Developed by Dimps and initially released for the PlayStation Vita in 2014, Freedom Wars proved to be a cult classic for the portable platform, with an interesting premise and combining gaming genres with the likes of Capcom’s Monster Hunter and Omega Force’s Warriors franchise with some of its unique twists and quirks inspired by the gritty sci-fi dystopia it envisioned. The limiting factor was that the game was released on the PlayStation Vita. This console enjoyed a lot of development, especially from Japanese and independent markets, but didn’t have the same mainstream appeal of home video game consoles, and the Nintendo 3DS. The result was that, despite serving as solid roots to a brand-new franchise, nothing further eventuated, with no clear sign of whether any studio would touch it again. While no sequel or successor has been confirmed as in the works, now in 2025, a much broader audience can experience the game as Freedom Wars Remastered, with Bandai Namco Entertainment partnering up with Dimps to give the series a potential second chance at life, and for the most part they accomplish this in my opinion.
Freedom Wars Remastered takes place in 102,014, a far from utopic future. In this timeline, mankind had ravaged the planet’s surface so that the bountiful harvests and resources we enjoy today are no longer viable. With the surface unhabitable, the remnants of humanity are forced to reside in underground city-states known as Panopticons. But with resources limited, dystopian rules are in place – where the mere act of existing and being considered a drain on resources is considered a crime, punishable by a million-year prison sentence. The only way to survive and have one’s sentence reduced as a ‘sinner’ is by volunteering and supporting your Panopticon, usually involving combat, civilian reclamation and collection of resources. Aided by your android ‘Accessory’ designed to keep track of you, and a small cast of allies, you fill the shoes of your own custom character who, after losing all their memories, finds themselves with a new million-year sentence. However, what is even more curious than your amnesia, are the mysteries you get drawn into revolving around ‘The Great Transformation’, and a mysterious woman you rescue one day…
The narrative in Freedom Wars Remastered excels at plunging you into a world where existence itself has been criminalized, and the weight of a million-year sentence lingers over every interaction. Through its bleak depiction of Panopticons and the rigid rules that govern them, the game succeeds in highlighting humanity’s desperation to secure dwindling resources. Moments, where characters grapple with the harsh realities of perpetual surveillance, crushing debt, and institutionalized servitude, convey a tangible sense of oppression that resonates well beyond the realm of fiction. The punishment system—where actions as mundane as running too far, lying down, or interacting without permission result in years being added to your sentence—adds a layer of seriousness and cruelness to the dystopia, reinforcing the dehumanizing nature of the world. On the note of incurring punishments, while you may want to groan at having 10, 20, 50 even 100 years added to your sentence through mistakes you genuinely can make while playing, this is primarily a narrative device and is not something you need to fret about – leading to more world building than an alternate ‘bad end’.
Despite the thought-provoking setup, the storytelling occasionally falters in delivering the emotional response one might expect from such a premise. Some plot points hint at grand revelations but end up feeling unresolved, leaving numerous character motivations or tantalising narrative threads underexplored. As a result, Freedom Wars, and in turn, Freedom Wars Remastered feels like the starting point for a much broader franchise than just one game. Whilst I wouldn’t get my hopes too high – here’s hoping that this new collaboration between Dimps and Bandai Namco Entertainment could see these narrative threats realised in the future. But in the meantime, for those who appreciate layered world-building and moral complexity, the story presents an undeniably haunting vision of what humanity might become when pushed to its limits – that has many twists and turns along the way that one might not initially expect going into the game.
Without rebuilding the game from the ground up, Freedom Wars Remastered does not escape the fact that it was originally developed more than a decade ago for the PlayStation Vita. However, in the remastering process, the development team does an admirable job of polishing up the visuals, delivering environments that feel gritty and oppressive, but not too much. While the reused areas from the original do sometimes betray the game’s handheld roots with limited detail and occasionally sparse backdrops, the upscaled textures and enhanced lighting breathe life into every corner of the Panopticon. Character models are crisp, and while they go by unnoticeable in combat, the character designs are unique enough, while the animations are fairly basic overall for both man and machine, but again, do the job well.
From the evocative synth beats underscoring tense combat encounters to the pop-rock highlights that punctuate calmer moments, the soundtrack amplifies the mood of desperation and duty within the game’s world while being something you can comfortably listen to during play sessions. Complementing this is dual-language (original Japanese and brand new English dubbing), with my recommendation being to go with your preferences – with solid voice acting on each side. What I particularly love about the voice acting in Freedom Wars is that some mechanical entities – such as your Accessory companion and Percy Propa are voiced using text-to-speech voice synthesis. It gives this unnatural, unemotional and inorganic nature to their tones, which further sets apart man and machine while feeling a little bit retro and old-school cool compared to more natural-sounding AI voice synthesis prominent today. Additionally, this means you can also customise your accessory to say certain lines of your choosing at points.
Having been developed for the PlayStation Vita, Freedom Wars favours shorter experiences one could play in any environment, rather than long-drawn-out experiences best enjoyed in front of one’s PC or gaming console of choice. Gameplay hinges on a rapid, mission-based structure, with each assignment feeling like a short but intense encounter designed to complete tasks, which in turn progress the narrative, give you loot, and ultimately begin making small but consistent dents in your million-year sentences. Some of these missions may see you battling against large-scale Abductors with large HP pools and heavy armour a la Monster Hunter style to free captive civilians, to fending off rival Panopticons. In these engagements, you can choose from an array of melee and ranged weapons for each you and your accessory partner, with a good variety from a suite of light and heavy physical weapons, to ranged weapons that do heavy booms or rapid pew-pews. There is arguably no bad option to go with, and allows flexibility with your play style, and anything that may be lacking in your arsenal can be covered by either your accessory or your (up to) three other party members plus their accessories. Controlling each party member is a bit more tricky and on the fly you will just give general directions via general command options, but the AI is surprisingly satisfying.
One unique trait of Freedom Wars, serving as this game’s version of a grappling hook, is the Thorn system. Coming in Damage, Healing and Defensive varieties, these allow players to target and augment the manoeuvrability of each person on the battlefield, and provide additional skills when in a pinch – such as an emergency healing boost. By firing your Thorn, you can grapple onto towering Abductors, walls, or platforms, zipping around maps with surprising agility. This mechanic not only lets you dart in to sever enemy limbs or knock them off-balance but also encourages vertical strategies, such as attacking from above or rescuing citizens held aloft in mechanical cocoons or atop ruined skyscrapers. With one of the main selling points being the Abductors you’ll be taking down, the thorn system delivers a fast-paced sense of mobility that push above its weight for the console it was originally released on. Players can loop around a target’s flank midair, exploit vantage points to pinpoint weak spots, or work together with allies to wrestle an Abductor off-balance, reinforcing the feeling that every Thorn shot and each timely swing can turn the tide of battle.
Between missions, you’ll spend time in your Panopticon’s base setting up loadouts, upgrading gear, or choosing new missions. Weapons are crafted or enhanced by collecting materials torn from your foes, including the colossal Abductors themselves. This system mirrors the “hunt, harvest, upgrade” gameplay loop many genre fans are used to, but scales back some of the complexity in favour of a more straightforward upgrade path. Simplified as it is, though, it’s still deeply satisfying to see your carefully modified weapon rip through an enemy you once struggled with. Furthermore, these weapons can be upgraded with modifications that offer everything from elemental attack boosts—encompassing Fire, Ice, Electricity, and Will’O – to practical perks such as increased clip size. While you don’t have to micromanage upgrades for every party member, their equipment level improves alongside yours, allowing you to focus on honing your own arsenal and unlocking additional perks.
One of the most distinctive aspects of Freedom Wars Remastered is the towering one-million-year sentence you begin with – a figure so large that every mission and side task chips away at it bit by bit. While it is not required to take this counter to zero, so don’t fret about losing years here and there, taking that sum down and hitting milestones is surprisingly satisfying. Completing assignments, rescuing civilians, donating resources – nearly every action reduces your time. As you climb the game’s “CODE” levels, you not only earn shorter sentences but also unlock useful privileges. These might include the ability to sprint for more than a few seconds without incurring penalties, the option to don new gear and outfits, and, as mentioned above, increasing the equipment levels of your party members (because as the main character, it’s all up to you, right?). It’s a tangible progression system that makes leveling up feel meaningful and, from a narrative perspective, exemplifies how even the smallest liberties – things most games give freely – must be painstakingly earned in this dystopian future.
While you can opt to play the entire game with AI companions, online multiplayer is also an option, allowing you to team up with other players to tackle more formidable challenges or even engage in PvP-style skirmishes for resources. Having a full squad can lead to chaotic but thrilling battles, with each Sinner’s Thorn usage creating spectacular aerial takedowns against towering machines. As someone who doesn’t particularly enjoy social gaming, I didn’t test this out extensively. However, my few play sessions were enjoyable and without major issues.
On the point of issues, Freedom Wars Remastered was not bug-free. I am hoping for a patch to resolve these soon, as the bugs typically only appeared in some of the tougher battles. These issues were most common in the CODE level examinations, which are designed to test player skill. Specifically, the game tends to crash seemingly for no reason—one moment you are playing, and the next moment you are either soft-locked or sent back to the console’s home screen. While these would be annoying as a “once in a blue moon” issue, these mid-battle crashes occurred at least a dozen times during my playthrough. It was especially frequent during the CODE 6 Examination boss, which marks a sharp jump in difficulty. Additionally, there were a couple of random soft-locks caused when attempting to do such innocuous things as interacting with the Jukebox.
It’s undeniable that Freedom Wars Remastered shows its age in certain respects. Yet it remains a gripping journey into a dystopia that feels wholly deserving of further exploration. By polishing just enough of the original and bringing it to broader audiences outside of Sony’s now defunct portable console, it highlights the elements and quirks that have made this a PS Vita cult classic. In my opinion, Dimps and Bandai Namco Entertainment have laid a solid foundation for something more. Should this remaster spark enough interest, I’m hoping we will at the very least see a sequel that dives deeper into the Panopticons, their rivalries, and the world’s dark secrets – following the narrative branches not fully explored and ripe for exploration. For now though… are you ready to choose your Panopticon and begin your million year sentence for being born?
Final Score for Freedom Wars Remastered
A PlayStation 5 digital review code for Freedom Wars Remastered was kindly provided by Bandai Namco Entertainment Australia to assist in facilitating this review. This review was conducted on a PlayStation 5 Pro unit.
Freedom Wars Remastered is now available on the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch and Windows PC (via Steam).
