Akiba's Trip: Undead & Undressed

Akiba's Trip: Undead & Undressed
North American cover art
Developer(s)	Acquire
Publisher(s)	JP: Acquire NA: XSEED Games EU: NIS America WW: XSEED Games (PC)
Producer(s)	Junichirow Tamura Teruyuki Morooka
Artist(s)	Akio Watanabe Manami Chiba Jun Nishiono Mai Nakashita
Composer(s)	Toshiko Tasaki
Series	Akiba's Trip
Engine	PhyreEngine
Platform(s)	PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows
Release	PS3, PSVita JP: November 7, 2013 TW: January 23, 2014[1] NA: August 12, 2014 EU: October 10, 2014 PS4 JP: July 3, 2014 TW: September 3, 2014[2] NA: November 25, 2014 EU: February 6, 2015[3] Microsoft Windows WW: May 26, 2015[4]
Genre(s)	Adventure, beat 'em up, action role-playing
Mode(s)	Single-player

Akiba's Trip: Undead & Undressed, released as Akiba's Trip 2 (アキバズトリップ2, Akibazu Torippu 2) in Japan, is a 2013 adventure video game for the PlayStation Vita, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and Microsoft Windows by Acquire. It is the sequel to Akiba's Trip on the PlayStation Portable.^[5][6][7] A third game in the series, Akiba's Trip Festa, has been released on November 2016.

Gameplay

In-game screenshot of the combat system, demonstrating the player's ability to strip clothes off enemies

Plot

Story

Set in Akihabara, the shopping area has been invaded by creatures known as "Synthisters" who prey on the patrons of Akihabara, feasting on their social energy and will to live. These enemies can only be stopped by direct exposure to sunlight, meaning that the player is required to defeat these synthisters by violently stripping off their clothes and exposing them to sunlight. The storyline revolves around a conspiracy behind the Magaimono organization that the player explores. Within the game, there will be over 130 real life Akihabara shops that the player is able to visit.^[8][9]

Characters

• Protagonist (Nanashi) (主人公(ナナシ)) - the main character, an otaku-type high school student, fond of Akihabara. Turned into a Synthister by the Magaimono organization but escaped. Default voice by Ryota Osaka. English default voice by Spike Spencer.
• Tohko Sagisaka (鷺坂登子(トーコ)) - the protagonist's childhood friend, and member of the Akihabara neighbourhood watch. Voiced by Chiwa Saito. English voice by Michelle Ruff.
• Shizuku Tokikaze (刻風雫) - a girl with purple braided hair with a mysterious power and a friendly Nighteater. Voiced by Sachika Misawa. English Voice by Brina Palencia.
• Rin Tokikaze (刻風凛) - A popular national singing idol. As the game progresses, she is revealed to be Shizuku's sister. Voiced by Hisako Kanemoto. English voice by Eden Riegel.
• Soga Kagutsuki (輝月宗牙) - the main antagonist of the game. He is also from the same Nighteater clan as Shizuku and Rin. He wishes to turn all of Akihabara into Synthisters. English Voice by Richard Epcar.
• Shion Kasugai (霞会志遠) - a 26-year-old female CEO of a pharmaceutical company and acquaintance of the protagonist. Voiced by Eriko Nakamura. English Voice by Megan Hollingshead.
• Nana (ナナ) - protagonist's hikikomori little sister who lives in a room behind the bar at Mogra. Voiced by Aya Suzaki. English Voice by Cindy Robinson.
• Zenya Amo (天羽禅夜) - A ringleader of Magaimono. He is the first major antagonist introduced. Voiced by Daichi Kanbara. English voice by Christopher Corey Smith.
• Kaito Tachibana (怪盗橘) - an older twin brother of Yuto. Voiced by Daiki Yamashita. English voice by Todd Haberkorn.
• Yuto Tachibana (勇人橘) - a younger twin brother of Kaito. Voiced by Junichi Yanagita. English voice by Steve Staley.
• Kati Räikkönen (カティ ライコネン) - a Finnish girl who came study in Japan, because she’s fond of anime and JRPGs. She works part-time as a maid in the bar Mogra. Voiced by Haruka Yamazaki. English default voice by Janice Kawaye.
• Koma Sakaguchi (高麗坂口) - An assistant to Shion, later he revealed himself to be a servant of Soga. Voiced by Koji Fujiyoshi. English voiced by Jamieson Price.
• Kihachi Sugiyama (Pops) (喜八杉山(ポップス)) - he is the owner of Mogra, and the leader of Akiba's Freedom Fighters. Voiced by Toshitsugu Takashina. English voiced by Taliesin Jaffe.

Development and release

Development of the game was first announced in Famitsu in August 2013.^[10] An official trailer was released on 29 August 2013, introducing the main gameplay concepts, including a feature which allows two characters to strip an enemy's clothes off in unison.^[11]

Akiba's Trip: Undead & Undressed has been localised into Chinese and Korean with the assistance of Sony Computer Entertainment Japan.^[12][13] The game features collaboration DLC in the form of character costumes and equippable items, including those from Ragnarok Odyssey Ace, Disgaea, Hyperdimension Neptunia, The Legend of Heroes, Super Sonico, and Genshiken.^[14]

XSEED Games localized the game in North America and released it on August 12, 2014 on the PS3 and Vita, with the PS4 version following in late 2014. NIS America released the game in Europe on October 10, 2014.^[15][16] XSEED Games' western localization of the game features original Japanese audio and text, and Japanese advertising for real-life Akihabara locations and products within the original game will remain.^[15] The physical version shipped with dual audio, with the game being stored on a 4GB Vita cart.^[17]

Reception

During the first week of release in Japan, Akiba's Trip 2 sold 33,476 PlayStation Vita physical retail copies and 20,230 PlayStation 3 physical retail copies, ranking at fourth and eighth place respectively amongst all software sales that week in Japan.^[21] Famitsu gave both the PS3 and Vita versions of the game a review score of 33/40.^[22]

Following the game's release in the west, reception among reviewers have been mixed. Crunchyroll noted that the game features a significant amount of content and provides an authentic feel of Akihabara, however does have issues with its combat system.^[23] Cinema Blend rated the game 3.5 out of 5, noting it to be a unique game unlike any other game on the market,^[24] and Just Push Start gave a score of 9.3, praising the manner in which the setting is presented.^[25] Worthplaying and Digital Trends gave scores of 7/10 and 3.5/5 respectively, both finding the game fun and light-hearted in regards to story and setting, while finding fault with the game's technical issues, such as framerate drops.^[26][27] PlayStation LifeStyle rated the game 5 out of 10, finding the game too easy, and loading screens appearing too frequently.^[28] Hardcore Gamer rated the game a 3.5/5 praising the gameplay and amount of content, but criticizing the technical problems and fan-service. They also stated that "Akiba is an open-world game, but it’s hard to fully get lost in it because of how many loading screens you run into when traveling from section to section of the city."^[29] Cubed3 gave it 5/10, stating, "Fun characters and a creative concept for combat with an immense amount of character customization are all undermined by the terribly executed and jerky unpolished gameplay."^[30] Upon its PC release, HonestGamers praised the game's lampooning of a source material it clearly loved though noted the battle system was "gloriously clumsy", ultimately awarding it 4/5.^[31]

References

External links

• Official website
• Official website(in Japanese)