Akiba’s Beat to be Featured at AkibaFest

AkibaFest, an annual convention held this weekend in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, will be playing host to two panels regarding the upcoming game, Akiba’s Beat. A game that has been highly anticipated by fans of the series. The panels, humorously titled “Uptown Beatdowns with XSEED Games,” will take place on October 16th and 17th, and will be hosted by the game’s western publisher. The panels will run from 3:00pm to 4:00pm PDT on Saturday, and 12:30pm to 1:30pm on Sunday. Demos for Akiba’s Beat will also be available on the show floor, as well as game related “goodies.” XSEED Games will also provide demos for other games, such as the recently released Touhou: Scarlet Curiosity and the upcoming Fate/EXTELLA: The Umbral Star.

Akiba’s Beat is a JRPG that acts as a spiritual successor to Akiba’s Trip: Dead and Undressed. A satire of JRPGs and their formulas, it will be set in modern times in the Tokyo Akihabara ward. The main objective of the game will be to eliminate anything that directly contradicts reality. Gameplay will be split into two halves. During the first half, players will investigate the city, questioning townspeople for anything out of the ordinary. When a lead is inevitably found, dungeons filled with monsters known as “deluseons” are unlocked. Players will battle their way through those dungeons via a party battle system. These dungeons and monsters will reflect the hidden desires of Tokyo’s citizens, and promise to push players to their limits.

Akiba’s Beat will be available on the PS4 and PS Vita. It is due to be released on December 17th in Japan and in Q1 2017 in North America.  No specific date has been mentioned for the PAL release of the game.  This may frustrate European fans of the series, who have a history of receiving ports of eastern games later than North America.