Akiba’s Beat has recently been announced for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita, with Kota Takano at the helm as the game’s director. Most recently, he was also the director for Divine Gate. Siliconera had the opportunity to speak with the Akiba’s Beat director about endlessly repeating a single Sunday, living in a world filled with Delusions, and enjoying music.
Acquire’s offices are based in Akihabara so you guys have a pulse on otaku culture. What’s changed since Akiba’s Trip 2 and Akiba’s Beat? How are these changes represented in the game?
Kota Takano, Director: It’s pretty much a similar style, because we featured Akihabara and all the city. But, since Akiba’s Trip was a ways back, this is a more up-to-date version of Akihabara city. You see more and more of the latest look of the city.
Why did you pick Sunday as the day for the time loop? Since Sunday is the day the main streets are closed to cars and open to people.
Sunday is the day you get most excited. It’s a day off for everything. But, at the same time in the school or office, you can’t meet anyone until the next day. Sunday is the day you get hyped, but at the same time, at the same time you get like, “I want tomorrow to come.” I wanted to write something where there was a dilemma between the excitement and sadness of waiting for tomorrow.
All of the characters are wearing headphones in their character art and portraits. Is this tied to the story?
We haven’t distributed any information regarding the headphones yet in Japan. But it’s based on the music. When you’re in the battle, every single character has a different theme song. So you listen to the song while you’re fighting the enemy. More information will come.
Rippyon is clearly inspired by idols and magical girls. How did real life people and personality types shape Akiba’s Beat’s other characters?
So you mentioned that the one character is inspired by idols? And another character could be like, he’s really into PCs, laptops, and electric stuff. People are influence by that and anime. All characters are being created and based on that Akihabara culture.
With Delusions running rampant in Akihabara, how great is the effect they have on "reality," aside from the repeating Sunday? How will players’ characters interact with these Delusions? What effect will they have on the characters’ reality?
When the Delusion comes, let’s say, for example, when a building gets eaten by the Delusion, somebody gets really happy about that. Those people are really into the city and stores. Some people get really bummed when those are eaten by Delusions. The Delusion effects all the people’s hearts differently. People get sad or happy, depending on the Delusions.
Will that cause a shift in scenarios and quests available when the Delusions influence reality like that?
Yes, it’s going to change depending on the Delusion. And all the city will change, gradually, depending on what Delusions eat.
How did the series transition from action to action RPG? What sorts of RPG elements can we expect in the game?
Acquire usually makes action games or RPG games. I wanted to use my know-how, that I’d learned from each side, and combine them to make something new.
The player will explore Akihabara and talk to people. They’ll get all the hints and advice to solve a mystery. That’s similar to the RPG side, since you have to talk to a bunch of people. You then encounter and open up the door to the Delusion-scape, which is made by a Delusion. Then you enter the dungeon, encounter the enemies, and start fighting.
In Akiba’s Trip, players were allowed a certain degree of control over the character and game with dialogue options and multiple endings. Will something similar be present in Akiba’s Beat and how?
There are a bunch of side-stories characters can go through. You can actually have the little bit different stories, while still going through the main one with Asahi Tachibana.
Why was Akiba’s Trip’s stripping mechanic removed from Akiba’s Beat? Will a similar mechanic that taps into the series’ unique humor replace it?
I wanted to do a whole new thing. I didn’t want to use the same mechanic. In Akiba’s Beat, I think the headphone feature, the music feature, is something unique that Akiba’s Trip didn’t have and Akiba’s Beat has. It’ll effect your battle system. When the music gets to the main part, you battle meter goes up and it affects the battle systems.
How does Akiba’s Beat connect to Akiba’s Trip? Is it set in the same universe, which could lead to characters coming back? Is it a parallel universe?
There might not be too many things that we’ve brought back from Akiba’s Trip. If you played Akiba’s Trip, you may see some scene where you’ll be like, “Oh. I know this.” It won’t be much, but you might notice some tiny bits and things from Akiba’s Trip.
In Akiba’s Trip, we had the vampire-like Synthisters. I was wondering if there is going to be a supernatural counterpart to them in Akiba’s Beat?
Yeah, there might be something similar. It’s not going to be a vampire or something crazy. There are people that you’re actually talking to during the game and, at the end, those people are actually the Delusions. You don’t notice in the game until you get to a certain point.
Akiba’s Trip will be coming to the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita in Japan in fall 2016, followed by a winter 2016 North American release. The finished game will have a Delusion gauge in-battle, which allows players to build it up to reach a point that transforms their characters. Party members will then use the power of Delusions to bring in the background music, choosing from 12 different songs, and increase their power. Switching between party members at this point will allow for more powerful combo change and greater damage.
