Freedom Wars Remastered Review (PS5)

Freedom Wars Remastered is the triumphant return of the fan-favourite, fascistic Monster Hunter-style action game, originally published by Sony for the PS Vita in 2014. As the PS Vita (sadly) never achieved the breakout success it deserved, we always felt this forward-thinking title didn't get a fair shake. With "volunteers" on PS5 and PS4 to potentially power it, Remastered puts the IP's best foot forward, even if it does drag interminably in places.

Set in a grim future, environmental destruction and nuclear war have forced the remnants of humanity into vast subterranean Panopticans, independent city states competing for scraps in which most of the population is imprisoned, penal labour.

Due to extreme resource shortages, these "sinners" are penalised for the high crime of existing, with newborns handed million-year sentences, which can be shortened by serving in the constant conflict between Panopticons. These foreign aggressors, as well as advanced people from a place called On High, send futuristic Abductors to seize unwary sinners, and fighting these large foes is a big part of gameplay and a surprisingly involved spectacle.

The original Freedom Wars was developed in collaboration with a trio of studios and is quite a strange beast. Shift handled concept, art, and general design, while Dimps worked with Japan Studio to hammer out the mechanics and gameplay (technically making the title a first-party release).

Push Square's Robert Ramsey reviewed it at launch, and many of the problems of the original remain in Remastered, but an excellent graphical upgrade enhances it. Like all games (at least in performance mode), it's made much more playable by a consistently high framerate, and the switch in input from PS Vita to DualSense is not to be understated; the original's controversial controls have been modernised, haptics add heft, and with L2 and R2 triggers, you don't have to rely on the PS Vita's weird back touch pad for basic gameplay functions.

Freedom Wars' greatest strengths are its setting and gameplay, and both are strong but fail to evolve as the game progresses. The premise is compelling, and while it's meaningfully utilised in-game, penalising players for things like running inside or venturing too far from your ever-present Accessory (until the appropriate privileges are unlocked) all compounds to make (especially the opening few hours) kind of a slog, which is the point. Similarly, while the range of weapon types is appreciated, the simplistic crafting system required to keep pace with dramatically escalating Abductor health pools feels like a bunch of busy work.

The game's quest and mission structure doesn't help; it's still foundationally designed for portable sessions on the PS Vita. The loop regularly has large swathes of dialogue and running around as your custom-made character meets their fellow sinners and captors, requiring players to navigate the bland depths of the Panopticon on seemingly endless fetch quests.

Once you have a combat mission, you will either be assigned or able to select a squad of NPC allies to take to the field, engaging in fairly simple elimination or rescue operations, securing resources, and issuing orders. As the player and each NPC have their customisable Accessory (cyborg bodyguard/parole officer), these missions can be a spectacle and a blast to play through, if eventually a bit repetitive.

The ability to equip various Thorns, vine-like appendages that can be used as grappling hooks or to heal or buff allies, adds depth and verticality to gameplay. Eventually, you can even command your squad with a list of custom orders that will be obeyed with surprising efficiency. When it's singing, the combat in Freedom Wars remains incredibly engaging. Sadly, while serviceable (enhanced by haptics), both melee and ranged combat fall far below the complexity of similar action-hunting games, with a lower skill ceiling, and feels a bit floaty.

NPC combatants can be replaced with real players, and this will presumably be the more efficient way to play (depending on the player), but Freedom Wars can absolutely be played alone. While we couldn't find any friends during the review period, we are glad to report the League of Panopticons leaderboard is functional; Redundant gear can be donated "for the greater good", boosting the standing of the player's chosen 'Con.

You can choose from one of 47 representing Japan's prefectures; the extra 50 representing international cities were added to the original post-launch, and we might see similar expansion in the future. Increasing your ranking, as well as your communities, remains rewarding, with various motivational leaderboards ever-present in each sinners' cell.

We guess that, due to this being a remaster and not a remake, the hardware limitations of the PS Vita remain. Freedom Wars Remastered is just constantly loading, and while you will eventually be permitted to fast-travel, you better believe that means another loading screen. Every transition from your cell in the Panopticon will cost you a good few seconds, as well as before and after combat; we have become spoiled in the age of PS5.

With a distinct art style and dark-synth soundtrack, Freedom Wars is aesthetically quite pleasing for what it is. There's also quite a bit more voice-acting this time around, with even your Accessory chiming in (sounding like a text-to-speech app, which admittedly starts to drag). In the chaos of combat, the barks of your character, allies, and Accessories can sometimes be a bit annoying, but your mileage may vary.

Finally, the characters you interact with are relatively flat, fall into familiar archetypes, and feel thin. We suppose the point was to provide a large enough pool of potential allies for players to find a favourite, but it might have been more useful to focus on fewer and provide some depth. Edgy and attractive, the vibe Freedom Wars is going for is somewhat spoiled by characters whose motivations and concerns seem, at times, at odds with the supposed gravity of the setting.