What up, my otaku homies?
Even though we haven’t announced a release date yet, we’re not all too far off from the PS4 release of AKIBA’S TRIP: Undead & Undressed – you’ve probably got only like, a month to go, give or take (most likely give), before you can start stripping vampiric nerds down to their skivvies on next-generation hardware.
The question is, if you’ve already been liberating unmentionables from the undead on PS3 or Vita, what makes it worth your time to do it again on the PS4? What sets the PS4 version apart from its younger brothers?
That’s what we’re going to be discussing today. My goal with this blog is to outline, in brief (or should I say, “in briefs”?), everything that’s new and shiny in our first ever PS4 release.
Ready? Well, too bad, because here I go!
First, the big three – the selling points. The things that’ll put this game on holiday wish-lists more than anything else.
Start the game with literally everything
- “Toybox Mode,” selectable from the title screen, allows you to start the game with one of every single weapon and clothing item in the game. That’s every shirt, every blouse, every pair of pants, every skirt, every piece of underwear, every piece of headwear, every walk cycle, every strip style, every object you can hold in your hands… everything! The trade-off? If you play in Toybox Mode, you get no trophy unlocks and nothing carries over to New Game+. But in exchange for shunning the meta-game, you get SO MUCH game to play around with! Thus, Toybox.
Change the look of Akihabara in virtually any way you can imagine
- Using the new “Visual Editor,” you’re able to adjust the red, blue and green values of pretty much every single aspect of the game’s visuals, change the thickness of the lines around everything and everyone, add or remove motion blur, add or remove bloom, add or remove fog (and adjust the thickness and color of it, of course), etc. There are a ton of pre-set visual schemes to choose from, too, so if you don’t feel like making a bunch of tiny changes, you can still change the whole look of the game instantly. But playing around with all the other stuff is really fun, and can make for some truly awful (yet amazing) gameplay experiences. (Just… don’t mess with the motion blur too much if you have a weak stomach, because dang.)
Mess with people while they’re livestreaming, for your amusement
- The PS4 is all about game-sharing and livestreaming and such, so of course all of those features are present and accounted for here as well – they pretty much have to be. The unique thing about AKIBA’S TRIP on PS4, though, is that there’s this huge list of chat commands your viewers can type that will directly affect your gameplay, and Acquire totally had a ball with these. There are helpful commands to increase your unison gauge or summon a magical girl version of your little sister to fight alongside you (that one’s my favorite!), and unhelpful commands to tattle on you to the cops or make all the nearby townsfolk attack you without provocation… and then there are the odd ones that cause weird stuff to happen involving panties. And the ones that let your viewers insert NPCs into the game with their Blip or uStream names and customized messages. All in all, it makes for a uniquely interactive livestreaming experience that I’m sure will result in a lot of really bizarre Let’s Plays once this game is released.
Next up, the enhancements. These are extras that aren’t too likely to sell copies on their own, but are still really nice to have.
Updated visuals and smoother… well, everything!
- This is probably the biggest “duh” of them all, but it bears mentioning. The PS4 version runs at 1080p and maintains a consistent framerate (of 30fps, but with between-frame processing to give the illusion of 60) regardless of what’s happening on-screen. In addition, character models are noticeably more detailed (hands actually have digits now!), and the lighting and shadow engine has seen some pretty drastic improvements, most of which can be customized to your heart’s content using the aforementioned Visual Editor (so Okage fans, yes, you can give everybody a pink shadow if you want!).
Way more people on the street, with less time needed to load them in
- Pretty much what the header says. There are at least four times as many residents wandering the streets of Akihabara, giving the city an even more authentic feel than ever before. And if you played the PS3 or Vita version but lamented how long it took for NPCs to start populating each area after you zoned in… well, no worries, because despite the much larger numbers, the streets will be full of warm bodies to shove out of your way or strip into oblivion before you know it this time around!
All PS3 and Vita DLC content included from the get-go, plus new content
- All that DLC we released throughout August and September is just… in the game from the very beginning, anxiously awaiting procurement at 5Day’s. And yes, that includes the swimsuit DLC! All the alternate character models are present too, though you’ll need to beat the game once (outside of Toybox Mode) before you can select any of them. There are also some brand new unlockable “Sunburnederwear” items for each of the characters that include built-in tan lines, as well as brand new PS4-exclusive DLC (which we’ll be releasing for free shortly after the game itself) that unlocks palette-swapped versions of all the main girls’ default outfits, along with alternate hair color and hairstyle versions of the girls themselves.
And finally, the nitty-gritty. These are the extra little touches that even people who’ve played the game in Japanese might not know about!
Additional dialogue scenes with each of the female cast members
- Each of the six main girls has one additional dialogue scene added to the PS4 version, accessible by running into her on the street at a specific point in the story. These scenes are short and completely optional, but generally rather comedic, and add a tiny bit of extra character development to the gameplay experience for those who are thorough enough to track them down.
“Bust wave” functionality for those who… erm… yeah…
- Long story short, you can use the touch pad on the DualShock®4 controller under certain very specific circumstances to… uhhh… wave some busts. It’s a very weird addition, and may make you feel a little dirty when you do it. But then, that’s kind of how this game rolls, you know?
Voices through the TV or the controller
- It may not sound like much, but the ability to make character voices come out of the DualShock®4 controller instead of your TV’s speakers actually gives the game a certain dynamic feel that I personally found to be really appealing. Give it a try for yourself, and see how it sounds to you!
This is on top of everything that was already featured in the PS3 and Vita versions, such as dual voice and dual text support (select Japanese or English for the voice-acting and game text alike), and of course our much-beloved addition of male fanservice portraits. And just as before, absolutely nothing is censored in any way – this game is a celebration and parody alike of the seedier side of otaku subculture, and we would never do anything to lessen its impact.
So Akiba fans, rejoice! The next generation is almost upon us. Stay tuned to our Facebook and/or Twitter for more information on the game’s release, and be sure to hit up our official forums if you have any questions or comments!
I’ll see you all soon on the streets of Akiba, where I’ll be sure to sic the cops on you every chance I get. Mwa ha ha.
-Tom
