Freedom Wars Remastered Shows How It’s Changing the PS Vita with a Creepy Cartoon Bear
Born to fight.
When Freedom Wars Remastered was revealed in 2024, it was met with excitement by the diehard PlayStation Vita fans who caught the game the first time around, and something more like confusion by everyone else. Now, days before its release, Bandai Namco is sharing more about what players can expect from Freedom Wars Remastered in the creepiest way possible.
The new trailer explains to newcomers what in the world Freedom Wars Remastered is and spells out some of the new additions that players returning from the original game can look forward to. And it does that with a cute cartoon bear who explains in a creepy computer voice that it’s “an ultra-high performance multi-purpose agent from the penal city-states known as Panopticons.” Adorable!
Freedom Wars Remastered details what’s changing for the new release in characteristically bizarre fashion.
As the creepy/cute bear explains, Freedom Wars Remastered is set in a post-apocalyptic world where every living person is sentenced to impossibly long prison sentences for the crime of being born and forced to work and fight for the state. Earning the right to do something as simple as running or customizing your character means proving your worth to the prison wardens by taking on missions. As part of your character’s one million-year sentence, you’ll need to compete with rival Panopticons in battles against other players and AI-controlled enemies. One of the most iconic features of the game’s combat is its grappling hook, which can be used to climb massive monsters, Dragon’s Dogma style.
The original Freedom Wars received mixed reviews but gained a cult following for its bizarre story and its unique multiplayer modes. Despite its popularity, servers were shut down in 2021, making the best parts of the game unplayable until now.
The launch of Freedom Wars Remastered means the game will get a second chance to capture a larger audience, and it’s returning with some upgrades to help. The most obvious update is an improvement to both graphical fidelity and frame rate as it moves from the Vita to the PlayStation, Switch, and PC. The pace of battles is also increasing, with movement speed getting a buff and the ability to cancel out of attacks being added. Weapon upgrading is also getting an overhaul, with a new way to level up gear and the ability to detach and reuse upgrades after assigning them to weapons.
Freedom Wars Remastered brings back one of the most interesting multiplayer games from the PS Vita.
Online multiplayer is Freedom Wars’ defining feature, and Bandai Namco is making it a lot easier to quickly get into matches for the remaster. A new casual match mode is being added that lets players set custom rules if you just want to hop in for some multiplayer fun. For those who want to stick to the campaign, Deadly Sinner Mode is a new high-difficulty option coming to the remaster.
Part of what made Freedom Wars a cult hit on Vita is its sheer oddity. Part Monster Hunter, part online player-versus-player battler, the original stood out as one of the most interesting multiplayer games on the Vita. There’s certainly a lot more competition for both co-op and PvP games on current consoles, but Freedom Wars Remastered still stands a chance of capturing a dedicated audience looking for something just a bit stranger. It might not always make sense to announce a new game’s features with a cartoon bear mascot with authoritarian impulses, but it fits the vibe of Freedom Wars perfectly. With live-service games struggling across the board, the chance to play a very different kind of online game could have plenty of appeal not only for players who long for the days of the Vita, but also those showing up to Freedom Wars for the first time.
