Steins;Gate

Synopsis

Setting and themes

Steins;Gate is set in the summer of 2010, approximately one year after the events that took place in Chaos;Head, in Akihabara. Physical locales of Akihabara like the Radio Kaikan building can be spotted in the game. According to Chiyomaru Shikura, who headed the planning of Steins;Gate, Akihabara was chosen because it is an easy place for acquiring hardware parts, which makes it the ideal place for people interested in inventing and tinkering with things. The notion of time and time traveling are the main themes of the game. The concept of cause and effect is featured prominently in the game as the protagonist travels back in time numerous times to perform d…

Production

Development

Steins;Gate is the second collaborative work between 5pb. and Nitroplus after Chaos;Head. The game was created with the concept of "99% science and 1% fantasy" in mind. The planning for Steins;Gate was headed by Chiyomaru Shikura of 5pb. The characters were designed by Ryohei Fuke, also known as 'Huke' (one of the illustrators of the Metal Gear series, and the creator of the Black Rock Shooter franchise) whereas the gadgets were designed by Sh@rp. Naotaka Hayashi of 5pb. wrote the scenario with assistance from Vio Shimokura of Nitroplus. Tatsuya Matsuhara from 5pb. was the producer and Tosō Pehara from Nitroplus was the art director. The music was composed by Tak…

Manga

A manga adaptation of the game, titled Steins;Gate, was created by Yomi Sarachi and serialized by Media Factory in their Monthly Comic Alive from 2009 to 2013, and later published in North America by Udon Entertainment from 2015 to 2016.

Four side-story manga series are currently being serialized. Steins;Gate: Bōkan no Rebellion (STEINS;GATE 亡環のリベリオン, Shutainzu Gēto Bōkan no Reberion; "Steins;Gate: Death Ring Rebellion"), illustrated by Kenji Mizuta, began serialization in Mag Garden's Monthly Comic Blade's February 2010 issue. The manga focuses on Amane Suzuha as it tells the events of the story from her point of view. Steins;Gate: Onshū no Braunian Motion (STEINS;GATE 恩讐のブラウニアン…

Anime series

On July 25, 2010, Chiyomaru Shikura announced on his Twitter account that Steins;Gate would be adapted into an anime television series. Further details about the adaptation were revealed in the September 2010 issues of Newtype and Comptiq. The adaptation was produced by White Fox; and aired in Japan between April 6 and September 14, 2011. The entire series was released in Japan on nine DVD/Blu-ray combo packs. Each set features 2–3 episodes, an art book, and a bonus disc containing music and radio dramas by the Japanese voice cast. An OVA episode was released with the final DVD/BD volume on February 22, 2012. The adaptation was directed by Hiroshi Hamasaki and Takuya Satō, …

Theatrical film

A film, titled Steins;Gate: The Movie − Load Region of Déjà Vu, was announced at the end of the series. The movie, featuring an original storyline taking place after the events of the series, was released in Japanese theaters on April 20, 2013; and later on Blu-ray Disc and DVD on December 13, 2013.

2012.

2012.

2011.

2013.

Light novel

A light novel sequel, set 6 years after the events of the original game and titled Steins;Gate: The Committee of Antimatter, was to ship on January 16, 2015. However, due to "various circumstances", it was announced on December 22, 2014, that its release was cancelled.

2014.

2015.

2015.

Video games

The success of Steins;Gate spawned additional sequels. Steins;Gate: Hiyoku Renri no Darling was released on June 6, 2011, and is similar to Chaos;Head Love Chu Chu! in terms of style. The story for this sequel is unrelated and non-canon to the original game, and is more comedic in tone. It was originally an Xbox 360 exclusive, though ports later followed for PS3, PSP, and PlayStation Vita. A version for iOS was later released on October 3, 2013 as well. Another game, Steins;Gate: Linear Bounded Phenogram, was released on April 25, 2013.

Steins;Gate: Hen'i Kuukan no Octet is a non-canon extension of the True End of the original game. Unlike the modern visual novel format of …

Reception

Reviews

In 2009, the Famitsu Awards gave Steins;Gate visual novel an annual Game of Excellence award. In 2011, it was voted #6 in Famitsu's poll of "most tear-inducing games" of all time. Steins;Gate was nominated for the 2015 Golden Joystick Award in the "Best Handheld / Mobile Game" category. In 2017, Famitsu readers voted it the best adventure game of all time.

Senji Ishii of Famitsu Xbox 360 praised the scenario for its detail and noted that events that were overlooked as insignificant later returned to affect events of the future. Due to the way the plot ties the many different events of the game together, Ishii believes it must have been a lot of work to write the scen…