Steins;Gate: My Darling’s Embrace (Nintendo Switch) Review

Picking up during an alternate version of Steins;Gate's story, main character and self-proclaimed mad scientist Rintaro Okabe has gone back into the past - just as he did on many occasions in the original plot. In his bid to raise funds for his laboratory team, he has tasked his members to come up with new gadgets and inventions to sell to the public. As in the other titles, the opening chapter or two sets the stage of events and give a little recapping of familiar characters - sure enough, the whole crew is here, including Kurisu, Mayuri, Daru and the rest. Genius girl Kurisu seems to have designed something ground-breaking in her tireless efforts to create a marketable gadget…but it is a prototype that needs more testing.

The incredible pair of bracelets she's crafted are intended to help couples repair their relationships, with each person wearing one on their wrists. Move too far apart or argue with each other, and an electric shock will jolt the pair of them. As it is indeed still a work in progress, though, the bracelets don't have an unlock function, and will only come undone once the inner workings deem the couple to be on good terms. See where this is going? Yep, it doesn't take much to figure out that Okabe gets caught up in being locked down to one of the many girls (or guys) of his lab team, and having to spend the following days in close, awkward and often sexually tense proximity until the bracelets come loose. What follows are numerous humorous events that retain much of the charm that made Steins;Gate so appealing.

With several lab members to get intimate with, there are multiple arcs and endings to achieve. Like previously, the interactive moments mainly come in the opening hours, with text replies from Okabe's phone determining which path and girl he ends up being chained to. It was a criticism in the past, but the same applies here; it is difficult to know how to set Okabe on a particular route without researching which choices to make using a guide. Save yourself the trouble, and just look it up online in order to fall onto the path you want, else it will only get frustrating. Quicksaves and super-fast skip options really help to get through the text and replaying of scenarios easier.

A return of the brilliant music and beautiful art of the original title again brings the world of Steins;Gate to life, and new scenes capture some of the more amusing moments, with the likes of Kurisu even ending up in a cat maid outfit that normally only Faris and Mayuri don. My Darling's Embrace may be lacking in the serious elements that combined so well in the first game to offset all of the silly and quirky stuff, but this is about bringing out a side many fans loved and exploring that even further. Who doesn't want to see where getting close to Kurisu or Mayuri could lead? Heck, probably the most hilarious events are when Okabe is forced onto a path with the very effeminate looking Luka.

This is most definitely a spin-off that sits in well with the rest of the series, taking full advantage of the what-if concept to deliver a fun distraction that fans of Steins;Gate would be wise to check out. It's just a shame the grammatical errors are one too many and can be a slight bother.