Let’s be blunt, the only reason you should be remotely interested in Akiba’s Trip Undead & Undressed is if you want to look at anime girls in their underwear. There is no grand arching plot. There are no deep battle mechanics. And this is not the game that is “so bad that it’s good”. The whole game is designed around the mechanic of stripping girls (and boys) of their clothing.

Vampire-like beings named Synthisters are draining the energy of the otaku. Like vampires, Synthisters cannot be exposed to sunlight or else they will die. The only way to defeat the Synthisters is by stripping them of their clothing. The whole plot revolves on you and your friends figuring how to stop the Synthisters whilst stripping a lot of innocent bystanders along the way.

The act of stripping an opponent is straightforward. There are three articles of clothing that can be stripped: headwear, shirt and pants. Each of those areas have to be weakened by attacking them using a separate face button. Once weakened, that article of clothing can be stripped. When all articles of clothing have been removed, the opponent will burn up into a purple flame or run away in embarrassment. There is also a combo mechanic where you can strip multiple foes of their clothing and even strip away their underwear. To be clear, there is no nudity in this game and all private parts are censored.

The game is also astonishingly short, taking about 3-4 hours to complete if you mainline the game. It is so short that even the game encourages you to complete the side missions. Unfortunately most of the main missions and side missions are nothing other than combat missions where the objective is to patrol an area and defeat the Synthisters there.

A few bright sides to this game is its’ representation of otaku culture and the Akiba area. The game has characters obsessed with figurines, maid outfits and cosplay. There is also a Twitter/Reddit analogue with text that genuinely matches how people talk on those platforms. The Akiba area is purportedly accurate to the real Akihabara with well known buildings and shops such as the Sega building and Super Potato. If you are a Japanophile not interested in the stripping mechanic, there are better games with settings in Tokyo that I suggest you play, such as the Yakuza series or the critically acclaimed Steins;Gate.

The worst part about Akiba’s Trip other than its' length and repetitive mission structure is the part where you play the game and it is just plain awful. There are several instances where the framerate randomly drops. Maps are so small, that you'll find yourself going from one loading screen to another. Battles often turn into chaotic group fights where innocent bystanders and Synthisters are roped into battle. The fighting system is laggy and not responsive. There is a noticeable delay between every action you make and it makes most encounters feel less like a game of skill and more like a game of constant button mashing.

Other than seeing anime girls in their underwear, Akiba’s Trip also features a visual novel element where you can hang out with five female companions and get a special ending depending on which girl likes you the most. You can pick one of your friends to join you in battle and also dress them up with the clothing you have bought (but most of the time stripped from foes). For those interested in changing their underwear, you can ONLY unlock that option after beating the game. The game breaks the fourth wall, with a character that literally informs you which girl likes you the most so far. From a visual novel perspective, the game gets somewhat interesting as the final chapter plays out differently depending on which girl you have wooed. It’s neat that the game does this branching storyline at the end but it is hindered by the fact that you will have to play through this entire clunky game multiple times to see all the endings.

In the end, Akiba’s Trip isn’t obtuse at all about what it is selling. It is directly pandering towards an audience who want to see girls in their panties. Sure you can be judgy and criticize people who play these sorts of games as weirdos and losers. But then again, how can we be fine as a society if we look the other way when people play games where you shoot people, blow up cars and commit acts of mass murder? In my opinion there is nothing wrong with either of these types of games as they choose to fulfill a specific fantasy for the gamer. As for the fantasy that Akiba’s Trip fulfills, it is ultimately unsuccessful. There are cheaper and faster means of getting your fill of semi-naked anime ladies with no need to play through this insufferable game.