Akiba’s Trip: Undead and Undressed took the West by storm in 2014; the game gave players a chance to take on vampire-like otaku in a fictional version of Akihabara (A real life district in Tokyo). This year, Akiba’s Beat was revealed as a spiritual successor to the Akiba’s Trip series. However, after sitting down with director Kohta Takano, we found out that there are few similarities between the two titles beyond the name.
When we asked Takano-san if the over-the-top fan service will make a return in Akiba’s Beat, he replied:
“There won’t be the fan service that was present in Akiba’s Trip, because these are two totally different titles. Akiba’s Trip will be around for the people who like Akiba’s Trip, but I’m hoping this game will be picked up by gamers who maybe didn’t like Akiba’s Trip.”
The director seems to want to change course from the silly and fast paced mechanics of his previous game. Although, when speaking with XSEED localization staff, we were told that the conversations during character interaction scenes were still as hilarious as ever, and true to Takano-san’s previous projects.
We also asked if the director will be returning to the Akiba’s Trip series, in which he replied, “I won’t be involved in the Akiba’s Trip series, but that doesn’t mean Aquire won’t still continue it. I will just focus on Akiba’s Beat.”
It seems that Takano-san is eager to focus on his interest in the RPG genre. We played Akiba’s Beat at E3 and said that:
“The most notable [change] is the action-RPG battle system. Akiba’s Beat seems to borrow cues from other titles. Such as, the fast paced battle system found in the Tales series.”
How do you feel about the change of pace? Are you looking to play Akiba’s Beat? Let us know in the comments below.
