Akiba's Beat

 PlayStation Vita
Metascore
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No score yet - based on 1 Critic Review

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 1
  3. Negative: 0 out of 1
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  1. The Vita Lounge
    Jun 19, 2017
    70
    Akiba's Beat is an enjoyable RPG with an interesting plot and some nice characters; the only problem is that it also comes with cheap presentation and repetitive gameplay.

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User Score
6.1

Mixed or average reviews- based on 8 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 8
  3. Negative: 2 out of 8
  1. Rangertwin1208
    May 24, 2017
    5
    After playing the game for 40 hours and finally beating it, I'm gonna keep this review kinda short (SPOILERS):
    Pros:
    -The story is alright.    After playing the game for 40 hours and finally beating it, I'm gonna keep this review kinda short (SPOILERS):
    Pros:
    -The story is alright. Is about a young otaku (described as a NEET) and a few teenagers getting trapped in a repeating Sunday and the heroes must fight against the delusions of Akihabara while encountering a pink-caped man who knows the occurrences of the events. It doesn't manage to be the "Groundhog Day of JRPG" but so far, is been okay. The downside is that the story drags very slowly during the first hours in the game and personally, about 3 hours in and the story finally catches up an interesting twist. There's a True Ending in the game where you achieve it by doing it all the sub events but is nothing more than an extension to the original ending.
    -Characters are okay for the most part. Their english dub is voiced pretty decently (even if the pink-caped man and a few sounds as if they don't give f*ck) and their wacky personalities can make these characters a bit likable. However, like the story, during the first hours it was a huge pain to even give a crap towards the characters. Also, if you aren't a fan of stereotypes that loves to shout cringy lines, meta jokes and at times boring exposition, you aren't gonna like them. If you are however interested in the otaku culture, I suggest you give them a shot.
    -The soundtrack, while not my all time favorite, is pretty good and is almost on par with its previous predecessor.
    -The anime scenes are beautifully animated and can sometimes feel as if you were watching an anime.

    With that done, now for the cons, which let me tell you, there's A LOT:
    -Due to budget constraints graphics are sub-par and can sometimes look as if it was made as an early PS3 game.
    -The anime scenes and character deigns are good, that doesn't mean their animations are good. Most of the time the animations such as running just looks wonky.
    -The dungeons are based on the delusions of people which sounds good on paper but poor on its execution. Instead of having a few twists and turns, the structure designs is mostly bland and straight-forwards similar to the dungeons in Cyber sleuth, and Persona 3/4 and instead throws throws at you switches because why not.
    -Aside from the bosses, all the enemies from all dungeons are basically re skins with no unique attacks.
    -The combat is very similar to the Tales games but way worse. It is very unpolished and it doesn't have much flow. Hell, it feels as if you were hitting the air. You can use up to 8 skills but only some of those are useful. Your attacks depends on Action Points so there's a bit of strategy since you can block, dodge, use items, and even command your comrades as well but with better gear and more AP, you can just go all Kratos on their asses.
    -The Ai can sometimes be useful but at times they use skills that aren't very effective against certain enemies.
    -The hub world, Akihabara, while looking big and very pretty, is a step down compared to its predecessor and just feels lifeless. There's nothing to do other than run around, talk with certain story related characters, 4-5 sec loading screens, and buy items and equipment at item shops (which are mostly menus because you don't actually enter the shops which is just lazy design).
    -Missions are very tedious and mostly consist of talking to certain people, fetch items and kill certain amount of enemies. Worst part is that you can only accept one mission AT A TIME.
    -Imagine Mode is basically Rage Burst from GE2; your character gets stronger and a J-Pop song of your choice plays out. Just that. Not even rhythm based. This mechanic is very OP meaning you can breeze through boss battles very easily even on Normal.
    -There are ranked based cards which give you bonuses but it is mostly the title system from the Tales games. Nothing new to see here.
    -Characters like Pinkun (This game's Navi) won't shut up during dungeon exploring. They just keep pointing out EVERYTHING you do and find in the dungeons.
    -There isn't a lot of interactions between the world and the characters. Hell, there aren't even dialogue options like in most RPGs. Instead of doing something important, you're just the observer.
    -There isn't a lot of content or customization compared to Akiba's Trip.
    -Dialogue cutscenes lasts between 5-10 min. So if you aren't interested in exposition, prepare to mash the X button A LOT.
    -Maps cannot be zoomed out.
    All in all, is just an bland mediocre/average inoffensive RPG that's only recommendable if you want to kill some time until more bigger and better RPGs releases or if you are an otaku. If you're looking for a great RPG on par with Berseria, Persona 5, Nier, Zelda, Trails, etc., or you're a big Akiba's Trip fan, is best off that you avoid it. It lacks any of the charm from the previous game and it would have been acceptable if it was released during Akiba's Trip release. Is PLAYABLE and I played worse games, but is just not worth $50.    … Full Review »
  2. KNX2501
    Apr 5, 2021
    7
    Es un buen juego pero se extraña la ambientación que vimos de Akihabara y la forma de relacionarnos con los personajes de Akiba's Trip UndeadEs un buen juego pero se extraña la ambientación que vimos de Akihabara y la forma de relacionarnos con los personajes de Akiba's Trip Undead & Undressed. Las batallas sin ser del todo tediosas a veces se sienten poco desarrolladas y los movimientos mas poderosos de los personajes tienen realmente impacto en la pelea.… Full Review »
  3. Clessy
    May 22, 2017
    8
    So, jump to now and Akiba’s Beat is coming up. This is literally a game I bought without having read a single thing about it or even checkedSo, jump to now and Akiba’s Beat is coming up. This is literally a game I bought without having read a single thing about it or even checked the section on Xseed forum. I went in with no expectations. I didn’t even know the genre of game it was. From some picture, I’d seen I thought it was going to be a music rytheme game actually. However, much to my surprise it was a jrpg. Awesome, I love those but, the vitas kinda saturated with those right? Xseed also publishes one of the best jrpgs the system has with them publishing the Legend of Hero games. So, what would draw me to this game. Everything, simply put everything.

    I instantly was drawn into the game because of the voice acting, the dialog and just the general sense of humor the game has. I remember years ago I’d gotten on Xseed because I thought it was a such a waste of time and money to dub stuff. Without the great work on the dub for this game I wouldn’t be nearly invested as I am. The voice acting adds tons of charm to the game. My first biggest complaint came when I found the game didn’t work with the pstv. This normally means I’m not going to even bother putting it into my vita to play it. Well I gave in and much to my surprise the portable nature of it enhances the way I play it. The game works great in 1 to 3-hour long play sections. Every night I get to play some once my wife’s asleep in bed and I just play until I’m tired. It’s a perfect balance of pick up and play. The chapters are perfectly set for short sessions instead of long drawn out events.

    The story unfolds in a very similar way to persona. In fact, let’s just call it what is. It’s a persona rip off. You go into dungeons and you kill a person’s delusion. Does it suck because it’s a rip off of something? Hardly. In fact, the vita is flooded with things that rip persona 4 off from either a stylistic stand point, bonding event love. So, to fault one game for something that tons of people do is something I don’t really care about. Then comes the rip off of the tales of battle system. I love it, it’s simple its quick and it different. If you take 2 of the best systems and pair them together I’ve got no complaints. I always thought persona battle system were kind of boring so giving me a persona type world with a tales battle system is the best of both worlds for me. The game shines in the music department too. The main battle them and all of the additional battle music you get for your imagine attacks are great. The music doesn’t wear itself out either due to the brevity of its combat.

    While the game has many great things it’s not without its flaws. Number 1 the loading is awful. It’s just so terrible it makes you wonder how they released a game in this state. Akiba Beat is a victim of a low budget for sure. The last game used a much better engine that handle more things on screen and could load them way faster. You can tell the company didn’t put much money into this one as they went with the awful Unity engine. A high unoptimized engine that really only performs well on PC’s due to most people having outrageously higher specs than the current generation of consoles and the ability to load from vastly faster HDD and SDD. The game is also missing some polish due to budget. You don’t get to view or go into any stores and they’re all the same. The shop menus aren’t as deep as new games and comparing and equipping can’t be done in a smooth fashion in the store. The city is filled with emptiness ala persona 5 style of shadow people. And lastly the the cheapness of nothing being licensed. You won’t get to see any of Akihabara’s classic locals because they simply weren’t paying for them.

    If you’re going into Akiba’s Beat excepting Akiba’s Strip you’re probably going to be let down hugely. However, if you’re going into Akiba’s Beat looking for a fantastic action jrpg that’s great on the go, features tons of charm and features a fun battle system this will be for. This can easily be described as “Tales of Persona – Light Edition”. And theres absolutely nothing wrong with that if you’re looking for some enjoyable fluff. I give Akiba’s Beat a 8/10 and highly recommend it to tales and persona fans alike who aren’t looking to a seriously deep or complex game and mearly want something enjoyable to kill some time.    … Full Review »
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