Akiba's Beat

Akiba's Beat (アキバズビート) is an upcoming action role-playing video game for the PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 4 video game consoles. It is the third of the Akiba games, after the Japan- only Akiba's Trip for PlayStation Portable and the worldwide released Akiba's Trip: Undead and Undressed, though it is the first entry that plays as an JRPG. The game is due out in Q4 2016 in Japan, and Q1 2017 in North America, the latter being published by Marvelous USA.

Gameplay

The game is considered a sequel to the two Akiba's Trip games, but does not share any of its gameplay mechanics, instead focusing more on JRPG related features and structure.^[2] The game will play as an action role-playing video game, with battles initiated once the player moves the playable character into an enemy character, sending involved characters into a separate battle screen.^[3]

Story

The game takes place in Akihabara and stars protagonist and NEET Asahi Tachibana, living a regular life after deciding to drop out of college.^[4] Transfer student, Saki Hoshino, recently moved to the area and runs into Asahi.^[4] Other main characters in include Japanese idol Riyu Momose, the very young looking Yamato Hongo.^[4] The game involves the party getting stuck in a world of delusions, trapped in a repeating day long cycle on a Sunday.^[3] The party also keeps coming across a strange, unidentifiable man in a pink sash, that always seems to be around when unexplainable incidents occur.^[4]

Development

The game was first announced on May 30, 2016, as developer Acquire's first action role-playing video game.^[5] First information on the title, such as it being a game for the PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 4, were first revealed in an issue of Famitsu.^[6] The game was 75% complete as of the time of the announcement.^[7] On June 7, 2016, Xseed Games announced they would be releasing the game in English on both platforms.^[8] The game will be the second of three Akiba games to be translated to English; the original Akiba's Trip for PlayStation Portable was never translated or released in English, but the second game, Akiba's Trip: Undead and Undressed, was translated and published by Xseed Games.^[9] The game's story was announced to be more serious in theme than the prior two games in the series.^[10] Despite this, similar to the prior games, it will still take place in a realistic recreation of Japan's Akihabara, coupled with surreal dungeon areas more akin to games such as Persona 3.^[11] Key staff for the game include director Kohta Takano of Divine Gate, character designs by UCMM, and a theme song titled "Again", sung by ClariS.^[12] The game is scheduled for release in Q4 2016 in Japan,^[4] and Q1 2017 in North America.^[13]

References

External links

• Official website (Japanese)