Freedom Wars Remastered Review - Sometimes Goodbye Is A Second Chance
You may not know it, what with the relative lack of success that the PlayStation Vita achieved, but there was quite a lot of expectation and pressure riding on the release of 2014’s Freedom Wars. There was a growing chorus of gamers and pundits all heavily suggesting that for the the Vita to get out of the hole that it was in, a Monster Hunter-styled experience was necessary. It worked for the PSP, and Nintendo had wrestled the IP over to their side with several Monster Hunter titles hitting the Nintendo 3DS, while the Vita went wanting. Several Monster Hunter-likes came to the Vita, but few had staying power; God Eater, Toukiden, Soul Sacrifice all contended for the throne, but none quite executed like Freedom Wars did. Sure, it certainly didn’t save the Vita, not even close, but for those searching for that elusive Monster Hunter clone, this was the Vita’s pinnacle. Now Freedom Wars returns with a shiny remaster and a second chance at mainstream relevance. Whether or not the game is picked up by the masses remains to be seen, but as a product, Freedom Wars Remastered is a must-play Monster Hunter-like for returning and new players alike.
Its a hard life being a resident in the world of Freedom Wars. Crimes big or small are looked upon with extreme severity, and unfortunately the most grievous crime one can commit in this world is the crime of being born. Yes, you’re born into a 1 million year-long sentence and your life in the Panopticon is scrutinised down to the smallest of acts with the governing bodies hopes being to add further to your sentence. It’s oppressive, but not impossible to overcome, and so the tasks of saving residents of the Panopticon, fighting off Abductors (this world’s Monsters), take on major importance if you wish to erode that seven-figure sentence you’re serving. The key to doing so is based around the citizens, saving them from Abductors or rival Panopticons, or recruiting them. By building a better Panopticon, your good deeds will be rewarded, but there will also be plenty of opportunities to fight your share of impressively scaled foes, just like Monster Hunter.
Since Freedom Wars has launched we’ve seen two mainline Monster Hunter titles, with a third in the form of Monster Hunter Wilds being imminent. Having played both Monster Hunter World and Monster Hunter Rise, while also playing the Beta of Wilds, with all games making meaningful changes to spice up and speed up the combat, none of them reaching the breakneck pace of Freedom Wars. As you tote both melee and ranged weapons, systematically deconstructing an Abductor gives you an incredible power trip, but when you pair these base abilities with the thorns that you can equip that both allow you to grapple onto your enormous foes, and can bind the target, heal yourself or even cast a shield. Beyond this, the standard, Monster Hunter-inspired fare takes place, with players building their gear and accessory sets out, only to find newer, improved materials to improve your gear even further – its deeply satisfying.
There isn’t a lot that is new about Freedom Wars Remastered, but the game does look a lot sharper on the big screen with improvements in textures, sharpness and performance. What is the most notable improvement however is the controls. The lesser number of input options of the Vita compared to the console held the game back in this respect, but with the shackles removed, Freedom Wars Remastered is a much easier game to interface with. The constraints of the Vita in terms of world and level design rear their heads when you play the game on modern platforms where such barriers don’t exist making Freedom Wars Remastered feel a bit limited as a result at times. For those looking for extreme challenge, you can opt to check out the game’s ‘Deadly Sinner Mode’ where crimes or minor infractions result in a greater penalty to your prison sentence, and further restrictions imposed on your Opeation conditions.
Overall, Freedom Wars Remastered doesn’t offer much new of major substance and is rather just an opportunity to get the game out there to new audiences. Switch owners are the obvious prime candidates here given the game’s core design which was framed around handheld, pick up and put down, bite-sized sessions, but if you’re playing on PS5 there’s plenty of opportunity to immerse yourself in the experience and get completely lost by it. Freedom Wars deserved a second chance, and while it’s not a perfect redemption story, its still worth giving the game a go this second time around. We said goodbye to Freedom Wars once already, but maybe this can be its second chance.
Freedom Wars Remastered was reviewed on a PS5 with a code kindly provided by Bandai Namco Australia.
