Steins;Gate Elite Review (Nintendo Switch)

Steins;Gate was a visual novel that originally came out for the Xbox 360. It was a huge hit in Japan and eventually moved to other consoles. It was ranked the top adventure game of all-time, followed by another game by Spike Chunsoft, 428. Make no mistake though, Steins;Gate Elite is the definitive version of the visual novel. It was remade from the ground up and using both scenes from the anime and brand new animated scenes by White Fox, who did the animation for the anime. Steins;Gate is one of the greatest stories of all-time and Elite is the definitive version of Steins;Gate. The Switch version is the ultimate version, even moreso than the PlayStation 4 incarnation of the game. I was traveling when I received the game and was able to play it portably. It is the only game that I have ever played portably on my Switch. It was amazing.

“There is no end though there is a start in space. — Infinity.
It has own power, it ruins, and it goes though there is a start also in the star. — Finite.
Only the person who was wisdom can read the most foolish one from the history.
The fish that lives in the sea doesn’t know the world in the land. It also ruins and goes if they have wisdom.
It is funnier that man exceeds the speed of light than fish start living in the land.
It can be said that this is an final ultimatum from the god to the people who can fight.“

One thing Steins;Gate Elite is able to do that the anime wasn’t is expand on the theories of time travel. The scene is one of the best in the game and Kurisu goes through each and how, in her opinion, time travel isn’t possible (we obviously find out this isn’t true). The most incredible part of this is how detailed it is. I got to meet one of the creators of Steins;Gate and asked him how much research he had to do for the game. He told me he had a huge pile of extensive notes. Quantum theory and time travel is something that has always fascinated me, so going through these theories was quite impressive and a highlight of the game. Okabe and Kurisu’s banter was also a highlight of the sequence, as Okabe was quick to scream “objection!” The science in Steins;Gate is beyond impressive, and who knows, maybe time travel in one way or another is possible.

Another cool anecdote in Steins;Gate is the image board @channel. It’s actually quite relevant today, especially in a time where the image boards have taken over the internet. The posts, especially from Kurisu, Okabe, and “John Titor” are fascinating to read. It’s both amusing and engaging. It introduced me to meme culture. It fascinating that years later, Steins;Gate is so relevant to popular culture. It’s a game that was way before its time in this respect.

At its core, Steins;Gate is a story of a man who never gives up. He time leaps hundreds, maybe thousands of times, to attempt to save his childhood friend, Mayuri. The form of time travel actually reminds me of LOST, as Okabe’s consciousness is traveling through time, much like Desmond. Okabe’s relationship with Kurisu is the highlight of the game. She’s the love of his life. She guides him along his path and his quest to save Mayuri. It’s touching and beautiful. Even though Kurisu doesn’t remember much of Okabe’s journey, she’s there for him every step of the way. While the art style of the original is wonderful, having these scenes animated makes such a stronger impact. It’s superior to the original in every way and the amount of effort to remake this classic was a huge undertaking.

Steins;Gate Elite has numerous chapters and multiple endings. It uses a cell phone mechanism to reach each ending. Each answer you provide has the potential to unlock the true ending of the game. The interface is so much cleaner than the original. There are several “flags” with Kurisu which are difficult to figure out which answer will bring you to the true ending, so there’s a lot of trial and error. That’s okay though. Each ending is wonderful, with brand new animated scenes for those that weren’t in the anime (such as Faris and Suzuha’s endings). The true ending is so touching though. Okabe and Kurisu’s relationship, which drives the story, is so tragic yet beautiful at the same time. Their love is the emotional centerpiece of the game and although it’s a roughly long game (it took me 60 hours to beat), it’s worth it. The game is perfect.

Steins;Gate Elite is the definitive version of the Steins;Gate story, even moreso than the anime. It’s touching. It’s beautiful. It had me in tears by the end, not out of sadness, but sheer catharsis. It’s a story of never giving up. It’s filled with scientific theory which was thoroughly researched. It plays great portably on the Nintendo Switch. I cannot say enough how fantastic this game is. It’s the best game I’ve played all year, which says a lot considering the sheer amount of excellent content that has come out.

If you play any visual novel this year, play Steins;Gate Elite. The great thing is that it’s incredibly accessible. You don’t need to watch the anime to understand it. In fact, it’s better to play it before watching the anime. It’s the experience of a lifetime.