Steins;Gate: Linear Bounded Phenogram

Last updated

Steins;Gate: Linear Bounded Phenogram
Steins;Gate Linear Bounded Phenogram cover.png
English cover art
Developer(s) 5pb.
Publisher(s)
Producer(s) Tatsuya Matsubara
Artist(s) Huke
Writer(s) Naotaka Hayashi
Composer(s) Takeshi Abo
Series Science Adventure
Platform(s) PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation Vita, iOS, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch
Release
April 25, 2013
  • PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
    • JP: April 25, 2013
    PlayStation Vita
    • JP: November 28, 2013
    iOS
    • JP: August 19, 2014
    PlayStation 4
    • JP: September 20, 2018
    • WW: February 19, 2019
    Microsoft Windows
    • WW: February 19, 2019
    Nintendo Switch
    • JP: March 20, 2019
Genre(s) Visual novel
Mode(s) Single-player

Steins;Gate: Linear Bounded Phenogram [lower-alpha 1] is a visual novel video game developed and published by 5pb. for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PlayStation Vita in 2013, and later ported to iOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Microsoft Windows; the PlayStation 4 and Windows versions were released internationally by Spike Chunsoft in 2019. The game is part of the Science Adventure series, and a spin-off from the 2009 game Steins;Gate . It consists of ten side stories set in different realities, and follow different Steins;Gate characters. Unlike previous entries in the Steins;Gate series, the game is nearly devoid of interactive narrative.

Contents

The game was produced by Tatsuya Matsubara, with character design by Huke. As 5pb.'s Chiyomaru Shikura felt that the Steins;Gate world had been fully conceived, he allowed a group of other writers create the game's story to bring new ideas to the series. Among these were Naotaka Hayashi, who had worked on previous Science Adventure titles and supervised the story, and Kotaro Uchikoshi, whose writing for the game was influenced by the anime series Code Geass .

Gameplay

Linear Bounded Phenogram is a visual novel [1] in which the player advances through text and dialogue to read through several short stories; unlike previous entries in the Steins;Gate series, which let the player affect the flow of the story by sending specific messages from the protagonist's phone, the plot of the individual chapters in Steins;Gate: Linear Bounded Phenogram is not influenced by player input, barring the exchange of different e-mail messages with other characters. In the iPhone version of the game, the player picks up and puts down the in-game phone by holding the phone they are playing on vertically or horizontally, respectively. [2]

Synopsis

Linear Bounded Phenogram is a spin-off from Steins;Gate , consisting of ten side stories set in different realities, some of which are similar to the one in the original game, and some which are very different. Two of the stories follow Rintaro Okabe – the player character in the original Steins;Gate – while the rest follow other characters. [1] [3]

Production

Development

Kotaro Uchikoshi wrote the scenario "Abduction Across Three Worlds". Kotaro Uchikoshi at Anime Expo 2016, cropped.jpg
Kotaro Uchikoshi wrote the scenario "Abduction Across Three Worlds".

Linear Bounded Phenogram was developed by 5pb., [4] and was produced by Tatsuya Matsubara, with character designs by Huke. [2] 5pb.'s CEO Chiyomaru Shikura wrote the game's theme song, "Phenogram", which was performed by Ayane. [5] The project started with the concept of a Steins;Gate spin-off focusing on each character individually, with a more serious tone than the earlier spin-off Steins;Gate: My Darling's Embrace . [6] Unlike the original Steins;Gate, where Shikura came up with the story himself, the story of Linear Bounded Phenogram was crafted by a group of writers: [7] The script was written and supervised by Science Adventure series regular Naotaka Hayashi together with guest writers Baio Shimokura, Masahiro Yokotani, Kiyomune Miwa, Teru Arai, Shogo Sakamoto, Masashi Kigasawa, Toru Yasumoto, Kougetsu Mikaduki, Keiji Akatsuki, and Kotaro Uchikoshi, [2] [4] who each wrote one scenario. [2]

The decision to let new writers work on the game came from when Shikura was working on the anime adaptation of Steins;Gate, and he realized that the game's world was already fully conceived, which meant that he could let other writers who understand the world work on Steins;Gate projects, bringing new ideas into it. [7] Matsubara contacted people who had been involved with different Steins;Gate media and were knowledgeable on the series, and the writers themselves picked which of the main characters they wanted to write about on a first-come-first-served basis. Matsubara said that this resulted in them getting to work on characters they liked and were good at portraying. [6]

Uchikoshi did not work sequentially on his scenario, [8] "Abduction Across Three Worlds", [9] instead choosing to write in a disordered style, going back and forth, writing different parts in parallel. [8] A large influence on his scenario was the anime series Code Geass (2006–2007), with the character Lelouch Lamperouge influencing Okabe's "wannabe bad guy" characterization. [10]

Release

The game was first announced in November 2012 for an early 2013 release, [4] and was released for the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 on April 25, 2013. [11] [12] A PlayStation Vita version followed later in the same year, on November 28. [13] While the story remains unchanged, some optimization of the game was done for the PlayStation Vita release. [14] It was additionally released for iOS devices on August 19, 2014, [2] and the Xbox 360 version became playable on Xbox One through backward compatibility on May 19, 2017, along with the original Steins;Gate and the spin-off Steins;Gate: My Darling's Embrace. [3]

An HD remaster for the PlayStation 4 was released in a bundle with first-print copies of the Japanese PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita versions of the game Steins;Gate Elite on September 20, 2018; [15] [16] [17] the HD remaster was also published internationally by Spike Chunsoft as part of their Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 4 releases of Steins;Gate Elite on February 19, 2019. [18] [19] [20] The game was also released for the Nintendo Switch as part of the collection Steins;Gate: Divergencies Assort along with Steins;Gate 0 and Steins;Gate: My Darling's Embrace on March 20, 2019 in Japan. [21]

In Japan, the game was made available in two limited editions: one for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions, which includes a replica of Okabe's cell phone, [22] and one for the PlayStation Vita version, which includes a DVD with a round-table discussion with the voice actors, and a set of Steins;Gate-themed bandages. [14]

Reception

The game has received widespread critical acclaim from multiple publications, who and enjoyed the use of multiple viewpoints in the story. Richard Eisenbeis at Kotaku said that the game, like other Steins;Gate games, has excellent art. He found it interesting to follow characters other than Okabe and seeing their thoughts, and enjoyed how they received a lot of character development. [1] Famitsu 's writers also enjoyed the multiple viewpoints, particularly that of the character Mayuri Shiina, and gave the game their "Gold Hall of Fame" award. [11] Patrick Gann of RPGFan enjoyed the game's opening themes, particularly "Phetaritette Encounter", the opening for the PlayStation Vita version, which he said was the most musically interesting piece by Ayane in the music album The Sound of Steins;Gate Complete. [23] During the game's debut week, the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were the fifth and sixteenth best selling games in Japan with 34,292 and 8,821 copies sold, respectively; [24] the Xbox 360 version dropped off the top 20 chart the following week, while the PlayStation 3 version dropped to nineteenth place, selling an additional 5,144 copies for a grand total of 48,257 copies sold. [25] In December 2013, Amazon.co.jp reported that the standard and limited editions of Steins;Gate Phenogram were their ninth and twentieth best selling Xbox 360 games of the year, respectively. [26]

Notes

  1. ↑ Steins;Gate: Senkei Kōsoku no Phenogram (Japanese: シュタインズ・ゲート 線形拘束のフェノグラム, Hepburn: Shutainzu Gēto: Senkei Kōsoku no Fenoguramu)

Related Research Articles

<i>Chaos;Head</i> 2008 video game

Chaos;Head is a 2008 science fiction visual novel video game developed by 5pb. and Nitroplus. It is the first game in the Science Adventure series. Following the original Windows release, the enhanced version Chaos;Head Noah was released for Xbox 360 in 2009, and has since been ported to multiple platforms. An English localization was released by Spike Chunsoft for Nintendo Switch and Windows in 2022. The game follows Takumi Nishijou, who gets involved in the "New Gen" serial murder case. He frequently experiences delusions and hallucinations, some of which the player can influence, which affects the progression of the story.

<i>Steins;Gate</i> Japanese visual novel game

Steins;Gate is a 2009 science fiction visual novel game developed by 5pb. and Nitroplus. It is the second game in the Science Adventure series, following Chaos;Head. The story follows a group of students as they discover and develop technology that gives them the means to change the past. The gameplay in Steins;Gate includes branching scenarios with courses of interaction.

Mages Inc., formerly 5pb. Inc., is a Japanese video game developer and record label for video game and anime music. It was formed on April 6, 2005, after Chiyomaru Shikura left Scitron to begin the company as its executive director, a position he formerly held until January 2023. The company is divided into two parts, 5pb. Games for the manufacturing of video games, and 5pb. Records for the record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of the TYO Group until Shikura purchased the remaining rights from the TYO Group on April 15, 2009. Shikura co-owns 5pb. with AGOne, an affiliate of Dwango Japan. Staff members include scenario writer Naotaka Hayashi, artist Yukihiro Matsuo, and producer Tatsuya Matsuhara.

<i>Robotics;Notes</i> 2012 video game

Robotics;Notes is a visual novel video game developed by 5pb. It is the third main game in the Science Adventure series, following Chaos;Head and Steins;Gate, and is described by the developers as an "Augmented Science Adventure". The game was originally released by 5pb. in Japan on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2012; the enhanced version Robotics;Notes Elite was released for PlayStation Vita in 2014, and for Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 in 2019. An English version of Robotics;Notes Elite was released by Spike Chunsoft in 2020 for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4.

<i>Stranger of Sword City</i> 2014 video game

Stranger of Sword City, originally titled The Stranger in Alda, is a dungeon crawler role-playing video game developed by Experience, developer of Demon Gaze, for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation Vita and Xbox One. The Japanese Xbox 360 and Vita versions have different subtitles: the Xbox 360 and Windows version is subtitled White Royal Palace, whilst the Vita version is subtitled Black Palace. The Xbox 360 version was released in Japan on June 5, 2014, and the PC and PS Vita versions followed in August 2014 and January 2015. The game was released internationally in 2016. An updated version of the game titled Stranger of Sword City Revisited was released for PlayStation Vita on July 21, 2016, in Japan and internationally on February 28, 2017.

<i>Science Adventure</i> Video game series

Science Adventure is a multimedia series consisting of interconnected science fiction stories, created mainly by Mages, Nitroplus, and Chiyomaru Studio. The main entries mostly take the form of visual novel video games, but side entries span across several different mediums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spike Chunsoft</span> Japanese video game development company

Spike Chunsoft Co., Ltd. is a Japanese video game development and localization company specializing in role-playing video games, visual novels and adventure games. The company was founded in 1984 as Chunsoft Co., Ltd. and merged with Spike in 2012. It is owned by Dwango.

<i>Steins;Gate 0</i> Japanese visual novel game

Steins;Gate 0 is a visual novel video game developed by 5pb. It is part of the Science Adventure series, and is set in the period of the 2009 game Steins;Gate. It was released by 5pb. in Japan for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita in December 2015, Microsoft Windows in August 2016, Xbox One in February 2017, and Nintendo Switch in March 2019.

<i>Anonymous;Code</i> 2022 video game

Anonymous;Code is a visual novel video game developed by Mages and Chiyomaru Studio, and is the sixth mainline entry in the Science Adventure series. Following a series of delays, the game was released for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch on July 28, 2022 in Japan. The PlayStation Vita version was announced but has since been cancelled. A western English release, published by Spike Chunsoft, was announced in July 2022 with a Windows port. It is scheduled for release on September 8, 2023.

<i>The Caligula Effect</i> 2016 video game

The Caligula Effect is a role-playing video game developed by Aquria. It was released for the PlayStation Vita in Japan in June 2016, and by Atlus USA in North America and Europe in May 2017. A remake of the game, The Caligula Effect: Overdose, was released for the PlayStation 4 in Japan in May 2018, and worldwide by NIS America in March 2019 for the PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Windows. An anime adaptation of the same name premiered in April 2018.

<i>Occultic;Nine</i> Japanese light novel series

Occultic;Nine is a Japanese light novel series written by Chiyomaru Shikura, and is a part of the Science Adventure franchise. It was later adapted into a visual novel and published by Mages in November 2017. The light novel series is licensed in English by J-Novel Club. A manga, illustrated by Ganjii, was serialized in Kodansha's good! Afternoon from October 2015 to May 2017. An anime television series adaptation by A-1 Pictures aired between October and December 2016.

<i>Chaos;Child</i> 2014 video game

Chaos;Child is a visual novel video game developed by 5pb. It is the fourth main entry in the Science Adventure series, and a thematic sequel to Chaos;Head (2008). It was released in Japan in 2014 for Xbox One, and later for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Microsoft Windows, iOS, Android, and Nintendo Switch. An English localization was released for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita by PQube in 2017, and for Windows by Spike Chunsoft in 2019.

<i>Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness</i> 2015 video game

Psycho-Pass: Mandatory Happiness is a visual novel video game developed by 5pb. It was originally released for the Xbox One in 2015 in Japan, with PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 4 versions following in 2016 in Japan, North America and the PAL region. A Windows version was released on April 24, 2017. The game is based on the 2012 anime series Psycho-Pass.

<i>Steins;Gate: My Darlings Embrace</i> Japanese visual novel game

Steins;Gate: My Darling's Embrace is a visual novel video game developed by 5pb., originally released for the Xbox 360 in 2011. It has since been ported to several other platforms, and was released by Spike Chunsoft in English for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Microsoft Windows in 2019. It is part of the Science Adventure series, and a spin-off from the 2009 game Steins;Gate. The game is a romantic comedy set in a different world from the one in the original Steins;Gate, where the player builds romantic relationships with Steins;Gate characters. By making certain choices and interacting with the player character's cell phone, the player can affect the direction of the plot.

<i>Chaos;Child Love Chu Chu!!</i> 2017 video novel game

Chaos;Child Love Chu Chu!! is a visual novel video game developed and published by 5pb. for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita on March 30, 2017, in Japan. It is a fan disc for the 2014 game Chaos;Child, and part of the larger Science Adventure series. The story, which is affected by player choices, is set in Shibuya, Tokyo after the events of Chaos;Child, and follows Takuru Miyashiro, who ignores the "Return of the New Generation Madness" events, instead choosing to spend time with women.

<i>Steins;Gate Drama CD Alpha</i>, <i>Beta</i>, and <i>Gamma</i> 2010 audio dramas based on video game Steins;Gate

Steins;Gate Drama CD Alpha, Beta, and Gamma, stylized as α, β, and γ, are a trilogy of audio dramas based on the 2009 video game Steins;Gate, and are part of the Science Adventure series. It follows Kurisu Makise, Mayuri Shiina, and Rintaro Okabe, three characters from the Steins;Gate game, in three different alternative histories. Alpha shows Kurisu's actions during the tenth chapter of the video game, Beta shows what happened after Okabe failed to save Kurisu, and Gamma shows a reality where the Year 2000 problem caused a disaster and Okabe became an agent working for the organization SERN.

<i>Steins;Gate Elite</i> Japanese visual novel game

Steins;Gate Elite is a science fiction visual novel and interactive movie video game, part of the Science Adventure series. It was developed by 5pb. for PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft Windows and iOS, and was released in September 2018 in Japan and in February 2019 internationally. It is an updated, fully animated remake of the 2009 game Steins;Gate, using footage from the anime adaptation of the original game along with newly produced animation by White Fox.

<i>Robotics;Notes DaSH</i> 2019 video game

Robotics;Notes DaSH, is a visual novel video game developed by Mages. It is part of the Science Adventure series, and is a sequel to the 2012 game Robotics;Notes. It was released in 2019 in Japan for the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, and was released in English in 2020 for the same platforms and Windows by Spike Chunsoft. The game was written by Toru Yasumoto and Chiyomaru Shikura and produced by Tatsuya Matsubara, with character designs by Tomonori Fukuda, mechanical designs by Makoto Ishiwata and Yukihiro Matsuo, and music by Takeshi Abo.

<i>Steins;Gate 0</i> (TV series) Japanese anime television series

Steins;Gate 0 is a Japanese anime television series created by White Fox that continues the story of 5pb.'s 2015 video game of the same name, and is part of the Science Adventure franchise. The series is the final iteration of the Steins;Gate 0 story, which explains certain events in the ending of Steins;Gate. It aired from April to September 2018. It is set in an alternative future where the university student Rintaro Okabe, traumatized after his experiences with time travel, meets the neuroscientists Maho Hiyajo and Alexis Leskinen and becomes a tester for their artificial intelligence system Amadeus.

<i>Steins;???</i> Upcoming video game

Steins;??? is an upcoming video game developed by Chiyomaru Studio and Mages. It is a thematic sequel to Steins;Gate (2009), and is part of the Science Adventure series. The game is written by Mages' representative director Chiyomaru Shikura, and previously went under the working title Steins;God.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Eisenbeis, Richard (July 25, 2015). "The Three Steins;Gate Spin-off Games You've Probably Never Heard of". Kotaku . Gizmodo Media Group. Archived from the original on August 24, 2016. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "STEINS;GATE Linear Bounded Phenogram". iTunes . Apple Inc. Archived from the original on September 17, 2016. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  3. 1 2 "『シュタインズ･ゲート』などXbox 360の5タイトルがXbox One下位互換機能に対応". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. May 19, 2017. Archived from the original on March 4, 2019. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 Ishaan (November 23, 2012). "5pb Working On New Game Steins;Gate: Linear Bounded Phenogram". Siliconera . Curse, Inc. Archived from the original on November 3, 2015. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  5. ↑ Romano, Sal (February 19, 2013). "Steins;Gate: Senkei Kousoku no Phenogram opening movie". Gematsu. Archived from the original on October 19, 2015. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  6. 1 2 Sato (February 28, 2019). "STEINS;GATE ELITE Producer On Stringing Together Its Worldlines And A Science Adventure Teaser". Siliconera. Curse, Inc. Archived from the original on March 1, 2019. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  7. 1 2 Gifford, Kevin (March 6, 2013). "Steins;Gate creator talks up the new sequel and anime film". Polygon . Vox Media. Archived from the original on June 25, 2015. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  8. 1 2 Szczepaniak, John (August 11, 2014). The Untold History of Japanese Game Developers. Vol. 1. SMG Szczepaniak. pp. 298–313. ISBN   978-0992926007.
  9. ↑ "Abduction Across Three Worlds". Spike Chunsoft . Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  10. ↑ Parish, Jeremy (February 13, 2014). "Inside the Genesis of Virtue's Last Reward and the Challenges of Visual Novels". USgamer . Gamer Network. Archived from the original on May 14, 2016. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  11. 1 2 3 "シュタインズ・ゲート 線形拘束のフェノグラム まとめ [PS3]". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. Archived from the original on October 24, 2015. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  12. ↑ "シュタインズ・ゲート 線形拘束のフェノグラム まとめ [360]". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. Archived from the original on November 9, 2015. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  13. ↑ "シュタインズ・ゲート 線形拘束のフェノグラム まとめ [Vita]". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. Archived from the original on December 11, 2015. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  14. 1 2 Spencer (November 8, 2013). "Watch Steins;Gate: Linear Bounded Phenogram's Vita Opening Movie". Siliconera . Curse, Inc. Archived from the original on September 16, 2014. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  15. ↑ Romano, Sal (December 24, 2017). "Steins;Gate Elite first-print copies in Japan include Famicom-style Steins;Gate on Switch, Linear Bounded Phenogram HD on PS4 and PS Vita". Gematsu. Archived from the original on December 14, 2017. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  16. ↑ Romano, Sal (February 13, 2018). "Steins;Gate Elite delayed to general 2018 in Japan". Gematsu. Archived from the original on February 14, 2018. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  17. ↑ "『シュタインズ・ゲート エリート』の発売日が9月20日に決定！ 豪華特典を同梱した完全受注生産限定版も発表". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. June 16, 2018. Archived from the original on June 18, 2018. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  18. ↑ Sato (September 25, 2018). "Steins;Gate Elite Launches In The West On February 19, 2019 For PS4 And Switch". Siliconera . Curse, Inc. Archived from the original on September 26, 2018. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  19. ↑ Romano, Sal (September 25, 2018). "Steins;Gate Elite for PS4 and Switch launches February 19, 2019 in North America". Gematsu. Archived from the original on September 26, 2018. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  20. ↑ "STEINS;GATE: Linear Bounded Phenogram on Steam". store.steampowered.com. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  21. ↑ Romano, Sal (December 24, 2018). "Steins;Gate: Divergencies Assort announced for Switch [Update]". Gematsu. Archived from the original on December 25, 2018. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  22. ↑ Romano, Sal (September 6, 2016). "New Steins;Gate Japanese release date set". Gematsu. Archived from the original on June 15, 2016. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  23. ↑ Gann, Patrick. "The Sound of STEINS;GATE Complete". RPGFan. Archived from the original on January 4, 2017. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  24. ↑ Romano, Sal (May 1, 2013). "Media Create Sales: 4/22/13 – 4/28/13". Gematsu. Archived from the original on March 24, 2016. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  25. ↑ Romano, Sal (May 8, 2013). "Media Create Sales: 4/29/13 – 5/5/13". Gematsu. Archived from the original on May 27, 2016. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
  26. ↑ Spencer (December 13, 2013). "Amazon Japan's Best Game Of 2013 Is Monster Hunter 4, Pokémon X Is Number 3". Siliconera . Curse, Inc. Archived from the original on December 23, 2014. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.