I got Samurai Warriors Chronicles for 3ds.
Oh. My. God.
This may be better than Dynasty Warriors 7.

I have never played a Samurai Warriors game but I fucking love this.
I know that Chronicles is an exception to the rule in that you create a warrior from the start, and use character switching ala Warriors Orochi, so I know it's probably not near nor close to the Samurai Warriors norm. Still, it is the bee's knees.
Maps are large, and character switching has toned down the necessary traveling through stages. What's more, the multiple characters gives the game a very strategic like edge. These maps can get really tense, and this is just on Part 1 of the story. Very Orochi-like. Getting a constant stream of goals in mid-mission and the maps constantly changing focus keeps me on my toes, and I have a bit of trouble beating a few quests due to being under leveled or not using the right tactic to get ahead.
Then there's combo system. It takes far more skill to do high damage and high number combos in this game compared to say, Dynasty Warriors 7 and I love it for that. Each character having their own unique moveset really does wonders for me, and the inclusion of WO3's new Wonder-type combo strings (again, my first SW so I'm not sure when this feature was introduced) make strings require more skill and timing.
The story isn't as well told, and the skill system is lacking compared to especially Orochi 3, but damn, the rest of it top of the line.
Is the rest of the Samurai Warriors series like this? Because I like it even more than Dynasty.