Visual novel Steins;Gate 0 is releasing on November 25 in Europe and November 29 in North America for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita, PQube announced today. Along with a standard edition available through both physical and digital retailers for $59.99 USD (PS4)/$39.99 USD (PS Vita), there’s also a Limited Edition through select retailers that includes an art book and an Amadeus Edition available through Rice Digital.
“Steins;Gate 0 is a brand new story in the acclaimed Science Fiction Visual Novel franchise,” PQube says. “Praised by fans and critics alike for its incredible characterisation and storytelling, Steins;Gate is widely considered to be the greatest Visual Novel ever made. Steins;Gate 0 looks set to maintain this exceptionally high standard with a story which explores an alternative world line.”
The alternative world line sees Okabe Rintaro unable to save the love of his life, putting him into a great depression. After giving up on his friends, research, and time travel, events begin to unfold that look to endanger all of humanity, and it’s up to Mayuri, Farris, Daru, Moeka, Luka, and Suzuha to bring him back from the brink.
In addition to new characters and new scientific themes combining time travel and artificial intelligence, Steins;Gate 0 offers a darker story than the first game:
Steins;Gate 0 is a much darker, more somber story than Steins;Gate. The original asked you to repeatedly make a choice about how much you were willing to sacrifice to save Mayuri. Zero is a story about living with the consequences of those choices, even if they’re not necessarily what you want.
Localization Lead Adam Lensenmayer adds that he wrote the “translation with a general console/portable gaming audience in mind. I wanted it to be very accessible and readable, no matter how much the player might know about the setting of the game, and I’m confident that we succeeded.”
[Source: Rice Digital, PS Blog]
