Our story begins in Akihabra, Tokyo Japan. The protagonist Okarin… Or rather Rintaro Okabe, (Voiced by Mamoru Minyano) is a recent high school graduate who rents an apartment with his best friend and resident computer hacker, Itaru ‘Daru’ Hashida (Voiced by Tomokazu Seki) during the summer of 2010. Okabe adopts the persona of mad scientist Hououin Kyouma, going on misadventures with Daru and childhood friend Mayuri Shiina (Voiced by Kana Hanazawa) whom he considers his “hostage” and first lab member. Thus sets the stage for STEINS;GATE RE:BOOT.
Okabe’s group eventually hack into the research organization SERN and use their data to power an experiment of a phone and a microwave, from which they send bananas back in time, turning them into piles of green gelatin. Their research quickly progresses when Okabe recruits American scientist Kurisu Makise (Voiced by Asami Imai) who is visiting Japan to give a lecture. She frequently disagrees with Okabe, dismissing his science, but agrees to join his club.
This eventually leads to the scientific breakthrough of D-mails. A text message sent to the past in order to alter it. This results in everyone changing world lines, with only Okabe being able to retain memories from different timelines. A D-mail can arrive years before it was sent and change literally anything. The world lines don't coexist and only one is ever real, but there are an infinite number of world lines. Send a message to someone in the past, and the present will change, reconstructing itself and rewriting everyone’s memories, due to the butterfly effect.
The story has perhaps the best portrayals of loss of innocence in fiction, with its narrative paced to perfection. Its first half might start off slow for some, but it is completely necessary in order for its midway character progression to hit so hard. A devastating price Okabe pays for unlocking time travel, and he ultimately realizes that it isn’t worth it. The knowledge he gains of the technology and the future becomes a burden he’s better off without. Okabe has perhaps one of the greatest character arcs in fiction that moulds into place almost instantly halfway through the events surrounding his exploration with the newfound technology; evolving from an immensely selfish and self-absorbed man and transforms into someone whose life goal is to save others.
The lab, which is the sanctuary of the science team, is the Radio Kaikan building, a real life location in Akihabra. The locations depicted through the story are beautifully drawn, painted, and harbor talent with a love of the art throughout every scene. The character art and style of the story captures a unique and broad array of talent and dedication to the presentation, the soundtrack is masterfully made, suiting the storytelling scenario contributing to the overall experience.
When I first learned of this story a few years back, I became invested with the entire concept of time travel and multidimensional timelines existing in tandem with one’s decisions and mistakes. After all, if you could send a message back in time to your former self, what would you say? What would change? Would it matter at all?
The character cast starts off as feeling very similar to stereotypes,
feeling goofy and cliché. This erodes away as the progression of the story
embeds them as solidified, relatable, at times enjoyable. These anchor
characters and their relatability might fill you with a desire to learn more
about them The deeper you invest into the story the deeper the characters’
history with Okabe becomes.
Utilizing a next-generation animation tool “E-mote” the familiar cast of characters have more animated movements and expressions involved in this rebooted release. Based on the scenario from Steins;Gate Elite the story has been refined for a smoother, evenly paced read.
This Visual novel is a must have title for those seeking a story with multiple possibilities, curiosities of time travel logic, or anyone with a soft spot for lab coats and “Doc P” in a glass escaping the monotony of everyday life. The story ensnares the curious minded and science buffs around the globe taking them on an invigorating narrative into the realms of “What if?”
Through the journey, key words are logged into an index codex “Tips List” that provides further background and lore for the world around you, allowing a deep dive into the history, past of the characters, locations, and certain items of notable interest. This allows elaboration to obtain an immersive and rooted connection with the narrative story in the manner of foot notes through the chapters of this tale.
I found myself oftentimes reading up on these bullet points midway though
dialogue to gain a better understanding and comprehension of the characters
ties with each entry. Some I would cross-reference with a real world
interest to discover a plethora of knowledge and information I would
otherwise dismiss as “Science Jargon”.
The story progression and its ending will change depending on Okabe’s management of his calls and messages through his cell phone. Deciding whether to answer, reply, or ignore will shape the future into something different.
The background music has been remade by the composer Takeshi Ado, as the Japanese voices through the story have been re-recorded for this title, providing a face lift to a keystone story of time travel cause and effect, not to be missed by those with, or without an interest in science, time travel, or conspiracies. The experience will have the player wanting to play again and again to chase their true ending, or to undo what mistakes were made in the past. Will the choices made resolve the tragedies or refuel them? Only time will tell.
Score: 8.5 / 10
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