Reviving the Classic: Sony’s Freedom Wars Makes a Triumphant Return to Modern Consoles

Once again, Sony has proven itself to be a patron saint of a homecoming between gaming’s past and its future. Fronting that love letter is, of course, Freedom Wars. Earlier this year, it was confirmed that Bandai Namco’s PS Vita masterpiece would receive a 4K remaster with a 60fps framerate and other graphical and gameplay enhancements. A few months in, the question remains: why? What does the return of Freedom Wars for audiences and the industry tell us about the state of gaming? This nonfiction essay grabs hold of the spirit and speaks to the implications of Freedom Wars’ resurrection a little more than a year since it was first published.

SONY Breathes New Life into a Beloved Classic

Released in 2014, Freedom Wars was a dystopian third-person multiplayer action game made by the now-defunct, Sony-owned Japan Studio, a co-op side-scroller in the same vein as Monster Hunter, but thumbed into a spotlight of its own, with up to eight players in play at one time. The studio’s dissolution also came with the closure of its servers in 2021, which caused many of the game’s die-hard fans to clamour for more. Thanks to Dimps Corporation and contract with Sony, that craving will be assuaged.

Why Freedom Wars Still Matters

As a slightly more niche title, though still one of the PlayStation Vita system’s bestsellers, it built a dedicated fan base and still ranks as the 25th bestselling Vita game of all time. It created an entirely unique loop of combat, looting and upgrading that lasted for hundreds of hours, and which offered the most gameplay, most grind, and most involvement with its social elements of any game on the Vita – a system that was, after all, made for things like that. It was hardcore, in a way that’s too rare on the Sony portable system. It was a game that played like a lifestyle, and it was there for you every day along with a dedicated community of enthusiasts. It was the Vita for a lot of people.

What’s New in the Remastered Edition?

Freedom Wars Remastered is not just a fresh coat of paint: as well as graphical improvements that bring the post-apocalyptic world to vivid life, the remaster features a reworked weapon crafting mechanics, and two new difficulty levels that expand on the original game’s scope. Meanwhile, as game outlets have reported following their preview copies, much of the core gameplay that made Freedom Wars so memorable — even ‘timeless’, in some reviews — appears to remain intact, reworking the world of yesteryear into something of today.

A Novelty or a Necessity?

In its capacity as a sort of legacy tribute to the Vita (as well as a portal to a possible future expansion of the Freedom Wars world), the remaster is viewed by fans and industry veterans alike as a necessary first step towards the development of future titles – a shorthand for a million ideas tucked away beneath the surface, ready to be explored once that oh-so-desired day sequel finally arrives. ‘[The remaster] is essential. It’s the first tile in the comprehensive future freedom wars universe,’ says developer Takashi Tsukamoto. ‘If I get to make the sequels, I’m sure I’ll be able to pour the ideas out of my brain!’

SONY’s Strategy: Nostalgia Meets Innovation

If anything, the fact that I am replaying Freedom Wars in 2022 says a lot about the bigger picture of Sony’s forward-thinking plan for the future of gaming. By cultivating nostalgia – a tactic shared by many others in the space – and combining it with the best of tech that modern manufacturing has to offer, Sony has not only reinforced the esteem that it has garnered over the years, but what that esteem has become. What it means to play a Playstation game. This practice legitimises older games to console buyers in ways that other companies could explore. But it also welcomes those who enter into gaming for the first time. Now, Sony’s gaming future is wide open to fans of all stripes.

A Waiting Game

With Freedom Wars Remastered releasing on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Steam, and Nintendo Switch on 10 January 2025, fans are looking ahead to hoping that a Freedom Wars 3 is looming in the horizon. Although there’s no word on a potential sequel at this time, the massive fanbase and support for this remaster could be just enough for Sony to greenlight those dreams as well, and set the stage for any continuations in the Freedom Wars series.

About SONY

Sony is the undisputed king of the entertainment and gadget mountain, and its interactive division, Sony Interactive Entertainment, is the mother of some of the most immersive, visceral and cog-switching gaming experiences you’re likely to get your hands on. From the PlayStation console itself to the games that would come to define the gaming zeitgeist, Sony was at the forefront of the effects that would change gaming from its earliest days. Every epochal remaster, every new release, every new gaming innovation is an invitation for gamers to new worlds, a test of skill and a collective celebration of gaming, for anyone anywhere in the world who wants to become a participant.

Through a nod to nostalgia along with enough innovation to keep itself from playing like an ancient port, Sony’s resurrection of Freedom Wars shows its willingness to pay respect to gaming’s past while continuing to create its future. Until the remastered version comes out and possible sequels follow, we know that Sony is once again at the top of the pack in terms of games created to amaze, inspire and delight.