As with previous Dynasty Warriors games, Xtreme Legends adds a Challenge Mode, which uses stock characters (as opposed to the customized characters in Story, Free, or Ambition modes) for various arcade-style challenges.
The game features new battle mechanics that rely on a new concept called the "Three-Point System", where each weapon is given an affinity of either "Heaven", "Earth", or "Man"; each affinity is strong against one of the affinities and weak against the other.