Akiba's Trip: Undead and Undressed (PS4) Review

Akiba's Trip: Undead and Undressed, the vampire stripping action game, has made its way to the PS4, and brought along all its DLC with it on one disc.  The visuals are noticeably better than the Vita version, as they are much smoother.  It's still cel shaded and looks good.  There are both English and Japanese for the spoken lines, so both sides can be pleased.

The two biggest improvements for the game are the loading and the included DLC.  The DLC for the PS3 and Vita versions was a mix of free and paid weapons and costume pieces, so it's nice to see them all included without having to shell out extra money or wait until they are on the store.  They are accessible early, but don't really provide amazing bonuses.  That's ok, since the upgrade system makes them as good as you want.  My personal favorites are the two handed sword from Ragnarok Odyssey Ace (along with armor fit for female characters), and the prinny.  Maybe I'm a bit biased, but swinging around a prinny that explodes on contact is really fun.

However the loading is going to be the improvement most people will be more thankful for.  The original game had loading for each area, which added some wait time depending on how far you wanted to go and if you fast traveled.  Now, it is much faster.  The strange downside to this is you won't see the loading screen ads as often or as long.  I'm not really complaining, but I do like the ads, since it's very unlikely that I will get to the actual Akibahara and see them in person.

So those are the differences for any people that have played the first.  For the rest, here's a rundown of how the game works.  You play as an otaku that has undergone an experiment that grants him enhanced strength, but a weakness to light and increased hunger.  You are essentially a man-made vampire, and as a member of the Akiba Freedom Fighters (a collection of otaku wanting to keep Akiba safe), you fight other Synthesters.  To defeat them, you have to expose their skin to sunlight.  That requires you to rip off their clothes.

It's not near as graphic as you might think.  Characters are still in their underwear when fully stripped.  Well, unless they are finished with a big enough chain strip.  Then their underwear drops and is replaced with shining light.  So, no nudity in the game.  And it's a pretty even split between male and female opponents, so it's not exploitative, either.  It's fairly tongue-in-cheek, since they poke fun of it in the game, too.

Combat is a three button attack system, one for lower, middle and upper clothing items.  You get different combo attacks based on your weapon type and weapon.  Holding down the corresponding button will attempt to rip that article of clothing off.  If you haven't done enough damage, you will get knocked away.  If you've done a good amount, but still not enough to rip it off in one go, you will have a button mashing struggle to do some more damage and possibly destroy it.  Once all the articles of clothing are off an opponent (or you), they are defeated.  You can also block, counter, and even counter strip.  If you rip a piece off and there are other opponents with weakened clothing, you will proceed to strip them, provided you press the correct button in time.  This is a chain strip, and doing enough in a row will result in a super move that will leave them without any underwear and running for the hills!

The basic flow of the game is to read a little story, then go off and beat some Synthesters, then return for more plot.  It's not the most involved game, but it's fun.  It's also not very long, as the first time through took me 10 hours (8 on this version, since I've done it before).  There are multiple endings and difficulties, with lots of weapons and clothes to collect and power up.  This gives the game lots of replay value, for at least the endings.

While the game won't be for everyone, I enjoy Akiba's Trip: Undead and Undressed.  It's a silly premise, but fun to go through.  There are a few frustrating moments, but not "throw your controller" bad.  It's a fairly short game with lots of replay value.  If you have already played the Vita or PS3 version, the improved visuals, included DLC and faster loading probably aren't enough to make you buy it again, but I'd recommend this version of the game for those that haven't, and have a PS4.  Too bad progress from other versions doesn't carry over!

Akiba's Trip (Vita) Review

Akiba's Trip: Undead & Undressed follows the story of your protagonist and his friends as they fight to rid their beloved Akibahara from Synthesters, which are effectively man-made vampires.  The hero is turned into one at the outset of the story, and must use his new strength to stop the rest.  How do you stop a vampire?  Get sunlight on its skin.  So, you and a partner will fight enemies and ultimately strip off their clothes to expose them... to the sun.

Before the story starts, you will name and clothe your character.  At first, you don't really have many clothing options, but you will get plenty throughout the game.  Because of this, you will mostly be playing as a silent protagonist.  You do get to make numerous dialogue choices during the game, which affects who partners with you, the affection level of the others toward you, and even the ending you receive at the end of the game.  The ending you get will offer different unlocks, including player models that can be changed when starting a new game +.

Akiba's Trip is mission-based.  The story has you run to various areas of the map, usually fight some bad guys, then return for more dialog.  The areas can be pretty small, and there is loading as you travel between each one.  Thankfully, the map can be used to quick travel, saving you a lot of time.  The only real complaint I have about moving around everywhere is that you have to be careful not to run into others.  If you do, you bump into the person, making them yelp and both of you stumble for a bit.  It doesn't really hinder gameplay, but it is annoying, especially in the more cramped areas.

The fighting in the game is pretty unique, but has some resemblance to Clan of Champions.  There are three attacks, one for low, mid, and high, and each will damage clothing on the corresponding place.  You will only do damage to clothes, so there isn't much reason to keep hitting an exposed body part.  Once the durability of the clothing item is down, you can hold the button to attempt to rip it off.  If multiple articles of clothing are able to be ripped, you can chain strip with correct button presses and timing.  Chain strip enough and you can even activate a super move that will remove their underwear (don't worry, they will be covered in light)!  It's actually pretty fun and amusing to do so, plus it nets you underwear that you can equip.  As a nice touch, there is even a piece of equipment that changes what animations you do when tearing off clothes.

While combat is fun, it can get frustrating when fighting many enemies.  One on one fights are easy.  Two or three enemies is fairly manageable too, especially if you have a partner to even things out.  There are a few fights against four or more, which can get hard.  Enemies like to dodge a lot, and they can easily take advantage of you not targeting them, or when their friends get a hit in.  Targeting an enemy is automatic, which leads to its own frustrations.  Using counter attacks helps some, but it's no real substitute for having some kind of area of effect special attack.  Finding the weapon type that works the best for you will also help, as they each have strengths and weaknesses.  There are four kinds of weapons- fist, sword, heavy and long- and many variants within.  Weapons and clothes can all be maxed out at the damage/defense cap, so you can pick your favorites and not have to worry about it needing to be replaced.

The main quest of the game takes a few hours to complete, but there are a lot of side quests to help pad that out.  Usually, they are an excuse to beat up some more Synthesters, but there are occasional fetch quests or ones that involve the character's cellphone camera.  There are also several endings, at least 2 per girl, and multiple difficulties, so there are good excuses to run through the game a few times.  Plus, getting a girl's ending allows you to use their model for your main character when you start a new run through the story.  On the normal setting, the game isn't too hard, but can get frustrating at a few parts.  Usually it's when you get chain hit by a surrounding group, or when you are doing the sidequest to fight 48 enemies (there are two of these).

The trophies are pretty standard, with making your way through the game, doing side quests and collecting various pieces of equipment making the bulk of the list.  Of course there are some for beating the game on the different difficulties, too.  There's even one for collecting the flyers that some NPCs hand out.  It's neat that they put real stores in the game, and they even have ads for them on the loading screens.  You can turn them off if you want, but I liked seeing them.  For some reason, the ads didn't bother me, but it could be because they aren't ads I would ever see, since I don't live in Japan.  It was actually pretty cool to see them!

Akiba's Trip is a lot of fun.  Fights are silly and rewarding, even with the occasional frustration.  At first, I thought it was going to be more fan-service oriented, and that all the enemies were going to be women.  That isn't the case, as the game is very fair in its treatment of the different sexes.  There's also dual language support, so hopefully everyone can be happy.  If you like quirky games, fun action games, or even just a fresh take on hunting vampires, I would strongly suggest playing Akiba's Trip.