have been playing it for over 5 hours. the story, though a little bit dragging, is really logical. if you like vn, its a must-play. however, it should be noticed that the game's quick load/save system has a problem that makes you lose your progress when turning off the game. make sure to use the hard load/save feature, and after saving go to the title menu before exiting the game.

Around 12 years ago I had watched the anime adaptation of STEINS;GATE and a couple of days ago I had the sudden urge to watch it again.

To my surprise, when I was casually browsing the Steam Summer Sale 2025, I was shown STEINS;GATE on the Featured Deep Discounts. I thought to myself, why not play this wonderful series for a change and then I immediately went ahead and purchased the STEINS;GATE + STEINS;GATE 0 bundle.

Once I’ve started playing I couldn’t stop. I played until I hit a certain point in the game and thought that would be it, but something felt strange, as I didn’t remember the anime turning out this way.

That’s when I started a new game and fast-forwarded it until a certain point in the game where I didn’t even realize that I was making a decision before. This time I chose differently and my mind was blown when I realized that there was more to this. There was way more to this.

It certainly helped having watched the anime beforehand for me to get instantly invested. So much time had passed for me since then that I had forgotten most of the major plot twists of this series which honestly was exhilarating for me to experience again in a different format.

STEINS;GATE hits the emotions just right, it feels alive, the characters feel authentic and layered. The plot has its share of a couple holes, but as soon as you get over yourself and actually experience the plot in this world where these things conceptually just are this way, it completely envelops you in it. The paths this game let’s you explore must have been even more mind-blowing back in 2009.

I urge you to either play this game or watch the anime. No, better do both for your sake!

I'm not too familiar with visual novels and anime in general, and Steins;Gate is probably my first experience with a long-form VN. At first I was really skeptical. The cringey, childish humor and slow-paced opening didn't exactly win me over, but at the same time I found myself largely entertained by the character dynamics and intrigued by how well real-world science concepts were integrated into the fictional time travel plot.

Then Chapter 4 hit, and the story started picking up. Before I knew it, I’d been playing for 5 hours straight and was deep into Chapter 7, completely hooked by the mystery and rising stakes. It was a pleasant surprise. Beneath all that cringey humor (that somehow grew on me lol) was a cohesive, thought-provoking story that made me feel more emotional than most of the 100+ novels I’ve read (as per my Goodreads shelf). I also loved the phone mechanics - it’s a subtle choice system, very different from the in-your-face decisions of traditional VNs, and it really made you feel like you were interacting with the world through your own phone.

Steins;Gate might not be for everyone, especially if you're new to this format, but just give it a fair chance. It's a slow-burn masterpiece will move you in ways very few titles can.

El Psy Kongroo.

P.S. ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Suzuha's ending was so dark and twisted it legit gave me minor PTSD. Definitely check it out if you haven't already.