Steins;Gate (PS3 / PS Vita)

Visual Novel Review

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In 2014, visual novel publisher Jast USA released the PC edition of 5pb and Nitroplus’ Science Adventure title Steins;Gate within international markets outside of Japan. I found myself incredibly impressed with this all-ages friendly visual novel overall, deeming it to be my Visual Novel of the Year 2014 (), having closely beat Girlish Grimoire Littlewitch Romanesque.

But like many other titles in the Science Adventure series which includes Chaos;Head, Robotics;Notes and the more recent Chaos;Child, Steins;Gate has enjoyed releases on multiple platforms aside from the PC. While I would have been interested in them tackling other titles which have yet to be released outside of Japan, European publisher PQube has recently opted to release Steins;Gate on both PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita platforms. Now currently available in PAL regions, Steins;Gate is set for release on both the PS3 and PS Vita in North America as of August 25th 2015.

Having recently had an opportunity to check out the PlayStation 3 edition of Steins;Gate, I have opted to revisit my review from June 2014.


Steins;Gate follows eccentric “mad scientist” Rintarou “Okarin” Okabe, a paranoid college student who spends his days rambling about conspiracy theories all the while working on producing the very first time machine out of a microwave. It turns out that after witnessing the murder of female protagonist Kurisu Makise and sending a text “D-Mail” message about it to his associate Daru, he finds himself transported to an alternate time line where the murder does not occur. The microwave, which had previously only produced mysterious gelified food products, had managed to send that message through time and altered the course of history which deviated it from the time line he came from. From there, he and the other members of the Future Gadget Laboratory begin experimenting and working with other forms of other time machines, all the while coming to the attention of other figures not too welcome to the idea of their improving means of time travel and learning the harsh realities associated with it.

Steins;Gate is a fairly long visual novel, with multiple endings that have varying degrees of difficulty to unlock. While unlocking the True End may require you to find a guide online, it will still potentially take you dozens of hours to explore and discover everything that the title has to offer you. In addition to other titles in the “science adventure” series, Steins;Gate is best suited for those who like “thinking” stories. This is because the entire storyline is fairly wordy and rife with heavy dialogue and the occasional piece of scientific jargon.

That being said, there is also much on offer for those who just want to skip the jargon and enjoy a decent storyline. Steins;Gate features an intriguing character cast who each contribute to the overarching storyline in some small way, offers many distinct concepts and successfully delivers a plot that doesn’t simply involve mashing the “X” button for hours on end.

Unknown terminology can also be looked up in a bonus glossary accessible from the menu, which provides more information on the scientific, Japan-specific and game-specific references present in the English localisation. This certainly is a helpful tool if, for example, you have no idea what ‘Hund’s Rule’ or ‘The Principle of Causality’ relates to.

One of the more distinct features of Steins;Gate which sets it apart from other visual novels is that you have access to Okabe’s mobile phone to answer the occasional call or respond to text messages sent by other characters. Ignoring phone calls can potentially change the progression of events, while responses given in messages can potentially change the ending you receive, unlock phone content, unlock trophies or provide additional development for a character. Responding to messages involve selecting on one of often several pieces of highlighted text, which results in Okabe typing out and sending a message based around the selected word or phrase. One thing that remains frustrating is that the messages are often vague in their impact, and upon choosing a key word it is not possible to backtrack and see the different responses that can be made.

The storyline is competently done and has plenty to offer those new to the series or familiar with the anime adaptation but want to know more about the characters, events and the deeper details that were not covered. Despite it being a complex title, the localization is of a very high quality with no noticeable issues that I could find. Given the complexity of what takes place, a bad localisation could have made this edition a complete disaster.

The Steins;Gate experience is boosted by a few other elements – the fantastic character and environment designs by Huke which sets the Science Fiction set of visual novels apart from pretty much every other visual novel to date, full Japanese voice acting by a very competent cast and some fantastic music.

Overall, Steins;Gate features an enticing and unique storyline that still manages to hook me in for hours at a time, memorable characters, and to put it simply – a high level of quality across the board. It is a memorable title, and one that I shall happily revisit in the future like I would a beloved paperback novel. Despite this, I would have personally preferred PQube worked with another title such as Chaos;Head or Robotics;Note, and hope that they will consider exploring the possibility if Steins;Gate proves successful for them in both PAL regions and America.

As for which version is better… irrespective of if you choose the PC, PlayStation 3 or PlayStation Vita version, you will ultimately end up with the same satisfying storyline. Personally I recommend just choosing your favourite console.

Final Score

Storyline / Character Development: A
Design: A
Music / Voice Acting: A
Personal Opinion: A

Final Score: A

This review is currently being transitioned over to the new review system.

Sam
Sam
Founder of The Otaku's Study. I have been exploring this labyrinth of fandom these last fifteen years, and still nowhere close to the exit yet. Probably searching for a long time to come.

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