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Review: Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound and Debriefed

Show me how you strip

The Akiba’s Trip series is one that I think many people know based on premise alone. It has never reviewed very well in the West, but it’s hard to ignore a game whose central mechanic is undressing people in Akihabara. Undressing people. Stripping them to the nude. Putting them in their flesh tuxedo. They’ve even contrived a reason to do so, but we’ll get to that.

We never got the original Akiba’s Trip over here in North America. It was originally released in 2011 on the PSP, which was close enough to the launch of the Vita to be ignored. Instead, we jumped straight into the sequel, Akiba’s Trip: Undead & Undressed .

Now, however, we’re getting a chance to travel back to 2011’s Akihabara with Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed (oh, I get it, “HD”) and see how the stripping began.

Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed ( Nintendo Switch [reviewed], PC , PS4 ) Developer: ACQUIRE Corp. Publisher: XSEED Games, Marvelous USA, Inc. Released: July 20, 2021 MSRP: $39.99

Let’s address the whole “HD” part of this package. Akiba’s Trip was a mighty fine-looking PSP game for its time. It is not, however, a good-looking Switch, PS4, or PC game. Models are angular, textures are blurry, and if you look too far off, you can see the cars disappear into the 2D backdrops. It’s an improvement over the original, don’t get me wrong. Textures and lighting have been touched up, but they didn’t go as far as even matching Undead & Undressed’s graphical fidelity.

Even still, the framerate tends to chug on the Switch version when you position the camera just right or there’s lots of stripping going on. I never found it too intrusive, but it was hard to ignore.

That’s not the end of the world, but it doesn’t bode well for any other upgrades. Indeed, the combat, which has been a sticking point for the series in general, is just as clunky as ever. The idea is that you have to damage the enemy’s clothing before you can rip it off, exposing their supple flesh to the world. There’s headwear, upper body, and lower body, and they are all worn down with their individual attacks. As such, you have high, mid, and low attacks, but they can’t be chained together in any advantageous way, so you’re stuck with just kicking them in the shins until their pants break.

The biggest issue is the targeting, which is essentially non-existent. You can’t lock on, so you’re at the mercy of your character’s attention span, and they’re easily distracted. Even when fighting only one enemy, you’ll often find yourself attacking off to the side for no reason, or striking behind your target. In groups, things can get hopeless, and kamisama help anyone who joins you as an ally. Just flail in the direction of the enemies you want to strip and start tearing every once and a while. See what you can catch.

The whole reason for the stripping? Akiba’s Trip tells you it’s because there are vampires preying on the citizens of Akihabara, but it gets a little murky. You’re turned vampire at the outset, so you’re just as susceptible to sunlight as everyone else. Lose your clothes, and you dissolve. Take off a vampire’s outfit, and they dissolve. Strip a bystander, and they just run off in embarrassment.

The weird thing is, the story isn’t all that committed to this concept. It plays along with the whole hidden threat angle, but often when you strip a character with a name, they’re just like, “Hah, I’m too tough to be killed by the sun!” Then they run off because no one has heard of restraints. You can also just strip down to a pair of headphones and be perfectly fine. As long as you’re wearing an article of clothing, the sun can’t hurt you. Your underwear doesn’t count. Thankfully?

Why are all these vampires out in the daylight, anyway? Have they never heard of coffins? I’m pretty sure Akihabara has a nightlife to prey on.

The story of Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound and Debriefed involves you investigating the disappearance of a friend and getting beaten up in an alley. A woman takes pity on you and shares her blood with you by way of a kiss, and you become a vampire — sorry, Shadow Soul — like her. An organization dedicated to the eradication of Shadow Souls, NIRO, recruits you by force to stop their diabolical scheme.

The plan? Vampire bites apparently turn people into shut-ins. It’s not very well explained, but from what I gather, I may have been a victim of these Shadow Souls. I’m also not really certain of the grand plan. Drive down human birth rates in Japan so vampires can thrive? I’m not sure they need help with that, especially not in Akihabara.

I poke fun at some of the more nebulous elements, but the foundation does a decent job of moving things along. While it seems from the outset that NIRO has you by the crotch of the pants, as the plot moves along, you’re given some agency in who you help. Your primary concern is protecting the people of the Tokyo neighborhood, but who has its best interests in mind? Is it really NIRO? Are all vampires bad?

Likewise, the characters are enjoyable, if not a fair bit archetypal. It does tend to get a bit overly wordy, especially towards the end. There’s a possible romance in the game that I enjoyed, but every so often she’d start to drop analogies that I just didn’t understand. I’m sorry, but an analogy is supposed to clarify a subject, not mystify it further. Poor use of poetic license is a turn-off for me.

At its core, Akiba’s Trip is about being an otaku, which I guess also means being a pervert. Throughout the game, you’ll be subjected to fetishes laid bare. I consider myself to be pretty open-minded, but I found myself feeling somewhat uncomfortable when I had to utilize the protagonist’s little sister to awaken a schoolgirl fantasy in him. Likewise, when I had to find a “cherry” on the street, deceive her, and deliver her to the local BDSM queen, I kind of felt a bit disconnected. But the game rewarded me for being a predator! Not sure what message that sends.

It’s nothing worse than you’d find in some of the lewder anime out there, just be ready to dip your toes into other people’s kinks. Some that you might not be into, but others that you might be! What’s your game, friend? Crossplay, maids, moe, catgirls, bunny girls, fox girls? You’re covered. Just don’t be surprised when it skirts a little near sexual assault territory, as if the core theme wasn’t close enough.

Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed is a horny game if nothing else. It’s not explicit ecchi, but it knows exactly what it’s doing, and it succeeds in a lot of ways. It’s an interesting satire of the otaku lifestyle, both poking fun at and embracing it.

Most of the time, though, it’s like playing a stripped-down version of Yakuza . You wander a Japanese neighborhood, shop, do side-quests, build up your character, much like in that venerated series. But then the combat sucks and the story is poorly paced. On the other hand, I can’t deny it grew on me. It feels like one of those janky, Japanese, early PS2 titles like Mr. Mosquito or Robot Alchemic Drive . It might not be the most fun to play, but it’s unique enough to captivate.

[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]

Jul 21, 2021

Review: Akiba's Trip - Hellbound & Debriefed

By: Fernando Da Costa

Developer: Acquire

Publisher: XSeed Games

Available On: PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, PC

Review Console: Nintendo Switch Lite

WELCOME TO AKIHABARA! - Introduction

In 2013, North America was introduced to a strange little title - a game centred around the premise of stripping. Unbeknownst to me, it was actually the sequel to a Japan-exclusive game. Well, it’s the 10th Anniversary this year, and that unobtainable entry is no longer such, finally coming stateside with all its lunacy intact. We’re back at it again, battling creatures known as Shadow Souls, though they’re clearly vampires. Not only does the sun lead to their spontaneous combustion, but they’re also fans of nibbling on the neck - quite the romantics. The world is no longer enthralled with Twilight or True Blood , so bloodsuckers aren’t in as much as they once were. One might wonder how this PlayStation Portable port will fare in this day and age. Yup, a port, quite a scary thought for most, but we’ve seen those fears can be unwarranted. After 20+ hours of stripping and playing dress-up with my character, I have a few thoughts. So grab a cold one or make a hot beverage because, honestly, there’s a lot to say.

HELLO, FAN SERVICE! - Writing

So, there’s no sugar-coating how perverse the dialogue gets. It routinely ventures into taboo topics and does so rather nonchalantly. To its credit, though, Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound and Debriefed tries to be progressive with implied LGBTQ+ romance. While that’s very much appreciated, it’s, bluntly put, presented like a teenager’s wet dream of a lesbian relationship. The execution leaves a lot to be desired, and that, sadly, persists. It’s important to note that no theme is off-limits. For instance, there’s an incest scenario that‘s, thankfully, inconsequential to the main narrative. It also doesn’t involve sexual activity of any kind. For anyone curious, the section in question tasks the protagonist with dressing his younger little sister in outfits - short skirts, sexy shirts, and so on. Many folks may find this creepy and, by proxy, be deterred, so please, be wary. Otherwise, sexual innuendo is scattered throughout, with one mission even hinting at masturbation. Up to this point, I’ve discussed how depraved the content gets. That said, none of it is ever detailed in a grotesque manner. This isn’t hardcore porn masquerading as a video game. Sure, the way subjects are handled will show their age, but it never delved into offensive territory.

The story, in general, is full of comedic elements, so, naturally, insanity will follow. Despite likely laughs, however, this serves as a detriment to Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound and Debriefed . First impressions are crucial as they can convince a person to stay or go. Needless to say, the first few hours here are juvenile and will probably bore most. It’s a shame, too since, if you do truck on, some genuine substance does slowly manifest. Even with its stereotypical cast, I still managed to grow attached to the core bunch of characters - The Freedom Fighters. They had a strange charm to them - maybe because it’s a group of misfits. It definitely gave them an air of reliability, and hell, I chuckled at a handful of interactions, especially with Nobu. He’s, by far, my favourite and is utterly infatuated with two-dimensional women. One particular relationship that’s especially wholesome is between the protagonist and Rui. The sincerity in their conversations felt real. She had such an innocence to her personality. There’s no denying the plot is generic, but the added spice of love stories and a few entertaining exchanges was welcomed.

HIT HIM WITH A BAT! - Gameplay

One word I liberally use in my review lexicon is potential. There're many titles that, while not fantastic, could be with a few tweaks. Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound and Debriefed sits firmly in that category - this game needs work.

My first major gripe is those clunky controls. The buttons aren’t as responsive as they should be, and the joysticks, at times, felt like they had a mind of their own. Before I get into it, I need to get into the nitty-gritty of combat. You see, it utilizes the standard three-button combination that most brawlers follow. As I pummeled my enemies into the ground, their clothing would flash red as a prompt appeared. As I’m sure you’ve surmised, this is to indicate that stripping is a go. Now, for, I assume, convenience, that same prompt is the exact button used when attacking. For instance, X is upper, Y is mid, and A is lower. Thanks to this, mistaken outputs happen far more than they should. A simple tap gets misinterpreted as being held down, thus resulting in going into the stripping animation, even if I meant to punch a face. It only lasts a second, but the thing is, because it happens frequently, it adds up. To pile on insult to injury, I died once or twice due to being vulnerable to assault. Sure, it was never enough to make me rage quit, but I’d be damned if it wasn’t frustrating.

ROLEPLAYING A BRAWLER! - Gameplay

For those unfamiliar with this franchise, it combines Brawler and RPG. Of course, with such a genre split, one would expect grinding and rightfully so. The good news is the Protagonist has a paltry two stats - attack and defence. The optimal way to bolster these isn’t by levelling but, instead, by retrieving your opponent's clothing. You see, everyone wears apparel that can be snatched and, in turn, worn yourself. These come in three different forms: headgear, a top, and a bottom. On a related note, I just want to point out that every piece is visually represented on the character model - a nice detail.

Now, you won’t be stealing shirts off the back of your enemies from the get-go. It’s only through playing that the capability to do so is unlocked. As you play, unique books will pop up in the shops of Akihabara. Purchasing these is the ticket to obtaining new clothing. Keep in mind that those books only affect certain fashions that directly correlate with their content. For example, if it focuses on police uniforms, then it allows that very thing to be grabbed in an unscathed state, but nothing else. So while there’s still a degree of level grinding, the real meat and potatoes lies within the hunt for apparel.

At its core, Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound and Debriefed could be classed a collect-a-thon for the more than 300+ articles of clothing. That sounds like a stellar idea on paper, but in practice, it demands patience. To get everything, it requires multiple play-throughs. The previously touched on stilted movement and clunky controls, however, doesn’t incentivise doing so. In fact, I’m not fussed about jumping back into New Game+, and that’s a damn shame. To complement the play-throughs, there are several endings waiting to be uncovered. I’d, typically, be all for discovering them but that uninspired gameplay is my main deterrent. It legitimately boggles my mind that this 10th-anniversary release is so lacklustre. There’s minimal care or refinements made to bring this into the modern era. The reports claim that a brand new game engine was built for this, yet it still resembles a decade-old game. I applaud the English dub because it’s well done. That doesn’t negate the fact that more resources should’ve been allocated to polishing Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound and Debriefed and bringing it into the new decade.

AVOID THE SUNLIGHT! - Accessibility

One thing I won’t ever take for granted is the ability to remap buttons. Due to my extensive nerve damage to the right side of my body, my reflexes are abysmal - being in my thirties likely doesn’t help. Additionally, my brain doesn’t always communicate well with my fingers. These two factors are troublesome, specifically for pressing the shoulder buttons - more so R1. It’s especially problematic because that very button is used to dodge, meaning it’s frequently called on. The awkwardness of tapping R1, let alone doing so consistently, feels like an unnatural movement. In cases like this, I tend to favour both triggers because of my hand positioning. Both pointer fingers hover directly over each, thus making continuously tapping feel more natural in comparison. That’s why it’s very unfortunate that Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound and Debriefed doesn’t offer the option to alter the control scheme.

It’s well documented I love pixel art, and part of that is because I struggle with depth perception. The atrocious camera in this game doesn’t help that. Thanks to it, it was difficult to discern my exact position in regard to my enemies. The way I normally fix this is a lock-on system, but, unsurprisingly, there is none. As a result, there were various occasions of me aimlessly flailing around to no effect. What further added to my growing frustration was not being able to adjust my trajectory mid-combo. If I wasn’t aligned from the start, I had to allow the sequence to play out before I could correct my positioning. As my character cycled through, though, I was vulnerable. This is not only archaic but also stilted the combat itself. Sure, I could just shift the camera to mitigate my perception of the action, but that’s a bad idea as it contributes to slow-downs.

TAKE IT OFF! - Performance

From a technical standpoint, Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound and Debriefed is, without a doubt, certifiably terrible. Not only does it suffer from stutters, but also lock-ups, the aforementioned slow down, and worst of all crashes.

The stutters and slow-down usually occur simultaneously. It‘s especially noticeable in large groups of enemies. The console had difficulty displaying all the clothing being ripped off. This issue is exacerbated further by those atrocious camera angles. It had a horrible habit of bouncing around and occasionally being obstructed. This, in conjunction with zipping around to try and adjust it, caused frame drops. Thankfully, this is easily circumvented by steering clear of enclosed spaces. Although, the stutters will continue no matter what. There are a few sections of town that by simply entering can cause these hiccups too. Okay, the game was never unplayable, but that doesn’t hide how unacceptable this is.

While the lock-ups are also egregiously annoying, they, at least, seem concentrated. I suffered most in a specific area - the rooftop. While I don’t know what triggers it, I have a guess. As you make headway through the journey, more and more Shadow Souls confront you. This can devolve into an endless funnel of battles in smaller areas. After defeating each one in sight, the protagonist holsters their weapon. Enemies, however, keep on coming, meaning it’s possible to enter a constant cycle of perpetual sheathing and unsheathing. That’s when it usually happens, and, thankfully, it sometimes can solve itself. That, however, requires either the opposing NPC to hit you or Lady Luck to smile. Neither option is great because the AI is horrible and it actually sorting itself occurs randomly. Note that I suffered this elsewhere but never to the same frequency as I did on the Rooftop.

ANIME IS COOL! - Sound Design

I’m impressed by the voice acting. It won’t compete with bigger titles, mind you, but that’s irrelevant - it doesn’t have to. The delivery was much better than I expected, proving that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. It gave life to an otherwise bland script and injected the cast with charisma. It’s because of this that Nobu resonated with me so much. I understood his awkwardness because of his cadence and mannerisms. The passion he exhibited for his anime hobby was more than evident. It was impossible not to be amused by his ramblings, even though it incited a headshake. They were, however, accompanied by a smile, so there’s that. As for the emotive performances - the majority were average, but I must acknowledge the tiny glimmers of authenticity. As you’ve assuredly, noticed, I single out the Freedom Fighters as exceptionally done in the writing section, and this is why. The voice acting gave them so much life.

AND THE STRIPPED VERDICT IS…

Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound and Debriefed wants to tap into nostalgia. As a result, however, they sacrificed updating the graphical fidelity and leaving in clunky gameplay. With word that this engine was built specifically for this re-release, I expected more, perhaps foolishly. It’s a real shame because the sequel on PlayStation 4 is tons of fun. It’s not all doom and gloom, though, as the voice acting is a real treat - far better than I anticipated. There are a few genuine moments mixed in with all the perversion of the story. Nobu is, no question, the best character - I chuckled because of him. Every Freedom Fighter has this odd charm, and some other characters , like Suzu, are friggin adorable. Speaking of hers, as well as the others, all have beautifully drawn portraits. I now leave you with this: I’ve always believed a bad story can be ignored if gameplay is great. This game, sadly, is an example of the complete opposite and showcases how, unfortunately, it doesn’t have legs to stand on with a serviceable story but bad gameplay.

Wait for a sale on Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound and Debriefed . While its genre is a recipe for dumb fun, the game fails to nail it. Maybe check out reviews on the PlayStation 4 version. For the Switch, I give it a 5.

Thank you to XSeed, who provided a code for the purposes of this review

Entertainment News

Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed Review: Stripped Down Simplicity

A product of its time, Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed is an enjoyable experience that takes you through the streets of Akihabara, circa-2011.

My one and only trip to Japan took place in 2000, when I made the trek with my high school Japanese language class for ten glorious days, exploring the bright neon-lit streets of Fukuoka, the farming and coastal communities of Shimabara, and the industrial-meets-city life town of Sasebo. I have very fond memories of my trip and continue to save and prepare for a return trip to the southernmost part of Japan at some point. However, I also have every intention of making my way through the rest of the island so that I can visit other places like Osaka, Kyoto, Nagano, and, of course, Tokyo.

Ah, Tokyo. I’ve always dreamed of visiting the city that, to me, seems like heaven on Earth. I’ve even recently gone so far as to try to get a taste of the Tokyo city experience by playing games that are based in Japan . So, you can imagine my delight when I was offered the opportunity to check out the remastered Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed for its tenth anniversary – not to mention its official release in the West. Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed isn’t your typical remaster – this is by no means on the level of titles such as Resident Evil 2 Remake . Although the game has its moments of frustration and arguably feels like a product of its time, Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed is an enjoyable experience that takes you through the streets of Akihabara, circa-2011. TLDR: my nostalgic jet-setting Japanese heart is happy.

Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed is technically a brand-new game that has been remastered and released for a Western audience. The original game – called Akiba’s Trip Plus in Japan – was initially released in May 2011 for the PSP, making Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed a near must-have for fans of the series. Can you play the game as a new player to the franchise? Speaking as someone who had never played an Akiba’s Trip game before, I can confirm that there really is no barrier to entry to diving right into Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed. Just make sure you know going in that the game's title is – in quite literal terms – telling you what sort of game you’re about to play.

Related: Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed Preview: I’m Goin’ Back To Akihabara In terms of the game’s story, you’re a newcomer to Akihabara, commonly referred to as an otaku paradise. Trendy shops line up side by side, enticing anyone who passes by to peek in and see what material treasures await inside. Rather than it being a pleasure trip, however, your customizable character is thrown into the fray pretty much immediately, finding themselves on the losing end of a brutal encounter with a vampire-like humanoid. Eventually, you’re contracted to work with NIRO, a secret agency tasked with taking out these demons that walk among the rest of the population disguised as living, breathing human beings. And how exactly are you to rid the world of these monsters? Why, by stripping off the clothes that they are wearing, of course.

The aptly titled Akiba’s Trip series has maintained a focus on “strip-combat” mechanics, and Hellbound & Debriefed is no exception. You’re able to identify demons by using your mobile device, which typically results in a hand-to-hand brawl where your main goal is to strip all of your opponent’s clothes off before they do the same to you first – which effectively results in a game over.

The trick is to wear your opponent down by hitting and kicking them, or smacking them with a variety of random weapons (the loaf of bread being my personal favorite weaponized item). Once they take enough punishment, you can grab an article of clothing and rip it off of them, which becomes all the more satisfying when you gain the ability to string strips together in a combination of button-hitting quick-time events.

The combos are definitely the best part of the combat system, which often feels incredibly clunky. Hitbox inconsistencies, rough camera angles, no lock-on system… it all adds up to a somewhat frustrating experience, made even more frustrating by the sheer amount of fighting that you’ll be doing in the game. Perhaps the most frustrating part, though, is taking on multiple enemies at once. The length of these encounters can be exhausting, especially when you’ve been slain (stripped?) by the same group of enemies a handful of times already. Eventually, you’ll figure out the best way to approach each situation. It just might take you a few tries (or more) to get there.

Aside from any combat woes, Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed is a fun romp through 2011 Japan – made all the more nostalgic thanks to the game’s graphics. As I said, this isn’t the typical high-caliber remake that most players have come to expect. It looks fine for what it is, but it still looks and feels like a step above a PSP or PS2 game. But you know what? It works. Maybe it’s the fact that the setting features all of the stores and scenery that were present in Akihabara in 2011, but there’s a comfortable, simplistic, and nostalgic feeling that courses through the streets and alleyways of Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed. I’m a sucker for those kinds of old-school, retro games , and Hellbound & Debriefed is a solid entry into that category.

There’s a ton of depth to the game’s RPG element as well, allowing you to build up your character with special skills, outrageous outfits and other cosmetic items, as well as steer the direction of the relationships you maintain with NPCs, which ultimately impacts the outcome of the game.

There’s a lot to love in Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed, whether you’re a veteran or newcomer to the series. It looks and plays much like the games of yesteryear, but that’s what gives it much of its charm. You can definitely add Akihabara to my list of spots to visit when I finally make my way back to Japan. I’m no vampire demon, but perhaps I’ll wear an extra layer or two. You know, just in case.

A PS4 copy of Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed was provided to TheGamer for this review. Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed will be available on PS4 and Nintendo Switch on July 23.

Next: King’s Bounty 2 Preview: Revamped Open-World Tactics

Buy AKIBA'S TRIP: Undead & Undressed

Content for this game browse all (7), about this game, key features, mature content description.

The developers describe the content like this:

This Game may contain content not appropriate for all ages, or may not be appropriate for viewing at work: Some Nudity or Sexual Content, General Mature Content

System Requirements

OS *: Windows Vista (SP2)
Processor: Intel Core i3-530 @ 2.93 GHz / AMD Phenom II X4 810 @ 2.60 GHz
Memory: 6 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450 / ATI Radeon HD 5870 (1GB VRAM)
DirectX: Version 11
Storage: 3 GB available space
Sound Card: Compatible with DirectX 11
OS *: Windows Vista (SP2), Windows 7, Windows 8
Processor: Intel Core i5-2500K @ 3.3 GHz
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 (4GB VRAM)

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Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed Review — A Shadow of Its Former Self

The Akiba’s Trip series is such a unique one. When Akiba’s Trip: Undead & Undressed came westward in 2014, I had no idea what to expect. It turned out to be a very shameless beat ’em game with stripping mechanics. More specifically, the main character explores the city of Akihabara and strips the clothes off of supernatural human enemies called Synthesizers, who are vulnerable to sunlight.

Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed essentially uses the same concept but with a different group of enemies. Debriefed is a remaster of the first game in the series that originally launched on the PlayStation Portable back in 2011, though it never made it outside of Japan.

Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed Review — A Shadow of Its Former Self

This time around, the enemies are vampiric entities called Shadow Souls. These nefarious beings feed on the citizens of Akihabara, draining their souls and turning them into antisocial shut-ins. The main character, Tanaka, gets attacked at the very beginning of the game, and a mysterious girl saves them by utilizing her own bodily fluids to heal their wounds.

This grants Tanaka supernatural powers, but at the cost of being vulnerable to sunlight just like the other Shadow Souls. Tanaka then joins NIRO to take down the remaining Shadow Souls to uncover their ultimate plan.

Those who’ve played Undead & Undressed ( U&U) back in 2014 will certainly find themselves in familiar territory. While I’d say they’ll also enjoy Hellbound & Debriefed ( H&D) , it’s lacking in all of the many quality of life and gameplay improvements that U&U introduced seven years ago.

It’s almost as if the game was ported from PlayStation Portable onto modern platforms, but then nothing else was done to make it feel modern.

The lack of a lock-on system or any sort of manual targeting is an issue in U&U , and in H&D , the problem still hasn’t been solved. Combat feels as cumbersome as ever, with inconsistent, all-over-the-place hit detection.

In fact, gameplay has seemingly regressed here.

You can hit your enemies in three areas: high, mid, and low, each corresponding to pieces of clothing, which are headwear, shirt, and pants, respectively. As you continue to hit your enemies, their clothing turns a different color, indicating that you can try and strip a particular piece of clothing off of them.

In U&U , you can try to strip off an enemy’s clothes by mashing a specific button. If you are unsuccessful, your efforts still contribute to lowering your target’s clothing HP meter. However, in H&D , that HP meter doesn’t go down at all, which effectively means that if you fail to strip an enemy’s clothing, your effort goes to waste. Furthermore, in U&U , you can see how much HP your clothing has. But that feature is completely gone in H&D , so it’s harder to gauge your own condition.

By putting away your weapon and adjusting your clothes, these two animations allow you to recover your HP. But it’s a laborious process, as the animation leaves you wide open to enemy attacks. U&U does the exact same thing, except without having to put away a weapon, cutting the animation time in half.

The gameplay isn’t the only thing that’s gone backward here. U&U lets you open the Akihabara map at any time and go to a different location. In H&D , you have to actually run to the edge of the area to open up the map menu. Additionally, you can only save or change your clothes and equipment when the map is open, removing the change-at-any-time option found in U&U .

There are side quests in Hellbound & Debriefed as well, and they help expand Akihabara’s worldbuilding. These are the usual fare, with you fighting enemies or fetching some sort of item. You can always pull up the To-Do list in your menu to read what’s next in the main story or a side quest, but one aspect that is notably missing is an objective tracker. At this point, you can probably figure out that U&U had one…

It’s just baffling to see how many quality-of-life functions are missing here. In 2021, we’ve seen many remasters improve on their forebears, such as Nier Replicant and Shin Megami Tensei 3 HD Remaster . Unfortunately, Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed hasn’t overhauled combat — like the former — nor does it have an already solid combat foundation — like the latter.

But that’s not to say there aren’t any positives to this game.

XSEED usually provides quality localization, and H&D is no exception. The English voice acting is great, and it’s a noticeable step up from Undead & Undressed . The cast of characters is charming too, with my favorite being the main heroine, Rui Fumitsuki. XSEED’s stellar script really helps bring the main and supporting casts to life.

While the game’s 3D graphics are kind of ugly, I do really love the crisp 2D art style of the character portraits and special CG artwork that comes with the different endings. The music can be pretty good as well, particularly the battle themes.

Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed — The Bottom Line

Top-notch localization and English voice dub from XSEED
2D art style and CG wallpaper artwork is crisp and clean
Music can be pretty good
Gameplay is entirely too cumbersome
Lacking any gameplay or quality of life functions that were introduced in its 2014 sequel
Graphics look ugly on the big screen

I can really only recommend Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed to diehard fans of the series. It doesn’t have any gameplay or quality-of-life improvements that its 2014 sequel introduced, and as a result, it feels like a relic of the past.

While there are some emotional moments in the game’s story and the cast of characters can be fun, the gameplay is a chore to get through. It’s just disappointing that this is such a barebones remaster.

[Note: XSEED provided the copy of Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed used for this review.]

AKIBA’S TRIP: Hellbound & Debriefed – Review

A fun time, bogged down by janky combat

Darkness descends upon Akihabara, the pop culture center of Japan. There are tales of supernatural creatures stalking in the night. Victims found in dark alleys, pale as a sheet, and having no memory of what’s happened or how they even got there. What’s shocking is what happens after. The victims begin to exhibit anti-social tendencies, to the point that they no longer want to leave their rooms. Make no mistake about it – these shut-ins are the victims of some greater scheme. And it’s only going to get worse from here on out. Welcome to AKIBA’S TRIP: Hellbound & Debriefed.

AKIBA’S TRIP: Hellbound & Debriefed is an HD update of the first game in the AKIBA’S TRIP series. You play as a young man who gets attacked by a Shadow Soul on his way to save his friend from a gruesome fate. You would have been done for if it weren’t for a sympathetic Shadow Soul. She gives you a pint of her blood, effectively making you one of them. NIRO then arrives on the scene. In an interrogation room, the agents give you 2 options – follow their orders or die for humanity’s sake. There doesn’t seem to be much choice here.

AKIBA’s combat is all about the art of the Strip. It is something your named character learns after meeting the Master. Through her training, you learn to remove the clothes of your opponents. With the knowledge you get from advanced training and buying e-books, you’ll be able to ‘procure’ all sorts of clothes. Who knows? Maybe you’ll be able to open your own Uniqlo outlet.

Why are you stripping people to their undies? Simple. Shadow Souls die when their skin is exposed to direct sunlight. If you’re also wondering why it’s the only way to fight them… It just is. Using an assortment of everyday items, (those won’t draw the attention of the police) you are able to weaken the clothes’ hold on their owner. Once they flash red, they are as good as gone. If haven’t learned the right techniques, you are likely to tear clothes apart. But if you have the right knowledge, you can take them off undamaged. The game allows you to also chain strip nearby opponents, saving you a lot of time from holding buttons to strip individual pieces of clothing.

The first and only tool NIRO provides you with is an add-on to your camera that’ll single out Shadow Souls pretending to be humans. It eliminates guesswork and is an essential tool in most missions. Its other function is to allow you to scan the clothes of people. If the text is yellow, you can probably remove it cleanly. If it’s red, however, it’ll tear apart. It really doesn’t do much, but if you’re looking to 100% the game’s collectibles, you will use this camera a lot.

You can explore a map that recreate locations closely resembling those of real life Akihabara back in 2011. There might only be around a dozen points of interest, and the only thing you can do is visit shops, but at the very least all locations eventually have missions connected to them.

Throughout the course of the story, you will get to know more about the 3 factions in the game and their primary motivations. You start off working for the National Intelligence and Research Organization (NIRO) in their fight against the Shadow Souls. There is also the Akihabara Freedom Fighters, a neighborhood watch by all accounts. Their main interest is keeping the peace within Akihabara. Very deep into the game, the Shadow Souls also expose some inconvenient truths that may convince you to join their cause. But all that happens near the end of the game. Which is kind of disappointing. The one deciding factor for switching sides, and starts and ends with one big block of exposition. Which just translates into a ‘choose your ending’ scenario. I don’t hate it, per se. I just wished my actions in key moments had more of an immediate impact, instead of only mattering in that one key pivotal confrontation.

Some of the missions require you to look for your objective. Asking the Freedom Fighters does help. But what narrows the field even further is Pitter, this world’s equivalent to Twitter. Most of the time, it’s just random conversations. But every so often, they’ll lead you to where you need to go. Provided you can pay attention to fast-moving message chains.

AKIBA’S TRIP: Hellbound & Debriefed is a short game if you decide to play it just for the story. But that is if you don’t get frustrated with the game’s combat system first. It’s one of a couple of frustrating things I really disliked about the game. I can’t think of any other reason why the developers decided to keep the original’s game janky-ass combat, other than to preserve the original’s memory. Look, there is a part of me that appreciates the decision, but if I wanted to experience the game purely as it was, I’d have played the original game.

Pressing triangle, square, and X attacks a piece of clothing on top, middle, and bottom respectively. Holding R1 allows you to dodge from multiple directions. That’s fine and all until you have to face up against multiple enemies. Suddenly facing AN ENEMY becomes a struggle. You don’t really know who you should be fighting because priority goes to the last person who struck at you… which could be anyone around you. The controls are also direction sensitive. You could be doing power moves seemingly at random because one of the conditions for a power move is moving the stick in a certain direction. A direction you might not have chosen.

I can do crowd control moves all day, and still lose because the condition for eliminating enemies from combat is to remove ALL clothes with precision. Can’t do that if I’m swinging wildly. Can’t hope to break down all fights to 1v1’s either cause at any moment a group can stun lock me to death. The only way I’ve been able to defeat large groups is with RNG. No one wants to win like that. It also doesn’t help that the camera panning is as slow as a snail, and if you’re near an exit, the camera snaps into a locked position. Again, this was a game that was built from scratch. I wasn’t expecting a modern take, just better controls.

What ultimately saved this title, in my opinion, is the colorful cast of characters. Sara, Nobu, Gon, and Mr. Yatabe of the Akihabara Freedom fighters are very likable characters. They embody everything that is good (and not so good) about Otaku culture. Getting to know their stories was probably one of the best things about the game. The same goes for the other main characters Sakoto Mido and Rui Fumizuki. Finding out the ‘why’ to their actions put me squarely in front of some difficult choices. I’m satisfied with the ending that I chose, however. That’s good enough for me. For now.

At first, I wasn’t a big fan of the low res textures and the blocky geometry. But after playing the game a good bit, I found that there is some charm in the old look. It reminded me of Megaman Legends. The models too, basic as they are, have that special something you can’t replicate with high-detailed models.

The game’s music is also an absolute joy to listen to. The Japanese voice work and the anime cutscenes maintain that high standard I’ve grown accustomed to with JP productions. I was surprised with how good the output was for such an old game. Good thing they didn’t spare any expense there.

There is a very good game in here somewhere. The game’s comedy is in line with otaku culture, and it doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s a game where the government types don’t want to use weapons against physically superior enemies just because firing guns would be too loud. Also, I can’t think of why any human would lose their will to fight just because their clothes got taken off… but here we are. The upgrade system is also very straightforward. You can decide to make a ridiculously powerful spoon if you want.

I can excuse the unnecessary censorship by having ‘some’ characters have a blue tint after losing clothes. I still think it just flat-out insults the player base. As if there’s something more to it than just comical fun. Sister’s room has appreciation mode and it’s strictly for interactions with your character’s little sister… and nothing more to it.

If anything else, this is the kind of game that’ll give you a Game Over within the first 5 minutes of the game. And sees you taking up an unassuming side mission for little pay, but unlocks an additional ending. It’s kinda random that way too.

AKIBA’S TRIP: Hellbound & Debriefed is more than your run-of-the-mill anime game. If you really look into it, you’ll find a challenging, yet flawed combat system. An entire series born from an urban legend with ties to the Hikikomori phenomenon in Japan. And an anime story complete with misunderstandings and pure intentions. The first one, I tolerate. The 2 after are reasons why you should be buying this game.

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Review: Akiba’s Trip: Undead and Undressed Almost Gets It Right

Akiba’s Trip is one of those games that’s hard to forget about, at least conceptually. It’s a game where the goal is to punch people in the jeans so hard that they fall off. It’s utterly absurd; a joke concept that may be tough to stretch to a full game, and yet the team at Acquire tried to do that.

Akiba’s Trip: Undead and Undressed is the second time they attempted the concept. The first game was a former Japan exclusive that eventually got a remastered worldwide release as Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound and Debriefed . Undead and Undressed , however, did get a worldwide release the first time around, releasing in the West for the PlayStation Vita in 2014. Now, almost 10 years later, it’s getting a Director’s Cut remaster for modern systems. So the question is, how well does the sequel hold up after all this time?

So let’s get this out of the way. Akiba’s Trip is weird. Not just because of its concept, but its execution is all over the place. One moment the game feels like it wears its concept on its sleeve, playing it up for all its absurdity. Then in the next moment, it’s tripping over its own pants with awkward dialogue and clunky gameplay.

Screenshot by Siliconera

If you’re unfamiliar with Akiba’s Trip , here’s a quick rundown of the plot. You play as a generic protagonist named Nanashi by default. He wakes up in a strange lab after responding to the reddest of red flag job adverts. He’s been turned into a Synthister, a violent emotional vampire. However, he gets rescued by a mysterious girl named Shizuku who helps him escape and shares her blood with him to prevent him from losing his humanity.

Now Nanashi, Shizuku, and his friends in the Akiba Freedom Fighters are heading out to stop the Synthister menace plaguing Akihabara. Of course, the best way to defeat them is to remove all their clothes so they can be burned away by their vampiric weakness to sunlight.

The process of doing this, however, is poorly executed. Combat involves attacking an opponent’s legs, torso or head in order to do damage to the clothing or accessories in that area. With enough damage, Nanashi or his friends can grab the shirt or hat or whatever and remove them. Remove all clothing items and they’re defeated.

This whole system is clunky to control. Fights are often against large groups, and limited dodge and inconsistent targeting can often make it tricky to position yourself in a way that you’re not getting punched in the back all the time. It’s also painfully repetitive. Every fight has the exact same rhythm, and I never really felt like I could mix up combos all that much. It says a lot that combat improves a lot when you unlock the team-up ability. This often causes so much instant damage it feels like it skips most of the fighting.

Not that things are much better out of combat. You get a decent chunk of Akiba to explore, including multiple real stores to visit and buy assorted items from. This would be great if you weren’t wandering into a loading screen every five seconds. Akiba has been split into multiple tiny regions all sectioned away from each other, with the most egregious problem being Main Street split into four separate corners.

These tiny locations also add to the problems with combat, as I frequently found myself backed into corners within the transition points. Thankfully, area transition is usually locked out while in combat, so this doesn’t lead to interruptions. However, the camera shift that indicates the transition does still happen, making it much harder to see what you’re doing.

While the first game had these problems, it could be attributed to its origins on the PSP. However, Undead and Undressed started out on the Vita, a system that boasted Gravity Rush as one of its most prominent games. That was a game with a seamless open world that Akiba’s Trip could have done well to emulate.

Where Akiba’s Trip fares a little better, however, is in its writing. There’s a satirical edge to much of the game’s dialogue, acting as a celebration and brutal takedown of otaku culture in equal measure. After all, the game starts with the protagonist taking a sketchy job offer simply because they pay in figurines. This is just a fraction of the self-referential humor about the obsessive nature of otaku. An obsessive nature that makes them a perfect target for a surreal mission to turn their entire Tokyo hangout into a hive of energy vampires. It’s all delightfully silly and it knows it.

Of course, there are times where it walks the line between satirical and just bad. On one hand, the cosplay sequence where the normally serious and distant Shizuku gets super into the hottest anime is genuinely funny. On the other hand, the awkward dialogue of the protagonist’s little sister is generally obnoxious to put up with. It’s a huge tonal problem that runs through the whole game.

Akiba’s Trip is a real mixed bag of an experience. It’s clear there was potential here with some of the writing, and the combat has a solid foundation that it fails to build on properly. It reminds me a little of Deadly Premonition , a game that managed to do so much wrong and yet ended up being a strangely compelling experience. Akiba’s Trip doesn’t quite pull off the same feat, but frequently feels like it could get close. It just never quite comes together as a cohesive whole.

Akiba’s Trip: Undead and Undressed is not a game that has aged well. Its combat is repetitive, its map is too restrictive and its dialogue sometimes leans into the worst tropes too sincerely to be called parody. However, it’s clear that there is an audience for this out there, or it wouldn’t have gotten this remaster. If you can put up with the game’s many issues, it may be possible to lose yourself in the absurdity of its concept and enjoy its more successful satirical moments.

Akiba’s Trip: Undead and Undressed Director’s Cut is out now for Nintendo Switch, PS4 and PC.

After being lured into a trap by the promise of rare character goods, aimless otaku Nanashi finds himself transformed into one of the walking undead.

However, he is spared the worst of his fate by the bloody kiss of a mysterious young woman named Shizuku. Together with the rest of his companions in an organization unofficially dubbed the “Akiba Freedom Fighters,” Nanashi must uncover the truth behind a plague of violent, antisocial energy vampires and save the Japanese electronics mecca of Akihabara before it is overrun.

Nintendo Switch version reviewed,

Akiba’s Trip: Undead & Undressed has not aged well, but if you can put up with the game’s issues, you can lose yourself in its absurdity

I will admit there was some nostalgia for me here, as I did visit Akiba around the time of the game's original release.
There’s even a mission where Nanashi gets cornered by maids in a side street, which was alarmingly similar to a real experience I had.
It was only one maid in real life though, not a whole squad of them. And no one got stripped in the street. Thankfully.

Umurangi Generation Feels More Poignant in VR

Akiba's Trip: Undead and Undressed Review

Stripped bare.

By Josiah Renaudin on September 10, 2014 at 9:41PM PDT

The fact that a game called Akiba's Trip: Undead & Undressed isn’t completely tasteless might be its greatest accomplishment. This is a beat 'em up in which the ultimate goal is to strip all enemies of their clothing--a premise that proves a difficult hurdle to leap. The camera draws attention to the skimpy underwear and bouncy breasts of your bloodthirsty foes as you methodically expose their bodies, but--believe it or not--it goes beyond simple eye candy. The goofy story does its best to justify the sheer volume of bare skin, and the equal spread of male and female characters means you'll see just as many lacy undergarments as you do tighty whities. Unfortunately, Akiba's Trip just isn't any fun to play, and that makes the incessant panty shots and uninspired humor even more difficult to stomach.

Bear with me as I explain the convoluted narrative. You enter Akihabara, Tokyo's electronics district, during an outbreak of vampiric foes called Synthisters. These powerful enemies were once human, but now roam the streets hoping to suck the life energy from the city's unsuspecting residents. Your customizable protagonist, along with a medley of colorful freedom fighters, commit themselves to cleaning up their home the only way they know how--by stripping the opposition down to their undergarments. Like actual vampires, Synthisters are sensitive to the sunlight, so revealing their skin causes them to burn and return to human form.

The yarn unravels to expose seedy corporate involvement and a series of unlikely villains, but it isn't enough to mask the disquieting nature of Akiba's Trip. You spend the bulk of your time ripping off as much clothing as possible to expose nearly naked anime bodies to the world, which is intended to be the real draw here. Stripping bosses will often lead to more detailed views of their often unrealistic, hand-drawn figures, so if it's scantily-clad anime bodies you're looking for, you'll find them here in spades. The unremitting innuendos within the dialogue only weaken the already thin narrative justifications for the partial nudity, and while the focus on bare skin isn't the only attraction, I still felt uncomfortable with what was being asked of me.

You can party up with both male and female freedom fighters when patrolling the streets, but most of your time will be spent impressing your buxom allies. How you choose to respond during conversations determines whose affection you garner, and there's even a set cast member who can provide updates on which woman in your life has become the most smitten with you. It's a mostly shallow mechanic that leads to extraneous exchanges during otherwise heated scenarios. Talk of how you're going to save your city or discover the source of the Synthister menace is often followed by awkward complimentary phrases aimed at your busty childhood friend.

Even if you manage to overcome the fact that Akiba's Trip: Undead & Undressed is about stripping enemies down to their skivvies, you won't be rewarded with much more than a mindless brawler.

The carnal themes and prosaic dialogue would be a bit more palpable if the game played well, but repetitive combat and a painfully inconsistent framerate muddy the action. In battle, you're often surrounded by five or more enemies at once, swinging a weapon at each foe's head, body, and legs in order to score a knockout. A combination of high, mid, and low attacks damage the different pieces of clothing to their breaking point, making it easier to strip them right off of someone's body.

You can combo these strips together if multiple articles of clothing are weak enough to remove, but this strategy isn't enough to spice up an otherwise tedious process. Breaking down the pants, shirts, and hats of a swarm of foes as you protect the durability of your own wardrobe is a chore, and your ability to restore your clothes to full strength during battle by holding down a single button removes any semblance of tension. The systems aren't broken, and less populated arenas tend to produce smoother, more enjoyable action, but I had less and less fun with the mechanics as additional enemies flooded the screen.

The combat's lone saving grace comes in the form of upgradeable weapons, each of which has its own set of unique combinations. Heavier objects like arcade monitors deal serious damage, but your character lumbers with each swing. Boxing gloves, on the other hand, allow for more nimble striking--though you'll often focus on a single enemy at a time instead of the full group. It's enjoyable to find, buy, and upgrade different objects with varying attributes, and the same can be said for your clothing. Whether you prefer to go into battle sporting a three-piece suit or nothing more than a tattered pair of brown slacks, you’ve got options.

There's little to do outside of the nonsensical story and lackluster battles. The main quests often take you from the home base to a different segment of Akihabara that's been invaded by Synthisters, while the side missions drag you through dull fetch quests and additional combat scenarios to earn extra spending money. There's a New Game Plus feature that opens up fresh character customization options, but I had more than my fill of Akiba's Trip well before the story’s resolution.

Even if you manage to overcome the fact that Akiba's Trip: Undead & Undressed is about stripping enemies down to their skivvies, you won't be rewarded with much more than a mindless brawler. The monotonous combat only grows more tiresome as you progress, and it's almost too easy to predict the twists and turns of the formulaic plot. Akiba's Trip has a bizarre concept that might turn a few heads, but once you strip away the promiscuity, there's little left to keep your attention.

Leave Blank
Equipment upgrades greatly vary combat
Action often grows tedious
Stripping mechanic is just uncomfortable
Story beats are easy to predict
Poor framerate kills flow of battles

About the Author

Josiah Renaudin

@JosiahRenaudin

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Akiba's Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed

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Akiba's Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed Trailers

AKIBA’S TRIP: Hellbound & Debriefed - Launch Date Announcement Trailer

AKIBA’S TRIP: Hellbound & Debriefed - Announcement Trailer

Akiba's Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed Screenshots

Critic reviews for akiba's trip: hellbound & debriefed, destructoid.

Most of the time, though, it’s like playing a stripped-down version of Yakuza. You wander a Japanese neighborhood, shop, do side-quests, build up your character, much like in that venerated series. But then the combat sucks and the story is poorly paced. On the other hand, I can’t deny it grew on me. It feels like one of those janky, Japanese, early PS2 titles like Mr. Mosquito or Robot Alchemic Drive. It might not be the most fun to play, but it’s unique enough to captivate.

Read full review

Hellbound & Undressed has elements fans will enjoy, and if you dig, you can find quirky and interesting things here, but if it catches you having too much fun, be prepared to have that stripped from you like a finely quaffed set of Shadow Soul clothes. This game is a constant chore to enjoy and should be reserved for the folks that really want to see where the series began.

God is a Geek

Between lackluster combat, outdated graphics and the horrendous stripping mechanic, it's very hard to think of a reason to recommend Akiba's Trip: Hellbound and Debriefed.

COGconnected

I can’t imagine anyone so desperate for content that they would find value in this only marginally improved ten-year-old game. Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed is and has always been, awful and no HD remaster will fix its terrible story, lackluster combat, primitive graphics, and creepy tone. Some games are broken or bad in a kind of fun way, but Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed isn’t broken, it’s just bad and decidedly, aggressively not fun at all.

Push Square

There's a fair amount of side-quest stuff to do such as playing mini-games in the maid café or helping out locals with their problems, although none of it is particularly innovative or memorable. There are also loads of different quirky weapons and hundreds of different clothing options to collect. Roaming around Akihabara while wielding a keyboard and wearing a Gundam cosplay made out of cardboard boxes is kinda fun, despite how average the game is overall.

Everyeye.it

The idea behind AKIBA'S TRIP is delicious and fun, but if in 2011 the product could work despite all its shortcomings and the limitations imposed by the PSP hardware, the same cannot be said for its reissue. The one made by Acquire is in fact a remastered only in name, it is no coincidence that the product has preserved all its historical technical problems, such as the mismanagement of the camera, the inaccurate pointing system, the very slow response times of the commands, the cumbersome animations, and so on.

Review in Italian | Read full review

Screen Rant

Akiba's Trip is a poor attempt at creating a tantalizing video game, and it's only the strength of its humor and writing that makes it even worth a look. This is actually the first official English localization of the original Akiba's Trip, though after spending time with it in 2021, it's a mystery why anyone wanted to remaster it in the first place.

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Review: akiba’s trip: undead & undressed (pc version).

Originally released last summer on the PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 3, Akiba’s Trip: Undead & Undressed is a fairly niche game, requiring players to be invested, or at least familiar with, otaku culture and all stereotypes associated with it. Thought to be a lot pervier than it actually is (it’s subverting those cliches, I promise), Akiba’s Trip is weird, entertaining, and a little flawed at times, but overall a fun game worth checking out. I rated it fairly well when I reviewed it on the PlayStation Vita (read that review for gameplay and story details ), and not having played the current-gen port for PlayStation 4, I, and a handful of other down-low weebs, hoped for a PC version. And then it happened; yay for us!

We’ve seen a few examples of Japanese games stumbling to the PC market in admirable, but lacking, attempts, so is Acquire’s Akiba’s Trip: Undead & Undressed any different? Unfortunately not, but I wouldn’t count it out just yet.

According to publisher XSEED, Akiba’s Trip: Undead & Undressed is a straight port from the PlayStation 4 version of the game (minus the Toy Box mode for whatever reason). Originally developed as a Vita game, then ported to home consoles, the game’s shortcomings stand out a tad on home gaming machines, but thankfully its more frustrating technical issues benefit from stronger hardware. Having not played the PlayStation 4 port, I can’t say for certain that its loading times have been improved over the Vita version, but that’s the case for at least the PC port. One of my previous issues with the game’s loading times stemmed from how long it took NPCs to appear in the game world, often having me wait for a mission-specific NPC to appear sometime after loading a level. Couple that with loading screens between each of the in-game city’s districts and traversal could feel slow when compared to other “open world” games.

Now for the PC-specific features: well, don’t expect much. As suggested by the publisher, Akiba’s PC offerings are miniscule, with limited graphics options and just nineteen supported predefined resolutions. Upon starting the game, you’ll be greeted by a launcher with a key remapping tool and settings that allow you to toggle antialiasing (no clue what kind) and vsync. Three-point sliders for NPC density and load-distance are also available. And that’s it.

Now, I can’t verify this due to a lack of technical know-how, but I suspect that Akiba’s PC port suffers from a limited internal resolution, upscaling the game for higher monitors. The game appears soft and fuzzy, with character outlines and city backgrounds not as crisp as I expected from an anime-styled game running at a full 1080p resolution. Curiously enough, when entering any of the game’s many stores, there’s a discernible difference in clarity, with shopkeepers appearing much sharper than other parts of the game. I messed with the visual editor, a feature that changes color values, outline strength, and bloom effects, but I still couldn’t get the crispness one would expect. My guess is that Acquire didn’t aim to push the game past original specifications at all. Additionally, the game itself is locked at 30FPS; while this doesn’t break the game for me, this coupled with a potentially limited internal resolution adds to the overall meh quality of this bare-bones port.

The game’s mouse and keyboard controls are questionable as well, with poor camera-control that isn’t directly mapped 1:1 with the mouse itself, but rather moved when the cursor reaches the edge of the screen. This is somewhat improved by a lower mouse DPI, but it feels very sloppy. You can remap keys at least, but a controller feels like the best bet for hassle-free play.

Now, it isn’t all doom and gloom with Akiba on PC. Limitations aside, the game runs fine. It works. Its recommended specs are fairly high for the type of game it is, and I could only test it on my more-than-capable gaming desktop and a laptop near minimum specs – the latter rendering the game unplayable. So the best advice I can give you is to wait and see what other players say about their results based on their PC specs. Other than that, I did experience a handful of crashes after tabbing in and out of the game, but that’s not incredibly uncommon.

Simply, if you can deal with playing a limited-feature console port of a handheld game, lacking any real improvements on PC, then you’ll be fine to pick this up down the line and see just how goofy of a game it is. And hey, maybe modders will crack this baby open and give it just treatment. Dark Souls this is not, but one can hope for high-fidelity stripping thanks to the work of fans.

( 6 / 10 ) Above Average

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Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed Review – Stripped of Value

Mark steighner, akiba’s trip: hellbound & debriefed review.

By and large, the quality of video games has continued to improve by nearly every metric, whether it be story, characters, mechanics or graphics. Sure, there is the occasional high profile misstep but the vast majority of console and PC titles are at least competent and quite often, amazing in one way or another. Then there are games like Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed, which was pretty awful in 2011 when it first appeared as Akiba’s Trip 2, awful when it was released for PS4 as Akiba’s Trip: Undead and Undressed , and now is just an inexcusable, marginally improved re-release for PlayStation 4 (playable on PS5) and PC.

As a string of actual words, the premise of this JRPG sounds almost weirdly enticing, if entirely ignorant of contemporary cultural norms and standards. A legion of vampires called Synthisters has overtaken Tokyo’s Akihabara shopping district. Your character is a teen boy — who bitten by a strange girl, has become a Synthister himself –recruited against his will into a cadre of vampire fighters. The twist here is that, instead of staking the vamps a la Buffy, you defeat the Synthisters by stripping them of their clothing and exposing them to sunlight. You punch, kick and strike their clothes until the garments are damaged enough to fall off, leaving the vamps in their underwear, exposed to the deadly rays of 2011’s, pre-global warming sun. “What about at night, then, or indoors?” Stop it, brainiac, you ask too many questions.

If the premise has you thinking, “Well, that’s just twisted enough to be cool,” let me assure you that it isn’t. The constant barrage of creepy double entendres (there are two in the title alone) and sexist imagery were offensive enough in 2011 and it is even more cringe-inducing today. Anyone who might be expecting some element of eroticism from the story’s conceit, or fun bawdy humor (or compelling combat) will be sorely, profoundly disappointed.

I know that there are fans of this game out there, but for the life of me, I don’t understand why. It isn’t clever or well made and whatever shock value it might have served up in 2011 has morphed entirely into creepiness.

Kill Me Now

I’m not sure which is worse, Hellbound and Debriefed’s graphics or combat. A train wreck in HD is still an unfortunate disaster, so whatever framerate improvements or slight visual upgrades have been achieved are overshadowed by how ugly and primitive the game’s PS3-era graphics look by not just contemporary standards, but those of a decade ago. Has the Akihabara district been convincingly rendered? Sure, if your idea of the famous district is one of the blurred buildings and city streets populated by static citizens identified not by name but function, like “Boy wearing shirt” and “Salesgirl.” I think that even though the forgiving lens of nostalgia and a fondness for anime-style JRPGs, Hellbound and Debriefed just looks bad, still out of focus and lacking in detail.

If there is one — and this is a real stretch — area in which Hellbound and Debriefed at least makes some sort of sense, it is in the mechanics of its combat and ability to use random objects, be they baguettes or electric guitars, as weapons. Different everyday objects and clothing items give increased health or defense and while the action is functional it is a million miles from rewarding or fun, with little precision and no real feeling of weight behind any action. You can romance some of your fellow vampire hunters, provided you can stop quick-scrolling through the horrible dialogue and juvenile humor long enough to catch those options. Most RPGs have a steady climb towards greater complexity and challenge, but Hellbound and Debriefed eschews this traditional mechanic in favor of combat that never really changes in any significant way. While we’re speaking of mechanics, let’s mention that you have to put your weapon away in order to heal and that it’s entirely possible to die in the first ten minutes and (blessedly) find yourself at the end of the game. It should be a cheat code.

*** PlayStation code provided by the publisher for review***

Functional combat and RPG systems
Ugly, dated, blurry graphics
Creepy, sexist jokes and tone
Sluggish, repetitive and imprecise combat

Developer: Acquire Corp

Publisher: Xseed Games

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Akiba's trip: hellbound & debriefed switch review - a boring brawler.

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Akiba's Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed is a brawler developed by Acquire and published by XSEED Games. The game's flimsy pretense for fanservice is one of its primary selling points, but unfortunately it can't prop up its repetitive gameplay, poor combat system, and ugly visuals.

Akiba's Trip is set in Akihabara, which is a hub for otaku culture in Tokyo. The area is home to vampiric creatures called Shadow Souls , which drain blood from people, as well as their will to live. Unlike regular vampires, Shadow Souls can survive in the sunlight, so long as only their hands and head are exposed. If their clothes are torn off and they're exposed to the sun, then they disintegrate. The main character has his life saved by a female Shadow Soul, which also results in him receiving a portion of her power. He is drafted into an organization called NIRO, which wants to destroy all of the Shadow Souls in Akihabara. The player soon learns that there is more to this conflict than meets the eye, and they can choose to battle the Shadow Souls or join them.

Related: Why Nintendo Switch Otome Game User Reviews Are So Important

The protagonist is given a camera that can detect Shadow Souls, as they won't appear in pictures. Once unveiled, the player can battle the undead menace on the streets of Akihabara. In order to rip off their clothes, the player needs to damage the enemy's clothing with melee attacks. The clothing will eventually breakaway, but players can tear it off with a grab attack, followed by hitting the button before the enemy breaks free. If the player is fighting a group of enemies with damaged clothing, then it's possible to tear them off sequentially with a QTE. The Shadow Souls will disintegrate once their clothing is removed, while humans will usually run away in embarrassment.

The combat system in Akiba's Trip is dreadful. The environments in the world are 3D, but the fights switch to a 2D plane, like the Street Fighter games . When there is only one opponent, it's easy to just spam attacks and stunlock them. Once multiple enemies enter the fray, then the system falls apart. The game's controls don't accommodate for multiple opponents, so it's easy for a group of enemies to surround and stunlock the player with constant attacks, as there is no easy way to switch focus from one enemy to another. The player has to disengage from combat completely, which takes way too long and leaves them open to attacks.

It's also nearly impossible to target a specific foe in a group of enemies, leading to wasted grabs against a healthy foe. This means most combat encounters are either mindless or rely on running around and picking off enemies as they try to keep up. It doesn't help that the camera has trouble keeping up with the action, or that being knocked into the exit of an area will send the player to the map screen, barring a few boss arenas.

There is also the unavoidable creepy factor that is rampant through Akiba's Trip, ranging from undressing people against their will in public to paying the main character's younger sister to try on outfits (which comes with its own free camera mode, in order to ogle her better). The game's attempts at titillation aren't even well-executed, as Akiba's Trip is a remaster of a PSP game. This means all of the character models look like dead-eyed PS2 sprites. The only saving grace for Akiba's Trip 's visuals is the character artwork, which is of a far higher quality than the 3D models.

Related: Space Jam: A New Legacy - The Game Review - Free Is The Right Price

Akiba's Trip is aware of how silly its premise is and the localizers did a great job with its writing. The game's script loves to poke fun at nerd culture and fandoms, with the protagonist's allies each being preoccupied with their own fictional obsessions. The side missions that the player can take on for extra cash/items also play up the silliness factor of geeks. Akiba's Trip has several different endings/story routes to take, for those who want to squeeze some more runtime out of the game. If there's a saving grace in the game, it's a surprising quality in the writing.

Next: Ys Origin Review: No Switch Up With Another Port

Akiba's Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed will be released for Nintendo Switch, PC, and PS4 on July 20, 2021. A digital code for the Nintendo Switch version of the game was provided to Screen Rant for the purposes of this review.

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Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed Review (Switch)

Akiba’s trip: hellbound & debriefed review: an enjoyable trip back to where it all began.

Not too long ago, I wrote up a little preview of Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed . At the time, I was having fun with it, but was a little worried that it was going to essentially turn out to be a watered-down, albeit definitely still very much enjoyable, version of its sequel, Akiba’s Trip: Undead & Undressed . I don’t disagree with how I was feeling those few short weeks ago—because it really did look like this game was going to end up that way—and, in a way, I still kind of feel that way right now, but I don’t think that I was being quite fair when it came to a few specific things. Fortunately, I have a second chance to go through things in this Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed review!

To be fair, Hellbound & Debriefed is never going to beat out Undead & Undressed , but I didn’t expect it to; and I don’t think that anyone who expects it to is being fair on it. You should know what you’re getting into isn’t going to be quite as good, but don’t fool yourself into thinking that it’s going to be exactly the same—because it isn’t. I mean, sure, you still run around Akiba and rip the clothing off of people, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t its own game!

A Very Polite Vampire

Akiba's Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed Review Sejima

I kind of figured, but thanks for confirming.

Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed follows the story of Nanashi, an otaku who gained miraculous superpowers after nearly being beaten to death in a dark alley by a man in punk-rock attire and then subsequently forced to kiss and drink the blood of a girl afterward. Pretty weird, huh? Well, it gets weirder. Following this beatdown/makeout session, Nanashi is then abducted by a government agency known as NIRO. Upon waking up in one of NIRO’s facilities (naked and tied to a chair, might I add), he is informed that the blood that he drank has turned him into something known as a “Shadow Soul”—a superhuman creature whose only true weakness is sunlight—and that if he doesn’t start helping NIRO get rid of other Shadow Souls lurking around Akiba, then they’ll kill him. And, yes, all of this literally happens before you can even play the game.

If I can be completely candid, here, I’ve got to admit that Hellbound & Debrifed ‘s story is the one part about this game that it has over its sequel. I had expected it to take the same “pick your waifu” route as Undead & Undressed. And, while there are some romantic elements, they’re weaved much more naturally into this game’s story. The whole “sketchy government organization vs. human-like monster people” plot is really cool, too. While I’m aware that Undead & Undressed has something similar with its Synthisters, the way the Shadow Souls are implemented in Hell Bound & Debriefed is much more engaging.

The Sights! The Sounds! The Otaku!

I’d say “never change,” but that’s what Akiba’s all about!

One of the biggest pulls of the Akiba’s Trip series is the fact that you get to explore what essentially amounts to a realistic Akihabara (aside from the rampant demonic activity and the whole “strip everyone naked” thing). Naturally, Hellbound & Debriefed , as the game that started this trend, has a faithfully recreated Akihabara to explore. Players are able to peruse the main street, Junk Street UD+, and more. Were this the first instance of a game doing this, this would have been absolutely amazing. Unfortunately, we Westerners got the Akiba’s Trip games in reverse order. And, while Hellbound & Debriefed ‘s recreation of Akiba is still cool, it’s completely outdone by Undead & Undressed .

When comparing the two games against one another, there are fewer places to explore, the streets fairly sparse, and the complete lack of realistic advertisements in Hellbound & Debriefed makes it entirely unable to stand up to the realism presented within Undead & Undressed . And, yes, I’m saying that a game about stripping vampires’ clothing off had realism. Again, this isn’t exactly Hellbound & Debriefed ‘s fault. This is the first game, so it’s obviously not going to be as fleshed out as its sequel, and it would be kind of weird to expect that. However, after having spent so much time with Undead & Undressed previously, it’s hard not to notice when all of the little things that made it so wonderful are missing entirely from its predecessor. On the bright side, it certainly makes you appreciate all of the hard work that Acquiredid when creating the second Akiba’s Trip game!

Something seems off about that statement, but okay…

Fortunately, while Akihabara itself isn’t as lively as I would have liked, its citizens certainly are. As with its sequel, a lot of the fun in Hellbound & Debriefed comes from meandering around and completing quests for people. And, with this being Akihabara and all, you can bet that a lot of the people you’ll be helping out are kind of weird. Sure, it might just be helping otaku and maids ait first, but it won’t be long before you’re squaring off with Super Sentai Rangers and men in soccer ball uniforms, and finding that oh-so-perfect cat girl outfit so some bloody nosed random girl can try to force it on one of your friends. Money’s money, after all, right?

If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Embarrass ‘Em (And Then Beat ‘Em)

No, it is NOT a weird sex thing! This is how I fight! I’m serious!

As far as I’m aware, there’s very little—if any at all—difference between the combat mechanics in Hellbound & Debriefed and Undead & Undressed . If you’ve played the second game, then that should be more than enough information. I’m aware that not everyone has, however, so let’s dig into things a little more. Hellbound & Debriefed is essentially an action/RPG with fighting mechanics. Characters are able to equip up to three pieces of clothing (headgear, shirt, and pants), and while characters, including the player themselves, don’t have HP, their clothing does. By attacking various parts of an enemy, you damage their clothes, and, once the clothing is damaged enough, you can rip it right off—and, once a character’s left in nothing but their skivvies, they’re down and out.

Hellbound & Debriefed ‘s combat is very simple, surprisingly addictive, and it isn’t hard to get the hang of at all. Unfortunately, it also isn’t the most polished combat around. A total lack of manual targeting means that you can accidentally end up targeting the wrong person or, in some cases, even hit someone who you aren’t actively engaged in combat in. The game also doesn’t let you start beating up people who aren’t actively hostile toward you. While this makes sense from the point of public decency, it’s really annoying when you’re trying to go after people with rare clothing.

Shaky, but Sound

Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed is a lot of fun, but it also leaves something to be desired given the fact that we’ve had its sequel for almost a decade at this point. If you’ve never gotten into the series and want to start, or are like me and love Undead & Undressed so much that you just want to know what came before it, then Hellbound & Debriefed is absolutely worth your time. It’s a charming title with a good amount of replayability, and gameplay that, in all likelihood, you probably won’t find anywhere else. Do be warned, however, that its age is showing at this point.

Final Verdict: 3.5/5

Available on: Nintendo Switch (Reviewed), PlayStation 4, PC; Publisher: XSEED Games; Developer: Acquire; Players: 1; Released: July 20, 2021; ESRB: M for Mature; MSRP: $39.99

Full disclosure: This review is based on a copy of Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed given to Hey Poor Player by the publisher.

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Nintendo Switch Reviews

Akiba’s Trip: Undead & Undressed Director’s Cut (Switch) Review

There’s a fun challenge to games that feature a variety of endings a player can earn. The key for those motivated by more than simply reaching completionist status is the fun factor of the game. XSEED is a favorite developer of mine, and while Akiba’s Trip: Undead and Undressed was a revisit for some, it was a first-time experience for me. Does it offer enough to warrant ending-hunting the campaign over and over? Here’s my review of Akiba’s Trip: Undead & Undressed Director’s Cut on the Nintendo Switch.

Akiba’s Trip was originally released in 2013 for the PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PC. The Director’s Cut is a welcome collection of all of the DLC costumes for the slew of characters you interact with, plus it brings the game to the Nintendo Switch. First things first, let’s get graphics out of the way. This looks rough at times, much like you’d expect a game from 2013 to look in comparison to other modern releases. Even on the Switch, we’re dealing with some less-than-stellar graphics.

Looking past that, however, isn’t all that difficult thanks to a fairly solid gameplay loop. In the game, you’re working to defeat Synthesizers, alien-like creatures who are hunting down otaku and residents of Akihabara. To defeat them, you need to expose their skin to sunlight, which can only mean one thing. Button-mashing combat ends in stripping them of the clothes on their head, upper body, and lower body to kill them.

As you play through the game, there is an actual story here. A secret organization seems to be involved heavily in why these Synthesizers are hunting residents down. You also get to know the members of your defense club, who vow to protect the streets of Akihabara. There are a number of different endings you can earn depending on your choices, including an all-new route featuring the character Kati. One run of the story, without too many explorations into side missions, should run you about 10 hours.

The side missions, however, are fun ways to extend your adventures. Over 130 real-life shops are featured in the game, many of which are key side mission opportunities to earn bonus items. If you’re strictly ending-hunting for certain outcomes, you can bypass these. That said, they do offer more time in this world, which overall is very pleasing to explore and enjoy as you progress through the story. No side mission truly stands out, however, and follows rather formulaic patterns like fetching and fighting.

If you are seeking a game you’ll struggle to put down, I don’t know that this is it. Gameplay isn’t a mindless breeze, but it does lack the challenging obstacle you might seek from an action-adventure title. With rough graphics, and (as you can imagine) some pretty over-the-top and fan-service dialogue, this isn’t for everyone. If you do enjoy these types of games that are ripe with the ability to carve out your own path to the end, then this is a great edition of a pretty solid game. Not to mention, there are a ton of costumes included.

After two playthroughs of the main story to achieve different endings, I’m not sure I’ll grind away for more. That said, Akiba’s Trip: Undead & Undressed Director’s Cut entertained me enough to play through the game back-to-back and try out new dialogue trees, relationships, and costumes. You might spend the majority of the game stripping enemies, but there are some decent story beats in here. They just don’t happen to be all that memorable once you move on from your time in Akihabara.

A Nintendo Switch Review Copy of Akiba’s Trip: Undead & Undressed Director’s Cut was provided by XSEED Games for this Review.

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Akiba's Trip: Undead & Undressed Director's Cut

An entertaining return to the Akiba's Trip series
Includes all costumes and a new character story
Fully voiced and exactly what you want from this sort of game dialogue-wise
Graphics are rough all around
Gameplay loop is not addictive nor inventive
Plenty of other similar titles that execute this story-gameplay loop more effectively

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Akiba's Trip: Undead & Undressed Critic Reviews
Akiba's Trip Launches on PC, Following Multiplatform Console Release
[Anime Review] Akiba’s Trip The Animation
Akiba's Trip Launches on PC, Following Multiplatform Console Release
Review: Akiba's Trip: Undead & Undressed (PC Version)
Akiba's Trip Full Gameplay

VIDEO

AKIBA'S TRIP2 ディレクターズカットプレイ動画3【共通ルート(part2)】
Akiba's Trip: Shion Route: 010 Synthister Finding App
Akiba's Trip: Shion Route: 021 Dam!
Akiba's Trip: 02 Survival and Expenses
Akiba's Trip: Rin Route: 39 Maid's Troubles
【AKIBA'S TRIP 2 #4 完】AKIBA'S TRIP 2 最終話

COMMENTS

Review: Akiba's Trip: Hellbound and Debriefed
Akiba's Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed (Nintendo Switch [reviewed], PC, PS4) Developer: ACQUIRE Corp. Publisher: XSEED Games, Marvelous USA, Inc. Released: July 20, 2021 MSRP: $39.99 Let's ...
Akiba's Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed
AKIBA'S TRIP: Hellbound & Debriefed is the precursor to AKIBA'S TRIP: Undead & Undressed, the smash hit that introduced a Western audience to the seedy underworld lurking in the shadows of the haven of "otaku" culture in the Akihabara district of Tokyo. Released as AKIBA'S TRIP Plus in Japan, players explore a rich setting based on the famous "Akiba" district circa 2011, hunting ...
AKIBA'S TRIP: Hellbound & Debriefed on Steam
Will you work with the secret paranormal-hunting agency, give the creatures a fair shake (hey, some of them seem all right), or just look out for your otaku friends? Choose your side, choose your missions, and enjoy a freewheeling adventure with AKIBA'S TRIP: Hellbound & Debriefed. Key Features Playful Reimagining of Japan's Electronics Mecca
Review: Akiba's Trip
TAKE IT OFF! - Performance. From a technical standpoint, Akiba's Trip: Hellbound and Debriefed is, without a doubt, certifiably terrible. Not only does it suffer from stutters, but also lock-ups, the aforementioned slow down, and worst of all crashes. The stutters and slow-down usually occur simultaneously.
Akiba's Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed Review
Akiba's Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed is technically a brand-new game that has been remastered and released for a Western audience. The original game - called Akiba's Trip Plus in Japan - was initially released in May 2011 for the PSP, making Akiba's Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed a near must-have for fans of the series. Can you play the game as a new player to the franchise?
AKIBA'S TRIP: Undead ＆ Undressed on Steam
AKIBA'S TRIP tells the story of one such unfortunate soul: a young man named Nanashi who was lured into a trap by the promise of rare character goods and transformed into one of the walking undead. ... To view reviews within a date range, please click and drag a selection on a graph above or click on a specific bar. Show graph. Lifetime Only ...
AKIBA'S TRIP: Hellbound & Debriefed Review
Akiba's Trip is a PSP game ported to modern systems, with a few small graphical options like resolution added, and given a worldwide release rather than the Japanese exclusive one it had back in ...
Akiba's Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed Review
The Akiba's Trip series is such a unique one. When Akiba's Trip: Undead & Undressed came westward in 2014, I had no idea what to expect. It turned out to be a very shameless beat 'em game with stripping mechanics. More specifically, the main character explores the city of Akihabara and strips the clothes off of supernatural human enemies called Synthesizers, who are vulnerable to sunlight.
Akiba's Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed Review
Akiba's Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed. Developer: Acquire Publisher: XSEED Games Platforms: PC, PlayStation 4 (Reviewed), Switch Release Date: July 20, 2021 Price: $39.99 USD - Available Here ...
AKIBA'S TRIP: Hellbound & Debriefed
AKIBA'S TRIP: Hellbound & Debriefed is a short game if you decide to play it just for the story. But that is if you don't get frustrated with the game's combat system first. It's one of a couple of frustrating things I really disliked about the game. I can't think of any other reason why the developers decided to keep the original's ...
Review: Akiba's Trip: Undead and Undressed Almost Gets It Right
Food for Thought. I will admit there was some nostalgia for me here, as I did visit Akiba around the time of the game's original release. There's even a mission where Nanashi gets cornered by ...
AKIBA'S TRIP Hellbound & Debriefed (Quick Review) [PC]
Yet another Japanese series getting released out of order in the West... Let's see if the first game is any good in my AKIBA'S TRIP: Hellbound & Debriefed re...
Akiba's Trip: Undead and Undressed Review
By Josiah Renaudin on September 10, 2014 at 9:41PM PDT. The fact that a game called Akiba's Trip: Undead & Undressed isn't completely tasteless might be its greatest accomplishment. This is a ...
Akiba's Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed Reviews
Akiba's Trip is a poor attempt at creating a tantalizing video game, and it's only the strength of its humor and writing that makes it even worth a look. This is actually the first official English localization of the original Akiba's Trip, though after spending time with it in 2021, it's a mystery why anyone wanted to remaster it in the first ...
Review: Akiba's Trip: Undead & Undressed (PC Version)
According to publisher XSEED, Akiba's Trip: Undead & Undressed is a straight port from the PlayStation 4 version of the game (minus the Toy Box mode for whatever reason). Originally developed as a Vita game, then ported to home consoles, the game's shortcomings stand out a tad on home gaming machines, but thankfully its more frustrating technical issues benefit from stronger hardware.
Akiba's Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed
Summary. Akiba's Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed brings gamers the original first game in the series on next-generation platforms. Content Rating. Violence, Sexual Themes, Blood, Strong Language ...
Akiba's Trip: Undead and Undressed Director's Cut
Akiba's Trip: Undead and Undressed Director's Cut is available now on Nintendo Switch, and Kati's Route DLC is also available now for PlayStation 4 and PC. Check out the launch trailer ...
Akiba's Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed Review
Akiba's Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed is an HD release of a ten year old Japanese action RPG about a legion of vampires invading Tokyo, with combat focused on removing the enemy's clothes.
Akiba's Trip: Undead & Undressed
Akiba's Trip: Undead & Undressed. View All Platforms. Released On: Nov 25, 2014. Metascore Mixed or Average Based on 21 Critic Reviews. 57. User Score Mixed or Average Based on 67 User Ratings. 7.1. My Score. Hover and click to give a rating.
Akiba's Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed Review
Published Jul 20, 2021. Akiba's Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed is a brawler that involves ripping off people's clothes out in public, in a poorly-made attempt at fanservice. Akiba's Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed is a brawler developed by Acquire and published by XSEED Games. The game's flimsy pretense for fanservice is one of its primary selling ...
PC Review: Akiba's Trip: Undead & Undressed
My review of Akiba's Trip: Undead & Undressed for the PC. This game is obviously not meant to be taken seriously, so just sit back and enjoy this strange tri...
Akiba's Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed Review (Switch)
One of the biggest pulls of the Akiba's Trip series is the fact that you get to explore what essentially amounts to a realistic Akihabara (aside from the rampant demonic activity and the whole "strip everyone naked" thing). Naturally, Hellbound & Debriefed, as the game that started this trend, has a faithfully recreated Akihabara to explore.. Players are able to peruse the main street ...
Akiba's Trip: Undead & Undressed Director's Cut (Switch) Review
Akiba's Trip was originally released in 2013 for the PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PC. The Director's Cut is a welcome collection of all of the DLC costumes for the slew of characters you interact with, plus it brings the game to the Nintendo Switch.

Review: Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound and Debriefed

Show me how you strip

Review: Akiba's Trip - Hellbound & Debriefed

WELCOME TO AKIHABARA! - Introduction

HELLO, FAN SERVICE! - Writing

HIT HIM WITH A BAT! - Gameplay

ROLEPLAYING A BRAWLER! - Gameplay

AVOID THE SUNLIGHT! - Accessibility

TAKE IT OFF! - Performance

ANIME IS COOL! - Sound Design

AND THE STRIPPED VERDICT IS…

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Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed Review — A Shadow of Its Former Self

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AKIBA’S TRIP: Hellbound & Debriefed – Review

Review: Akiba’s Trip: Undead and Undressed Almost Gets It Right

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