Akiba's Beat Reviews
For all of its noticeable issues, Acquire's risk to try something new in Akihabara pays off.
Akiba's Beat is a tedious action RPG that has very few redeeming factors and one that has made me appreciate Akiba's Trip even more and that is saying something.
Akiba's Beat is a great game for the Japan fans and a very long experience, but it gets buried due to its similarities to the Persona saga and technical simplicity.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Akiba's Beat caters to the niche audience who will definitely have a good time discovering the ins and outs of Akihabara through an entertaining and interesting story. However, hardcore RPG fans will be disappointed with the combat and dungeon exploration that they're probably used to seeing in PS2 and early PS3 games. There is fun to found in Akiba's Beat for those who wish to give it a try, but it will most likely be added to the backlog and quickly forgotten.
Akiba's Beat is a generic and mediocre videogame. Instead of improving the flaws of its predecessor, it loses its personality. It is a standard JRPG that gives no satisfaction when playing it.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Akiba's Beat is a bad game, but it's an even worse sequel. So many aspects of the previous game, Akiba's Trip, are abandoned or watered down in this title, from the downgraded graphics, to the lack of customization, the poor characters, and more. Akiba's Beat abandons it's roots, instead trying so desperately to fill shoes far too big for it. Like the Chinese knockoff Transformers toys in my local deli, Akiba's Beat attempts to emulate many big franchise without the budget, skill, or style of any of them. You will buy it for a steep discount and know exactly what you're getting into, or you will laugh at it and walk away before buying the game it tries to be.
Even if Akiba's Beat had a higher budget and more time, it lacks any unique features, mimicking what other games do, but worse. For 40 hours you'll mash X through slow dialogue, then run around a dead environment, and then do more dialogue until you get to mash square against sponges. If Akiba's Trip is the shirtless jock who kicks the door with beers in hand, Akiba's Beat is the timid cocktail-drinker standing in the corner with one hand in his pocket. Technically functional, but spiritually dead.
Akiba's Beat is in a strange position, having been released right after two other Japanese role-playing games dealt with very similar topics. While it doesn't have strong enough writing to eclipse these titles, it does feature a few story beats that keep it from being a D-grade Persona. From a combat perspective, the game feels like a Tales game, but without any of the polish. There's room for improvement in practically every area, but it's still a decent RPG that is worth playing for those that somehow ran out of RPGs in their backlog.
While I can most definitively say that Akiba's Beat is a marked improvement over its predecessor, I can't help but feel that in its aspiration to become like the much beloved Persona and Tales series, it has lost an identity of its own. Despite its improvements, with the stellar lineup of games all bidding for your time this year, it's hard to recommend Akiba's Beat over its superior alternatives.
Akiba's Beat efficiently translated into English, offering a variety of funny situations and well implemented jokes that seems a huge achievement for a game from a small developer. But if you are not a fan of anime and a long visual stories, you can remove a couple of points from our score. And judging by the statistics, the majority of gamers have not mastered the game quitting in the first Chapter. Only 8% of users were able to go through the dull plot twists and backtracking to the final chapter.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Your experience is less about the thrill of the fight, and more about watching characters you love annihilate enemies in creative and spectacular ways.
You'll spend far more of your time watching cutscenes then you will exploring dungeons and defeating enemies, so while the combat system is quite basic, the eclectic mix of characters and twisting storylines will hold your interest through to the end. Thus, if you think of Akiba's Beat as a visual novel with some light gameplay elements instead of thinking of it as an action RPG, then you'll probably enjoy it a whole lot more.
Akiba's Beat is a step down from its predecessor on almost every level. A bland, soulless JRPG that yearns to emulate more successful titles without any of the style, grace, or nuance.
Although a tribute to the likes of Persona and the Tales of Series, Akiba's Beat doesn't have quite enough substance to recommend another Sunday visit to Akihabara.
Akiba's Beat is a poor game, with poor combats, poor RPG mechanics and poor customisation. Acquire forgot everything that made Akibas' Trip such a great game.
Review in French | Read full review
Akiba's Beat tries really hard to show off an interesting combat system with a full story but falls short when faced with one dimensional character, repetitive dialogue, and lack of variation between many important locations. JRPG and Anime fans may enjoy but games extremely slow start hurts chances of players picking up the game again.
Akiba's Beat is both a stellar role-playing experience and a heartfelt yarn with bite. One of 2017's best RPGs so far, and a new personal favourite.
Akiba's Beat is a generic, me-too JRPG that takes inspiration from both the Persona and the Tales of series, without adding any new ideas, failing to recapture the feeling and gameplay of both of them. Still, it can be a solid choice fo the uninitiated to the genre.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Overall, "average" is the perfect descriptor for Akiba's Beat. While there is nothing particularly bad about it, it does little to stand out among the most recent releases that truly revitalize the JRPG genre.
‘Akiba's Beat' has a real personality and aesthetic all its own, but once you get into the core gameplay, it disappoints at every turn. Its uneven ratio of combat to NPC wrangling make this an unentertaining and uninspired experience.