Today’s issue of Weekly Famitsu included a lot of interesting information about the Akihabara-based developer Acquire.
First of all, we get the confirmation of the Switch version of Akiba’s Trip: Hellbound and Debriefed, which was leaked yesterday by a Japanese retailer on top of PS4 and PC.
Incidentally, president Takuma Endo mentioned that the Akiba’s Trip series sold about 800,000 units in total, with the second game increasing its success outside of Japan due to the growing worldwide popularity of Akihabara.
Secondly, we see the reveal of Labyrinth of Zangetsu for PS4, PC, and Nintendo Switch, coming to Japan in summer 2021.
The game is a 3D dungeon-crawling JRPG that aims to pay homage to the origin of hack and slash game.
The setting is medieval Japan with the addition of magic and monsters. The visual style is monochromatic, reproducing Japanese ink paintings, and the soundtrack is inspired by traditional music genres like Gagaku and Noh.
You can see what it looks like in the gallery below.
We then learn more about Acquire’s plans from Endo-san himself.
He clarifies that the registration of the trademark “Stealth Assassins” which was the subtitle of the original Tenchu game, was simply done because it was available. It had no deep meaning, but reporting by overseas media certainly created expectations among the fans.
While it would be difficult right now, if there is a possibility in the future, Endo-san would like to “recreate a stealth ninja game from the ground up for the PS5 generation.” The trademark registration is possibly a stepping stone for that.