Feb 092024
Steins;Gate is not only one of the first true visual novels I’ve ever played, but also one of my all-time favorites. I absolutely loved it.
Despite that, I never got around to playing Steins;Gate: My Darling’s Embrace, a lighthearted spin-off/fandisc with more of a romantic comedy approach.
So what better time than now, during Celebrating All Things Romantic?
If you’re at all familiar with Steins;Gate, you know that the basic premise kicks off when the main character Okabe and his friends learn they can send emails into the past (which they then refer to as D-Mails) and change the timeline through these messages. My Darling’s Embrace begins with Okabe finding himself at the other end of a D-Mail change where they’ve begun to develop new gadgets to sell… although he sent so many D-Mails that he doesn’t quite know what one caused this.
Things quickly spiral out of control when he and Kurisu end up stuck wearing a new gadget that shocks them whenever they argue. They prepare to send a D-Mail into the past to change it… and your choice there determines which route you end up on.
There are six routes, and each takes the story in a different direction focused on one of the characters. A couple of the routes (mainly Suzuha’s) hint at romance more than showing it, but most have the growing relationship as a core part of the route. They’re all sweet and funny, an entertaining look at how Okabe’s relationships could develop under other circumstances.
I especially enjoyed Moeka’s route, which was so wholesome and nice to see.
Above everything else, My Darling’s Embrace reminded me of how much I love the Steins;Gate story and its characters. While the main story might become an intense thriller, and that’s still one of its biggest draws, it was nice to relax and read some lighthearted rom-com antics with this cast.
So if you’re a fan of Steins;Gate and want to some more romance-focused routes with its characters, check out Steins;Gate: My Darling’s Embrace!
I had to go back and read your review on the main game to really understand what you were talking about in this review, ‘cuz I’ve barely heard about Steins Gate before. Sounds like an interesting way to do visual novel choices, by crafting email responses, but I have to wonder… If they send emails to the past, does that mean they can get emails from their future selves? Is that how this whole thing works? And then when they reply to *those*, does it go even *further* into the past instead of back to their future selves?
Oh no. I already get confused by daylight savings time. I don’t need any more timey-wimey nonsense…
You should play Steins;Gate, and then you’ll know. 😉 Especially since it’s an amazing visual novel! But to answer your specific question, they develop a setup that lets them send emails into the past – not the future. So their past selves get the emails, but it wouldn’t be possible for them to reply to their future selves.
Oh, it goes in-depth with discussions of time paradox discussions, too. Some series try to handwave the questions surrounding time travel, but Steins;Gate embraces them.
I have, of course, played Steins;Gate (though not the other games in the loosely-connected “series” or however they are all described). This game sounds like it’s a cute way to have fun with the characters. I should probably give it a try sometime, eventually. Though… is it canon? Or as canon as anything can ever be in a timey-wimey game like this? 😂
I’d say that within the context of Steins;Gate, it could be seen as debatably canon as much as the alternate endings in Steins;Gate itself are. It gets away with a lot through Okabe not knowing how he specifically reacted to the D-Mail to justify the timeline changing in such a way.
The wiki considers it to be an additional major world line: https://steins-gate.fandom.com/wiki/Attractor_Field/Delta
Oh man….do I ever have to start playing these games. So I have to once again thank you for reminding me to actually start diving into these games.
Yes please. Play Steins;Gate, you won’t regret it.