Another leap.
“Absolute master class in storytelling and world building in a game.”
Those were my words when I reviewed the PS3 release of Steins;Gate.
It’s been many years since I wrote those words and I can say with confidence that I stand by them to this day. In fact, after experiencing Steins;Gate 0 and the way it connects to the original story arc, I think my opinion of the series has further improved since then.
Given my love for the series, I was both happy and a little concerned when I heard the announcement for “Steins;Gate Elite”.
Happy because I wanted more people to experience something I so adored but concerned as I wasn’t sure if the changes being made to the game would be for the better.
So, I took another leap back in time to investigate if this remake truly earns the “Elite” moniker.
Before I begin in earnest, let me just say that I will not be discussing the main game’s story in any detail so if you’re interested in my opinion of it, I’d urge you to read my review of the original title, here.
Instead, I will be detailing the various changes as well as additional content exclusive to this version of the game.
MSRP: $59.99
Platforms: PS4, PC , Switch
Played on: PS4 Pro
Voice Over: Japanese Only
Length: 30~ hours (main game) 20~hours(Side Stories)
The biggest and most apparent change made in this version is that the entire main campaign has been remade from the ground up. Visually speaking, the presentation mirrors the art style of the anime.
Instead of the static character portraits and backgrounds, Elite uses the anime as a basis to present the story. It’s a bit of an odd concept to have the characters in full motion at certain points and pausing for long durations for text to pop up but it actually works better than I expected.
The transition between conversation and internal monologue is handled skillfully, and they’ve gone the extra mile to animate brand new scenes as the various characters routes that were only touched on briefly in the anime all now have fully animated scenes. The benefit of this transition is especially striking during action heavy scenes where as previously they were only really described in text with generic SFX to accentuate motion, now they’re animated beautifully, which made it feel more dynamic.
However, while I can certainly appreciate the great effort that went into the remake, I have a hard time deciding if it is in fact the definitive way to experience the game. In order to ease the flow of conversation during many scenes some of the narration seems to have been omitted, and on top of that, while the anime art direction is solid overall, it looks a bit generic compared to the unique art style presented in the visual novel.
The latter of the two complaints is entirely a matter of tastes but from my perspective, I wish the anime art direction was a bit more daring. For example, I would have loved the if they went with something similar to the one presented in the visual novel which would have looked akin to the animation in “Gankutusuou”.
However, one undoubtedly positive inclusion is the addition of “Steins;Gate:Linear Bounded Phenogram”, remastered in HD. Ten brand new stories using the characters and settings of Steins;Gate, penned by talented authors like Kotaro Uchikoshi of ”Zero Escape” fame. These are not some throwaway additions either, as they’re fully voiced and include brand new CG.
Given their different themes and styles, there were some stories I enjoyed more than others, but I came away feeling impressed by the talents of the various authors showcased here. It became clear to me rather quickly that each of them had a clear understanding of what made these characters so lovable as they weaved compelling narratives which felt natural for the universe.
Unfortunately, the way the stories are presented is a bit obtuse, and even though I understand why it’s done this way, I kind of wished that I could have the option to pick whichever story I wanted to experience from the get-go.
Also, sorry Switch owners, this fantastic piece of content is not available for your platform, and in its stead there is a cute 8-bit Steins;Gate adventure game which I couldn’t check out for myself because it is a Switch exclusive.
Naturally, if I had to choose between the two, I would go with the short stories but I feel platform exclusive content is never good for consumers, and while I can understand that perhaps the Switch game cart couldn’t handle to sheer amount of data required for all the VA in the side stories on top of the main campaign, I think it could have been made available as a free downloadable content. The same goes for the 8-bit adventure mode as those should be available for PC/PS4 owners.
Evaluating the worth of a remake can be difficult, as it’s often unclear how to weigh its strength and weaknesses in comparison to the original. This bodes doubly true when it’s the remake of one of my favorite games of all time. While I have some contention in regards to the changes made to the main campaign, the additional stories are well worth the cost of admission by itself for fans, and even though I hesitate to call “Elite” the definitive way to experience the beauty of Steins;Gate, there is simply no bad way to experience such an exceptional story.
Fun Tidbit -I also watched the Steins;Gate movie awhile back and even though I enjoyed it quite a bit, I felt it opened up unnecessary plot holes.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.