Final Thoughts on “Steins;Gate Elite”

So, I went back and played through more endings in “Steins;Gate Elite”. As it turns out, there really was only one more ending, where you end up having to decide between Mayuri or Kurise. And since I didn’t have the true ending path activated, I could only save Mayuri. Perhaps this was because of the option I choose with Moeka, or perhaps there were other things I missed, and while I could go back to a save and choose the other option with Moeka or look in a guide to see what I’ve missed … I won’t. I know how that mostly ends anyway — I’ve watched the anime — and I’ve spent quite a while on it already. It’s a good time to move on.

The game, at least the version I have, is all right, but it suffers from the fact that, at least for me, all the good stuff comes in pretty late in the game. It took me 10 – 12 hours to get through what’s essentially the introduction and into the interesting part where you have to make key choices and see their impacts. At the first ending, I was already tired of the game, and was only willing to go back to it to see more endings because that ending was so interesting. How things progressed from that point and the endings themselves was the interesting part. The preamble was less interesting to me. Now, as I’ve noted before, part of that is because I already knew all of that from watching the anime, and so people new to the series or plot might find it more interesting. Still, it takes quite a long time to get to the most dramatic parts, which even those who don’t understand the world and the science behind the time travel from the start of the game might get tired of.

The second part also characterizes the characters better. Okabe is humbled by his experiences, making him much less annoying. Mayuri is given more of an opportunity to show that she cares for people, even if that’s in odd ways. Daru gets some characterization interacting with his daughter. It ramps up Kurise’s more annoying and reactive tendencies and for less reason, but by that point we already know a lot about her and probably like her, and so we’ll forgive it. The characters can be fairly unlikable early on in the game, but almost all of them are much more likable later and especially after we go through their endings and individual stories.

Ultimately, the game was worth playing. It probably would have been better if I’d played it before watching the anime, but that didn’t really kill the game for me. That being said, the beginning takes up so much time and isn’t really what I’m interested in, so I’m not likely to play the game again.