Freedom Wars Remastered is the triumphant return of the fan-favourite, fascistic Monster Hunter-style motion recreation, initially printed by Sony for the PS Vita in 2014. Because the PS Vita (sadly) by no means achieved the breakout success it deserved, we at all times felt this forward-thinking title did not get a good shake. With “volunteers” on PS5 and PS4 to probably energy it, Remastered places the IP’s greatest foot ahead, even when it does drag interminably in locations.
Set in a grim future, environmental destruction and nuclear warfare have compelled the remnants of humanity into huge subterranean Panopticans, unbiased metropolis states competing for scraps through which a lot of the inhabitants is imprisoned, penal labour.
As a result of excessive useful resource shortages, these “sinners” are penalised for the excessive crime of present, with newborns handed million-year sentences, which will be shortened by serving within the fixed battle between Panopticons. These international aggressors, in addition to superior folks from a spot referred to as On Excessive, ship futuristic Abductors to grab unwary sinners, and combating these massive foes is an enormous a part of gameplay and a surprisingly concerned spectacle.
The unique Freedom Wars was developed in collaboration with a trio of studios and is sort of a wierd beast. Shift dealt with idea, artwork, and common design, whereas Dimps labored with Japan Studio to hammer out the mechanics and gameplay (technically making the title a first-party launch).
Push Sq.’s Robert Ramsey reviewed it at launch, and lots of the issues of the unique stay in Remastered, however a wonderful graphical improve enhances it. Like all video games (not less than in efficiency mode), it is made rather more playable by a constantly excessive framerate, and the change in enter from PS Vita to DualSense is to not be understated; the unique’s controversial controls have been modernised, haptics add heft, and with L2 and R2 triggers, you do not have to depend on the PS Vita’s bizarre again contact pad for fundamental gameplay features.
Freedom Wars’ biggest strengths are its setting and gameplay, and each are sturdy however fail to evolve as the sport progresses. The premise is compelling, and whereas it is meaningfully utilised in-game, penalising gamers for issues like working inside or venturing too far out of your ever-present Accent (till the suitable privileges are unlocked) all compounds to make (particularly the opening few hours) type of a slog, which is the purpose. Equally, whereas the vary of weapon sorts is appreciated, the simplistic crafting system required to maintain tempo with dramatically escalating Abductor well being swimming pools seems like a bunch of busy work.
The sport’s quest and mission construction does not assist; it is nonetheless foundationally designed for transportable periods on the PS Vita. The loop often has massive swathes of dialogue and working round as your custom-made character meets their fellow sinners and captors, requiring gamers to navigate the tasteless depths of the Panopticon on seemingly countless fetch quests.
After getting a fight mission, you’ll both be assigned or in a position to choose a squad of NPC allies to take to the sphere, participating in pretty easy elimination or rescue operations, securing sources, and issuing orders. Because the participant and every NPC have their customisable Accent (cyborg bodyguard/parole officer), these missions is usually a spectacle and a blast to play by way of, if ultimately a bit repetitive.
The flexibility to equip varied Thorns, vine-like appendages that can be utilized as grappling hooks or to heal or buff allies, provides depth and verticality to gameplay. Ultimately, you possibly can even command your squad with a listing of {custom} orders that will probably be obeyed with shocking effectivity. When it is singing, the fight in Freedom Wars stays extremely participating. Sadly, whereas serviceable (enhanced by haptics), each melee and ranged fight fall far under the complexity of comparable action-hunting video games, with a decrease talent ceiling, and feels a bit floaty.
NPC combatants will be changed with actual gamers, and this can presumably be the extra environment friendly approach to play (relying on the participant), however Freedom Wars can completely be performed alone. Whereas we could not discover any buddies in the course of the assessment interval, we’re glad to report the League of Panopticons leaderboard is purposeful; Redundant gear will be donated “for the better good”, boosting the standing of the participant’s chosen ‘Con.
You’ll be able to select from one in all 47 representing Japan’s prefectures; the additional 50 representing worldwide cities had been added to the unique post-launch, and we would see related enlargement sooner or later. Rising your rating, in addition to your communities, stays rewarding, with varied motivational leaderboards ever-present in every sinners’ cell.
We guess that, as a result of this being a remaster and never a remake, the {hardware} limitations of the PS Vita stay. Freedom Wars Remastered is simply continually loading, and whereas you’ll ultimately be permitted to fast-travel, you higher imagine meaning one other loading display. Each transition out of your cell within the Panopticon will price you a very good few seconds, in addition to earlier than and after fight; we’ve grow to be spoiled within the age of PS5.
With a definite artwork type and dark-synth soundtrack, Freedom Wars is aesthetically fairly pleasing for what it’s. There’s additionally fairly a bit extra voice-acting this time round, with even your Accent chiming in (sounding like a text-to-speech app, which admittedly begins to pull). Within the chaos of fight, the barks of your character, allies, and Equipment can generally be a bit annoying, however your mileage might fluctuate.
Lastly, the characters you work together with are comparatively flat, fall into acquainted archetypes, and really feel skinny. We suppose the purpose was to supply a big sufficient pool of potential allies for gamers to discover a favorite, nevertheless it may need been extra helpful to concentrate on fewer and supply some depth. Edgy and engaging, the vibe Freedom Wars goes for is considerably spoiled by characters whose motivations and issues appear, at occasions, at odds with the supposed gravity of the setting.
Conclusion
Freedom Wars Remastered is a wonderful approach to relive the restrictive motion recreation. In 2025, the sport’s forward-thinking multiplayer parts have a better likelihood of capturing a devoted neighborhood, and graphical and technical enhancements make it the definitive approach to play. Nevertheless it’s a PS Vita recreation at its core; fixed loading, boring characters, comparatively easy fight, and countless busy work have considerably dented our rosy recollections of the unique recreation.
