Akiba's Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed

 PlayStation 4
Metascore
52

Mixed or average reviews - based on 15 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 15
  3. Negative: 6 out of 15
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  1. Everyeye.it
    Jul 21, 2021
    45
    The idea behind AKIBA's TRIP is tasty and fun, but if in 2011 the product could work even with all its shortcomings and the limitations imposed by the PSP hardware, the same cannot be said for its re-release.
  2. COGconnected
    Jul 22, 2021
    40
    I can’t imagine anyone so desperate for content that they would find value in this only marginally improved ten-year-old game. Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed is and has always been, awful and no HD remaster will fix its terrible story, lackluster combat, primitive graphics, and creepy tone. Some games are broken or bad in a kind of fun way, but Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed isn’t broken, it’s just bad and decidedly, aggressively not fun at all.
  3. Hardcore Gamer
    Jul 21, 2021
    40
    Before beginning to play Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed, plans to write a screed defending the game while poking fun at the pure stupidity of the gameplay were already in motion. The assumption was that I would adore it the same way I did other games in the series. Instead, Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed is a buggy port of a PSP game with uprezzed geometry, character models and CG cutscenes. Everything else screams of a barebones or incomplete effort. For completionists, it’s cool to have the missing piece finally available in English. Actually playing the game, though, is simply not recommended. If the idea of killing vampires by ruining their outfits sounds intriguing, and it should, check out Akiba’s Trip: Undead & Undressed. It’s simply a superior experience.
  5. PlayStation LifeStyle
    Jul 20, 2021
    40
    I appreciate Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed for spawning a sequel that I fondly remember. I just have an extremely hard time overlooking so many glaring problems that were glossed over to repackage and sell it in this state. Unless you really loved Undead & Undressed or just don’t want a hole in your collection, this is one to pick up on sale.
  6. GameSkinny
    Jul 20, 2021
    40
    I can really only recommend Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed to diehard fans of the series. It doesn’t have any gameplay or quality-of-life improvements that its 2014 sequel introduced, and as a result, it feels like a relic of the past. While there are some emotional moments in the game’s story and the cast of characters can be fun, the gameplay is a chore to get through. It's just disappointing that this is such a barebones remaster.
  7. Shacknews
    Jul 20, 2021
    40
    If Akiba's Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed catches you having too much fun, be prepared to have that stripped from you like a finely quaffed set of Shadow Soul clothes. This game is a constant chore to enjoy and should be reserved for the folks that really want to see where the series began.

Awards & Rankings

57
#57 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2021

User Reviews

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User Score
5.3

Mixed or average reviews- based on 13 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 13
  3. Negative: 6 out of 13
  1. TsukasaHiiragi
    Jul 23, 2021
    0
    Pro's

    Its Akiba's Strip! Con's Horrendously bad side missions Very low res textures English sound/voice overs sound really off    Pro's

    Its Akiba's Strip!

    Con's

    Horrendously bad side missions
    Very low res textures
    English sound/voice overs sound really off
    Terrible camera angles during some fight scenes
    Pretty much everything in the game is done bad
    Censorship
    Super frustrating

    Okay, so as a fan of the Akiba's Trip undead and undressed, I was really excited to see the original finally get a legitimate western port and unfortunately, that's it...after playing it...the game has aged not only poorly, some of the absolutely MASSIVE issues from the original PSP game have not been addressed at all. Even fans of the series who haven't played this on PSP will honestly struggle to enjoy this game, it frankly just hasn't aged well at all, even with all the dress up and your typical otaku tropes thrown in, this is just a sad really.

    The fighting/camera angles are still a huge issue, the camera often gets locked behind objects showing very little of the area, with a very very loose lock on system that sometimes works really badly causing you to attack thin air, through really no fault of your own and fighting multiple shadow souls feels just not nearly as satisfying as the 2nd game in the series, which if I'm being honest is basically just a remake of this game in every way possible.

    Secondly, some of the most horrendous game design choices are still present, such as the HUGELY frustrating side quests, especially the apologize side quests which force you to wear the talisman of regret and go speak to random people and go through a huge dialogue tree that requires you to pick the right answers to satisfy the NPC otherwise you instantly fail the mission, also if you attack anyone attacking you...you instantly fail the mission and you can be literally knocked out of the zone requiring you to re-load back and try again, some of these missions are literally and notoriously badly designed.

    Sure this game is a PSP port, but they could have redone some of the textures, on the PS4 and PS5 consoles some textures look extremely bad. The sound is also another issue, some of the voice overs literally sound like some of the lines was recorded over a cellphone or something, some voice overs sound fine but others sound really off in terms of quality, this isn't the VA's fault at all but something else.

    Combat is horrendously bad, almost always you are facing multiple shadow souls, sure you have a defend button that you have to time perfectly but once you are fighting 4 or 5 sometimes more enemies...especially on side missions, it becomes near impossible to dodge every attack from every angle, and comically you can easily die by just being rag-dolled to death as they keep spamming attacks and even then, you still end up fighting the horrible lock-on system which you have no control over at all, if you could manually lock onto one particular enemy it wouldn't be as bad.

    I honestly, I'm going to end up returning this for a ful refund - would heavily recommend that even for big fans of the Akiba series to wait for a massive sale, this is a sad day for this Akiba's Trip fan - sure, my expectations wasn't that high for a PSP remaster especially for a game that's a decade old but this is just awful, half the price and then must might be worth it for the CD and Art book.    … Full Review »
  2. Maotheoverlord8
    Sep 23, 2021
    10
    This game is so great to see on the PS4. I been playing it on my PS5. I loved this game back on the PSP. To see it now in English and in 4k isThis game is so great to see on the PS4. I been playing it on my PS5. I loved this game back on the PSP. To see it now in English and in 4k is like a dream. It plays just like I remember it did on PSP. Now you even can rotate the camera. I do not recommend it if you played the 2nd game first. But if you grew up like me playing this game when I was 17 fresh out of high-school. It is a complete treat to revisit. Highly recommend if you played it back when it originally released.… Full Review »
  3. Halomugen
    Jul 23, 2021
    2
    Avoid this game. I wouldn't even recommend buying it for $5. Remaster is pushing it, as the graphics and polygon count are still abysmal. TheyAvoid this game. I wouldn't even recommend buying it for $5. Remaster is pushing it, as the graphics and polygon count are still abysmal. They also didn't imporve gameplay at all. The controls are clunky and unresponsive. The voi e acting is quite terrible too. I loved Undead and Undressed, and I was hoping this game would be good.… Full Review »
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