I became interested in this game mostly because another game called Akiba's Beat will be released state side soon and I wanted to become a little familiar with the Akiba Festa series before then. I had passed this game on numerous occasion in my local Gamestop but wasn't interested enough to buy it. When I finally decided I wanted to check out this game, the developer stopped releasing it new so I had to settle for a used copy. I didn't care too much because this was the PS Vita version and I need to play something until the second Legend of Heroes game came out. The game is known as "Akiba's Trip: Undead & Undressed" to American audiences but the title was renamed from "Akiba Trip 2" in Japanese. I'm guessing there was a game before this one since the reception for this game did very well in Japan while foreign players had mixed reviews. The game was created by ACQUIRE.
The game's plot can be so simple that the player would forget that there was one if the player didn't need to advance the story to move on. You basically meet a girl who turns you into a vampire that can't stand sunlight. You can live without dying as long as your clothes don't get ripped off your body. There are also evil version of vampires who want to take over your home city of Akiba, Japan so you team up with your Otaku buddies to form the Freedom Fighter's where you guys go around ripping off peoples clothes to kill your enemies. A game can't get any more perverted and weirder than that.
The game has the option to chooses English or Japanese audio and create your character name. He doesn't actually talk but you get situations where different answer choices will come up and you have to choose your answer. Bear in mind that at a certain point in the game your answers will count toward how close you get the one of the female characters and the game ending you get. The dialogue art catches the eye with it's anime liveliness and added emotion of each character. The interaction are fun at some moments and boring at others. An option to put these scenes on auto is available too. The story has no substance what so ever so you could put the game on auto and mindlessly half ass pay attention to whats going one without missing a thing. The aim is to go out and explore Akiba, complete side missions if you want, shop with the money you get from the side missions, and, strip strip STRIP! Anyone is up for the picking so if you see clothes or a weapon that a passerby has on that you want, no problem. Start a fight with them and strip them. Not everyone will fight back though. Some people run away too. Akiba looks like it was sucked up and thrown in a game. For a person who has never been to Japan like me, This was a nice sightseeing experience and one of the best parts about this game. You literally have fun just moving around while taking in all the sights. The insides of the stores are done in anime style also for a youthful touch. It was funny to see the store clerks act very Japanese in the way they greet and say farewell to you as the customer. One cultural aspect that American couldn't gloss over even with the overdub.
The gameplay uses the X, O, and Triangle buttons during combat. You get the option to equip yourself with all kinds of clothes such as hats, headphones, glasses, pants, shirts, shoes for protection. Crossdressing is an option too has your character can wear female clothes if you beat a certain side mission. One female character from the freedom fighter group also has the option to patrol the streets with you when you leave the hideout. Your partner aids you in battle to strip your enemies but they can also get stripped so be sure to help them out too. Devastating tag team attacks also become available when you or your partner does enough damage. The whole sequence makes me laugh inside because they doing all that just to rip off some clothes. Stripping the clothes of your enemies solely depend on the damage you inflict and the timing of holding down one of three button I mentioned above. The button you push depends on the article of clothing you want to rip off. At this point, the gameplay becomes clumsy because if your not facing the right angle then you'll miss and leave yourself wide open for an attack. Sometimes the camera angle blinded during a battle. I found myself just hitting the X button hoping that I was landing hits.
Once you get the hang of the battle system, the game becomes smooth sailing from there. The most frustrating experience I had was trying to get to a new areas as there was no directions on how to get to these places. I ended up googling how to get to where I need to go because stripping random people began to get old. No to mention that not all the people you strip are Vampires. Humans gets stripped constantly too until you get a camera that tells humans and vampires apart. After this humans are still fair game but be aware of the police. Your ass will get handed to you if you try to attack the police. They aren't playing with you. Boss battles are more challenging but not by much. The game slips by fast when you only focus on the story and leave the side missions alone.
"Akiba's Trip" replay value is pretty high especially after you beat the game the first time. I just won't be the one revisiting Akiba because the plot made me kill a few of my brain cells. Otaku guys(or any guy) will like this game because everything focuses more on the fan service of women striped down to their panties.( I don't care but another might...) My goal was to beat the game once then put it down and as of today that mission was accomplished. The ending I received made me happy since I ended up with the main female character and the ending was really sweet. A game contain a dull story with a rewarding ending is better than a complete trashy game on all accounts.
***PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS GAME IS RATED M FOR MATURE. DO NOT PLAY THIS GAME IF YOU ARE UNDER THE AGE OF 18. THE CONTENT IS NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN. THANK YOU***
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