Although Xing Cai does not appear in the game, she is briefly mentioned in a story campaign as "the daughter of Zhang Fei". She also makes a cameo in Zhang Fei's portrait art.

Because the game was supposed to be a complete revamp for the series, no new characters were added in this installment. In fact, characters Pang De, Xing Cai, Jiang Wei, Da Qiao, Zhu Rong, Meng Huo, and Zuo Ci from the previous installment were omitted, and are only referenced in certain campaigns.

This is the first installment where the English localization properly pronounces Cao Cao's name correctly as "Tsao Tsao" instead of "Kao-Kao".

The song "Spring Of The East" from the games soundtrack was played during the swimming competition of the 2008 Summer Beijing Olympics.

In the PS2 version, Ma Chao, Yue Ying, Cao Pi, Zhang He, Taishi Ci, and Ling Tong are given Musou Modes in this version of the game as well as having new weapons and movesets:

• Ma Chao changed from a spear to a great sword (similar to Fu Xi's).
• Cao Pi changed from a short sword to a longsword.
• Zhang He changed from a spear back to his pair of claws.
• Taishi Ci changed from a spear back to his pair of rods.
• Ling Tong changed from a halberd to a three section staff (sanjiegun).
• Yue Ying changed from a longbow to a bladed crossbow.

Zhang He, Taishi Ci and Ling Tong's weapons became their main weapons for future installments.