Akiba's Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed

 Switch
User Score
6.6

Mixed or average reviews- based on 9 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 9
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 9
  3. Negative: 3 out of 9
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  1. PersonaTime
    Sep 3, 2021
    5
    Strongly believe that this was a terrible introduction for Switch Players to play this game as there first in the series. Akiba's Beat would have been so much better for the switch audience due to the JRPG elements instead of this game.
  2. Gecko0
    Jul 29, 2021
    6
    I like this game but it’s important to know what it is before buying it. This is a remaster of the first Akiba’s Trip game released for the psp (only in Japan until now). Here’s what this means:

    This is a remaster meaning little to no QOL improvements. The graphics have been upgraded a little but don’t expect anything stellar. Expect a psp game with better graphics This was    I like this game but it’s important to know what it is before buying it. This is a remaster of the first Akiba’s Trip game released for the psp (only in Japan until now). Here’s what this means:

    This is a remaster meaning little to no QOL improvements. The graphics have been upgraded a little but don’t expect anything stellar. Expect a psp game with better graphics

    This was originally a psp game and the psp only has one thumb stick. This means camera controls are poor. They let you use the 2nd thumb stick on the switch to control your camera sometimes but in combat the camera doesn’t always show what you want it to. It’s playable but not great.

    This is the 1st Akiba’s Trip game meaning they refined the experience in Undead and Undressed. They took out the things that didn’t work in this game and made that one much better because of it. Experiences that I found to be worse in this game are:

    1. Combat - its less fluid (and that’s saying something), you can get beat up on by a large group of opponents without a chance to defend yourself until someone lands a large hit on you and ejects you, the camera is worse making it hard to track opponents, building up a chain combo is more difficult, and probably a couple smaller things I can’t remember. There were several times this straight up lagged especially during strip combos so the frame rate is bad.

    2. Side quests - a few were enjoyable but probably half of them were just go here and fight X for Y reason. There are also some real PITA ones that are in no way enjoyable and others that are difficult if not impossible to complete on the 1st play through.

    3. Navigation between areas - not only do you have fewer areas than in the sequel but they are smaller and every time you leave one you exit to the main map. Load times are as bad as the vita version of the sequel if not worse.

    There’s a few more minor things that would take a lot of explaining to describe which probably isn’t worth the space. Imagine playing assassin’s creed brotherhood (or 2 or revelations) first and then going back and playing the 1st assassin’s creed. It’s one thing if you played the original before the sequel but going back to play the original after playing the sequel really brings to attention all the flaws in the original.

    Now that I’ve bashed the game enough here’s what I liked:

    It’s another Akiba’s trip experience. It’s really unlikely they are going to make a new one so I’m happy to explore the original. It’s not as fun as the sequel but there’s still fun to be had.

    The story was decent. Kind of weird pacing. I didn’t find it to be particularly good or bad. If anything it was just weirder and more otaku focused than the sequel.

    Collectibles were just as good if not better than the first. I liked getting more of the weirder clothing options. My first play through I ended with a frog head, soccer ball body, and shrine maiden legs. I don’t think I could make a combination that weird in the sequel. You don’t get to change your walk style without changing characters though which is unfortunate as I liked that feature in the sequel.

    A few more notes.

    My game has crashed twice so far after long sessions. I save often so it was a minor annoyance to me but I got that habit after the sequel crashing on my vita whenever my wardrobe got full. If you don’t save often you may end up regretting it. I only noticed this happened after several hours of play which is both good and bad.

    I thought the English voice acting was fine but I think most English voice acting is fine especially in the last 10 years or so. I’ve heard others complain about it though.

    A few months from now people will probably have better guides on where to find items needed for quests. If you get annoyed if you can’t find something or if you need to fail a side quest because you don’t have the right skills then hold off on this game for a month or so. Right now it’s hard to find help on the internet in English for this game.

    All that said I’m having fun with it and I’m happy with my purchase. It’s about what I expected when I bought it and I was neither pleasantly surprised nor disappointed by the quality of the remaster. I’m just happy to play this game in English with an official translation.    … Expand

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
53

Mixed or average reviews - based on 15 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 15
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 15
  3. Negative: 7 out of 15
  1. Cubed3
    Jul 8, 2022
    80
    An intriguing plot coupled with a focus on questioning morality and who is truly an enemy, Akiba's Trip: Hellbound and Debriefed brings the original story to a new generation of gamers. Bugs, the lack of autosave which does seem a little odd for a remaster and some clunky game mechanics aside, there are easily over twenty hours of game time in the fairly realistic portrayal of Tokyo's Akihabara region. Replay value for those who played the original will vary depending on nostalgia feel, but a second playthrough is highly appealing for completionists and those who want to make different choices in their gameplay since supporting a faction does influence in the end story.
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  2. Nintendo Insider
    Nov 16, 2021
    40
    I could go on, but Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed was another disappointing entry in a series that hasn’t been on a straight path since 2014, following the critically panned ARPG Akiba’s Beat. I was intrigued by the idea of bringing back an overlooked entry in the PSP’s library to modern systems and a new fanbase, but I’d go as far as to say that you’re better off just playing the original or Akiba’s Trip: Undead & Undressed. Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed might be worth sticking through for the experience of feeling like you’re wandering through Akihabara, but the clunky combat, thin plot, and poor performance make this a stripped-down experience. I really hope one day we can get a brand new Akiba’s Trip game that hits all the marks, but at this point, I’m wondering if the developers even want to.
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  3. Gaming Age
    Sep 10, 2021
    42
    Setting aside the inherent creepiness of it all — if Hellbound & Debriefed represented the first time we’d ever seen the mechanic, it might be noteworthy. But seeing as it was done much, much better in Undead & Undressed, here it just feels clunky and awkward. I get that in the absence of Undead & Undressed on the Switch, Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound & Debriefed might seem tempting if you’re after this sort of thing. It shouldn’t be, though. The series may have (very briefly) gone on to more interesting things (before promptly taking a nosedive back to mediocrity), but you’re not going to see any of that here.
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