(Editors Note: This review will differ from the traditional review style of the VitaBoys due to the game currently only being an Import for North American, and European Regions)
Story- Freedom Wars is the newest action RPG game from SCE Japan
Studio and it is set in the year 102013 where the human race is imprisoned in
areas known as Panopticons (47 total to match the 47 Japanese Prefectures)
which are in constant war against one another. Panopticon is an area that
provides security for its citizens in exchange for time off the million year
sentence that all newborns are given. In addition to the million year sentence,
all citizens must obey the strictest of laws and if they are broken (by the
way, you are automatically guilty), you are given additional years for every
offense. This goes for resting, running, talking, etc. By performing various
tasks, you can buy certain freedoms and this is essential for advancing the
story and game.
Gameplay- Freedom Wars is the standard team action RPG that that many
Monster Hunter and God Eater fans will recognize. All offer online and offline
play that take place in different areas of the game world fighting huge
monsters and defeating them before the set time expires. In Freedom Wars, the
player is fighting huge weapons named Abductors because, you guessed it, and
they abduct civilians. And it’s up to you and your merry band of misfits named
Accessories which provide you with support and attack abilities during the
fight. For the most part, they are helpful, but usually you’ll be let down by
their subpar AI and the inability to get out of the fire. Many times I’ve seen
my whole crew get demolish because they will not get out of the way of attacks
while the enemy AI is spot on and will kill you with authority while your team
is picking daisies on the other side of the map.
When the AI cooperates with you, the game shines. With
various guns and sharp weapons, you can play the way you like. Whether you like
hand to hand combat or sniping from a rooftop, Freedom Wars has what you need.
Sharp skills in both areas will guarantee that you will succeed in this game.
In addition to the melee and ranged weapon attacks, you are introduced to the
“Thorn”. The thorn is a type of whip that the player can use to scale building,
enemies and abductors. Using the thorn
effectively on an abductor can yield positive results like tripping over the
weapon to get free melee hits as well as scaling the abductor to try and rescue
the abductees.
Once you perform the rescue, it’s a mad chase to the rescue
pod. When this happens, the Abductor will go and chase you down preventing you
from performing a successful rescue. Rescuing is a part of the game that’s
essential in ending a battle early but it’s also the most frustrating as once
you hold down X to sprint, there’s no way to control your character. If you are
being chased down and run into a wall, you will be knocked down and drop the
person you are carrying. So you must slow down and speed up when appropriate
and you should be successful. If not, you’ll probably be one or two shotted and
will have to either get revived or respawn at a checkpoint.
Graphics/Sound- Freedom Wars is one beautiful game. While most of it is dark
and brown, there is still plenty of detail that makes the game shine. From the
abductors to the accessories, you can tell that plenty of time was spent on the
looks of the game and it shows. The game
looks to be running at native resolution but it suffers from massive frame rate
dips as it struggles with maintaining 30FPS when the action gets busy. It’s not
game breaking but it is noticeable especially when trying to time your attacks
and/or getting the hell out of the way. But once you look past those flaws,
there’s a pretty game that looks great on both the OLED and the LCD vita.
The game is fully voiced and it sounds fantastic. From the
accessories to the robot PA system, the voice acting was really well done. Good
news is that the localized release will keep the Japanese voices with English
texts. I was a little disappointed with the gun sounds as they sounded a bit muffled
and not as loud as I hoped they would be. Other than that, the sound effects
sound great and helps with the immersion.
Ease of Import- This isn’t as straight forward as most Japanese hunting
genre games go. There are certain events that must be triggered before moving
on. While the majority will give you an indication of where to, but most times
it won’t be there because you need to gather materials or buy certain freedoms
before moving on. There’s a certain point in chapter 2 where many non Japanese
speaking players will hit a major wall and would give up. Luckily, GameFAQs has
a large Freedom Wars audience where you can be helped when stuck. Most of the
time, you’ll be buying various freedoms with the credit you’ve earned and
eventually you will unlock what you need. Also, taking a screenshot and
comparing with what you are missing will help tremendously. Other than that,
the game doesn’t need a lot of Japanese knowledge, just a lot of patience and
time. But once you get through that hurdle, the game will flow and will have
hardly any problems language wise. If you don’t know any Japanese and are eager
to play it early, it’s a fun time. Other than that, I suggest to wait for the
localization coming this fall to enjoy it as it was meant to be played.
Overall-
8.5/10
