Freedom Wars Remastered is the triumphant return of the fan-favourite, fascistic Monster Hunter-style motion sport, initially revealed by Sony for the PS Vita in 2014. Because the PS Vita (sadly) by no means achieved the breakout success it deserved, we all the time 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 conflict have pressured the remnants of humanity into huge subterranean Panopticans, impartial metropolis states competing for scraps wherein a lot of the inhabitants is imprisoned, penal labour.
On account of excessive useful resource shortages, these “sinners” are penalised for the excessive crime of current, with newborns handed million-year sentences, which might be shortened by serving within the fixed battle between Panopticons. These international aggressors, in addition to superior individuals from a spot referred to as On Excessive, ship futuristic Abductors to grab unwary sinners, and preventing these massive foes is a giant 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 basic 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 most of the issues of the unique stay in Remastered, however a superb graphical improve enhances it. Like all video games (at the very least in efficiency mode), it is made way 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 primary gameplay capabilities.
Freedom Wars’ best 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) form of a slog, which is the purpose. Equally, whereas the vary of weapon varieties 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 moveable 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.
Upon getting a fight mission, you’ll both be assigned or capable of 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 could be a spectacle and a blast to play by way of, if ultimately a bit repetitive.
The power to equip numerous Thorns, vine-like appendages that can be utilized as grappling hooks or to heal or buff allies, provides depth and verticality to gameplay. Finally, you’ll be able to even command your squad with an inventory of {custom} orders that can 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 beneath the complexity of comparable action-hunting video games, with a decrease talent ceiling, and feels a bit floaty.
NPC combatants might be changed with actual gamers, and it will presumably be the extra environment friendly technique to play (relying on the participant), however Freedom Wars can completely be performed alone. Whereas we could not discover any pals through the evaluation interval, we’re glad to report the League of Panopticons leaderboard is purposeful; Redundant gear might be donated “for the larger good”, boosting the standing of the participant’s chosen ‘Con.
You possibly can select from certainly one of 47 representing Japan’s prefectures; the additional 50 representing worldwide cities had been added to the unique post-launch, and we’d see comparable growth sooner or later. Growing your rating, in addition to your communities, stays rewarding, with numerous motivational leaderboards ever-present in every sinners’ cell.
We guess that, as a consequence of this being a remaster and never a remake, the {hardware} limitations of the PS Vita stay. Freedom Wars Remastered is simply continuously loading, and whereas you’ll ultimately be permitted to fast-travel, you higher imagine which means one other loading display screen. Each transition out of your cell within the Panopticon will value you an excellent few seconds, in addition to earlier than and after fight; we now have turn into spoiled within the age of PS5.
With a definite artwork model 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 tug). Within the chaos of fight, the barks of your character, allies, and Equipment can generally be a bit annoying, however your mileage could differ.
Lastly, the characters you work together with are comparatively flat, fall into acquainted archetypes, and really feel skinny. We suppose the purpose was to offer a big sufficient pool of potential allies for gamers to discover a favorite, however it may need been extra helpful to deal with 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 instances, at odds with the supposed gravity of the setting.
Conclusion
Freedom Wars Remastered is a wonderful technique to relive the restrictive motion sport. In 2025, the sport’s forward-thinking multiplayer elements have a larger probability of capturing a devoted group, and graphical and technical enhancements make it the definitive technique to play. Nevertheless it’s a PS Vita sport at its core; fixed loading, uninteresting characters, comparatively easy fight, and countless busy work have considerably dented our rosy reminiscences of the unique sport.