Steins;Gate Elite celebrated its Western release today, February 19, for Steam, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch! As previously mentioned, the Steam and PlayStation 4 versions of the game are bundled with a copy of Steins;Gate: Linear Bounded Phenogram, while the Nintendo Switch version of Elite comes with a copy of Steins;Gate: 8-BIT ADV. Here are links to our reviews for Steins;Gate Elite, Steins;Gate: Linear Bounded Phenogram and Steins;Gate: 8-Bit ADV.
Spike Chunsoft has also released physical limited editions for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 versions of Steins;Gate Elite. In this article, I’ll be sharing some of my impressions of the Nintendo Switch limited edition with you all!
Note: While Spike Chunsoft generously provided us with digital review copies for Steins;Gate Elite, the limited edition discussed in this article was purchased by the reviewer.
From the offset, the exterior slip case featuring the game’s box art makes for a good first impression, as it is made out of slightly thicker paper than most paper slip cases. The sheer size of the limited edition also adds to this feeling of quality.
After removing the slip case, we can see the contents of the limited edition: A 100+ page hardcover storyboard book, a cloth poster featuring Kurisu art made exclusively for the Western Steins;Gate Elite limited edition, and of course, the game itself. I loved seeing that the futuristic graphic design from the in-game UI extended seamlessly to the design of each component in this limited edition. The above left picture shows the case’s backside, the game case’s paper cover backside, and the storyboard book. The above right picture shows the game case’s paper cover, the inside of the storyboard book, and the fabric poster.
The book contains storyboards for every newly animated scene added in Steins;Gate Elite. This book was also included in the Japanese limited edition, but the book included in the Western release received a significant upgrade. Not only are the notes for each panel completely translated, but the book itself is now hardcover bound. This really shows the effort that was put into this limited edition, and I’m very impressed with the localization work. The introductory pages also contain a special translated message from SciADV series director and producer, Tatsuya Matsubara.
If you were keeping up with Spike Chunsoft’s streams prior to release, it’s worth noting that the translations did not replace the original handwritten notes as shown on stream—instead, the notes were moved to the end of the book. This was a great choice in my opinion, since the handwritten notes are an important aspect of the original storyboards and help convey the spirit of the creator.
Lastly, pictured below is the fabric poster featuring Makise Kurisu, and a paper card containing the download code for the Nintendo Switch exclusive bonus game, Steins;Gate: 8-BIT ADV. The poster is rather thin, but the quality of the artwork depiction is high. Once again, I really appreciate seeing that the team went the extra mile to have exclusive artwork created and included exclusively in the Western release.
In conclusion, I can confidently say that this is the highest quality limited edition for a Science Adventure title in the West thus far—the artbook alone makes the purchase more than worth it for me. I hope I was able to give you guys a good first impression of the limited edition. This definitely sets the bar high for future Science Adventure limited editions in the West!
If you like this site, please consider supporting us on Patreon
