Play as Okabe Rintaro - a recent high school graduate with a care-free, Chuunibyou-like personality who has self-proclaimed that he is a mad scientist named "Hououin Kyouma" for having created gadgets with his high school friend Itaru Hashida (Daru) throughout his life out of passion and for contests at times. The story takes place in the summer season of the year 2010 in Akihabara, Japan. Okabe attends a conference on time travel and discovers a lifeless body of an unfamiliar woman around his age who he interacted with a bit earlier. Baffled by his discovery, Okabe later exits the building to find the outside world completely empty . A day later, Okabe revisits the conference area to find what he discovered the day before in a living, completely fine state . Later, Okabe goes to his apartment situated above an old TV shop called the "Braun Tube Workshop". While at his apartment and spending time with his childhood friend Mayuri and high school friend Daru, Okabe gelifies a banana using a microwave and the person he met earlier makes a sudden reappearance at his apartment. Together, this group unintentionally discovers how to time travel to the past as well as time travelling to different worldlines where the world you once knew is different. However, it turns out that time travelling to the past and travelling to different worldlines isn't as simple and straight-forward as we thought it to be!

Play this visual novel to find out what I mean!


Less than 1/5th of players reached the end of the game and less than half of the players even made it to the end of the first chapter as of the time that I'm writing this, and I can see why, but not in a negative way.

The prologue as well as the first few chapters, in my opinion, serve the purpose of introducing characters, settings and the concept of time travel that's being created in a very detailed manner to you, rather than throwing plot development at you. In other words, the game's laying out a strong foundation for you which you'll need to digest in order comprehend the events occurring in future chapters. Now, I must admit, the prologue and first few chapters of the game were boring to me, and probably felt boring to most others, which would explain the massive drop in achiever count, but trust me, once you begin reading the middle chapters, you'll lose that boredom and will begin feeling hooked to the game and want to continue reading more as the plot thickens.

The prologue in particular is a part of the game that you'll definitely need to see and read in order to understand what's going on in the true route of the game. The prologue and its writing may seem very confusing at first, but rest assured, the end will address all confusion and questions you may have from the prologue.

The game has a total of 11 chapters, but you may reach an ending in an earlier chapter as the game has multiple endings, which you can obtain based on choices you make throughout the game. Because of this, by the way, I would suggest you to frequently save, especially during [spoiler[d-mailing [/spoiler] so that you can go back at any time to explore alternative routes.


Now, all endings other than the true ending may leave you discontent. It can leave the impression that it felt incomplete or bad, even if it seems a bit good. And your guts are right. As the name of the true ending suggests - it is the true ending, so aim to reach the true ending, aim to open the Steins;Gate. You may struggle to reach the true ending as it requires you to do specific things, so if you are stuck, search up a guide, I found this one quite useful: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2600680431. I followed it for the true ending. Prior to following it, I obtained Suzu's ending mid-game, then Mayuri's ending and lastly Kirusu's ending.

There's another important reason to reach the true ending, which is that a sequel: "STEINS;GATE 0" uses the true route as a foundation. It's a sequel that focuses on a twisted "what if" scenario to the true ending. So, if you intend on playing STEINS;GATE 0 as well, make sure to reach the true ending in this game first.

Overall, I'd recommend this game, it has absolutely amazing writing and artwork, whoever wrote this must be among the top writer(s) of the world if I'm being honest with you. It's not everyday you encounter a well written story. Multiple endings is a plus that I love.

Anyways, ultimately, for those who haven't purchased this game yet but are looking to purchase it or for those reading reviews before playing the game, keep in mind, you may be really confused and bored at first early on in the game, but be patient, and continue reading and eventually that boredom and confusion will fade away. Trust me, this visual novel carries a rich story that's worth a read. This will always be one of my favorite games of all time.

I hope you find my review useful. El Psy Kongroo.

Although this game may seem quite depressing at a first impression - it's not as dark as it may seem and I can say without doubt that STEINS;GATE 0 is one of the best science fiction visual novels ever written. As the game description states, it is the sequel to STEINS;GATE. The game is entirely based on a different version of the true ending to STEINS;GATE, so if you haven't already, play STEINS;GATE first! If you haven't completed STEINS;GATE, stop reading my review, because it contains STEINS;GATE spoilers.

In STEINS;GATE 0, you'll truly realize the importance of reaching the STEINS;GATE and learn about the origin of the term "deceive". If you remember, at the end of the true route of STEINS;GATE, Okabe received a video file of himself mentioning the term. In STEINS;GATE 0, you'll see the long term results of Okabe refusing to attempt to undo Kurisu's murder. Throughout STEINS;GATE 0, you'll witness a depressed, hopeless Okabe who wants to forget everything he did as Kyouma. Okabe will often refer to his time as Kyouma as his "dark history" or his "dark past".

Without Kurisu, Okabe is now residing in the Beta worldline with an alive Mayuri. He is no longer living in the Alpha worldline, in which he came from. Okabe wishes to live a peaceful future without Kurisu, but unfortunately, just six months later after he makes his decision to leave Kurisu dead, fate decided to have other plans in store for Okabe. Okabe is introduced to new characters. A few of these new characters have developed AI technology that uses memories that were given to the AI by humans at a specific date. Using those memories, the AI can be like the human up to the latest memory. Kurisu is one of the developers of the AI. Kurisu offered her memories to it at some point and subsequently created a variant of the AI called "Amadeus [Kurisu]" which is basically an AI Kurisu. Fate brings the living AI creators and Okabe together, and Okabe becomes a tester of the AI. Thanks to this, he is now able to interact with an AI Kurisu. Is the privilege of being an AI tester a blessing or a regrettable curse? Read this story to find out!


Just like in STEINS;GATE, there are multiple endings in STEINS;GATE 0. Unlike in STEINS;GATE where D-mailing led to route splits, in STEINS;GATE 0 certain calls lead to route splits.

There's a total of 7 new characters in STEINS;GATE 0 that weren't in STEINS'GATE! One of them was referenced before STEINS;GATE 0 and the other debuted in a spin-off game called STEINS;GATE: My Darling's Embrace which released after STEINS;GATE but before STEINS;GATE 0!

For the first time ever, you'll notice others experiencing Reading Steiner!

Unlike STEINS;GATE, the game isn't entirely first person. Throughout the game, the narrative kind of switches between the perspectives of different characters like how it did in STEINS;GATE: Linear Bounded Phenogram and there is third person narration often at times (especially when we're seeing through another character's eyes).

Remember SERN from STEINS;GATE? Well, they're not the organization you have to fear for in STEINS;GATE 0...there are now other organizations to fear! And remember the WW3 threat in STEINS;GATE? Well, you should add an information extraction war to it.

The visual novel experience has really improved in STEINS;GATE 0! Here are some new features that weren't available in previous STEINS;GATE titles:

1. You can now see sprites of the backs of characters!
2. You can now edit the volume of characters individually. I really felt the need for this sort of feature in spin-off games, I'm glad it made its way to this game.
3. Sprite, map/background and animation quality has significantly improved!
4. Characters now use smartphones with a built in messaging system similar to modern day popular messaging apps.


This game had me in tears from beginning to end! I cried so much! I cried more than I did in any other STEINS;GATE game! It's just so beautifully written and illustrated! Not a lot of series succeed at introducing lots of new characters in a further entry and gaining the admiration of its base, but STEINS;GATE 0 succeeded! I was so attached to all of the new characters - both good and bad! I loved everyone who was new! I absolutely loved all 5 good endings as well!

Most importantly, I loved the true ending. It was the best way to end this depressive story. Well done!

If anyone's curious about the order I received my endings. Here it is:
1. Leskinen
2. Mayuri (used guide)
3. Maho
4. Kurisu
5. Kagari (intentionally did it before True End)
6. True End

If you ask me what the ideal ending order should be, it should be:
1. Maho
2. Kagari
3. Kurisu
4. Leskinen
5. Mayuri
6. True End

I think that would be a more ideal way to experience this visual novel, because getting the True End last for me required me to skip so many chapters I had already read. If you need an ending guide, use these two, I had used them both: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1383621185, https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1381418631

As extra, feel free to read these notes I took:

- I felt bad for Suzuha for not knowing what a party was since she came from wartime...
- Mayuri's last message to Okabe in her ending route had me in tears!
- Loved Mayuri's ending, I just loved how Okabe regained his confidence. I hope Mayuri slaps him really hard in the past and helps him open the STEINS;GATE!
- If you get good endings you'll see how a hopeless. depressed and exhausted Okabe regains his motivation and life and becomes Hououin Kyouma again. Hearing him say who he was in front of attack helicopters and soldiers was the bravest and best thing ever!
- This is kind of a cool and cute Easter egg I encountered: During the Christmas party, you can call Amadeus twice. She'll wish you a Merry Christmas!
- I was sobbing so much during the "dream" with Kurisu...
- I loved hearing Kaede play Turkish March as a Turk.
- I like how app position changes with wallpaper
- I found Kagari's stories quite interesting. Whoever came up with the story ideas for Kagari was very creative!
- I loved all the RINE stickers! I wish they were all sold on the Steam Points Shop!

Most importantly, at the end of this game, I realized how valuable Makise Kurisu is to us as a friend and scientist. Uncovering her knowledge is like uncovering Pandora's Box! The uncoverer cannot be malicious! Furthermore, I realized that escaping from your problems is not the answer to solving your issues. Work and work hard until you achieve your dreams! All Okabe needed in this story was some motivation and hope to get up and get back to work on reaching the STEINS;GATE!

Aim to reach the "promised place"! Aim to open the STEINS;GATE!

El. Psy. Kongroo.