the show seriously ♥♥♥♥ed me up for a long time after I finished it, like it shook my entire reality for a straight week and can say for certain that it influences me today.
a while later i found out its based on a visual novel of the same name, and that its on steam (ʰᵒˡʸᶠᵘᶜᵏʰᵒˡʸᶠᵘᶜᵏ) so naturally i bought it and played it. this was also my first visual novel, not really knowing what a visual novel was at the time.

this game, unlike the anime, knows that it has no time constraint for telling its story and developing its characters, so it takes advantage of that even better than the shows does. (naturally)
the steins gate visual novel is even more of a slow burn story than the show, and i think this is to its advantage.
it develops its characters personalities to be realistic and believable, as well as characters interactions with each other. that isnt to say that the anime doesn't do that perfectly aswell, just that the game may have more of an emotional hold on you since you will spend more time with it.

if you liked the steins gate anime, this is a must have.
a lot of content was not adapted into animation like some events and alternative endings. some of those those "bad" endings will genuinely be burned into your memory forever.

if you're looking to get into steins gate either by playing the game or watching the show, only play the game first if you are no stranger to visual novels. the game is seriously time consuming even if you rush through the dialogue. i think it would be a tragedy for someone to put 30 hours into it just to get an alternative ending that they may not find satisfying, and having them give up on the game and forget about the show.

tl;dr if you know you are a patient person, play the game first. if you are not or don't know, watch the show first, then play the game. (its all free on youtube)

the show seriously ♥♥♥♥ed me up for a long time after I finished it, like it shook my entire reality for a straight week and can say for certain that it influences me today. a while later i found out its based on a visual novel of the same name, and that its on steam (ʰᵒˡʸᶠᵘᶜᵏʰᵒˡʸᶠᵘᶜᵏ) so naturally i bought it and played it. this was also my first visual novel, not really knowing what a visual novel was at the time. this game, unlike the anime, knows that it has no time constraint for telling its story and developing its characters, so it takes advantage of that even better than the shows does. (naturally) the steins gate visual novel is even more of a slow burn story than the show, and i think this is to its advantage. it develops its characters personalities to be realistic and believable, as well as characters interactions with each other. that isnt to say that the anime doesn't do that perfectly aswell, just that the game may have more of an emotional hold on you since you will spend more time with it. if you liked the steins gate anime, this is a must have. a lot of content was not adapted into animation like some events and alternative endings. some of those those "bad" endings will genuinely be burned into your memory forever. if you're looking to get into steins gate either by playing the game or watching the show, only play the game first if you are no stranger to visual novels. the game is seriously time consuming even if you rush through the dialogue. i think it would be a tragedy for someone to put 30 hours into it just to get an alternative ending that they may not find satisfying, and having them give up on the game and forget about the show. tl;dr if you know you are a patient person, play the game first. if you are not or don't know, watch the show first, then play the game. (its all free on [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vsr-UiTPWsU&list=PLwazKLaN7rLhV89-57kiLRs7iOATm5rxa]youtube[/url])