In the 90s and early 2000s, visual novels were near the top of the pyramid in the world of Japanese game releases. They were important games that got made often and were easily funded. Nowadays, that isn’t quite the case. As demands for live-service gacha games and globally appealing experiences grow, it’s much rarer to see a pure visual novel with a large budget come out of Japan. Exceptions have been made in recent years with remakes and polished ports of some of the most iconic Japanese visual novels ever, like Fate/Stay Night and Tsukihime. Sci-fi time travel adventure Steins;Gate is another one of those major names, making it no surprise that it would manage to get a highly polished new edition with that same, classic visual novel focus kept in-tact. Is STEINS;GATE RE:BOOT worth it, though?
The original Steins;Gate, released in 2009, has spawned a bevy of spin-offs, sequels, and anime adaptations. An alternate version called Steins;Gate Elite came out in 2019, retelling the story of the game with a shorter script alongside visuals and animations from the anime. Steins;Gate Re:Boot is another rendition of that original story with new animated character portraits, re-drawn event CGs and backgrounds, and re-recorded voice acting. What I appreciate about this new version is that none of these new assets feel like a major transformation of the original game’s vibe or vision. The original artist is back, the original voice cast is back, and every piece of menu and HUD design feels sharp and modernised without sacrificing the sort of cluttered, grungy-tech vibe of the original games menus, which added so much charm to even the smallest moment of saving your game.
I’ll never say no to an excuse to step back into this world, though. I love Steins;Gate. What starts out as a simple story of an edgelord would-be scientist in Akihabara quickly spirals into a complicated time-looping drama. Every character in the cast, like Okabe Rintarou’s romantic flame and actual scientist Makise Kurisu, or his nerdy hacker brother-in-arms Daru bring a smile to my face as soon as I see them pop up again on screen.
Just like the original game, there’s a menu of in-universe terms and names that populate as you progress through the game to help keep track of the complicated web of topics being thrown at you. The incredibly helpful Observer menu also helps you keep track of the routes you’ve explored and the choices you’ve made in each dialogue scene, and each moment you’re given to use (or ignore) your cell phone. One annoyance – as beautiful as this game is visually – is that there’s a constant issue with text, where dialogue longer than three lines will squish the text down to fit it inside the text box, and it distracts me every time it happens.
A slightly larger wrinkle with Steins;Gate Re:Boot is that, while it’s certainly the newest version of this story, it isn’t a completely comprehensive version. The game is based on the shortened and altered script that was used for Steins;Gate Elite. Back when that anime-led retelling came out, it seemed like the script was adjusted to remove parts of the story that were skipped past by the anime adaptation. It feels a bit strange, without that same limitation, to use that tightened-up version of the story for this version of the game. If you’re new to Steins;Gate, you won’t notice the things that have been removed at all. So much of it is simply tightening up internal monologue from our overthinking time-traveler protagonist Okabe Rintarou – he has a habit of internally exploring his options in a conversation, thinking what he’s going to say, and then saying it. In most cases, the new script simply tightens those scenes up so that the overall game is a bit faster in pacing and runtime.
Steins;Gate Re:Boot balances this out with new content, though. It’s clear that developer Mages intends for this game to not just be a shiny new version of the old game, but also a connective thread to potential future stories in the Steins;Gate world and their wider Science Adventure universe. Some of these hints come from alterations and additions to the main story routes that will be especially rewarding for fans of other entries in the Steins;Gate series.
The biggest addition, though, is a brand new story route loosely based around a timeline from a previously released audiobook (or Drama CD, for the tapped in nerds) about a world where protagonist Okabe Rintarou simply never existed. It’s a really interesting new story route, leaning much further into the dark and tense tone of the main story route rather than the more playful and silly side. Plus, it gives more time to my favourite character, Moeka Kiryu, which is never a bad thing.
In today’s gaming landscape, it might feel strange to pay full price for a visual novel. There are no guns to shoot, and no balls to kick or through, and no seasonal endgame content updates. It’s entirely a story-driven experience from beginning-to-end, and just like in 2009 when the original released, it’s a masterpiece of storytelling. There are quirks with this version of the game that might upset some long-time fans, but if you’re just an avid reader looking for a memorable science-fiction adventure, Steins;Gate is a must, and Steins;Gate Re:Boot is a wonderful way to experience it.