PSA: Look up the Steam Improvement patch for this game, makes the overall experience better.

Played the rest of this on a family shared account so I'm missing about 40 hours in my counter

Steins;Gate's strength is in combining character's personal conflicts with thriller/high stakes conflicts, they become the same conflict in the plot. It makes for a story that is epic in scale but also intimate with its characters and setting. It's the perfect mix of slice-of-life and thriller action and if you like either or both, you should give this a shot.

It may feel like it starts slow and if you haven't played a VN before, you might be thrown off for a little bit. Give it some time. The slower paced scenes are actually pretty important and without giving too much away, you won't hate them by the end. VNs are still a bit new to many but if you like to read (and maybe even if you don't), you'll get used to and learn to appreciate them for their strengths.

Here are a couple tips that are important to a readthrough but may not be quite obvious.

Make a decent amount of save files. IIRC Chapter 4 or 5 starts giving you choices that affect the ending so you'll want to make a new save file for at least the beginning of every chapter. For other choices, there are branching conversations that may lead to one achievement or another.

Sometimes the game hints that you need to pull up your phone but it isn't always obvious about it. If you think it's hinting at you picking up your phone, it's probably trying to see if you will pick it up or put it down.

If I had to give a criticism, the soundtrack is too short. It's a great soundtrack and it really matches well to the rest of the VN, but in my opinion, it needs more tracks and longer ones, it gets stale after about halfway through.

I'll add that Steins;Gate handles its setting particularly well, especially for a JP VN. You get to know the area around the lab pretty well, and a few other little locations around Akihabara. It makes the setting feel a lot more realistic than some of its contemporaries.

PSA: Look up the Steam Improvement patch for this game, makes the overall experience better. Played the rest of this on a family shared account so I'm missing about 40 hours in my counter Steins;Gate's strength is in combining character's personal conflicts with thriller/high stakes conflicts, they become the same conflict in the plot. It makes for a story that is epic in scale but also intimate with its characters and setting. It's the perfect mix of slice-of-life and thriller action and if you like either or both, you should give this a shot. It may feel like it starts slow and if you haven't played a VN before, you might be thrown off for a little bit. Give it some time. The slower paced scenes are actually pretty important and without giving too much away, you won't hate them by the end. VNs are still a bit new to many but if you like to read (and maybe even if you don't), you'll get used to and learn to appreciate them for their strengths. Here are a couple tips that are important to a readthrough but may not be quite obvious. Make a decent amount of save files. IIRC Chapter 4 or 5 starts giving you choices that affect the ending so you'll want to make a new save file for at least the beginning of every chapter. For other choices, there are branching conversations that may lead to one achievement or another. Sometimes the game hints that you need to pull up your phone but it isn't always obvious about it. If you think it's hinting at you picking up your phone, it's probably trying to see if you will pick it up or put it down. If I had to give a criticism, the soundtrack is too short. It's a great soundtrack and it really matches well to the rest of the VN, but in my opinion, it needs more tracks and longer ones, it gets stale after about halfway through. I'll add that Steins;Gate handles its setting particularly well, especially for a JP VN. You get to know the area around the lab pretty well, and a few other little locations around Akihabara. It makes the setting feel a lot more realistic than some of its contemporaries.