In honor of its 10th anniversary, the PS Vita classic Freedom Wars is finally being freed from the now-dead handheld and remastered for current-gen hardware.
Fans of the Monster Hunter-styled action RPG will be happy to hear that the game comes with more than enough overhauls to interest even veteran players.
Revealed on September 17th via an announcement trailer which showed the player character engaging in fast-paced battles with a number of enemies, Freedom Wars Remastered will present the game with a slew of upgrades, including better visuals – all presented at 4K resolution and 60 frames per second – a brand new weapon crafting system, and a cooperative multiplayer mode.
Further, the game will also see enemies given new forms in order to provide returning players with a bit of variety.
Set the launch worldwide on January 10th, 2025 (with Japan getting it one day earlier), Freedom Wars Remastered will not only break the shackles of the PS Vita, but also those of PlayStation exclusivity, as it will release on the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and PC platforms.
The original Freedom Wars came out in 2014 and was one of the last major titles for the iconic PS Vita to receive support from Sony.
Set in a dystopian future, the game’s story revolves around ‘Sinners,’ individuals born into sprawling prison cities called Panopticons., who fight to reduce their million-year sentences by engaging in dangerous missions, rescuing citizens, and battling massive enemies.
The game draws heavy inspiration from such titles as Monster Hunter and God Eater, but adds its own twist in the form of a grappling whip, which allowed players to scale large enemies.
Unfortunately, the story of the game was left unfinished, and while the developer had plans for a sequel, they never got the chance to make it.
However, with the remaster in the pipeline, Dimps and Namco seem to be testing the waters for a possible sequel.
Nevertheless, as one of the last major PS Vita titles, it holds a special place in the console’s history.
Developer Dimps initially approached Sony for the remaster, as the company still owned the rights to the franchise. However, Bandai Namco stepped in as the publisher after Dimps acquired the license.
And thanks to having Bandai Namco behind it, Freedom Wars Remastered will likely receive a sizeable amount of PR, which in turn hopefully pushes it towards even more players.
With the popularity of the original game, this seems like a victory for everyone involved – and right now, in light of the abysmal reception of their PS5 Pro announcement and the absolute disaster that was Concord, Sony in particular needs one more than anyone else.
To this end, hopefully the green-lighting of Freedom Wars Remastered marks the beginning of a new wave of other popular PS Vita games, such as Soul Sacrifice and the Toukiden series, both of which have strong cult followings, receiving similar next-gen updates.
