Karifean's Blog of Visual Novels

(Original Post on the Forums)

#6
Steins;Gate
Developer: 5pb./Nitroplus
Availability: Localized by JAST USA
Adult Content: None
Length: Moderate (~30 Hours)

El Psy Kongloo.

Steins;Gate is one of those novels that everybody seems to like, and for good reasons; It's got possibly the best main male character in any visual novel, one of the best main female characters, delightful internet-culture-based humor, a sci-fi plot that's actually quite easy to follow, and loads of well-executed drama. What's not to like?

The story of Steins;Gate follows a young adult by the name of Rintarou Okabe, or as he likes to call himself, Hououin Kyouma. He's the leader of the "Future Gadget Laboratory", a place where he and his friends hang out and and do weird trout with technical gadgets. By chance they happen to turn their microwave into a makeshift time machine that can send emails to the past. They experiment with it more and more trying to find out what it's capable of, granting some wishes to people they're close to. But before long it turns out they should have been more careful with what they change... as their changes cause effects they could not have even dreamed of...

The MC, as I already mentioned previously, is awesome. He's a self-proclaimed mad scientist and reacts incredibly over-the-top to just about everything, making for some very hilarious scenes. But as you might be able to tell it's really just an act, so when things get serious he drops his façade and turns back into the genuinely caring person he actually is. Definitely one of my all-time favorite characters out of any visual novel.

The other half of the main duo is the genius scientist Kurisu Makise, who gets stabbed in the first 30 minutes of the game only to turn up alive shortly thereafter when Okabe accidently activates his time machine for the first time. As I said, she is quite a genius, and is most of the brains behind the development of the time machine. Her interactions with Okabe are glorious and drive most of the VN's comedy.

There are six endings, three of which branch off the main plot, and three that conclude it. The true end is a pain to get to, but it's very touching and easily the most satisfying of all the endings.

The OST is, unfortunately, quite unremarkable for the most part, but there is one notable exception: the main theme, Gate of Steiner, and its remixes. One of my absolute favorite tracks of any VN soundtrack.

Steins;Gate also has, in my humble opinion, the best anime adaptation of any visual novel to date. It feels just the same as the novel and the minor differences don't make it any less enjoyable. I wholeheartedly recommend reading the visual novel, but failing that the anime is a good replacement.