Graphics and Sound:
Now I usually do this section later
but since Steins;Gate 0 is a visual novel, the majority of this review
is going to be focusing on the story so I’m saving that till last.
The first Steins;Gate was game that looked great and sounded great. The art was unique, the soundtrack varied
and memorable, and the voice acting spot on. Steins;Gate 0
unsurprisingly continues this with some excellent art (albeit in a
different style to that of the first game), an excellent soundtrack, and great voice acting.
Art-wise the actual art-style has
seen a significant change with characters looking closer to how they
looked in the anime than then first game. Old art does show up from
time to time though, and it can get a bit daunting seeing it mixed in
with the new art. It’s not a huge issue, but it is awkward at times. (Editors note; Think back to the Morrigan sprite that Capcom kept re-using in all of the SNK vs Capcom games if you need a point of reference.)
The soundtrack contains a mix of
happy go lucky tunes, more intense nerve racking tracks and some
really beautiful tracks which usually accompany the more important
moments in the game. My favorite track would probably have to be
Hoshi No Kanaduru Uta. More specifically, the rendition of it which
accompanies the end credits for one route. The vocals on that version
really make it that bit better, especially since they were sung by the
Voice-Actor for the character of Kagari. The soundtrack does a good
job of both setting the tone of the scene and adding to the overall
memorability of scenes. It does exactly what a good soundtrack in a
visual novel should do, and it does it well.
For voice acting, the entire cast of
the original Steins;Gate retain their original voice actors, and they
all sound as good as ever. Line deliveries are enthusiastic and
really do make the characters feel more alive. The new characters
also sound good with some solid performances all around, my favorite
being from Maho Hiyajo, whose VA perfectly reflects her character in
her acting. Dr. Leskinen's voice actor is a bit goofy with his broken
English thrown everywhere, but overall his performance is pretty darn
good as well.
Gameplay:
Being a visual novel, Steins;Gate 0
doesn’t really try to sell itself on gameplay. Overall it’s a
pretty standard visual novel affair although it is less linear than
the first game. All the visual novel basics are present along with
the ability to both lock your save file to prevent yourself
accidentally saving over it (a very welcome addition) and automatic
quick saves which allow you to pick up at important events in the
game if you aren’t liking the results of your decision. It’s a
small but very welcome change and is something I wish more VNs had.
Also present is the tips system which provides you with information
on special objects, items etc that are mentioned in the game. A vast
majority of these tips are quite useful and helped clear up some
confusion I had surrounding some things but some are a bit on the
silly side, so your mileage may vary. You’re also able to advance
text and menus using the Vita's touchscreen, although you
can disable this if you’d prefer otherwise.
The only slightly irritating thing about the game is that the only way to access the dialog archive in case you miss something is to pause the game and select it. A vast
majority of visual novels have a button that allows you to quickly
access the archive without needing to pause the game so this comes
off as a bit clunky. It doesn’t help that the menus lag, and aside from the main
menu, you aren’t given any visual or audio feedback upon selecting
an item, which can be awkward. I also found myself having to reboot my Vita on one occasion, because Livearea had slowed to a crawl after
leaving the game open for so long. Again, your millage may vary.
Story:
With Steins;Gate 0 being a visual
novel, the story is the most important aspect, and for the most part
Steins;Gate 0 does a good job at crafting a solid plot with a
believable set of characters. However it isn’t perfect. I’ll
touch on why later on. For now though lets look at the characters.
The entire cast of the original
Steins;Gate makes a return with the obvious exception of Kurisu who
is well… dead. We also see a variety of newcomers in the form of
Maho Hiyajo and Dr Leskinen from an American University that Kurisu
used to attend. Fubuki, Yuki and Kadee, who are close friends of
Maiyurii, and finally Armadeus, an AI who takes on the form of Kurisu
for most of the game. Out of all these new characters, I’d have to
say my personal favorite would have to be Maho, one of Kurisu’s
closest friends before she passed away. The story does a great job of
portraying her as a likable well rounded character, and portrays her
inner struggle and love hate relationship with Kurisu very well.
Story-wise, Steins;Gate 0 in and of
itself takes place before the true ending of the original Steins;Gate, so if you have not played Steins;Gate, then play that before even
thinking about touching Steins;Gate 0.
In essence, Steins;Gate's true ending
involves our main character, Okabe receiving a video from himself twelve years in the future giving him the keys to discover the world line
knows as steins gate, a world line where neither his childhood friend
Maiyurii, or his lover Kurisu has to die. Now that’s all fine and
dandy, but how the heck did that video even get sent in the first
place? This is the basic premise behind Steins;Gate 0. It works on
filling in the gaps present in the true ending of Steins;Gate and
bring a bit more closure to everything. On top of that. Steins;Gate 0
goes more into depth around the concepts of AI, time travel and time
manipulation, and the consequences of such technologies, which is
something I absolutely love. The portrayal of these topics is very well done, and most importantly, thought provoking. There’s a lot
more of them as well. While Steins;Gate 0 does have its fair share of
slice of life bits, it is far darker in tone than the
original Steins;Gate. This really works in its favor, with the
story exploring more possibilities that really wouldn’t have been
possible in the original game. There’s a constant feeling of danger
as the group realizes the size of what they have gotten themselves
into, and it makes for an incredibly gripping read. It isn’t as dark
as say, Zero Escape but it doesn’t need to be. The story is
also paced really well, which really helps a ton.
All this stands true for the vast
majority of the game, and compared to the original the story had
definitely improved on the problems the original had with pacing and
tone. HOWEVER, Steins;Gate 0 isn’t perfect. While the vast majority
of the story is excellent the remaining minority kinda crashes and
burns. Let me explain, but first here’s your obligatory spoiler
warning.
SPOILER ALERT FOR STEINS;GATE 0! DO
NOT READ THIS PART IF YOU HAVE NOT FINISHED STEINS;GATE 0. SKIP AHEAD
TO THE VERDICT SECTION TO HEAR MY OVERALL THOUGHTS. YOU HAVE BEEN
WARNED. SERIOUSLY, I’M NOT JOKING.
I’m going to be blunt, Steins;Gate
0's story feels a bit unfinished. I came away from the game feeling
like I had missed something or that a chunk of the game was missing.
Now I’m not talking about the obvious cliff hanger due to how
Steins;Gate 0 carries directly into the true end of Steins;Gate. The
problem is that the true ending to Steins;Gate 0 is so incredibly
disconnected from the events of the other endings that it in fact
drags the rest of the game down with it a bit. Up until then the
other 5 endings had been pretty incredible and had dropped little
mysteries and tid bits here and there that stuck with me and kept me
hyped up for the true ending where I’d learn what was going on.
Then I actually played the true ending. My hype turned to confusion
which then turned to disbelief which then turned to disappointment.
The true ending, rather than serving
as an epic conclusion to my twenty-hour journey, was more the closest
thing the game could do to blowing its own foot off with a rocket
launcher. It commits one of the cardinal sins of storytelling by NOT
SOLVING ALL THE MYSTERIES IT SPENT TIME CREATING. Not only that but
the extent that it does this to is enough to drag the rest of the
game down with it. All those mysteries you had learned in the other
endings? All that stuff that happened when Armadeus got deleted in
Maho's ending? The mystery surrounding the song in Kagari's ending?
Kagari's lost memories? I hope you weren’t expecting answers to any
of those mysteries because the game NEVER EXPLAINS THEM. Yes,
those technically happened in separate world lines, so from a story
perspective it at least has an explanation as to why it doesn’t get
explained. However that doesn’t make it any less frustrating.
It ALSO doesn’t excuse the true
ending from not answering questions about mysteries and events that happened in its
OWN DAMN WORLD LINE. Who was that guy who attacked Maho, Okabe and
the Professor in the carpark? What was all that garbage text Armadeus
Kurisu left to Maho as a message on @channel? Why was Yuki given
plastic surgery and brain washed with Kagari's memories? Where even
WAS Kagari in this world line? All these seemingly important events
and mysteries that happen in the true ending's world line? NEVER.
EXPLAINED. What the hell happened?!? Why put in mysteries to advance
the plot and then never give the player closure on the damn things?
It isn’t like the player is left enough hints to figure it out
themselves so they’re just left scratching their head and wondering
where the rest of the game went.
The true ending to Steins;Gate 0 is
simply a train wreck. That isn’t to say it isn’t enjoyable, on
the contrary, I still enjoyed reading through the true ending.
However the unfinished feeling it leaves the player with upon
finishing it along with how it unsuccessfully ties up a surprisingly
large number of mysteries CAN and most likely WILL get on your
nerves. It isn’t enough to ruin the whole game and make me feel
like I wasted my money but it is enough to weigh on my mind for a few
days while the game is still fresh in my mind.
SPOILERS END HERE
Verdict:
Steins;Gate 0 is an interesting one.
If it weren’t for all the loose plot threads and the train wreck of
a final ending I’d have no trouble recommending it to anyone who
had played the original Steins;Gate. However, it isn’t perfect
and the flaws that it does have are in areas which are very likely to
effect your potential millage. If there was ever a game fitting of a
Your Millage May Vary badge it’s this one. The vast majority of the
game is absolutely excellent, with a great story exploring the
potential consequences of AI, time travel and a third world war
coupled with excellent character development and great pacing but the
overall penultimate ending to everything kinda causes the story to
run itself smack into a solid steel wall because it wasn’t looking
where it was going.
Granted the fact that the true
ending ended the way it did was due to Steins;Gate 0’s placement on
the overall timeline but I still feel that even taking that into
account they could have done better than what we got. It isn’t a
deal breaker but it does mean the satisfaction you get from finishing
the game is a bit dampened.
Despite the
shoddy true ending, Steins;Gate 0 is still well worth playing
if you are a die hard fan of the original Steins;Gate. I have no
doubt in my mind that you’ll love it if you loved the original. If
you’re on the fence about Steins;Gate 0, then you really need to
consider one thing, “Do I really care that much if the game ends
with mysteries left unsolved?”. If the answer to that question is "No" then by all means go and play Steins;Gate 0, you’ll be in for a
treat. However if unsolved mysteries are more of a big deal to you
then I’d probably either wait for a price drop or give it a miss.
For the most part though the experience Steins;Gate 0 gives you is
well worth the price of admission.
For Steins;Gate fans, Steins;Gate 0
gets a Highly Recommended.
For those on the fence about it
Steins;Gate 0 gets a Recommended, but wait for a sale first.
For those of you who haven’t
played/seen Steins;Gate, Steins;Gate 0 gets a PLAY THE ORIGINAL FIRST
YOU GOOF.
Seriously, if you haven’t played
the original Steins;Gate yet and are interested in Steins;Gate 0 then
PLAY THE FIRST GAME OR WATCH THE ANIME ADAPTION FIRST. I can’t
force you, but you’ll be doing yourself a disservice if you do
otherwise.
Wow, the last review of 2016 from me
(although by the time this goes up it will probably be 2017 already
but I wrote this on December 31st so meh). At the time of
writing I would have had my Vita for exactly one year now and what a
year it has been. I can’t wait to see what is in store for the Vita
in 2017 but I’m hoping to potentially get a review of Danganronpa
V3, Mary Skelter and a few other games on the cards if everything
goes well. In the meantime I’ll probably get to work on writing up
a review for Danganronpa Another Episode Ultra Despair Girls since
that’s the only Danganronpa game I have yet to cover so far. Either
way I hope you have a safe and wonderful New Year and happy holidays.
This is BDVR writer Nathan Green
signing off
ESRB: M
PEGI: 16
CERO: C
OFLC: M (Unrestricted)
If you want to support the site, check out our Patreon, or just check out our Amazon affiliate link.
Steins;Gate 0 was played and
reviewed on PlayStation Vita (also on PlayStation 4) using a digital
copy of the game purchased by the reviewer.
Steins;Gate 0 is developed by 5pb, and Nitroplus, and is published by PQube Games. All rights reserved to
their respective owners.
This review is my own work. You are
not allowed to duplicate, reproduce or republish on any other sites
under any circumstances commercial or otherwise.
No comments:
Post a Comment