I was first introduced to the Dynasty Warrior series a few years back and since then, I've played every version that I can find. Of course, I had to get my hands on the new Dynasty Warriors Next (and a PS Vita to play it on, but that's a different story), just to see what all they have come up with to retell the same story and yet make it feel new every time.

The characters look like they did in the previous games, which is amazing given the small size of the screen compared to a TV screen. The level of detail that can be displayed on the Vita is put to the test in Dynasty Warriors Next and I'm happy to say that it passes with flying colors! You can run, jump, perform musou attacks, use the break to take over entire bases, and yet so far, I haven't even seen the system even think about chugging or lagging, which is more than I can say on my 360. If I made it do too much at once on Dynasty Warriors 7, I could see just a hint of a stutter every now and then.

The background music in Dynasty Warriors Next is the same as all the previous games, which make it feel very familiar from the first moment you turn it on. They also added the little details like Gan Ning's bells. The characters do speak in the cutscenes and in between the stages with the voices that we're all used to by now, so you don't have to deal with hating someone's "new" voice.

If you've played any of the Dynasty Warriors series, then you will more or less recognize the campaigns in Campaign Mode. It's not like they can really change things too much as the series is based on historical facts. But they can change up what you play when, and what characters are used on those levels. The maps are also just a bit different. Not so different that you don't recognize general areas, but enough so that it all feels new. Instead of choosing a faction as you have before and playing them all out one at a time, Shu, Wu, Wei, and Jin, all the factions are in the same Campaign Mode. You will switch back and forth between them based on when things happened historically (more or less) until you finish things off with the Jin Empire. Of course, there is more to do than just campaigns! You can play with other players from around the world in every mode where you battle. Dynasty Warriors Next is a great game for playing with friends or by yourself.

The first new thing I noticed was the Edit Mode as that is something that has never been available before. In Edit Mode, you can create your own custom officers, both male and female. As you increase your rank through fighting, you will unlock more outfits to choose from. You can mix and match articles as you like with head gear, torso, arms, hips, and legs. You can change the face, body, the way they move, their voice, and their abilities as well giving you everything you need to create yourself, your friends, or anyone you want. You can have up to 100 custom officers, so make as many as you want.

There is also a Conquest Mode, but it is very different from the Conquest Mode in Dynasty Warriors 7. In Dynasty Warriors Next, when you choose Conquest Mode, you'll have the option of playing against two, three, four, or even five forces for control of the map. It is a bit like Risk where you will trade turns back and forth to try and take over each other's territory. On your turn, you will have to fight a map with 5 officers of your choosing. You can even use your custom officers if you want. At the end of the battle on your turn, you can end up playing a mini-game as well. In Coalition Mode, you will choose a barracks and can connect up to four players to help each other on different courses. Gala Mode won't have much in it until you unlock the things in Conquest Mode. Once you have unlocked the mini-games in Conquest though, you will find them in Gala. You can also get to Musou Snapshots here. With Musou Snapshots, you can take a picture of yourself (or your dog or whatever you want) with either camera on the PS Vita and superimpose that pic with the game images. This means that you can take your own face (or dog's) and put it on any of the warriors you want. You can take a picture of your living room and have your Dynasty Warriors characters added to it, giving you the ability to have a party with the warriors, or at least make it look like you did.

Beginner difficulty in Dynasty Warriors Next is impossible to fail, I'm sure. Easy is too easy to me, and Normal isn't very hard, at least at the beginning. The trouble is that the further you get in it, the more difficult it gets and when you get a new character that you have to use, it can be quite hard! The new characters all come with a starting weapon of 30 attack and their base stats, so when you have to use one of these for the first time further on in the game, you will find that it takes a lot longer to kill enemies and you might have to run away from enemies while you heal. You heal over time and there is no health bar anymore. Instead, the top left and bottom right corners of the screen turn red when you get hurt. The more red they get, the more hurt you are. When the lightning strikes appear in the red, you are almost dead, so you better get away and find health quickly! Unfortunately, sometimes this isn't possible as I've found your character isn't always faster than the enemy generals anymore.

If you've played the series before and already know what you're doing, then I recommend you start no lower than Normal unless you're just looking for an easy game. For those of you who are new to the series, you might want to start on Easy just to get used to it. I do recommend playing with a variety of characters when you are given the option, if possible, just so that when you have to use that character, you will hopefully have found an upgraded weapon for them. Otherwise, you might find the level more challenging than you thought it would be.

The controls in Dynasty Warriors Next are exactly like the previous games, where appropriate, so you'll find them quite easy to get used to. However, there are some new features that will take advantage of the front and back touchscreens. You will use the back touchscreen for the new "speed" Musou attacks on some characters. When you use a new character for the first time, the game will tell you exactly what you need to do to perform the attacks. One other place that you will use the back touchpad is the calligraphy mini-game. I wasn't quite sure what they wanted at first. Basically, you will see a burning dot on the screen. Touch the back touchscreen at that point and slowly trace whatever direction keeps that dot burning. Once you get one line done, stop touching the back screen and the dot will move to a new place to start tracing. After you have all of the lines traced on the back, you'll see them turn red on the front. Trace the red lines on the front touchscreen to complete the character. It's not difficult once you get the hang of what you are supposed to do.

There is no merging/ upgrading/ customizing your weapons anymore. They stay as you find them and they are back to being only for the specific character that finds them, unlike the system where every character could use almost every weapon in Dynasty Warriors 7. You have items in Dynasty Warriors Next as well. Items are equipped to each user, one saddle slot, one orb slot, and 5 item slots to equip at once. If you find an item, saddle, or orb that you already have or one better than what you have, it automatically discards duplicate or outdated items so the only inventory that you have to clean up is the weapons.

I have loved the Dynasty Warrior series from the moment I started playing it. I am continually amazed at how they can keep the same characters and storylines, yet make it feel like a new game each time. If you're looking for a great hack n' slash, I highly recommend you pick up Dynasty Warriors Next today!