Steins;Gate: Darling of Loving Vows

Steins;Gate: Darling of Loving Vows

Xbox 360 cover art, featuring the characters Kurisu Makise (left) and Rintaro Okabe (right)
Developer(s) 5pb.
Publisher(s) 5pb.
Producer(s) Naotaka Hayashi
Writer(s) Matsubara Tatsuya
Series Science Adventure
Platform(s) Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation Vita, iOS
Release date(s)

Xbox 360

  • JP: June 16, 2011

PlayStation Portable

  • JP: April 26, 2012

PlayStation 3

  • JP: May 24, 2012

PlayStation Vita

  • JP: March 14, 2013

iOS

  • JP: October 3, 2013
Genre(s) Visual novel
Mode(s) Single-player

Steins;Gate: Darling of Loving Vows, known in Japan as Steins;Gate: Hiyoku Renri no Darling,[lower-alpha 1] is a visual novel video game developed by 5pb., originally released for the Xbox 360 in 2011, and then ported to multiple other platforms in 2012 and 2013. 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.

The game was produced by Naotaka Hayashi, and featured scenario supervision by Matsubara Tatsuya, as opposed to the original Steins;Gate, where 5pb.'s Chiyomaru Shikura planned the story on his own; after having worked on the anime adaptation of Steins;Gate, he realized that, with the game world being fully established, he could let other writers work on it and bring in new ideas. The Xbox 360 release sold well, helping the sales of the Xbox 360 console in Japan.

Synopsis

Darling of Loving Vows is a spin-off from Steins;Gate, and is a romantic comedy visual novel taking place in a different world line than those in the original game.[1][2] In the world line the game takes place in, the characters still have the possibility to change the past by using D-mails, but SERN has little influence and does not have rounders hunt the main cast. Instead, the player character Rintaro Okabe's main problem is paying the bills for the laboratory, having to take a part-time job as a waiter. The game has multiple routes, each focusing on Okabe building a romantic relationship with one of the female characters from Steins;Gate.[1] The player affects the direction of the plot by picking choices, by answering Okabe's phone, and by clicking on highlighted text within text messages on the phone.[3]

Development and release

The game was developed by 5pb., and was produced by Naotaka Hayashi.[4] While 5pb.'s Chiyomaru Shikura planned the story for the original Steins;Gate game on his own, Darling of Loving Vows was written by other writers under scenario supervision by Matsubara Tatsuya.[4][5] This change came from when Shikura was working on the anime adaptation of Steins;Gate, and realized that since the concept of the game's world had been fully established, he could let other writers who understand the world work on Steins;Gate projects and bring new ideas to it.[5]

Darling of Loving Vows was announced in February 2011 by Famitsu, and was described as a fan disc.[4] It was originally released for the Xbox 360 on June 16, 2011,[6] and was later released for several other platforms: the PlayStation Portable on April 26, 2012,[7] the PlayStation 3 on May 24, 2012,[8] the PlayStation Vita on March 14, 2013,[9] and iOS on October 3, 2013.[10] The Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Vita versions were both available separately and in bundles with the original Steins;Gate;[11][12][13] the PlayStation Vita bundle also included a ticket to Steins;Gate: The Movie − Load Region of Déjà Vu and a metal charm.[11]

Reception

Reception
Review score
PublicationScore
Famitsu30/40 (360)[6]
32/40 (PS Vita)[9]

During its debut week, the Xbox 360 version was the fourth best selling game in Japan, with 31,666 copies sold, and with the Steins;Gate bundle in fifth place, selling an additional 11,041 copies;[3] this boosted sales of the Xbox 360 console, putting it in seventh place on the Japanese hardware charts for the week.[14] The PlayStation Portable version was the sixth best selling game in Japan during its first week, with 24,849 copies sold,[15] while the PlayStation 3 version was the eighteenth with 5,397 copies sold and an additional 9,223 copies of the PlayStation 3 Steins;Gate bundle.[12] The PlayStation Vita version, however, did not enter the weekly top 20 charts at all during its debut week.[16]

Richard Eisenbeis at Kotaku called the game's art excellent, and said that it might "sate [players'] appetites" while waiting for the then upcoming game Steins;Gate 0.[1] Famitsu gave the PlayStation Vita version of the game their "Gold Award".[9]

Notes

  1. ↑ Steins;Gate: Hiyoku Renri no Darling (Japanese: シュタインズ・ゲート 比翼恋理のだーりん Hepburn: Shutainzu Gēto: Hiyoku Renri no Dārin)

References

  1. 1 2 3 Eisenbeis, Richard (2015-07-29). "The Three Steins;Gate Spin-off Games You've Probably Never Heard of". Kotaku. Gawker Media. Archived from the original on 2016-08-24. Retrieved 2016-08-30.
  2. ↑ Ishaan (2014-08-20). "Steins;Gate Love Comedy Spin-Off Follows Original Game To PSP". Siliconera. Archived from the original on 2014-08-20. Retrieved 2016-09-04.
  3. 1 2 Leo, Jon (2011-06-24). "Big in Japan June 13–19: Zelda 3D". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 2016-09-04. Retrieved 2016-09-04.
  4. 1 2 3 Gantayat, Anoop (2011-02-17). "5pb. Announces New Adventure Games". Andriasang. Archived from the original on 2012-12-25. Retrieved 2016-09-04.
  5. 1 2 Gifford, Kevin (2013-03-06). "Steins;Gate creator talks up the new sequel and anime film". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on 2015-06-25. Retrieved 2016-09-03.
  6. 1 2 "シュタインズ・ゲート 比翼恋理のだーりん まとめ [360]". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. Archived from the original on 2015-10-26. Retrieved 2016-08-25.
  7. ↑ "シュタインズ･ゲート 比翼恋理のだーりん まとめ [PSP]". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. Archived from the original on 2015-11-01. Retrieved 2016-08-30.
  8. ↑ "シュタインズ･ゲート 比翼恋理のだーりん まとめ [PS3]". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. Archived from the original on 2015-06-09. Retrieved 2016-08-30.
  9. 1 2 3 "シュタインズ・ゲート 比翼恋理のだーりん まとめ [Vita]". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. Archived from the original on 2016-08-30. Retrieved 2016-08-30.
  10. ↑ "シュタインズ・ゲート 比翼恋理のだーりん まとめ [iPhone/iPod]". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. Archived from the original on 2016-08-30. Retrieved 2016-08-30.
  11. 1 2 Romano, Sal (2012-10-29). "Steins;Gate coming to PlayStation Vita". Gematsu. Archived from the original on 2015-10-19. Retrieved 2016-09-04.
  12. 1 2 Romano, Sal (2012-05-30). "Media Create Sales: 05/21/12 – 05/27/12". Gematsu. Archived from the original on 2012-06-17. Retrieved 2016-09-04.
  13. ↑ Gantayat, Anoop (2011-06-23). "Zelda Propels 3DS Back Into First Place". Andriasang. Archived from the original on 2012-12-25. Retrieved 2016-09-04.
  14. ↑ Nunneley, Stephany (2011-06-22). "Japanese charts – Ocarina of Time takes 3DS to the top". VG247. Videogaming247 Ltd. Archived from the original on 2016-05-17. Retrieved 2016-09-04.
  15. ↑ Leo, Jon (2012-05-03). "Big in Japan April 23–29: Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 2014-01-31. Retrieved 2016-09-04.
  16. ↑ Romano, Sal (2013-03-20). "Media Create Sales: 3/11/13 – 3/17/13". Gematsu. Archived from the original on 2016-08-14. Retrieved 2016-09-04.
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