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Steins;Gate 0 |OT| Another Time Dilemma

G

Glitter and Gold

Banned
Finished the game

I don't know how I feel about the ending. Was it
left open for room for a potential sequel, or so that they didn't have to commit to killing Okabe in 2025?

Also I'm not sure exactly
what Mayuri and Suzuha
set out to accomplish or what
the future group
accomplished by
sending them the D-mail to go to the past.

Overall I loved it. I thought the story telling was really interesting and engaging and it served as a nice expansion to the first game, really fleshing out a lot of the characters that needed it in a way that still made sense in relation to the original.

I just wish the ending was more conclusive. As much as I like the series and its characters I kinda just want it to end cleanly like this.
 
J

jonjonaug

Member
Glitter and Gold said:
Also I'm not sure exactly
what Mayuri and Suzuha
set out to accomplish or what
the future group
accomplished by
sending them the D-mail to go to the past.
Click to expand...
Mayuri went back to the couple minutes between Suzuha and Okabe leaving and returning from their first attempt at saving Kurisu to tell herself not to cut Okabe any slack. This was originally depicted in the "beta worldline" drama CD back in 2010 and was reworked for this game, although I think it might've been in the light novel trilogy that was also reused for this game too.
 
A

antibolo

Banned
orthodoxy1095 said:
I think someone has mentioned this, but the art-styles old and new being blended is really jarring at times.
Click to expand...

Kurisu's old sprites are the worst. I wish they had just used her vastly superior new sprites all the time.

I'd say it's not really a "new art-style" though, more simply that the artist's skills improved between the two games.
 
R

Raytow

Member
Glitter and Gold said:
Finished the game

I don't know how I feel about the ending. Was it
left open for room for a potential sequel, or so that they didn't have to commit to killing Okabe in 2025?

I just wish the ending was more conclusive. As much as I like the series and its characters I kinda just want it to end cleanly like this.
Click to expand...

Okabe was to be killed at 2025 he needed to deceive the world(again) so to speak in that timelime as well so he timetravelled to pickup Suzuha and Mayuri as both are stuck in the event horizon there is no cliffhanger is just a way to tidy things up
 
G

Glitter and Gold

Banned
jonjonaug said:
Mayuri went back to the couple minutes between Suzuha and Okabe leaving and returning from their first attempt at saving Kurisu to tell herself not to cut Okabe any slack. This was originally depicted in the "beta worldline" drama CD back in 2010 and was reworked for this game, although I think it might've been in the light novel trilogy that was also reused for this game too.
Click to expand...

oh

I should see if I can find that

Seems to break the time paradox rule though. Okabe had to deliberately avoid himself
 
B

blackw0lf

Member
So did we ever find out why Kagari (early spoiler)
looks so similar to Kurisu?

Or did I miss the explanation somewhere?
 
O

orthodoxy1095

Banned
Glitter and Gold said:
oh

I should see if I can find that

Seems to break the time paradox rule though. Okabe had to deliberately avoid himself
Click to expand...
Isn't one of the classic John Titor claims that there kind of isn't a time paradox law? I've always been confused about that.
antibolo said:
Kurisu's old sprites are the worst. I wish they had just used her vastly superior new sprites all the time.

I'd say it's not really a "new art-style" though, more simply that the artist's skills improved between the two games.
Click to expand...
Her new look is so good. Definitely should have just used it instead of the reused asset -__-
 
A

antibolo

Banned
Just so I know, is the chapter
X-day Protocol
the true ending? Because I'd like to see the true ending last. I still have three endings left.
 
G

Glitter and Gold

Banned
Basileus777 said:
No. You can't even see the true ending until you see everything else.
Click to expand...

You can actually. Only one ending is mandatory for True ending IIRC.

They're on opposite routes though so it's really really hard to miss any

orthodoxy1095 said:
Isn't one of the classic John Titor claims that there kind of isn't a time paradox law? I've always been confused about that.
Click to expand...

I just remember
Suzuha
warning him about that at the end of the first game. but it's possible she was just being cautious and had no idea
 
B

Basileus777

Member
Glitter and Gold said:
You can actually. Only one ending is mandatory for True ending IIRC.

They're on opposite routes though so it's really really hard to miss any
Click to expand...

Ah you're right. Though it also requires reloading from an earlier save that you aren't likely to do until you've seen all the endings on that branch.
 
B

Basileus777

Member
The art style changes never bothered me. Did you want them to redraw CGs from the first game or just have less visual representation during flashbacks?
 
S

Shizuka

Member
Basileus777 said:
The art style changes never bothered me. Did you want them to redraw CGs from the first game or just have less visual representation during flashbacks?
Click to expand...

I thought it'd be a great idea if
they kept the old art for the scenes happening in the alpha world line and the new one exclusive to the beta word line.
Not only would it be amusing, but it could also make sense.
 
G

Glitter and Gold

Banned
Was school girl Mayuri ever used in the original? That one was really surprising because it's in the original style but I don't ever remember a scene like that
 
C

calc84maniac

Member
Glitter and Gold said:
Was school girl Mayuri ever used in the original? That one was really surprising because it's in the original style but I don't ever remember a scene like that
Click to expand...

Yeah, pretty sure she shows up to the lab like that at least once (with Daru commenting about it totally being cosplay), and I think she might have also worn it in the flashback to the time when there were only two labmems.
 
C

calc84maniac

Member
jonjonaug said:
I don't think they ever did. Maybe in the books there's an explanation?
Click to expand...

It's been a couple years since I heard this so I'm not sure, but
I don't think the books even acknowledged the resemblance directly

Edit: To expand on that, the books covered
Vega and Altair route, more or less, so I guess she was disguised as Yuki when she got older? So Okabe would have never met her in her original appearance.
 
O

orthodoxy1095

Banned
blackw0lf said:
So did we ever find out why Kagari (early spoiler)
looks so similar to Kurisu?

Or did I miss the explanation somewhere?
Click to expand...
Isn't the similarity kind of hand-waved in a scene where Okabe ponders about coincidence and such?

Or a more likely answer (that I have yet to see mentioned),
Leskinen chose her because she looked like Kurisu?
 
C

calc84maniac

Member
orthodoxy1095 said:
Isn't the similarity kind of hand-waved in a scene where Okabe ponders about coincidence and such?

Or a more likely answer (that I have yet to see mentioned),
Leskinen chose her because she looked like Kurisu?
Click to expand...

So you think
Leskinen somehow influenced the adoption? Because he had to have planned for the whole time travel thing, which wouldn't have happened if Mayuri hadn't adopted her.

Now that I think about it, what if he was the one who got her parents killed so she would end up in the orphanage? Somehow that wouldn't surprise me.
 
O

orthodoxy1095

Banned
calc84maniac said:
So you think
Leskinen somehow influenced the adoption? Because he had to have planned for the whole time travel thing, which wouldn't have happened if Mayuri hadn't adopted her.

Now that I think about it, what if he was the one who got her parents killed so she would end up in the orphanage? Somehow that wouldn't surprise me.
Click to expand...
Yeah, it's more than a little convoluted (but plenty of stuff in the game is), but it also kind of makes sense to me...

1) Leskinen picks this little girl because she looks like Kurisu knowing that it'll muck with the heads of certain people from the Valkyrie circle in that present (2036).

2) Leskinen arranges for her parents to be killed and for her to end up in Mayuri's center, hoping that she'll somehow be sent to the past to muck around with her resemblance to Kurisu there (2010-11).

Dunno. Maybe it's too much of a stretch, but Leskinen would have had plenty of time to come up with a ridiculous plan like that, and I also feel like her looks either must have something to do with Leskinen's influence or just be pure coincidence. I don't think there's much room otherwise for explanations.
 
C

calc84maniac

Member
orthodoxy1095 said:
Yeah, it's more than a little convoluted (but plenty of stuff in the game is), but it also kind of makes sense to me...

1) Leskinen picks this little girl because she looks like Kurisu knowing that it'll muck with the heads of certain people from the Valkyrie circle in that present (2036).

2) Leskinen arranges for her parents to be killed and for her to end up in Mayuri's center, hoping that she'll somehow be sent to the past to muck around with her resemblance to Kurisu there (2010-11).

Dunno. Maybe it's too much of a stretch, but Leskinen would have had plenty of time to come up with a ridiculous plan like that, and I also feel like her looks either must have something to do with Leskinen's influence or just be pure coincidence. I don't think there's much room otherwise for explanations.
Click to expand...

I do like this theory.

Leskinen has definitely shown himself to be quite manipulative in exploiting people's thought processes, like when he got Maho obsessed with Okabe by repeatedly joking about their "relationship".

Keep in mind that in both of the endings where Leskinen had brainwashed Kagari (and lived into the future to do so), Mayuri had found out about how Okabe had sacrificed Kurisu to save her. Leskinen could have chosen Kagari by her appearance to influence Mayuri to act on her sense of responsibility, even if only subconsciously. A method truly fitting of a mad brain scientist.
 
O

orthodoxy1095

Banned
calc84maniac said:
I do like this theory.

Leskinen has definitely shown himself to be quite manipulative in exploiting people's thought processes, like when he got Maho obsessed with Okabe by repeatedly joking about their "relationship".

Keep in mind that in both of the endings where Leskinen had brainwashed Kagari (and lived into the future to do so), Mayuri had found out about how Okabe had sacrificed Kurisu to save her. Leskinen could have chosen Kagari by her appearance to influence Mayuri to act on her sense of responsibility, even if only subconsciously. A method truly fitting of a mad brain scientist.
Click to expand...
Haha!

I actually had forgotten about that! I was thinking in terms of messing with the other Valkyrie members, but you're right actually. In those cases, she would know about Kurisu and presumably something about what she looked like, meaning that picking Kagari for her looks could have been to more easily manipulate Mayuri into adopting her as well (in addition to a more obvious chance to muck with the Valkyrie people in the present and with Maho/Okabe/etc in the past)!

I dunno. I like the theory, but I'll have to stew on it a bit more and pick through the script again since I don't remember much else to support it.
 
C

calc84maniac

Member
orthodoxy1095 said:
Haha!

I actually had forgotten about that! I was thinking in terms of messing with the other Valkyrie members, but you're right actually. In those cases, she would know about Kurisu and presumably something about what she looked like, meaning that picking Kagari for her looks could have been to more easily manipulate Mayuri into adopting her as well (in addition to a more obvious chance to muck with the Valkyrie people in the present and with Maho/Okabe/etc in the past)!

I dunno. I like the theory, but I'll have to stew on it a bit more and pick through the script again since I don't remember much else to support it.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'd have to do the same, especially to clarify
exactly when Kagari started talking about the "voice of God". If it was from the time she met Mayuri, that would lend a good bit of credence to her being selected, brainwashed, and set up for adoption.
 
J

J_ToSaveTheDay

Member
Hey GAF, I actually got into Steins;gate by way of me just impulse buying the full anime as a set at a local anime shop when I stopped in and chatted with some friends (the employees) there for a while. I actually go there to buy my import video game collectibles locally, but I got on really good terms with the associates there and trusted their judgment, despite not being a particularly strong anime hobbyist myself. They recommended me Steins;gate and I didn't regret it one bit.

To date, that's my only exposure to this series, but I did buy the PSVita version of Steins;gate when it came out in North America. I never booted it up and played through it.

I picked this up last week and am hoping to get started right away when I wrap FFXV's story up.

I feel like the obvious answer is going to be to play the first game on PSVita, but is just going off what I know from the anime enough to appreciate this? Like, does the anime act as enough of a primer? I know the anime doesn't explore all the possible routes in the game, I just wonder if it lays a decent enough groundwork. If so, I'll get started into Steins;gate 0 right away and try to eventually go back and finish the original on Vita, but if it's considered requisite playing before 0, then I simply don't have the time right now to focus on getting both games done and might have to postpone my 0 playthrough until later.
 
O

orthodoxy1095

Banned
calc84maniac said:
Yeah, I'd have to do the same, especially to clarify
exactly when Kagari started talking about the "voice of God". If it was from the time she met Mayuri, that would lend a good bit of credence to her being selected, brainwashed, and set up for adoption.
Click to expand...
I'm feeling like one the doctor claims that she's been hearing that voice of God "due to the PTSD" or something, so maybe her parents were killed and then the Professor twisted her some more before she was sent to the orphanage?

Dunno, definitely going to check now lol.
 
O

orthodoxy1095

Banned
J_ToSaveTheDay said:
Hey GAF, I actually got into Steins;gate by way of me just impulse buying the full anime as a set at a local anime shop when I stopped in and chatted with some friends (the employees) there for a while. I actually go there to buy my import video game collectibles locally, but I got on really good terms with the associates there and trusted their judgment, despite not being a particularly strong anime hobbyist myself. They recommended me Steins;gate and I didn't regret it one bit.

To date, that's my only exposure to this series, but I did buy the PSVita version of Steins;gate when it came out in North America. I never booted it up and played through it.

I picked this up last week and am hoping to get started right away when I wrap FFXV's story up.

I feel like the obvious answer is going to be to play PSVita, but is just going off what I know from the anime enough to appreciate this? Like, does the anime act as enough of a primer? I know the anime doesn't explore all the possible routes in the game, I just wonder if it lays a decent enough groundwork. If so, I'll get started into Steins;gate 0 right away and try to eventually go back and finish the original on Vita, but if it's considered requisite playing before 0, then I simply don't have the time right now to focus on getting both games done and might have to postpone my 0 playthrough until later.
Click to expand...
For what it's worth, I actually have never finished the original Steins;Gate (even though I'm a huge fan and made both OTs lol), only watched the anime to true completion but am still loving Steins;Gate 0.

Obviously I think most people would recommend that you play S;G before S;G0 if you can, but if you've seen the anime, I think that's a decent enough primer. You've got a background into these characters, you've got some level of interest and investment, you should be fine. I know I am!
 
V

Veitsev

Member
J_ToSaveTheDay said:
Hey GAF, I actually got into Steins;gate by way of me just impulse buying the full anime as a set at a local anime shop when I stopped in and chatted with some friends (the employees) there for a while. I actually go there to buy my import video game collectibles locally, but I got on really good terms with the associates there and trusted their judgment, despite not being a particularly strong anime hobbyist myself. They recommended me Steins;gate and I didn't regret it one bit.

To date, that's my only exposure to this series, but I did buy the PSVita version of Steins;gate when it came out in North America. I never booted it up and played through it.

I picked this up last week and am hoping to get started right away when I wrap FFXV's story up.

I feel like the obvious answer is going to be to play the first game on PSVita, but is just going off what I know from the anime enough to appreciate this? Like, does the anime act as enough of a primer? I know the anime doesn't explore all the possible routes in the game, I just wonder if it lays a decent enough groundwork. If so, I'll get started into Steins;gate 0 right away and try to eventually go back and finish the original on Vita, but if it's considered requisite playing before 0, then I simply don't have the time right now to focus on getting both games done and might have to postpone my 0 playthrough until later.
Click to expand...

You don't need to play the original VN. What you are missing out on are some alternate endings that aren't covered, some more in depth explanations behind some of the science, and some fun character moments. None of it is crucial and the anime is among the best ever adaptations of a visual novel. Visual novel adaptations can be difficult because they can contain many different routes laid out in a non linear fashion. Steins;Gate has some different endings you can trigger but for the most part it is a linear main story and thus was easier to adapt without sacrificing much at all. Steins;Gate 0 is actually less linear which is going to make it a bit harder to adapt. Assuming a quality adaptation I think it has the potential to match or exceed the first anime which is saying a lot. Its a long ways off though (think fall 2017 at the earliest, probably sometime in 2018).

I am not sure how you watched Steins;Gate but I would recommend watching the Japanese dub over the english dub. The english dub is FANTASTIC and among the best adaptations ever made IMO but going from english to the Japanese cast in 0 can be jarring. If you already watched it in English I would recommend going back and watching it in Japanese so you get used to the voices and some of the different (minor) translation differences. Both the English and Japanese casts are about as good as it gets.

There is also a movie that follows the events of the first VN/anime. It is a step down from both visual novels but still worth watching. Its been out on bluray in Japan for awhile and is finally getting a dub/U.S. release in March 2017.
 
B

blackMamba1187

Member
Just got my first ending
Gehenna's Stigma
. What do I do now? When I played through the first game I had a guide with me to get all endings, but I'm kind of lost.

Do I load a save? Start a new game? I imagine I will use a guide now, but is it okay to skip large amounts of dialogue assuming there are no changes from the 1st run? Thanks.
 
A

antibolo

Banned
blackMamba1187 said:
Just got my first ending
Gehenna's Stigma
. What do I do now? When I played through the first game I had a guide with me to get all endings, but I'm kind of lost.

Do I load a save? Start a new game? I imagine I will use a guide now, but is it okay to skip large amounts of dialogue assuming there are no changes from the 1st run? Thanks.
Click to expand...

Start over and try to make different decisions. Use the R button to enter Skip mode to fast forward events you've already seen (it will automatically switch off whenever you hit an interactive event).

I haven't finished all endings myself but unlike the first game it seems this one is pretty easy to brute-force, you just gotta find all branching points, and that one flag needed for the true ending.
 
E

enigmatic_alex44

Whenever a game uses "middleware," I expect mediocrity. Just see how poor TLOU looks.
I'm 4 hours in, just past the part where Suzuha
points a gun at the Rintaro after finding out he's been to the other darker world line with the SDF

So why do I feel like I'm already approaching an ending? Please tell me there's still hours to go before I see even one of the credit rolls.
 
J

jonjonaug

Member
blackMamba1187 said:
Just got my first ending
Gehenna's Stigma
. What do I do now? When I played through the first game I had a guide with me to get all endings, but I'm kind of lost.

Do I load a save? Start a new game? I imagine I will use a guide now, but is it okay to skip large amounts of dialogue assuming there are no changes from the 1st run? Thanks.
Click to expand...
The "choices" are whether you take or ignore calls and whether you turn your phone off during that one scene. RINE responses don't matter for anything other than a couple of TIPs I think.
enigmatic_alex44 said:
I'm 4 hours in, just past the part where Suzuha
points a gun at the Rintaro after finding out he's been to the other darker world line with the SDF

So why do I feel like I'm already approaching an ending? Please tell me there's still hours to go before I see even one of the credit rolls.
Click to expand...
Still have quite a bit left.
 
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