Freedom Wars Remastered Review - Abductor Slayer

In September of last year, Freedom Wars Remastered was announced. The circles I frequent online were quite enthusiastic about this, despite me having never heard of the game. I mean, I didn't even own a PS Vita, it seemed like a completely obscure title. Still, the excitement from my friends piqued my interest, so I had to see what Freedom Wars Remastered was all about.

It seemed like a weird choice to revive a dormant IP exclusive to the PS Vita, but I'm glad I took the chance to review it. Turns out, Freedom Wars Remastered is a quirky and competent take on the Monster Hunter formula, and that makes for an addicting game.

Freedom Wars Remastered, a Decade After the Original

As Freedom Wars is a remaster of a PS Vita title from 2014, you might expect it to look a bit dated visually. The smaller screen of a Vita means lower resolution, so obviously graphics aren't going to be on par with that of consoles.

Still, developer Dimps Corporation makes a commendable effort to revitalize Freedom Wars with this remaster. With upgraded textures and running a higher resolution, Freedom Wars Remastered looks very good considering its origins.

Supposedly, it can run on 4k resolution. I couldn't find any way to tweak graphics on the PS5 version of Freedom Wars Remastered, so I'll just have to take the developer's word for it. I presume PC versions will have more options to adjust visuals. At the very least, I can say Freedom Wars Remastered runs at 60 FPS, so it's a smooth ride.

Really, the only issue is some animations look a little janky, especially during dialogue. There's a lot of talking in Freedom Wars Remastered, and facial animations are super rudimentary. It's nothing that'll detract from the experience; in fact, it's usually the only visual reminder that this was once a PS Vita game.

Fighting For the Cause in Freedom Wars Remastered

To put it simply, Freedom Wars Remastered takes the Monster Hunter formula and gives it a gratifying hook (as if Monster Hunter wasn't already addicting). Not only are you acquiring new materials to upgrade equipment, but you also have a million-year prison sentence. As a sinner, you're tasked with working off that sentence by taking on various operations.

Your player character's prison sentence literally looms over your head, and just about every action you do either contributes to or diminishes said sentence. Stand around in one place too long? The game will give you a few decades to think about your ungodly crime.

And so, that's where these operations come in. Completing various missions, ranging from extermination of "Abductors" (Freedom Wars' version of monsters), rescuing citizens, and donating valuable resources to the cause, all help diminish that prison term.

Watching the prison sentence deteriorate over the course of the campaign and into the endgame is a very satisfying feeling, even if it's an arbitrary number. It's a way to catalog your rank among other players and track your progress. Having this little way to measure your efforts encouraged me to do "just one more mission."

This progress is also tracked via online leaderboards. It's a multiplayer game with other sinners, and each sinner belongs to a Panopticon. Think of a Panopticon as your home base. You choose this at the beginning of the game when you're customizing your character, and each Panopticon represents a prefecture of Japan.

I'm not sure if this will change once the public has hands on it, but the original version of Freedom Wars split Panopticons as cities around the globe. Though, as far as I know, the only choice now is Japan's prefectures, so I went with Hokkaido.

The leaderboard tallies your contribution both within the Panopticon and against other prefectures, so it's again, a very neat little measure to see how everyone's progressing and incentivizes some friendly competition.

On the Hunt in Freedom Wars Remastered

It's in Freedom Wars Remastered's combat that many players will find some sort of familiarity with. I don't like to draw comparisons to other games if I can help it, but it's hard to ignore the fact that Freedom Wars Remastered plays a great deal like Monster Hunter.

The whole routine of fighting giant monsters (Abductors), severing parts, upgrading your equipment from said parts, and going back into the fray is the general gameplay loop here. Though, on its own, Freedom Wars Remastered is a competent action game, even if it's a bit light on game mechanics.

There are several different weapon types to choose from, each with its own skillset, as well as firearms. You can equip yourself with two different weapons at once, so that gives room for some versatility. You're also given several AI companions if you're playing solo, as well as your own customizable Accessory -- this is a robot companion that helps you out.

To top it all off, you have a thorn, which makes Freedom Wars Remastered's gameplay quite enjoyable. By shooting a thorn onto a wall or enemy, you can launch yourself to that location and pull off some cool air attacks. It's especially useful against Abductors so you can sever parts that are higher up.

Thorns are super fun to use, launching yourself around gargantuan foes like you're from Attack on Titan. It adds just a bit of extra oomph to the gameplay, though the rest of Freedom Wars Remastered could do with either new weapons, a few new attacks, or just something else to help it stand out.

Enemy variety, too, is just a bit repetitive. Most enemies come in the form of Abductors, and they increase in power as you progress through the campaign. The thing is, most of them follow the same template of being bipeds, quadrupeds, and the like, and they don't look or act all that different as time goes on.

A Story That Never Reaches Its Potential in Freedom Wars Remastered

My thoughts on Freedom Wars Remastered's story are conflicted. On one hand, I really like its premise and setting, but on the other, the way the story is told is not all that great. The setting is, you're in this resource war, as presumably the world's resources are sparse in that day and age.

As such, Sinners are required to gather resources. Regular civilians are kidnapped by rival Panopticons' Abductors, and Sinners have to go save them. Meanwhile, there are various factions working within and outside of your Panopticon with different agendas and motives, most of which remain vague throughout the duration.

In fact, Freedom Wars Remastered ends on an absurdly disappointing note. There are some post-game activities, but as I understand it, the story was supposed to continue in a sequel that never was. It leads to some mysteries that are never solved, which is a shame.

Freedom Wars Remastered also presents its story in a sloppy way. The start of the game is front-loaded with a ton of dialogue, so it's super slow-going at first and really could do better with its pacing. On top of that, walking around your Panopticon to continue the story is pretty sluggish and doesn't make for exciting gameplay.

Freedom Wars Remastered Review | Final Thoughts

There are a few enhancements that returning players will enjoy. Apparently, upgrading weapons has become a more seamless experience. They've added subtle improvements to combat overall, and even a new difficulty mode. These are additions that I initially took for granted, but when I learned about how Freedom Wars Remastered changed for the better, I was very appreciative of these tweaks.

Despite some problems with Freedom Wars Remastered's story and the lack of depth in its gameplay, I still had a lot of fun with this title. Seeing your sentence diminish as time goes on is a gratifying feeling. Moreover, once it launches for players worldwide, I imagine the conflict amongst other Panopticons will lead to some exciting rivalries.

Who knows, Freedom Wars Remastered might even lead to the long-awaited sequel. I'd absolutely love to see Freedom Wars Remastered's formula expanded upon. More depth in its gameplay and a more developed story in a sequel would make it a strong rival to Monster Hunter.

Freedom Wars Remastered was reviewed over approximately 28 hours of gameplay on PS5 with a key provided by the publisher. All screenshots were taken during the review process.