Ever since the onslaught of free-to-play titles on the App Store, a vocal group of mobile gamers have been crying out for the return of premium, fully priced experiences for iOS. Steins;Gate [$24.99 / $24.99 (HD)], which has released today for iPhone, is certainly one of these, but not purely as a result of its astonishing $24.99 price tag. Being a port of the visual novel title that took the Xbox 360 and a host of other consoles by storm back in 2009, Steins;Gate tells a story about hypothetical time travel within a complex world governed by realistic scientific guidelines. While time travel has tended to be used as a throwaway sci-fi trope in recent years, developers 5pb and Nitroplus have used this core mechanic to create an experience that challenges your relations between the characters and how their fate plays out through the manipulation of time. With the option to play as 6 different characters, all of which have multiple endings, and over thirty hours of gameplay, Steins;Gate is an immense experience that is reflective of its immense price tag.
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We first brought news of Steins;Gate back in 2014, where we heard that it was being localised, and it's going to be interesting to see the reaction that the game will have amongst a new western audience. The biggest issue will ultimately be the cost of the game - for once, it's cheaper to simply buy the PS3 edition (or equivalent) rather than on the App Store. Furthermore, ...