Like the main series, Spirit of Sanada explores and romanticizes the Sengoku period of Japan, a period of political and military conflict involving the daimyōs and their clans raising armies to fight against each other for power. While the main series features multiple viewpoints involving different factions, Spirit of Sanada focuses on one particular clan, the Sanada, who are led by Masayuki and his sons, Nobuyuki and Yukimura during the Sengoku period. The game's timeline is roughly 54 years (from 1561 to 1615) and follows different incarnations of the main characters, who are aged up accordingly.