The retro game train continues, but this new rerelease is not that old, and a welcome surprise.
As reported by Gematsu, 2014 PlayStation Vita title Freedom Wars is getting a remaster, and coming to PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Steam, and the Nintendo Switch. You can look forward to the game in January 5 of next year worldwide, a day after its Japanese release.
So, Gematsu names Dimps as the developer, and that may have been the main studio behind it. But this game was also made by Shift, another independent Japanese game studio, and Sony’s own Japan Studios.
Sony was the publisher for the game on the Vita, making this a second party title. So how did this game leave the proverbial PlayStation forbidden door to make it to Steam, and especially, the Nintendo Switch?
Gematsu has the answer, thankfully. The game’s original director at Dimps, Takashi Tsukamoto, explained that his studio wanted to make a sequel but the chance never came up. He then says this:
“When we [Dimps] received the license from Sony Interactive Entertainment to create a remastered version and were looking for a publisher, Bandai Namco Entertainment kindly stepped forward and offered to publish.”
Now, we would like to set expectations for you. Freedom Wars is one of the best action RPGs on the Vita, but it’s not really notable in that genre overall. Reviews praised its presentation but criticized its narrative, and reviewers were split on its combat. It stands at a Metacritic of 73 from 39 critic reviews, but also an 8.3 from user reviews.
This is a game that Vita owners liked, but it was certainly a blink-it-and-you’ll-miss it kind of game. Only, that’s no longer the case, thanks to Bandai Namco.
We know some gamers have fond memories of the Vita, but the remastering was definitely necessary to bring this game back to update Freedom Wars to modern expectations.
As a result, Dimps promises the much needed higher definition textures and improved graphics. It can do 4K on PC, 60 FPS on PlayStation and PC, and it also boasts improvements in controls, weapon crafting, and upgrade system.
Lastly, Dimps managed to bring back the co-op mode, and the potential for this mode is now bigger on the Switch and PlayStation than it was on the Vita. We would love it if Dimps and Bandai Namco managed to make it cross-play and cross-progression across all platforms, but we have more than enough time to learn about that before its release next year.
We can’t end this article without pointing out that if this can see a rerelease, so can other Vita exclusive titles too. Sony first party titles like Tearaway and Killzone Resistance may be scant and unlikely, but there are also third party games like Soul Sacrifice and Shinobido 2 that could find a new audience. Even if these games don’t sell that much, they can make a neat profit from the lower cost of a remaster, and they haven’t been made widely available again quite yet.
You can watch the Freedom Wars Remastered announcement trailer below.
