Freedom Wars certainly isn't the only Monster Hunter clone available on Vita, but it’s perhaps its most successful one. The staying power of its addictive fight-loot-upgrade cycle is enhanced by deep gameplay and customization options, though those occasionally do get lost behind a couple of unfortunate design choices.

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Like Soul Sacrifice, Vita's first Monster Hunter clone of any consequence, Freedom Wars is drowning in story and lore, though unlike Soul Sacrifice, skipping over or ignoring the plot isn't all that easy. There are a bunch of characters to meet and a ton of text to read through, but mere hours into the adventure, I didn't find myself caring a great deal about anything that was going on. Purists will likely appreciate the fact that the original Japanese voice acting is intact, but Freedom Wars' story tends to get in the way of what really matters: gameplay. This is doubly annoying, considering the amount of backtracking and fast-traveling you'll have to do simply to advance the story to points where you can fight Freedom Wars' gigantic, hulking enemies called Abductors (but more on that later).Ironically, the setting -- and its single-minded dedication to its overarching themes -- is much better, and wonderfully complements its feeling of immersion. Freedom Wars takes place in a far-flung future where massive cities known as Panopticons endlessly compete with one another for resources. Anyone who presents even a mild strain on this already-overtaxed system -- like us -- are deemed Sinners, and in turn are given exorbitant million-year prison sentences that can only be reduced by working for the state, towards what the government deems The Greater Good. It made me wish the campaign focused less on endless chatter and exposition and more on playing up the oddity and unsettling nature of everything around you, especially since much of what you do revolves around whittling down your sentence.Orwellian language is used everywhere, and evidence of a totalitarian system run amok can be glimpsed in all corners, further adding to a thick layer of intrigue. Do you want to remodel your character or change his or her clothing? That's called Requesting an Image Overhaul and Physical Remodeling. Want a new name? That's referred to as Nominative Reassignment. Care to browse some in-game tutorials? You'll need to go to View Reeducation Materials. Want to leave your jail cell? Then you'll need to Request Exit Permit.Your Panopticon's true prison-state status comes to the fore when you start talking about so-called Entitlements, however, or the right to do just about anything, both inside and outside of battle. Using points earned by Donating to the Greater Good, you have to buy the right to sit down, to run, to talk to people of the opposite sex. Freedom Wars' insistence on making you feel like an isolated, dangerous, and mistreated prisoner truly goes above and beyond, and is perhaps its greatest calling card. Better yet, it ups the ante by punishing you for doing things you don't have an Entitlement for. Laying down on your cot in your cell? Better not do that, or you can expect to get 20 years added to your already-exorbitant million-year sentence. You can imagine how serious the penalties for real infractions can be.Once on the field of battle -- a handful of maps running the gamut from gigantic to tiny, from nature-based to industrial -- the fun of Freedom Wars truly begins. The aforementioned Abductors, gigantic cybernetic beasts that tend to capture and hold captive productive Panopticon citizens, will challenge you and your team, (which can be made up of AI characters or real people). The idea in these battles isn’t gunning and bashing with reckless abandon, but rather collaboration, using the weapons at your disposal -- swords, spears, assault rifles, chain guns, and more -- to bring these creatures down in unison.With bullets whizzing by, swords colliding with metal, and danger all around, Freedom Wars’ third-person hack-and-slash (and shoot) battles are frenetic and satisfying, but they also typically take quite a bit of time to get through. Abductors are very, very strong, and they can withstand incredible amounts of damage. When you're fighting two, or even three at a time, it'll take real effort and coordination to obliterate them all. For example, some of my battles went like this: one team member focused on using her Thorn -- effectively a hookshot -- to climb onto an Abductor, working to saw off one of its guns or limbs. Meanwhile, another two team members stayed far away, taking potshots with firearms, while a brave fourth member gets up close, using his thorn to temporarily bring the Abductor to the ground, where it’s susceptible to getting beat up.Equally satisfying is watching pieces and parts of the Abductors fly off as you whittle them down to scrap metal. When you eliminate a gun, armor plate, or other section of an Abductor, it becomes a collectible that you can use to upgrade your own weapons, augmentations, and more. The interplay between what you find in battle, strewn around maps, garnered from fallen Abductors, and purchased in stores is awesome, because you'll slowly build a mountain of random items that, when utilized in conjunction with the crafting system, lets you fully control the nature of your arsenal and loadout on the fly.Unfortunately, not every fight involves an Abductor. For some reason, Freedom Wars' designers occasionally throw in a bunch of fodder for you to fight, whether accompanying Abductors or, worse yet, on their own. Because of the loose nature of the aiming system and controls that don't translate to Sinner-on-Sinner battle, fighting fellow humans and smaller robots is a constant exercise in frustration. The late-game Code 7 Test mission in particular is an excellent example of why, if Freedom Wars gets a sequel, there should be no fighting of smaller enemies of any kind. It just doesn't work right.But there's so much that does work right in Freedom Wars, and it's a game that kept me plenty busy. It'll take at least 20 hours -- if not more -- to get through the campaign, and you could conceivably spend scores of hours after that doing all of the optional quests, upgrading your character, finding new gear and goods, and collecting the full array of Trophies. It can be played in short bursts or for hours at a time, and better yet, it never forces you to play alone or online. You can do both, or one or the other, and the experience never suffers.