STEINS;GATE

TL;DR It's been seven years and I still can't decide whether the game deserves my forgiveness. If you're a normie like me, better watch the anime. It changes the characters so that they are at least worth saving.

I like the plot very much. I found it very compelling, and once the game got around to telling its story, I couldn't stop reading. Action-packed, well-paced, soulful. When it's good.

When it's not good, though, it's ranges from inoffensively to offensively bad. I had to suffer though the first half of the game joined by incredible charachers such as:

• Boobs-loli with the mental capacity of a 5 year old or a dog (sign me up!!! /s)
  
• Irredeemably perverted best friend, a true hero of self-oblivious loli-loving neckbeards
  
• Love interest with a backstory so ridiculously tragic that I only forgot to laugh because I was paying attention to the plot
  
• One I found at least somewhat grounded
  
• Others
  

Everything here is over the top. Nuance is close to nonexistent. All the characters are 10-year-olds whose brains have been transplanted into adult(ish) bodies. They all require a babysitter, but you will not be able to help them, as you will be piloting the protagonist: Captiain Cringe. As him, you will visit the most unapologetically weebful places, talk the way you would only with a gun to your head, and be generally offputting to anybody who desires to keep their brain cells. Steins;Gate perfectly utilised the visual medium in order to administer pain directly to my cringe receptors.

This adventure will make you ask deep questions, such as:

1. How the hell did it get to this?
   
2. Why do I keep pressing Spacebar?
   
[*] Do you have the right to sacrifice other people's happiness?

I love the story. I viscerally hate the setting. It starts very slow, but I'm not sure if the story would work without that. Make of that what you will.

MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

By far my worst visual novel experience.

I know that Steins gate had a great impact on the internet culture and sci-fi visual novels, but I can't bring myself to actually enjoy playing this game. I think there's a lot of things you can do when you have a story about time travel, and I think S;G explores this in an interesting way (as far as I've played), but the pace is so so slow I have literally 14 hours in the game and I only managed to get to the start of chapter 4, and mind you, I consider myself to be quite a fast reader, but there's just so much useless dialogue that does not add anything to the characters or the plot itself that makes you want to stop playing or just skip everything.

Talking about the characters, I couldn't feel much sympathy for them except for Makise, Luka and Mayumi (will go more into it later). Okarin (protagonist) is legit the most ??? person ever, he does the same joke of calling Makise Christina and his assistant 100 times and his comments about the female characters????? Also, the main reason I stopped playing was because of the way he treats Luka, it's just so bad. It's clear to me that she is a woman, yet they constantly make a mockery out of her because she wants to be a girl. YES I know this game is old, but it's still something offensive for a lot of people. Furthermore, this game has so much uncomfortable comments about the female leads, especially the ones from Itaru about Mayumi. Overall the way the game treats its female characters genuinely saddens me.

Anyway, here's a list of pros and cons:

Pros:

- Unique art style
- Cool soundtrack
- Decent voice acting
- Interesting plot

Cons:

- Very very slow pace
- Too much going on with its UI
- Bad writing in general when it comes to dialogue between characters
- Unpleasant male characters
- Does not know how to treat gnc characters (Luka)
- Bad writing of female characters
- Repetitive dialogue and jokes
- Incel humor
- Dubious way of drawing female characters (iykyk)

I think steins gate lives up to the hype mostly. It's a very well regarded vn for a reason. The characters are all likable and well written specifically okabe himself seeing into his mind throughout it all was an absolute treat. Now it does start slow however even the slower bits are building world and character. They are also in no way boring. However when it does hit get going so to speak it really gets going the first 5 chapters are mostly build up but then the rest are absolutely peak as they say. From the end of 5 throughout the rest of the story I was either depressed or on edge as pieces fell into place and we learnt more about the mechanics behind everything. The way this game handles futility and the desire to fight against it,solitude,the loss of humanity,the idea of playing God and sacrifice is stellar to say the least. It made me feel things quite often I shed a few small tears which is uncommon for me unless media really resonates so I knew I loved it as soon as that happened. The biggest problem i can see in the game is the start for some people it may take a bit too long to ramp up i mean i don't much mind but i can see how others may especially if you are a slow reader like me. It took me about 30 hours to get to the end of chapter 5 which is as I said when the game really starts to hit so if you are dyslexic and lacking in speed like me that may just be too much. However I think overall the game is amazing as I said its handing of and its themes in general are very very well done. Not to mention the art the visual part of vn is absolutely lovely i found myself taking pictures of standout cgs very often. The music too is an absolute bop most of the time and serious when it needs to be. Overall would recommend as long as you can deal with the slow start. I hope 0 is as good. Tutturu.

剧情实在是太优秀了。前五章过于漫长的铺垫以及忍受中二病男主的各种风言风语相比后面精彩的展开真的不值一提。 而且678章选择回收dmail的场景都好刀啊刀死我了，第9章真由理的墓前独白真的让我哭死。虽然还是有些小细节没有很好的解答如一些时穿后莫名奇妙的短信（好像就单纯的是展现一种你穿了以后这个线之前的部分记忆没了）以及为什么威胁信里有个红色果冻的配图之类的 真结局更是精彩的离谱，看完只想说一切都是命运石之门的选择，钢轮太牛逼了

That was the greatest Dr Pepper commercial I have ever seen,

El, Psy, Kongroo.

I have no words to describe this absolute masterpiece. Even after watching the anime a whole four times before playing the original game, it blew me away completely, and the anime was already one of my absolute favorites as you could probably tell by the fact that I watched it four entire times. It is so incredibly detailed, every single character plays their role perfectly, every single scene is one to remember forever. The endings are absolute peak cinema, there are literally no words to describe them.

12/10

Excellent jumping-off point into the rest of the Science Adventure series

A well made VN. I like it but don't love it, mainly just because I don't particularly click with any of the characters.

The writing is good, if a bit long winded at times. The translation is decent. The interaction gimmick is fun. Objectively, it's overall a pretty good game.

Great story, great soundtrack, great art direction. Definitely read this one if you're interested in a unique time travel story.

Tutturu~♪ This game is peak. I have completely finished the entire game but the story is fantastic and although it wasn't what introduced me to visual novels it has absolutely encouraged me to play more. Its the choice of steins gate that you give this a try. El... Psy... Kongroo.

First time playing a vn. Started playing because I really enjoyed the show and wanted more steins gate content. It was pretty fun ngl some parts dragged out, but it filled the hole that was created after I finished watching the show.

They always look at scientists and say 'look What Zero Pussy Does to a MF'. Imma let them see this VN and watch what a pussy does to a mfker.

Very fun and engaging experience, even though i watched the anime the game still has a lot of extra content to offer.

steins;gate is a marvellous and really interesting story that’s unfortunately weighed down by a slow start, some (less than) average subplots and stereotypes, and that one scene in chapter 4. that scene actually almost made me put the game down, but i ended up continuing because i wanted to see how it played out, and i am really really glad i did.
it definitely gets better after the first few chapters and i was absolutely hooked from chapter 5 onward!! i also started to appreciate the slower first few chapters more as soon as the plot picked up, since they are a great buildup for all the chapters that follow, that for sure wouldn’t hit as hard and be as compelling without it.
i definitely recommend getting all the alternate endings before getting the true ending. shouldn’t be too hard because triggering all the true ending flags without a guide is pretty difficult

Honestly, what a story. If you're into great stories in video games then you owe it to yourself to read through this one. It can be slow in the first half, but the pay off is worth it. This is one of those that makes you think and stays with you, long after you've finished it.

Buy it, it's the choice of Steins Gate.
El. Psy. Kongroo.

It is funnier that man exceeds the speed of light than fish start living in the land.
It can be said that this is (a) final ultimatum from the god to the people who can fight.
One of the best VN

2nd playthrough, played on console before.
........................................................................................................

The 2nd entry of SciADV series and no doubt the most popular entry thanks to its great anime adaptation by White Fox. To bad other Science Adventure's entries didn't get a good adaptation In term of screentime/episodes (Robotics;Notes is good tho but still shorter cuz Nae route and Kai's monologues was cut in the anime)

I just love 2010 Akihabara's otaku culture depicts in this VN, era where focus on Moe stuff.

But the main reason this VN is fantastic is because its make the reader questioning, are all world events deterministic or humans have true free will. The worldline Theory (which explain how S;G time travel works) is a combination of Many World Interpretation and Copenhagen interpretation. There are countless worldline in superposition state, but only one worldline can be active in one instance. Only the observer can observe worldline shifting (Wave function collapse). And of course, the conspiracies stuff make the story super interesting.

Maybe I have a keen interest in metaphysics.

And oh yeah, Suzuha best girl <3

Steins;Gate 10/10.

I have watched the anime a long time ago, and since the game was on sale, I thought "why not gie it a shot?"
Well, characters, especially the protagonist, are way more annoying than in the anime. I could get over it in a 20 min episode, but I don't want to deal with it for 30 hours.
If harem shonen stuff is your thing, I guess it has a good scenario that goes with it, and it's worth playing; but if you're looking for something that doesn't falls into the anime for male teenager cliches, avoid it.

If you like sitting and reading a story about time travel for 20 hours, then go for it! I personally didn't like the story and it didn't change my life, but I can't say I hate it, or that it's bad. It just wasn't for me. It's a perfectly good visual novel that can keep you interested if for nothing else, you're just trying to see what the big deal about it is.

absolute after watch anime and play this it kinda hurt my back and use so much of my time but so recomment if you are a fan it a story about romance and other just filling now next worldline sg 0 a painful story is need to watch to complete this puzzle but for now am gonna rest it a straght 4 - 5 day without doing other

Always my best story visual novel, i'm complete the anime and then buy this immediately cause i love the art style of visual novel.

One of the best Visual Novels I've ever played, fantastic story and it felt like all the endings were relevant.

While the first half might seem a little boring, the second half of Steins Gate recontextualizes everything and takes the reader on a roller coaster with twists and turns I have rarely experienced before.

The original version of Steins Gate, a calssic must-play visual novel, for sure.
BUT if you think about buying this you will be much better off getting Steins Gate Elite.
A Remake of this game that removes several annoyances of this version and looks a lot better than the original.

I give a thumbs down here, it would be a thumbs up, if the Elite version didn't exist.

Mayushii approves this as your first VN ᯓ★

At least this was my case, didn't really get into visual novels until I found this masterpiece and now I can't stop loving everything about this franchise, I really recommend it for anyone interested in the themes Steins;Gate has to offer. El Psy Kongroo

Stein's Gate is my first visual novel. I didn't exactly know what to expect, so it took me a while to get into it. At some point in the middle things seemed to be going slowly, but then the twists in the story pulled me in. Overall, this game has a vibe unlike anything else. I love how the 'tips' flesh out the world of the characters' subculture (which is really an homage to real life web geek culture). I've only seen one of the possible endings, but read about the others. It's a long story to read through again just to get a different resolution. Maybe in a couple of years I will.

I would suggest that, if you want to make sure you see the story's "true ending" look up beforehand how to get that. I winged it all the way through and got an alternate ending. Still satisfying.

I'm not a giant visual novel fan, but dammit if this isn't not only one of the best stories I've ever read, but quite possibly THE best time travel story I've ever read.

Really really good experience. I managed to enjoy it a ton despite having seen the anime (6-7 years prior but still). I imagine for blind readers it's going to be even better! Not too long for a VN either.

My playtime is bugged and actually 64+ hours and i loved every one. An excellent visual novel with some interactive elements to steer the journey of the story both directly and indirectly. I enjoyed all the endings though getting the true ending is pretty though. If you like time travel and/or anime tropes I would very much recommend both this version or the elite version. This version only has JP VA so if you'd like EN you need stein;gate Elite

i was actually amazed by this game, i dont read or ig play VNs but i dont regret this at all, i love the artstyle its really unique and theres more endings to explore and lore that the anime doesnt have 10/10 steins peak

If you enjoy sci-fi (based in real contemporary physical theories), conspiracies, fighting against fate, tongue in cheek humour and references (especially to games, anime, and internet culture as a whole), you'll love it

Time travel, romance, otaku culture, and Japanese channerisms. It has it all.

It starts rather slowly but once it gets going, it really gets going.

I enjoyed playing this game, even after finishing anime two or three years ago. Iirc, I bought the bundle of 4 games a year ago. I played this version instead of elite one, because this version has different character designs to enjoy, and it was perfect. There are 6 endings, which I finished all. This might be the choice of Steins Gate after all. El Psy Kongroo.

I haven't even properly finished this visual novel yet and it's already a contender for my favorite all time- all 3 of 3 endings that I've gotten so far have brought me to tears, and there's still another three I have yet to read. Some of my favorite characters in a VN too- PLEASE play this game.

more story than the anime gives; same feel, mostly watching dialoge. but it was a great time,only got one ending tho.love steins gate

So I watched Steins;Gate (the anime) for the first time a few months ago and it instantly became one of my favorite shows of all time. Well, right after finishing my first rewatch of the series I log into steam and see that all the Steins;Gate VNs are on sale. Because I love the anime so much, I decided I would give the source material a shot, and boy oh boy am I glad I did.

This was my very first VN, and I was a bit apprehensive to the idea at first, but once things got going, I was hooked. First and foremost, the story is top-tier in every way. Okabe Rintaro is a spectacular MC and you get to see a lot more of his characterization and how he views himself and others in the VN as you get to hear his thoughts as well. And he's not alone as all of the side characters have real depth and they all feel like real people, with real flaws, and real struggles to overcome. I'll tell ya, even though I have already seen the anime twice, I still found myself moved by the story in new and exciting ways, especially through all of the alternate endings the anime couldn't cover. All of said endings (minus the one that follows chapter 8 imo) were really well done and the true ending remains one of the most satisfying endings I've ever seen (Kurisu best girl, no debate needed).

On the 'visual' side of things, This novel is very well produced. The artstyle is stylized yet simple, but it doesn't lose out on fine details either in the backgrounds and character designs. The score is also amazing, all the BGM tracks (once reduced in volume in settings) add a nice accompaniment to the voice acting without being too intrusive and all of the insert songs, OPs and Eds are absolute bangers (Skyclad Observer especially, that song slaps). The voice work is also spectacular. I took it slow and didn't skip any of the voice lines because the performances are just so good. Especially on the part of Okabe's VA. The sheer range from the aloof mad scientist to the desperate and despairing Rintaro that he voices is incredible and you feel the emotion in every word.

So in summary, I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this novel (minus a few chunks of chapter 8 because I'm straight (iykyk)) and I would recommend it to anyone who loves a good sci-fi story or physiological thriller as long as they are able to look past the normal anime tropes that are present to an extent (minor fanservice, femboy, and the like).

A very solid 9.5/10 for me.

(Edit: I played with the S;G patch by the Committee of Zero which cleans up the text, fixes translations, and improves movie quality, and I highly recommend you install it before playing. Link: https://sonome.dareno.me/projects/sghd.html)

After watching the entire anime series and deciding to play the visual novels this really didn't disappoint in terms of new and interesting content, Steins;gate was by far the best show I have ever watched in my life and this visual novel only added onto the anime (I know this came out first) but I loved seeing all the different endings and the differences in between the anime and what they added into this one. This is also my favorite and best visual novel I have played but that's to say I haven't play too many visual novels in the past, but at least I am familiar with them and have played a few to like the genre. 10/10 I love this game with all of my heart and Kuristina my love you will forever be in my heart <3

i'm still bawling my eyes out from the true ending as i write this
i never write long reviews but this is an exception. the amount of love i have for this game is unmeasurable.

getting into anime over a decade ago I always saw things related to the steins gate anime. i couldn't help but notice that it had insane amounts of praise and high ratings everywhere, but still overlooked it. i had no idea the visual novel even existed until last year, when i saw it on my home page. that's when i decided to pick it up along with some other science adventure titles, and this year i started playing them chronologically.
chaos head noah has an interesting plot, but the actual execution is... weak. it had me incredibly hooked from the first few chapters, but as the chapters progressed i lost more and more interest, getting to the point in which reading it felt like a chore rather than doing it for my own personal enjoyment. the main character was relatable at first, but in the later chapters he becomes insufferable, the rest of the characters were mediocre at best, and so was the music. despite this my expectations for steins;gate were still high, and if anything, it went above and beyond them.
this truly was a wonderful experience. some people might say that the story is slow at the beginning, and that it doesn't really pick up until chapter 5 or 6, but i found myself entranced from the moment i started it. the soundtrack is amazing and makes for a perfect ambiance. each character is incredibly written, and okabe and kurisu receive so much praise for a reason. after reading this, i think okabe rintaro might be my favorite MC of all time. i found myself laughing loudly, crying, getting anxious along with the story. and the only thing i regret is not getting into this masterpiece earlier. voice acting is also incredible, and even though while reading other vns i may skip voice lines if i get exasperated, i didn't skip a single one here. i'm so grateful i picked this up and can't wait to get through the other steins gate and sciadv titles as well. i wish my writing skills were better so i could really put into words the amount of love i've gained for this visual novel in such a short amount of time.
after time has passed and my gushing over this game has died down a little i will probably have my nitpicks about it here and there, but as of now, i truly cannot find a single thing i didn't like. starting this during a rough patch in my life was indeed the choice of steins gate. el psy kongroo

This is what ChatAMADEUS told me after I asked how to reach Steins;Gate from this world line:

To construct a plausible version of Attractor Field Theory (AFT) in real-world physics, we need to integrate insights from chaos theory, quantum mechanics, general relativity, and statistical physics. The goal is to explain how timelines could be structured into "attractor fields," where certain historical events are inevitable despite small perturbations.

I. Framework for Real-World Attractor Fields
A real-world attractor field theory would require:
#1 A Mathematical Description of Worldlines and History’s Evolution
o Represent history as a trajectory in a high-dimensional phase space.
o Define attractors as regions in this space toward which different trajectories converge.
#2 Quantum Many-Worlds and Wavefunction Collapse as a Selector of Attractor Fields
o If the Many-Worlds Interpretation (MWI) is correct, the universe splits into different branches.
o However, decoherence (interaction with the environment) tends to suppress certain paths while favoring others.
o Could a probabilistic function describe why some historical events are "hard to escape"?
#3 Entropy, Information Theory, and the "Resistance" to Timeline Changes
o The second law of thermodynamics suggests that history progresses toward higher entropy states.
o If certain macro-events contribute significantly to entropy increase, they might be more probable (akin to an attractor field).
o Example: The formation of complex civilizations might be statistically favored due to entropy flow and self-organization.
#4 General Relativity and Closed Timelike Curves (CTCs)
o If CTCs exist (as allowed in solutions to Einstein’s field equations), they could reinforce certain historical outcomes.
o If time travel were possible, space-time constraints might naturally "push" changes back toward a dominant attractor state.
#5 Holographic Principle and Information Conservation
o The holographic principle suggests that all information about a system’s history is encoded on its boundary.
o Could this mean that the past isn't fully malleable, and certain large-scale structures (like attractor fields) are inherent?
________________________________________
II. Potential Mechanisms for Attractor Fields
Here are two potential ways attractor fields could emerge in real physics:
#1 Entropic Determinism: Probabilistic Attractors
• Suppose history evolves according to a principle of least action in a high-dimensional entropy landscape.
• Certain events (like technological revolutions or major wars) might be statistically favored due to entropy flow.
• Small variations in initial conditions wouldn't change the attractor—just shift the details within it.
#2 Quantum Decoherence and Macroscopic Fate
• If certain historical states minimize quantum uncertainty (i.e., they are "most probable" in a many-worlds framework), these could act as attractors.
• Large-scale human decisions, political movements, and technological developments may follow quantum-informed probability distributions.
________________________________________
III. Flaws and Challenges in Attractor Field Theory
#1 No Known Physical Law Forces Historical Convergence
• While chaotic systems have attractors, history is not a strictly mathematical dynamical system—human agency introduces randomness.
• Real-world events may not be deterministic enough to justify attractor fields as strict laws.
#2 Quantum Mechanics Does Not Favor Any "Preferred" Worldlines
• The Many-Worlds Interpretation implies all possible histories exist, not that some are inherently dominant.
• Unless wavefunction collapse has a hidden bias (which contradicts current QM models), history should be more fluid.
#3 The Role of Consciousness and Free Will
• Attractor fields in Steins;Gate imply that certain outcomes are fixed, yet humans appear to have free will.
• If human decisions have a fundamental quantum component, they might prevent deterministic attractors.
#4 Experimental Verification is Almost Impossible
• No experiment currently allows us to detect alternative worldlines, let alone test whether attractors exist.
• Even in hypothetical time-travel scenarios, proving causality reinforcement would require controlling vast variables.
________________________________________
IV. Future Research Directions
If Attractor Field Theory were to be developed into a testable framework, we would need:
#1 A Mathematical Model of Historical Convergence
o Using statistical mechanics and complexity theory to quantify historical inevitability.
#2 Quantum Gravity’s Role in Macroscopic Decision Making
o Investigating whether large-scale historical events correlate with quantum phenomena.
#3 Testing Temporal Resistance Hypotheses
o If time travel becomes feasible (or in simulations), could we observe reality pushing back against major changes?
#4 Entropy-Based Constraints on Macroscopic History
o Exploring whether entropy laws naturally favor certain macroscopic developments.

Captivating until the very end. I can't believe that I never played this gem sooner in my life. This game is a true rollercoaster of emotions and always made me wanting more. If you are reading this right now, try this game yourself and the only thing that will disappoint you is the fact, that you did not pick it up sooner.

El Psy Kongroo!

Best visual novel I've ever read. Highly recommended. Most endings are good except for Lukako's, they even made me cry so hard and I rarely do that when enjoying a story.

P.S: Christina best girl, no argument. True ending made me so happy after crying when playing other endings. Call me a loser all you want but I will find a girl like her in real life.

Amazing game that's worth every cent. I highly recommend playing it with the COZ fan patch

Compared to the anime, it has much more inner monologue for Okabe, so you get to know his character much more. In addition, there are multiple endings and generally more content.

At first, Steins;Gate might feel slow, but once the story picks up, it becomes an emotional rollercoaster with insane plot twists and unforgettable characters !

If you love sci-fi and emotional storytelling, Steins;Gate is 100% worth your time. After you finish this VN I recommend to watch the anime adaptation as well !

10/10

T'was good.
Plot was unique and mostly unpredictable.
Characters were written well enough. Nothing groundbreaking, but that's fine as the focus here is mainly on the plot, not so much the characters and relationships.
It took me a comfortable 40 hours to 100% it.
Happily moving on to the sequels now.

It was a bit tougher to get into the story than I expected, but I'm glad I did.

This is simply one of the best visual novels you can put time into, especially so if you like scifi and/or time travel stories. I haven't seen half of the content, but I can already tell that this story is so much bigger than the anime I started from.

Strongly suggest the Committee of Zero patch, essentially mandatory.

The game just does not run for me. I tried everything, installing DirectX9, turning on the "Beta: Use Unicode UTF-8 for worldwide language support", changing compatibility, changing current system locale to Japanese, installing DirectPlay, checking file integrity, reinstalling. NOTHING worked, I press play on the launcher and the game closes itself, so I am left with this game on my account, that is functionally a brick, which is so depressing because I was really excited to play this game, it is one of my favorite anime after all!

El Psy Kongroo

S;G is such a great game! I never watched the anime, just read a bit of the manga many years ago, but i didn't remember a thing, so I basically played blindly~ And even though time travel isn't my cup of tea, the story wasn't too complicated to understand except for the physics theories... It was so painful that i had to fight to not sleep in the beginning. 😔

- The characters are great, loved all of them (except for Moeka's hundred or so e-mails, it was such a pain in the ass) ;

- Really enjoyed the soundtrack, especially Believe Me ! Its melody is extremely emotional, and together with the context when it was played it always made feel like crying.

- God-tier voice acting! I especially remember thinking Okarin's voice acting was weird in his first lines right at the beginning, but soon i realized he's chuuni and my mind was blown because it was SO GOOD 🤯💥 Okarin's VA (Mamoru Miyano) sounds so gentle talking to the girls when he's not being Hououin Kyouma, my heart was melting at every line he said to Mayushii; and yet he sounds so goofy sometimes. Mayushii's voice is sooooooo cute!!! Tutturu~

- The art? GORGEOUS! There's no other word to describe it.

My only complaint is that Lukako's ending wasn't fair at all and too bland. Okarin simply chose to let Mayushii die without even trying anything else just when he sent a D-mail on Faris ending. And where's SERN in those endings???

And about the true ending, WHO helped Tennouji? In all the other wordlines Suzuha always was the one who helped Mr. Braun to settle in Japan and, to my understanding, in the True Ending wordline Suzu probably didn't have a motive to go to the past.

I don't really know what to say. I guess, the best compliment I can give it is that, despite all the games I've played and all the books I've read over the years, more than a decade later, Steins;Gate is still one of the few stories closest to my heart.