Waters: New Horizons)
* Kai (Samurai Warriors 3)
* Kanade Kohinata (La Corda d'Oro 3)
* Ken (Stop That Roach!)
* Kicho (Kessen III)
* Klaudia Valentz (Atelier Ryza)
* Kokoro Himeoka (MISS PRINCESS: Miss Puri!)
* Kunoichi (Samurai Warriors)
* Lady Hayakawa (Samurai Warriors 4)
* Legendary Warrior (Rygar)
* Lent Marslink (Atelier Ryza)
* Leon Franco (Uncharted Waters)
* Leopard Headed (Bandit Kings of Ancient China)
* Liu Bang (Rise of The Phoenix)
* Lu Lingqi (Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends)
* Lu Xun (Dynasty Warriors)
* Lydie Marlen (Atelier Lydie & Suelle)	
* Ma Chao (Dynasty Warriors 2)
* Magoichi Saika (Nioh)
* Masayuki Sanada (Samurai Warriors: Spirit of Sanada)
* Megumi Hamai (FabStyle)
* Minamoto no Yoritomo (Genpei Kassen)
* Mint Clark (Rio)
* Mōri Motonari (Mōri Motonari: Chikai no Sanshi)
* Musashi Myaamoto (Samurai Cats)
* Muveil Folin Lou (Nights of Azure 2)
* NiCO (Dead or Alive 6)
* Nobuyuki Sanada (Samurai Warriors 4)
* Okuni (Nioh 2)
* Oscar (Angelique)
* Pamela Ibis (Atelier Judie)
* Pluvius (Gemfire)
* Poleena (Opoona)
* Professor (Toukiden 2)
* Rachel (Ninja Gaiden (2004))
* Raidou (Dead or Alive)
* Regent of the Mask (Ninja Gaiden 3)
* Reina (Deception III: Dark Delusion)
* Richard Kendall (Ark of Time)
* Rig (Dead or Alive 5)
* Rina Goltschmidt-Tachibana (Rio)
* Rocco Lorence (Garakutale)
* Ruenheid Ariarhod (Nights of Azure 2)
* Sakon Shima (Samurai Warriors 2)
* Sakon Shima (Saihai no Yukue)
* Sasuke (Samurai Warriors: Spirit of Sanada)
* Shallistera Argo (Atelier Shallie)
* Shirin (Harukanaru Toki no Naka de)
* Siamzu Yoshihiro (Samurai Cats)
* Sima Zhao (Dynasty Warriors 7)
* Sir John Hawkwood (Bladestorm)
* Soeur Marlen (Atelier Lydie & Suelle)
* Shōma (Apsaras)
* Sōma (Toukiden Kiwami)
* Sterkenburg Cranach (Atelier Rorona)
* Sun Shangxiang (Dynasty Warriors)
* Syd (Quantum Theory)
* Taikōbo (Fengshen Yanyi)
* Takakage Kobayakawa (Samurai Warriors 4)
* Takatora Tōdō (Samurai Warriors 4)
* Tamaki (Dead or Alive Xtreme Venus Vacation)
* Tamaki (Saihai no Yukue)
* Tao Mongarten (Atelier Ryza)
* Teruzumi Akashi (Kessen)
* Thomas Lindow (Enigma)
* Tieme (Destrega)
* U-1 (Gitaroo Man)
* Utsunomiyah Kunitsuna (Samurai Cats)
* Velguirie (Deception IV: The Nightmare Princess)
* Welcome Rain (Bandit Kings of Ancient China)
* Xiang Yu (Rise of The Phoenix)
* Xin Xianying (Dynasty Warriors 9)
* Xu Shu (Dynasty Warriors 7: Empires)
* Yaiba Kamikaze (Yaiba: Ninja Gaiden Z)
* Yang (Metamode)
* Yoshimoto Imagawa (Nioh 2)
* Yoshino (Kessen III)
* Zhou Tai (Dynasty Warriors 4)
* Ziya (Fengshen Yanyi 2)
Sayo, a unique non-playable character from the original Warriors All-Stars, was also at one point considered for the roster of playable characters. She was later scrapped as the developers couldn't find a way to use her in the game's plot. Instead of having an active role as she did in the game's predecessor, Sayo instead takes over the royal duties while her children (Shiki and Tamaki) and nephew (Setsuna) are away during the course of the game. The developers have also mentioned the possibility of adding Sayo in as downloadable content, though these plans have not yet been realized.
While the idea to include five playable characters each for Dynasty Warriors, Samurai Warriors, and Dead or Alive was an easy one due to these being the flagship IPs for Koei Tecmo, the developers opted to do the same for Gust's Atelier series and Ruby Party's Haruka: Beyond the Stream of Time series in order to properly represent all major areas of Koei Tecmo's studios. The additional representatives from Haruka: Beyond the Stream of Time 6 were mainly chosen to accommodate the decision to include Hajime Arima and Darius within the original Warriors All-Stars, with Nozomi Kasuga from the third title was added due to her popularity within polls conducted for DLC. The development team noted that these characters were mainly included in order to further appeal to Neoromance fans and their often-requested Neoromance musou "dream title".
For the Nintendo Switch version of the game, the idea to include characters from Nintendo IPs was an easy one. Originally the developers chose Link and Lucina to represent the major Nintendo musou titles - Hyrule Warriors and Fire Emblem Warriors, respectively - with Zelda and Robin being chosen in order to create better interactions between these franchises. Lana from Hyrule Warriors was then added to the roster in order to serve as a way to give exposition to these other characters. Finally, Takamaru was added to the roster last as the developers wanted to bring him back following his appearance in the original Wii release of Samurai Warriors 3 and, as they felt that it would be difficult for him to appear in any future Samurai Warriors titles, believed Warriors All-Stars 2 would be the best way to do so.
== Trivia ==
* The logo of Warriors All-Stars 2 originally featured the Roman numeral "II" rather than the Latin "2". It is unknown why this change was made.
* As with its predecessor, Warriors All-Stars 2 treats Ayane as a representative of the Ninja Gaiden series instead of her series of origin, Dead or Alive. Because of this she wears her attire from Ninja Gaiden 3 instead of that from Dead or Alive 6 (as her half-sister Kasumi does), and uses a moveset based more around her weapons from the Ninja Gaiden titles instead of her Dead or Alive martial arts.
* Despite the appearances of Tamaki, Setsuna, and Shiki in Toukiden Mononofu seemingly being canon to the universe of the Toukiden series, neither Ōka nor the three royal siblings make reference to their cameo appearance in that title. This could perhaps hint that the events of Toukiden Mononofu are set after the events of Warriors All-Stars 2.
* Deception is the only series represented in Warriors All-Stars with multiple playable Heroes that did not get any newcomers in Warriors All-Stars. It joins Rio, Opoona, and Samurai Cats as one of the four returning series not to receive any new playable representatives.
** Of these four, Opoona is the only series to receive a new stage; in fact it gains two stages. As stages based on Samurai Cats and Deception appeared in the original title and reappear in Warriors All-Stars 2, Rio is the only returning series to only be represented by a playable Hero. One can however argue that the returning Dead or Alive stage based on New Zack Island could represent Rio due to a casino making up a large portion of the map's layout and Rio herself making an appearance in the Dead or Alive Xtreme PlayStation Portable title Dead or Alive Paradise.
** In addition to Rio, newly-represented series Surge Concerto, Crimson Sea, Zill O'll, Geten no Hana, Stop That Roach!, Destrega, and Nyabraham Game Park are the only series not to have any stages. Though Nyabraham Game Park does not receive a stage, there is a map based on the my GAMECITY application that Nyabraham features prominently in.
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