Developer: ACQUIRE Corp.
Publisher: XSEED Games, Marvelous USA, Inc.
Platform: PC, PS4, Switch
Tested on: Switch
Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed – Review
We’ve had our run-ins with the Akiba’s Trip series several years ago already. Two now-retired reviewers tried the Undead & Undressed title for PS3 and PS4 and found it a very pleasant, albeit niche, experience. We now return to the roots of the series with the Switch release of Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed, which is actually an upgraded version of the original Akiba’s Trip, which was originally released for Sony’s PSP. We found ourselves snickering from time to time thanks to the game’s awfully inappropriate humor, but other than that, we were quite disappointed with this upgraded port.
Story
The game sets itself in the ‘electrical district’ of Akihabara, where an invisible plague is wiping out humanity as we know it. While everything looks normal on the surface, it seems that vampire-like beings are slowly disposing of normal humans in seats of power, claiming them as their own. You, a seemingly random boy, have an encounter with one of these vampire-like beings, but you get saved at the last minute by its sister, who then gives you some of her blood. Because of this, you turn into a hybrid of sorts, able to battle this semi-undead scourge. You do not do this completely willingly, as a secret organization orders you to do so. The only way to beat these adversaries? Strip them of all their clothes and see them burn in the sunlight.
While plowing through the game’s storyline, you’ll notice a lot of things that wouldn’t fly in our ever-changing politically correct society. This is actually one of the biggest charms of the game, as it is just mindless over-the-top storytelling, all to see some digital characters in their (almost) butt-naked state. There is a proper evolution in the story, and that is one of the few reasons to perhaps consider this port, even if it does fail in almost every other aspect.
Graphics
The game is very basic from start to finish. You’ll constantly encounter the same character models in the different tiny areas of the game. This remaster still shows that its roots come from a 2011 PSP game, as it is extremely limited in what it does with its visuals. You’ll have a few nice items to equip and you do see a variety of fun enemies, but they get copy-pasted over and over again until you get quite sick of them. The environments are somewhat stale and sterile, with very simple textures and little attention spent on details. Even though the Switch isn’t exactly a powerhouse, it has many prettier games in its library than what is on display here.
Sound
The sound design is actually one of the only things in this title that has withstood the test of time. The cheesy voice acting is appealing, and the overall backdrop is fairly pleasant. The sound effects also serve their purpose well. The game does have a proper anime vibe, and this does add a layer of quality to the otherwise messy and dated port.
Gameplay
Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed is a fairly straightforward action-adventure game. The game lets you go through very small enclosed zones to find and beat up possible vampires, and eventually let them burn to a crisp by stripping them of their clothes. While this sounds (delightfully) wrong, you’ll soon notice that the game is a very repetitive mess, where you’ll have to grind for money, and then keep buying new items, to slightly improve your damage during combat. The overall concept is fun and is executed a lot better in the follow-up title, Undead & Undressed, but it’s clear that this title has a PSP-programmed foundation.
The game tries to be original by adding special ‘strip’ functions to the combat, where you just need to time button presses properly, in order to steal pieces of clothing, and thus finish battles quicker. Overall it feels like you’re mashing buttons, waiting for a prompt to pop up, allowing you to go through the motions at a faster pace. When getting attacked by multiple enemies, you often just get stun-locked, which also doesn’t add to the overall experience. The main drive in this game is its story, and the fun collectible pieces of gear you can find while plowing through the game. It has a certain charm beating up vampires with a stuffed bear.
We found that the biggest problem here is that this ‘remaster’ lacks polish. You may notice a few graphical upgrades, but that’s basically about it. There is nothing that truly clicks with our modern standards, and this makes the game feel very dated and frustrating at times. Add the fact that this is not a cheap purchase for your Switch, and you’ll probably end up being very disappointed.
Conclusion
Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed can only be recommended to those who loved the original PSP version and can oversee the fact that this game has not really been improved for Switch users. Sure, certain things look a bit more crisp and detailed, but other than that, you’ll find yourself struggling with awful controls, bugs, and very dated gameplay. It’s fun for those who really enjoyed Undead & Undressed to see where the series started, but other than that, we don’t see that many incentives to buy this edition. The story was somewhat amusing and did have a few highlights, but this was soon overshadowed by the game’s many issues. We do hope a proper remaster gets released in the future, or even a remake, but as it stands now, you’re better off avoiding it, or waiting for a very high discount.
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