Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed, published by XSEED Games and developed by ACQUIRE, is a beat ‘em up in which you strip the clothes off of your enemies while trying not to get stripped yourself. The reason for this method of combat (besides the fan service), is that you have recently become a Shadow Soul, a demon that dies when fully exposed to sunlight, and have been recruited by the mysterious organization NIRO to protect Akihabara from other Shadow Souls. Your reaction to that premise will be a huge factor in whether or not you enjoy this game because putting that aside, Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed is a pretty simple and sometimes frustrating ride
Most of the gameplay is spent in combat, in which you attack your opponent’s upper wear, lower wear, and potentially headgear before stripping away each of those clothes. While this is an interesting idea, it never matters where you attack your opponent or in what order you remove the clothes, so it’s as if they just have two or three health bars you need to get through. There are some special moves you can use to mix things up, but the build–up is so long that enemies will usually interrupt you before it hits them. I pretty much stuck with the basic attack combo for the whole game because of this, and I also used the quickest weapon type so that enemies wouldn’t hit me in the middle of the attack animation. I didn’t have much luck with any other strategy, but sticking to this made my play-through really repetitive.
Each fight’s difficulty was almost entirely determined by how many opponents I had to fight. In 1v1 combat, it’s pretty easy to hit your opponent nonstop, but once there are three or more, it’s easy for them to hit you nonstop. I spent most of these fights trying to do what I could before getting surrounded, taking a ton of damage, and running away. The only thing that makes these battles winnable is that you can fully heal, but once again, the animation takes so long that it will often be interrupted. All of this means that battles are either incredibly simple or a test of patience.
Outside of the gameplay, I found a mixture of enjoyment and annoyance. I thought the 2D character portraits and animations were well done, but the 3D graphics left a lot to be desired. The voice acting was great, but they’re delivering so much exposition and filler that I found myself skipping cutscenes by the end, despite enjoying them at the start. Finally, I can tell the developers love Akihabara and otaku culture. I appreciated the genuine passion that comes across in this game, but the lewdness that is often associated with otakus comes across as well.
Make no mistake: the sexual themes come up a lot. There are references to hentai, body pillows, and more, not to mention that you can pretty much strip whoever you want. If that’s off-putting to you, then nothing this game does will get you past that. Even if you don’t mind those things, I wouldn’t recommend Akiba’s Trip: H&D unless you love otaku culture so much that you can ignore the frustrating gameplay.
Check Out the AKIBA’S TRIP: Hellbound & Debriefed Trailer:
For more information, visit the game’s official website: http://www.akibastrip.com/hellbound/.
Related: AKIBA’S TRIP: Hellbound & Debriefed Now Out for PS4, PC, and Nintendo Switch
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Gaming has always been a huge part of my life. I've always appreciated how they can test an individual's skills as well as bring people together. In particular, The Legend of Zelda franchise has some of my favorite games of all time for the sense of wonder I get each time I return to them.
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