[TL;DR, ★★★★/out of four rating]
You have probably heard of STEINS;GATE in some capacity before stumbling onto this store page if you are even slightly interested in manga and/or anime. I doubt there is much need for me to shill this awesome story about time travel, friendships, and gel bananas, but I feel like doing so anyway. Or maybe you are just uncertain if you should dabble yourself into visual novels to begin with, and if this should be your starting point, I can maybe help you make up your mind.

[GENERAL PREMISE]
STEINS;GATE is an incredibly well-crafted story and experience. It is about a love-worthy cast of characters that experience some well thought-out time travel shenanigans, craft friendships, and with a fair bit of drama to top it all off. Oh, and let's not forget the top notch, and by now, iconic, waifus. Going any more into the details of its story would ruin the experience, but let me say this: it is one of the best-rated visual novels AND animes for a damn good reason. It's simply a masterpiece and it all has been said a thousand of times before. If any of this sounds even remotely interesting to you, what are you waiting for? Buy it. With that being said, there are two more things I would like to write about that concern STEINS;GATE. First up is the fan-made patch that turns STEINS;GATE into its best version yet and addresses some of the issues this version of the game has. It is more than recommended to install that patch.

[FAN-MADE PATCH]
The awesome people at Committee of Zero put lots of hard work and sweat into this, but thanks to them, we can experience STEINS;GATE in its full glory. The patch does fix several significant flaws and issues with the game's localization, Typography, subtitles, and a whole bunch of QoL fixes. If that sounds interesting, just look up "Committee of Zero Steins;Gate patch" on the interwebs and take a look for yourself. The patch is a godsend and is greatly appreciated. Every other review will probably say the same thing. Oh, and if you end up liking Committee of Zeroes stuff, show them some love.

Now that we've talked about the patch, we can talk about the topic of Steins;Gate and the connected franchise surrounding it, as well as how it affects this visual novel.

[SCIENCE ADVENTURE UNIVERSE]
While it's definitely not necessary to know any of this, it does enhance the experience. STEINS;GATE is part of the so-called Science Adventure Universe (hereafter called SciADV). SciADV is a series consisting of interconnected science fiction stories, spanning multiple different media, created mainly by Mages, Nitroplus and Chiyomaru Studio. They consist of a number of entries spanning all the way back to 2008 with the first one being the visual novel Chaos;Head. But don't worry, STEINS;GATE is a fully fledged standalone story and does not require any knowledge of prior entires of the SciADV series. There are a few references from its predecassor sprinkled throughout the visual novel, but when they happen its more of a cheeky smile type of "I knew that" thing.

While talking about SciADV, I do have to recommend the Steins;Gates mangas for when you have finished the visual novel. Due to them filling out and expanding some of its characters, you could see them as DLC, but I'm getting ahead of myself. You can easily start and end with here but if you end up liking STEINS;GATE, you can check out a whole pool full of other similar media to check out.

[CONCLUSION]
A cleverly written classic, STEINS;GATE cemented its place in the world of anime and is, in my eyes, a must-read for visual novel enthusiasts or for people who want to get into visual novels. It lives up to its name and is a story that will stick with you for quite some time. Now if you excuse me, I'll need an ice cold Dr.P.