I’m obsessed with the visuals in STEINS;GATE: Octet of Shifting Space, coming to the PS5 on an unannounced date.
Originally released in Japan on PC in 2011, this game is inspired by old PC visual novels, like Dokyusei and Tokimeki Memorial.
What’s particularly cool about it is you’ll be able to plug a USB keyboard into your console and play it like god intended.
Here’s the blurb:
“Take on the role of Rintaro Okabe and explore the streets of Akihabara alongside your fellow lab members in pursuit of the IBN 5100, which has once again been stolen. Instead of the choice-based gameplay common to modern visual novels, STEINS;GATE: Octet of Shifting Space recreates the text parser gameplay that defined adventure games of the 1980s. Advance the story by freely entering English commands. Use your imagination and deduction skills to discover the right actions and uncover the path forward.”
The visuals of the era have been meticulously reproduced, even down to the way the graphics load in, starting with the lines before filling in the colour.
Similarly, you’ll be able to choose between 8-bit colours or green monochrome monitors to really revive the original look.
While the game will be included as a pre-order bonus for STEINS;GATE RE:BOOT in Japan, Spike Chunsoft has yet to detail how you’ll be able to obtain it in the west.
And there’s further bad news here in that it looks like the abovementioned remake will launch as a timed console exclusive on Xbox and PC, as it’ll be available from 20th August on those platforms but not until 29th October on PS5 and PS4.
A Digital Deluxe Edition will be launching at least, featuring a digital art book, digital soundtrack, and footage from the ‘STEINS;GATE 15th Live: One World’ live event with English subtitles.
I’ll update exactly how you can get STEINS;GATE: Octet of Shifting Space when Spike Chunsoft announces it, because it does look very cool.
[source gematsu.com]
Related Games
See Also
As the Editor of Push Square, Sammy has over 15 years of experience analysing the world of PlayStation, from PS3 through PS5 and everything in between. He’s an expert on PS Studios and industry matters, as well as sports games and simulators. He also enjoys RPGs when he has the time to dedicate to them, and is a bit of a gacha whale.