Don't ask for HIS measurements!

Onto a more serious review. I wish there was a neutral recommendation but, since there isn't, I cannot recommend this game at full price.

To preface this review, I played the original version and the plus version on a psp years ago.

I love that Aquire has translated this game into English and ported it to pc. It makes it easier preserve such a great series.

However, if you are coming in from Undead & Undressed, you may be disappointed.

While it does say HD update, the graphics does not look great when it is up-scaled to 1080p and above. Also, the voice recordings sound compressed. This is to be expected when you port a psp game to pc.

Story wise, it is interesting, albeit darker than U&U; it is the high point of the game. Like its successor, your choices can have consequences, whether it is picking which faction you support or dying in the first 10 minutes of the game.

As for the world itself, while there are areas different than U&U, you do feel more boxed-in than U&U. Unlike in U&U, you are forced to go back to the map after leaving an area. It doesn't feel like you are exploring a world, rather you are exploring different levels.

The biggest difference is in the combat. In U&U, they really polished it up and made it fun but, here, it just feels clunky.

This is especially noticeable on Otaku and Holic difficulty. The game goes from a beat em' up style combat to rock paper scissors combat.

If they block, you use unblockable attacks.
If they use unblockable attacks, you use regular attacks.
If they use regular attacks, you block and parry.

This wouldn't be a problem if they mixed up what the AI does. However, if all the AI does is block for 5 seconds, attacks, and repeats, the fighting becomes very stale.

Also some other quality of life mechanics weren't added yet.

One of which is being able to leave the map with you weapon drawn. At first, this seems like a good thing but, it also means an enemy can knock you back to the map screen, thus losing any progress you had with an enemy, or any items on the ground.

Healing is also a pain since you have put away your weapon mid-combat to heal and re-equip it again to fight.

One of the most annoying parts of the game is where npcs would flee from a scene, whether it be from your bad reputation or you recently stripped a human. Sometimes, they would run into you and cause you to stagger. During that time, you can't really do anything until the npc gets passed you, which can be a 1 second or 10.

If you do buy it, you can only save and change equips on the map screen, took myself a bit to figure that out.

I will gladly change my review if the devs plan to something about the quality, mechanically or graphically. Anything really. If they aren't, at least make the price more reasonable.

TLDR: The age of the game shows but, if you really like the Akiba's Trip series, by all means get it but, not at full price.

If this will be your first Akiba's Trip game, go with Undead & Undressed.

After a little over 80 hours, I've finally got the platinum badge. Now, I would like to mention that platinum isn't the same as 100% I am not even close to getting 100%, there's still so much clothes and weapons and nicknames and other stuff to collect. I just managed to get all of the Steam achievements, but that's good enough for me! And now that I've gotten platinum, I figured I might as well write a review.

So as you already know, this game was originally released in 2011 for the PSP, and now in 2021 they decided to release a PC HD remake. Now, I've never played the original PSP game, but I am certain that they have made good improvements, and it's also a very nice port.

The Good (ranked in order from most important to least important):

1. The story. I haven't played the 2nd game in like 3 years, but the story for this game is phenomenal. I love it, and I think it might be even better than the 2nd game. Maybe. Again, it's been a while so my brain is fuzzy.

2. The (JP) VA. I've never touched the EN voice acting because I don't use EN. I'm a sub only kind of person. But it's actually really high quality, something I wasn't expecting from a 2011 niche game.

(These two points, the story and VA, are so good that you could legit just play this on easy and treat it as a Visual Novel if you wanted to, albeit a pretty pricey VN)

3. Replayability. With 5 difficulties, tons of unlockables and achievements, and a multitude of side quests and endings, there's some big replayability in this game which is great. It does start getting grindy if you're gunning for platinum but that's just how platinum typically goes.

4. Stripping. Of course, going along with the name, stripping is part of the gameplay. If you enjoyed stripping people in the 2nd game, you'll love it all over again in this one.

5. Amazing English translation. I've played this game for 80 hours. I don't think I've seen a single grammar or spelling mistake. Acquire has some amazing translators, that I'll say.

6, Fantastic port. The game is smooth and the movement is fairly tight with no input delay. I never dipped below 144 fps.

The bad (ranked in order from the most frustrating to the least):

1. The combat. Oh boy... it's just bad. It's just terrible. I hate to say it but I just can't get over the combat, and anyone who's played this game on Gamer+ difficulty can probably agree. There's no manual tab target so you can't choose your enemy, the camera is actively working against you, the combo system is just weird and doesn't work half the time, and the enemy cheats by being able to do things you can't do.

2. Unfair fights. This kind of goes hand-in-hand with the bad combat. Because of how difficulty scales in this game, in Holic all enemies can 1-2 shot you, even if you're in max clothing with food buffs. Basically, all enemies are mini-bosses. And there are some nasty fights where you're forced to fight multiple people. If you try to fight them the normal way, you just lose. There's just no way you can fight 5 people who are all able to 1shot you, dodge all your attacks, and block and surround you. It's just impossible.

3. Camera. I touched on this a little in the combat section but the camera is just bad. It's just bad, nothing more to say. It gets really annoying when you're fighting in tight spaces like the final fight in UD+. It feels like you're forced to fight not only the enemy, but the camera.

Mixed opinion:

UV Sunscreen cheese: you know how I said that there's no way to win fights on Holic if you're outnumbered? That's only the normal way. Here comes UV Sunscreen cheese to save the say, which is an item that makes you invincible for 30 seconds. And there's no cooldown or nothing so you can just keep spamming it in fights all you want. Oh, and you carry 99 of them wherever you go so they never run out. So yup, basically there's an item built into the game that lets you be invincible. This is a good and a bad thing. It's good because it lets you actually make it past the incredibly unfair 1v5 fights in this game. It's bad because it's cheesy and it really shouldn't be in the game in the first place. But ultimately I'm glad it is in the game since beating Holic would be next to impossible without it.

____

All in all, I would recommend this game, but only if it's on sale or you're a huge Akiba's Trip nerd like I am. It's just... not a good game by today's standard. It's a fantastic port, but it's a port of a 2011 game in 2021.

So what kind of person would buy this game then? If either you:

a. loved Akiba's Trip Undead and Undressed and want more

b. love games where you collect a bunch of stuff (there's so much to collect. Holy hell, there might be too many things to collect in this game)

tl;dr play Undead and Undressed first since that game won't make you yank your hair out because it actually has decent gameplay. If you want more, then think about buying this game. If you didn't enjoy U&U, then obviously you won't enjoy this game.

The story, setting and music make this game really worth playing, although you may struggle to keep interest because of the combat.

Akiba's Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed is a remaster of a PSP game made 10 years ago. What your playing now is how I assume it was originally played way back then.

Some things will definitely frustrate you at times (I'm playing on hard mode to start with so it may be a bit different for others) but combat is definitely not as easy and fluid as it was in Undead and Undressed. The buttons don't seem to line up exactly in time when you push them and the camera can be all over the place at times. It feels very tough to control and, if just starting out, it's going to make you just want to shut off the game and never look at it again. If you also manage to accidentally stumble upon a crowd of enemies near the beginning of the game, you're going to wish you hadn't even bothered in the first place.

That being said, once you start upgrading your gear and start getting a feel of how things are timed, it is going to feel a bit easier. It's a PSP game with slightly updated visuals and not much else, so don't go expecting to be playing a top of the range product. Areas are smaller than they were in Undead and Undressed and you can't just shove past NPCs either, which adds to the claustrophobic feel to the environments.

So I guess you're probably wondering why I've thumbs upped this game when I have so many bad things to say about it.

The game really shines in its story telling and music. Honestly, I'm surprised with how likeable all the characters are and how the music fits with each situation. It sets up an interesting premise of vampires doing their typical vampire things, only this time you're ripping off their clothes to expose them to sunlight rather than doing the regular stab through the heart with a wooden stake thing or covering them in garlic (I assume). NPCs also react differently depending on how you play. If you attack too many vampires in your playthrough, they'll become more hostile towards you and attack on sight. While if you attack to many innocent bystanders, they'll flee and not want to interact with you in anyway. When the game description said that my choices mattered, I didn't think it would go this in depth (especially given the kind of game that it is).

Each character is voiced very well (at least in English, I don't know what the Japanese version is like) and all the conversations flow naturally and keep you engaged as you follow along with the plot. People react and behave as you would expect them to in this weird situation they've been forced into and nothing feels forced. I'm only about 4 hours in but I'm already feeling like I want to know more and find out what will happen by the end of the game. The quality is somewhat compressed however. I think this was to put it in line with the original Japanese voices, so it doesn't feel too different between the two. Given how this was a Japanese only title to begin with they can't just go back and make the quality of the original voice files better so, as a compromise, they just decreased the English voice lines' quality.

The music in this game is also very well composed. Each scene has the right track playing to help set up the tone of the moment, The battle themes are much heavier sounding in this game, in comparison to Undead and Undressed which has a more light-hearted, upbeat tone. I guess that was to fit with the more serious nature of the story, but they're still great to listen to.

The graphics however are noticeably aged and makes you think you're playing a PS2 game. It's not as clean and sharp as it's sequel, but it's somewhat darker colour scheme and lessened bloom effects does make it look a bit better due to it's darker story.

There's only so much you can do with a 10 year old game so, if you're more into more complex and advanced systems, this probably won't be the game for you. But if you're looking for a niche title, with some pretty interesting elements and a cool little story hidden within, give it a try.

Final verdict: 7/10

A little niche game brought over 10 years later to the west. Whereas Akiba's trip 2 or undead and undressed did.
The game story is pretty straight forward and knows what it is and doesn't try to do anything special, the combat is pretty much how it is. you go and strip enemy vampires to kill them, But I say the negative is the combat is pretty janky compare to undead and undressed and you have enemies just attacking you every two steps where they atleast fixed that in undead and undressed. I say pick this game up if you liked undead and undressed ,But I say wait until sell though.

still plays like a psp game from 2011

This is a game I have been meaning to play ever since it was released on the PSP. Even my friends recommended it to me back then. For some reason, it has remained in my backlog until now.


Let's first talk about the graphics and gameplay.

Well, this game was originally released on the PSP, so the graphics are from that era. But to be honest, it could have been better. On top of that, it's an indie budget title. There are a lot of .png files of real-life photos used as in-game environments. For me, it's charming, but I have to mention that it's better suited for the PSP rather than the PC or PS4 port due to the low resolution. Some of the character 2D sprites don't scale well either. But other than that, I think the graphics are pretty good. I'm a sucker for old games, but I grew up with them. The 3D character models are also reused throughout the game, so they look totally different from the character 2D sprites. When my friends and I streamed this game on Discord, we always joked to keep our eyes at the bottom right of the screen where the character portrait is. By the way, the 2D art is really good! It's expressive, cute, cool, and sketchy, just the way I like it. It's far better than the 2nd game.

The world of the game is a highlight though! Even though I said the graphics are flawed, the world itself, the miracle holy city of Akibahabara, is faithfully created. Even the placement of people is accurate. It's built based on the real Akiba in 2010-2011. I had the chance to visit Akiba in 2018, and I remember the feeling of the city. I can say that it's still a match in the game. It's nostalgic to see 2011 Akiba in this game, even though I wasn't there at that time. There's a box of PS3 slim stacked in the case, posters, and culture from around cute and moe anime (thanks, 2007). It's something I've experienced even though I wasn't there myself. That's the power of subculture. The platonic ideal of a culture from around the city, the freedom to express a thought of oneself, a dream, the spark of youth, is well captured in the game setting. It's done so well, in my opinion.

Now about the gameplay. Let me tell you this: since many reviews here talk about how they can't pull out a combo or input a move, it works just fine for me. Just use the d-pad! I played the whole game with the d-pad and pressing the R button to turn the camera (yup, I'm an OG PSP player). I have no issues pulling off any combo or input command in this game. The game is built like a 3D-type tank control, so you have to respect that. But I have to admit that it could have been done a lot better, considering this is an HD port version. For the combat itself, it's just a beat 'em up that focuses on guarding and counter-attacking. Nothing fancy here, although you need to strip your opponent to defeat them, which is something interesting. Overall, it's fun enough for me.


Now, the main dish of the game: STORY

The plot of this game is so stupidly crazy, but the developers commit to it so seriously that it ends up being pretty good! Throughout my 28-hour playthrough of the game, I really enjoyed it so much. For me, there was no downtime in the story, and every side quest was pretty fun to play through with all the funny and geeky dialogue. The heart of the story revolves around the culture and people of AKIBAHABARA, and I have to say it's well-written. It captures an ideal and a way of seeing things through the eyes of people who really love it there. You're not going to see this often in AAA+++ games. It feels like you're listening to a friend talk about their passion, ideas, and dreams. This is not just a fictional story, but it's mixed with the voices of people who created it. There's a scene where a character tries to explain why schoolgirl uniforms are special, and you will feel like it came from the heart of someone who's really into it. It's not forced or even feel weird. It's just people telling a story about what they love to someone. And the characters... oh my. They're pretty good! There are all the tropes of characters you think you're going to find in anime here. The main female character, Rui, is even voiced by one of the legendary SEIYUU, Hikasa Yoko! And yes, the voice acting is amazing (although the English dub sucks balls). Like I said, the characters are written so well. Even hard topics about real-life issues are written in a subtle enough way in the game. The boys Nobu and Gon are the best! I'll try not to mention the story since it's better to go in blind, but you can treat it as a 12-episode seasonal anime :D

The music is good, and you know it will be good because they got Dreamin by ClariS as an OP, and there are lots of additional songs in the game, such as a song by Mirin Furukawa and LAZY GUNG. The sounds you hear in the city are real sounds captured in the 2010s. It holds something so special there! "MOE MOE MOE CUTE"

In short, the whole game is a time capsule of a decade passed. Playing through the game feels like a fleeting dream. Now I understand why my friend recommended this game to me 11 years ago...

BTW, I need to mention that the Deluxe edition comes with a little 10th-anniversary artbook that contains 4 pages of the 10 years after story written from Rui's POV. Good stuff!

Full video review: https://youtu.be/u0Ny-iYdyjM
Summarized version below!

We already got the second and third games in this series released in the West, so it is about time we got the first – even if 10 years late.

Note: Trimmed review to fit character limit, check video for full version!

So this game is a bit unique. It feels like a collection of interesting ideas all thrown into one little package. Some of these work, some of them do not. The combat is a prime example of this. It revolves around this “strip” mechanic, where enemies are defeated only after you strip their clothing off. This also applies to you though, so a lot of fights end up becoming this tug of war mashing fiesta. It sounds kinda out there, but this was actually a very cool mechanic, as there’s this entire other layer on top of it in the form of equipment.

Not only can you strip enemy clothes, but if you have the required skill for a given article of clothing, you are able to strip it off entirely without tearing it and pocket it in your own inventory. This allows you to then equip it in-between areas and benefit from its stats or other effects. It was really cool how the combat tied directly into your own equipment like this and was easily one of my favorite things about the game.

However, the good points do not really go much further. Sure, the Akihabara level design is kinda neat, but the overall feel I got from this game was more so just “clunk”. Combat, for example, is not polished in the slightest. The strip mechanic is cool, but the actual act of attacking and dodging is oftentimes a pain. The camera is constantly working against you and because your dodging direction is tied to it, this leads to several instances where you will dodge left or right instead of back or sometimes even right into enemies.

Then there’s the fact that attacks don’t always hit the way the animation looks and stun-locking is way more common than it needs to be. The overall movement and combat just does not feel right and offered more annoyance than it did enjoyment.

When you are not duking it out with randoms on the street, you are going through the main storyline, which should not take any longer than 10 hours to beat. It’s not necessarily a bad main story, it’s just not something I am going to remember in maybe a month or so. The characters hardly receive any development and it is more so focused on cheap laughs than actually getting you involved with some deep plot or anything. That approach can work, but only when the core gameplay is strong enough to carry it and unfortunately that is not the case here.

The game runs flawlessly at 1440p unlimited FPS on my 1070 Ti and even offers a launcher to change some basic graphical settings. Controls are great on an Xbox controller, but the default bindings for keyboard (just keyboard, no mouse) make the game practically unplayable for me. I could not find a way to rebind those controls.

There are some good ideas here, but the incredibly clunky combat and mediocre storyline pretty much killed any sort of enjoyment I had with it. Maybe if you’re a fan of the other two in the series and want to complete your playthrough of it, but otherwise this one is an easy pass

Follow my Steam Curator Page for more reviews + videos!

I bought this because I liked Akiba's Trip Undead and Undressed. People are wrong when they say this one is pretty bad, it's not pretty just bad.

Got this because I liked U&U despite all of its flaws. While that game didn't age well, it was still fun and had a lot of character. It was still enough to make me get all of the achievements again after doing so on PS Vita.

This game didn't make me want to play after the first few minutes. Combat just felt very awkward and everything looks so dull. Quickly asked for a refund, I'm amazed that this cost more than U&U when it's nowhere near as good.

Let's get the bad out of the way first.

1. It's rather overpriced for what it is. Get it on sale. This is a handheld game from 2011 with few touch-ups being done. It's especially weird that it is more expensive than its sequel which improves upon it in almost every way.
2. Audio quality varies in the dub, I think some lines had to be recorded from home due to COVID restrictions. It's jarring at first but I forgot about the issue entirely after a while.
3. Due to it being a PSP game from 2011, and hardly remastered at that, the graphics are pretty chunky. I personally have no issue with the graphics, I'm well used to playing retro games and I think it looks fine enough to enjoy. But it seems to be a dealbreaker for a lot of people.
4. The combat is CLUNKY. The camera sometimes works against you, movement is stilted, and any situation where you're fighting multiple enemies is stunlock city. I recommend avoiding harder difficulties. If you play on Normal or Easy difficulties you can get strong gear to make up for the unfair parts and tank all the damage you'll inevitably receive.

So with all of these negatives, especially some damning ones, why would I recommend this game?

Well, to be honest, I'm just willing to put up with certain negatives if I find the overall experience fun. And I do here. Much like its sequel, the Strip mechanic allows for a fun sandbox where any NPC can become a combatant and any outfit you see anyone wearing can be yours to collect. While the combat is clunky, I don't find it completely unacceptable— it still does its job of making the dopamine in my brain go brr when I beat people up. The things I liked most about the sequel are here, but honestly that alone isn't why I'd recommend it. That'd just make me recommend the sequel instead, which in the vast majority of ways is the much better game.

No, I recommend this game strictly for the story and characters. All the other elements are "passable", but the only real reason I'd suggest someone play this instead of U&U is because the characters and music really resonated with me in this game. It's been a long time since I played U&U so I may need to refresh myself on that one, but I think I like the cast and story of this one more. There's 5ish endings in the game and I'm working on the last one now. If you can stomach the flaws with this game, I really do think the characters make it worthwhile. And if you haven't played the sequel yet and find you enjoy this game, I think that'll let you appreciate the advancements the sequel made all the more.

Last note: It might be worth picking up the deluxe edition for the artbook alone. This game is fairly obscure to the point that it's hard to find art and stuff for the game online. The art in the artbook more or less can't be found anywhere else. But more importantly, this game came out to celebrate the 10 year anniversary of the original PSP release. So the artbook includes a story in there from the perspective of Rui, telling us what things have been like for everyone in the 10 years since the events of the game's true ending. If you become attached to the characters the way I did, this story is really really cool to read and makes you feel nostalgic for them as though it really had been 10 years, even though you just played the game a few days ago. That alone makes the deluxe edition worth it, for me.