Published By NIS America
This Review is of the PS Vita version of the game.
The Story
Akiba’s Trip begins with the protagonist Nanashi, accepting a job offer, in which he will be rewarded with Anime figurines, after not reading the fine print, the company begins performing experiments on Nanashi that turn him into a Synthister, a undead creature similar to a Vampire, the experiments are interrupted by a young girl named Shizuku, who frees Nanashi and helps him escape from the company, Shizuku explains that she is a hunter of Synthisters, so Nanashi, not happy with being one himself vows to help Shizuku take out the Synthisters and save Akihabara.
The Gameplay
Akiba’s Trip is a cross between a 3D Beat Em Up and a JRPG, both elements are used very well. The Beat em Up style is quite simple, you use Triangle for High Punch (Which will weaken any head gear the enemy is wearing), Circle for Mid punch (Will weaken any chest clothing the enemy is wearing) and X (Will weaken any leg clothing the enemy is wearing), once any article of clothing is weak enough you hold one of the corresponding buttons to rip off that piece of clothing exposing the enemies body to sunlight, killing them or embarrassing them so much, they run away. You can also equip loads of different equipment, some of which are pretty ridiculous, like a Microphone or a freaking Laptop, same with the clothing you can equip, all can change your appearance and I love that. As a last note, I love that you can actually walk around and explore in this game, which is fantastic as most RPG games now have you stuck in menus all the time, which I hate.
The Sound
By far the worst aspect of Akiba, the soundtrack is not at all memorable and honestly I can’t remember any track from the game, nor would I like to listen to it again, the voice acting is also very poor with the actors all sounding very dull and it’s quite obvious they’re reading from a script, the main culprit being Shizuku.
The Graphics
The Graphics in Akiba’s Trip are quite pretty on Vita, all of the character models look nice and environments are bright and colorful, but the star of this game is the incredibly detailed Akihabara a real life area in Tokyo, famous for it’s many stores, including the Sega store and the Konami store.
The Lasting Appeal
Akiba’s Trip isn’t the longest game for an RPG but it is also a Beat em Up, the game will take you around 8-12 hours to beat and over 20 if you wish to do everything, there is also a full set of trophies to acquire.
Final Thoughts
Overall Akiba’s Trip is a fairly fun RPG, that mixes very fun and addicting gameplay with crisp visuals but with it’s poor soundtrack and voice acting, combined with a dull story, I’d say wait for this one to come down in price or go on sale before picking it up.
My Score – 7/10
The Good
The Bad
Akiba’s Trip Undead & Undressed is available now for PS3 and PS Vita. Thanks go to Reef Entertainment for supplying the game and assets used in this review. Be sure to let us know your thoughts on this review in the comments section below and be sure to stay tuned to UGNN for all your gaming news and reviews and be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter & YouTube.
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