June 27, 2020
I’ve written before that I really enjoy my Switch and I frequently use it as a short break from work or just to destress. Monday will mark the start of another marathon marking session, so I decided to spend Friday through Sunday just chilling out. I’ve read a few comics and carried on some of my progress in games. And then I discovered that Steins Gate 0 was available on the Nintendo E-Shop.
It’s been on my Switch for about 20 hours, and I’ve already logged 8 hours. I know, that’s too early to say ‘I think I’m addicted’, but for me, that’s a big deal.
I Remember experiencing the original Steins Gate anime as it was coming out, and then researching into the visual novel as it didn’t really have much of a UK release. So, I’ve had experience with the series, which is something I heavily recommend if you are even considering downloading Steins Gate 0. Steins Gate 0 acts as a direct sequel to Steins Gate, picking up where Okabe has failed to save Karise and has given up on traveling back in time, it’s now several months later and Okabe has tried his best to distance himself from who he was before. Now suffering from PTSD and relying on Anxiety medication, but still finding things incredibly difficult.
Before talking more about the plot of 0, it’s probably best to explain the basic plot of Steins Gate. As quickly as possible, World War III begins sometime between 2010 and 2020 because of an arms race to build a time machine, primarily started by Russia and America. Said Time Machine plans begin to form because of Karise’s research in 2008/2009, the engineering and computer programming skills of Daru, and the frantic inventions and encouragement of main character Okabe. The group experiments with their findings through the first half of Steins Gate (set in 2009) with Okabe travelling to different ‘world lines’ based on things they change in the past. Primarily these changes are made through text messages. However, at the half way point, it’s revealed that Suzuha, a secondary character, is actually a time traveller and Daru’s future daughter. That she’s come back in time to ensure that World War III never happens. Needing Okabe to find the correct World Line since he’s one of the only people that remembers when time lines shift. Adding to this, it turns out that the infamous John Titor posts of the late 90s/early 2000s were in fact created by Suzuha during her travels. The real world stories of John Titor heavily influenced the plot and development of Steins Gate.
The sequel, now picking up many months after a failed attempt, has Okabe now meeting Karise’s former research fellows from the United States. Meeting them is entirely coincidental at first, as he is attending a conference that they happen to be presenting at. He becomes more than a little emotional when he discovers that they are continuing Karise’s research. They then reveal part of her research known as Amadeus. An AI assistant based on backed up memories of Maho. The co-worker of Karise’s that Okabe meets prior to the conference. The AI Assistant is so life like and responsive that it’s difficult to tell the difference. As Okabe becomes friends with the researchers, they let him in on the other version of Amadeus. One created using Karise’s memories. Granted, the last back up was made before Karise came to Japan and had over met Okabe.
Okabe now has access to talk to this recreation of Karise, even though it’s extremely painful to him. Suzuha also reveals that there was in fact a second person to come back in time with her, a little girl that she lost track of in 1999. And now, at the point I have reached, the time line has suddenly changed without any of them having done anything. The current theory is that Russia started their time travel experiments that night, and seemed to have gone back to stop the Soviet Union to ever dissolve. Okabe finds himself in the middle of a war zone, Tokyo is a smoking crater, and it seems like the military is escorting him, but it’s unknown weather it’s to protect him, or arrest him.
What’s really drawing me in is the fantastic translation. The return to some of these amazing characters, and the mysteries that I’m dying to see unravel. I’m really curious to see how some of the choices I have made during text conversations have affected things so far. I want to know what happens to these characters. Will Okabe figure out what’s going on and get back in the time machine? Will they find the little girl from the future? Will Daru actually ask out Yuki so Suzuha has a chance of being born?!