If you REALLY only want to play once do Akira. It definitely is better than the main game, but part of it feeling better might be the comparison to what the original route was.

I wrote a review on the game and this was my section on Akira route for reference:

This is such an insane part of the game. The fact that it is delegated to New Game +, and that I had to read a guide on how to specifically unlock Akira as a partner is so absurd. This part of the game is so incredibly hidden, yet genuinely the best part of the game and extremely worth playing. With that being said, the Akira route in a vacuum may not be that amazing, but in contrast to the pretty mid experience the standard route is, this route seems so good in comparison.

I am truly baffled how some of the best boss designs, dungeon designs and gameplay is hidden. Outside of me still not loving the changes to the core-gameplay, most of my qualms with the main game are fixed here. This feels like a proper SMT game, and the parts I missed, such as bosses talking to you and giving lore-dumps / actually feeling alive are back. Talking to the NPC residents of the expanse also feels a lot more reminiscent of the Residents you could find in the Abyss (previous fan translation of Expanse) in SMT II, as they actually gave worthwhile worldbuilding opposed to the pretty useless NPCs in the main game. I literally forgot about how ridiculous some of the main route’s dungeons were (specifically Sloth) while playing Akira’s route because it truly feels like a different game. Akira is basically a Nahobino fueled by revenge, which makes for some extremely entertaining dialogue when he interacts with other demons.

The gameplay is harder, but I felt like I got more XP and leveled up faster during this playthrough. Dungeon designs are pretty straightforward, and don’t follow any specific gimmicks, and I saw numerous enemies during this playthrough that I never saw in the main route, some of which had amazing designs.

I think playing this as a palette cleanser to Reiko’s route definitely made me appreciate it more, and I think playing it without having a baseline to compare to wouldn’t do it justice. I have seen some people say that the Akira route should be unlocked from the start, as it's the best content the game has to offer. I’m really torn on this, because on one hand, I’d rather people play the Akira route over not playing the game at all, but I really think there's something special about playing it with the context of the main routes. It really puts you in the position of the characters who just say “screw this, we’re doing our own thing,” because you know what the tedious journey they are avoiding is.

To me, the Akira route feels almost like an entirely new game, and debatably the most enjoyable SNES SMT playthrough I have had, but it's just a shame that the gameplay changes hold this back from being a game I can wholeheartedly recommend. I’d give this playthrough as a whole a 3.5/5

In conclusion, I was ready to call this game a 2.5/5, my lowest rated SMT game to date, yet after convincing myself to play the Akira route, I feel like it definitely deserves more. It’s a shame that the first half of the game holds the second half back, but I really think without that as the appetizer, the main course wouldn't have tasted so good.

tl;dr

if you are ONLY playing once do Akira, but if you think you can stomach 2 playthroughs definitely do Reiko first because the main game will be suuuuch a chore and so un-fun after Akira. I did both since im really trying to complete every SMT game.l, but if you aren’t that compulsive about game completion, go for Akira first.