PlayStation Vita’s best exclusive is making the comeback that no one was expecting
THE PLAYSTATION Vita stopped production in 2021, and since then, most of its exclusives have been ported to other platforms.
At the start of 2023, Persona 4 Golden was released for multiple consoles, but there are still a few games that never left the portable.
During the Vita’s lifespan, a few games received PlayStation 4 ports, including Tearaway Unfolded and Gravity Rush Remastered.
However, there were still plenty of games that you couldn’t play without PlayStation’s handheld console.
One of the Vita’s best games was Freedom Wars, a hack ‘n’ slash where you use a weapon called a thorn to grapple to the top of large mechs.
From here you can sever off important materials, and collect them to create better weapons for battle.
It had great multiplayer gameplay, too, and you could make a team of up to four people to take down some of the game’s harder challenges.
While Freedom Wars was praised by the Vita community, it didn’t see a large player base due to the small number of Vita owners.
That’s why people were shocked to discover that Freedom Wars is making a comeback so that everyone can experience it.
Bandai Namco revealed that it had acquired the rights to Freedom Wars and would be releasing a remaster for modern consoles.
It’s still a while from launch, but the former Vita exclusive will be released on PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch and PC.
Fans thought it was strange that Freedom Wars wouldn’t launch on Xbox, but it is common for more niche Japanese games to not be released for the American console.
Xbox sales in Japan are particularly low, and it can be seen as a risk to launch a smaller Japanese game on a mostly Western platform.
There will still be plenty of ways for Western gamers to play, but they’ll have to stick to Japanese consoles for now.
The news of the remaster has excited not only those who missed out on the Vita, but the Sony handheld owners as well.
Vita players view this as a sign that the game could see further development, with the possibility of a sequel if the remaster does well.
In recent years, a number of games that were popular on Vita have seen enhanced ports, such as The Caligula Effect and Tokyo Xanadu Ex.
Freedom Wars Remastered will launch on January 10, 2025.
If you want to read more about upcoming games, check out our Dead Rising Deluxe Remastered review.
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