Science Adventure

Science Adventure, commonly shortened to SciADV, is a video game series and Multimedia franchise consisting of interconnected science fiction stories created by Mages, initially in collaboration with Nitroplus. The main entries mostly take the form of visual novel video games.

The series currently consists of six mainline entries: the first entry of the series, 2008's '' Chaos;Head'', is followed by ''Steins;Gate'', '' Robotics;Notes'', '' Chaos;Child'', '' Occultic;Nine'', '' Anonymous;Code'', as well as the upcoming '' Steins;???''. The series also includes several spin-off games based on ''Chaos;Head'', ''Steins;Gate'', ''Robotics;Notes'', and ''Chaos;Child'', as well as spin-offs in other mediums including anime, manga, light novels, audio dramas, and stage plays. All main entries except ''Anonymous;Code'' have received anime adaptations''.''

The main entries and their spin-offs all take place in the same fictional universe, focusing on several different science fiction themes. ''Chaos;Head'' and ''Chaos;Child'' focus on perception, ''Steins;Gate'' focuses on time travel and science, ''Robotics;Notes'' focuses on robotics and augmented reality, and ''Anonymous;Code'' focuses on hacking, time leaping, simulated reality among concepts from other games in the franchise. The player can affect the course of the story by making certain choices: in ''Chaos;Head'' and ''Chaos;Child'' this is done by choosing what kind of delusions the player characters experience. The choices in the ''Steins;Gate'' games and ''Robotics;Notes'' are made via messages set by the player via an in-game cell phone and tablet computer, respectively. The choices in ''Anonymous;Code'' are made using the hacking trigger and save/load ability.

The series is created and planned by Chiyomaru Shikura, founder of Mages and Chiyomaru Studio, composed by Takeshi Abo and Zizz Studio, written by Chiyomaru Shikura, Naotaka Hayashi along with other writers, and features character designs by artists including Mutsumi Sasaki, Huke, and Tomonori Fukuda. The developers aimed to make the series set within reality, as Shikura felt it made it more relatable and believable. The series has been commercially and critically successful both in Japan and internationally, far exceeding sales expectations for the genre and establishing Mages (previously 5pb.) as a game developer.

The series is published by Mages and Nitroplus in Japan, and by JAST USA, PQube, Mages, and Spike Chunsoft internationally. The visual novels ''Steins;Gate'', ''Steins;Gate 0'', ''Chaos;Child'', ''Steins;Gate Elite'', ''Steins;Gate: Linear Bounded Phenogram'', ''8-bit ADV Steins;Gate'', ''Steins;Gate: My Darling's Embrace'', ''Robotics;Notes'' ''Elite'', ''Robotics;Notes Dash'', ''Chaos;Head NoAH'' and ''Anonymous;Code'' have been officially localized in English.

Main entries

The ''Science Adventure'' series consists of six core entries, along with a seventh in development. Some of the games have received updated editions with added content, and there are compilations collecting several games, such as ''Chaos;Head Dual'' (collecting both ''Chaos;Head'' games) and ''Steins;Gate: Divergencies Assort'' (collecting ''Steins;Gate 0'', ''Darling of Loving Vows'', and ''Linear Bounded Phenogram'').

The main entries are as follows:
* '' Chaos;Head'' is the first entry in the series. It was originally released as a visual novel in 2008; a director's cut version of the game, ''Chaos;Head Noah'', was released in 2009. The game follows Takumi, a shut-in otaku who unwillingly becomes caught up in a series of brutal murders dubbed the "New Generation Madness."
* ''Steins;Gate'' is the second entry in the series. It was originally released as a visual novel in 2009. A later release replacing the artwork with visuals from and inspired by the anime adaptation, '' Steins;Gate Elite'', was released in 2018. The game follows Okabe, who accidentally invents time travel; he and his friends use this to send emails into the past, altering the present. A remake of the original visual novel, titled ''Re:Boot'', is planned to release in 2025 with new artwork and story additions.
* '' Robotics;Notes'' is the third entry in the series. It was originally released as a visual novel in 2012; an updated version, ''Robotics;Notes Elite'', was released in 2014. The game follows Kaito and Akiho, founding members of a high school robotics club who are trying to build a giant robot; meanwhile, they uncover a large-scale conspiracy.
* '' Chaos;Child'' is the fourth entry in the series. It was originally released as a visual novel in 2014. It is a thematic sequel to ''Chaos;Head'', and follows Takuru, the president of the high school newspaper club, attempting to uncover the truth behind a new series of brutal deaths occurring in Shibuya.
* '' Occultic;Nine'' is the fifth entry in the series. Unlike the other main entries, it was originally a light novel series, initially made to be separate from ''Science Adventure''. It started in 2014, but has been on an indefinite hiatus. It was adapted into a manga series, anime series, and visual novel, each with separate story additions. The story follows Yuta, who runs the occult blog Kirikiri Basara.
* '' Anonymous;Code'' is the sixth entry in the series. It was released as a visual novel in 2022. The game follows a young hacker named Pollon, who discovers he has a mysterious ability allowing him to "save and load."
* '' Steins;???'' (name subject to change) is planned to be the seventh entry in the series. It will be a thematic sequel, described by Mages as being to ''Steins;Gate'' what ''Chaos;Child'' is to ''Chaos;Head''.

Side entries

The series contains eight spin-off games: one based on ''Chaos;Head'', five based on ''Steins;Gate'', one based on ''Robotics;Notes'', and one based on ''Chaos;Child''. It also contains several more side entries spanning several different mediums other than visual novels, such as manga, drama CDs, short stories, and novels.

''Chaos;Head''

* ''Chaos;Head -Blue Complex-'' is a two-volume manga series that serialized from 2008 to 2009. It is a non-canonical adaptation of the events from the original ''Chaos;Head'' visual novel, shown from the perspective of the original game's character Aoi Sena.
* ''The Parallel Bootleg'' is a drama CD released by Nitroplus in December 2008. It is a non-canonical spin-off about an ominous creature that appears in Shibuya, whose powers and intentions are unknown.
* ''Chaos;Head H'' is a single-volume manga that was released in March 2009. It is a romantic comedy retelling of ''Chaos;Head'''s story.
* ''Delusion of Zero'' is a canonical short story that came exclusively with the ''Chaos;Head Audio Series Complete Box'', which released in August 2009. It is a prologue to the main ''Chaos;Head'' visual novel, set in another character's perspective. It is meant to be read after finishing the main ''Chaos;Head'' story.
* '' Chaos;Head Love Chu Chu!'' was originally released for the Xbox 360 in 2010, and later ported to PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Vita. It is a romantic comedy spin-off and canonical direct sequel to ''Chaos;Head Noah''. A three-volume manga adaptation was released from 2011 to 2012.

''Steins;Gate''

* '' Steins;Gate: My Darling's Embrace'' was originally released for Xbox 360 in 2011, and later ported to PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, iOS, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Microsoft Windows. It is a non-canonical romance-themed "what if?" type of game, where Okabe builds a relationship with ''Steins;Gate'' characters.
* ''Steins;Gate: Variant Space Octet'' was released for Microsoft Windows in 2011. It is a non-canonical sequel to ''Steins;Gate'', presented as a text-based adventure game with 8-bit art, where the player types commands to perform actions.
* '' Steins;Gate: Linear Bounded Phenogram'' was originally released for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in 2013, and later ported to PlayStation Vita iOS, PlayStation 4, Microsoft Windows, and Nintendo Switch. It is a non-canonical collection of eleven side stories set in different world lines, written by several different authors. Two of the stories follow Okabe, while the rest focus on other characters.
*'' Steins;Gate 0'' was originally released for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita in 2015, and later ported to Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. An updated version, ''Steins;Gate 0 Elite'', is in development. It is centered around the events that Okabe experienced in an alternate timeline prior to sending a video D-mail near the conclusion of the original Steins;Gate. An anime series also titled ''Steins;Gate 0'' aired in 2018, which serves as a continuation and finale to the visual novel's story.
*''8-bit ADV Steins;Gate'' was released for Nintendo Switch in 2018. It is a non-canonical retelling of ''Steins;Gates story in the style of 1980s adventure games for the Famicom. It is actually a real Famicom game, and is run on the Switch with a built-in emulator.

''Robotics;Notes''

* ''The Unpublished Memoirs of Senomiya Misaki'' is a canonical manga spin-off published in November 2012. It details the past of Misaki Senomiya.
* '' Robotics;Notes DaSH'' was released for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch in 2019. The game is a canonical spin-off to ''Robotics;Notes'' while also being a direct sequel, and follows the former members of the robotics club. Robotics;Notes DaSH features Daru from Steins;Gate as its main protagonist, alongside Kaito from ''Robotics;Notes''. Due to this fact, ''Robotics;Notes DaSH'' contains many story relevant links to ''Steins;Gate''.

''Chaos;Child''

* ''Far Too Late - Slumbering Fools'' is a canonical drama CD that came with the PlayStation Limited Edition release of ''Chaos;Child'' in June 2015. It focuses on the past of Mio Kunosato.
* ''Memoirs of a Certain Wrong-Sider'' is a canonical light novel spin-off that released in December 2015. It presents The Return of the New Generation Madness from the original visual novel from a different character's perspective.
* ''Chaos;Child ~Children's Collapse~'' is a canonical spin-off manga series, made up of three volumes that were released from 2017 to 2019. It serves as a prequel to ''Chaos;Child'', following the life of Mio Kunosato before the events of the main story.
* '' Chaos;Child Love Chu Chu!!'' was released for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita in 2017. It is a canonical spin-off from ''Chaos;Child'' while being a direct sequel to its events, in which Takuru does not have any interest in the strange events going on around him, and instead spends time with the game's female characters.
* ''Chaos;Child -Children's Revive-'' is a canonical light novel that serves as an epilogue for the story of ''Chaos;Child''. It released in March 2017, a day after ''Chaos;Child Love Chu Chu''.

Other

* ''Chaos;Gate'' is a short story crossover between Chaos;Head and Steins;Gate, released in the Nitroplus Complete magazine in September 2009, two weeks before the release of the Steins;Gate visual novel. It takes place during the events of Chaos;Head, and depicts an encounter between ''Chaos;Head'' heroine Sena Aoi and ''Steins;Gate'' protagonist Rintaro Okabe at Shibuya Station.
* ''Triptych of an Abrupt Chain'' is a drama CD for the series that was released in December 2013. It has three tracks, titled ''Manatsu no Hiru no Caprice'', ''Guuzou Kaimu no Stage'', and ''enigmatic ward'', which are drama CDs for ''Robotics;Notes'', ''Steins;Gate'', and ''Chaos;Head'', respectively.
* ''Tomorrow In The Box'' is a canonical short story from ''SCIENCE ADV SERIES 5 Years Jubilee'', a book celebrating the series' fifth anniversary, which released in January 2014. It is a crossover between the first three entries in the series, ''Chaos;Head'', ''Steins;Gate'', and ''Robotics;Notes''.

Common elements

The ''Science Adventure'' entries all feature stories in the science fiction genre. They make use of real scientific concepts and theories, but also cross over into fictional territory, using fringe science and urban legends. ''Chaos;Head'' and ''Chaos;Child'' focus on individuals with the power to alter reality, and discuss topics such as perception, reality, and antimatter, while ''Steins;Gate'' focuses on time travel. ''Robotics;Notes'' focuses on several technologies such as robotics and augmented reality, as well as borrowing some concepts from the previous two entries. ''Occultic;Nine'' focuses on the paranormal. ''Anonymous;Code'' has a heavy focus on futuristic computer technology, such as brain-computer interfaces, blockchains, internet of things, and world-simulating supercomputers, as well as reusing and re-contextualizing existing series concepts.

The entries are all set in the same universe, and although presented as self-contained stories, they all make significant use of previously established concepts in the series. They all contain frequent callbacks to previous entries as well, ranging from minor references to major revelations. There is also a higher antagonist shared throughout the entire series, the Committee of 300. The Committee, based on the real conspiracy theory, seeks world domination, and is portrayed as very powerful, having control over corporations, politicians, and religions, and being seemingly impossible to beat even with time travel and control over reality.

Most of the main entries are visual novels, in which the player can affect the outcome of the story through choices. In the ''Chaos;Head'' games and ''Chaos;Child'', the player does this by controlling what types of delusions the player characters experience: the player can make them experience positive or negative delusions, or alternatively choose to let them stay in reality. ''Chaos;Child Love Chu Chu!!'' additionally uses a "yes/no" questionnaire the player character takes in in-game magazines to determine the plot's direction. In ''Steins;Gate'' and ''Steins;Gate 0'', the player affects the outcome by using the player character's cell phone: in ''Steins;Gate'', it is done by choosing to respond to certain messages, make phone calls, or taking out the phone at specific times, as this affects what information the player character learns and how he interacts with other characters; and in ''Steins;Gate 0'', it is done by deciding whether or not to answer the phone at certain times. ''Robotics;Notes'' works similarly to ''Steins;Gate'', but with the player using a tablet computer and its apps instead of a cell phone. ''Anonymous;Code'' has a "Hacking Trigger" where the player can interact with the game at any point to urge the protagonist to use his ability.

Development

The series is planned by Mages's CEO Chiyomaru Shikura, and is developed by Mages, Nitroplus, and Shikura's multimedia concept studio Chiyomaru Studio, the latter of which owns the copyright to the series. Naotaka Hayashi has worked on the series writing, both in the role as a scenario writer and as a scenario supervisor. Recurring character designers include Mutsumi Sasaki (''Chaos;Head'' and ''Chaos;Child'' games), Huke (''Steins;Gate'' games), and Tomonori Fukuda (''Robotics;Notes'' games). The games' soundtracks are composed by Takeshi Abo and Zizz Studio.

Shikura aimed for the series to be set in reality, feeling that it made the stories more relatable and believable; he said that he personally found it difficult to "buy into" fantasy, and that he was not convinced that people could get excited for "exaggerated fantasy stories". Throughout the series, the development team aimed for a rate of "99% science and 1% fantasy". Shikura called the 1989 film ''Back to the Future Part II'' a direct influence on ''Steins;Gate'', citing how it is just believable enough to feel real. For ''Robotics;Notes'', Mages cooperated with JAXA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, to bring further realism to the story. Due to the series' use of worldlines – alternative worlds – the developers make use of a correlation chart to track the events in the games' stories, which is updated whenever they create new entries in the series.

Abo noted that while all the games are part of one series, their sound have different images; comparing them to weather, he called ''Chaos;Head'' rainy, ''Steins;Gate'' cloudy, ''Robotics;Notes'' clear weather, and ''Chaos;Child'' stormy. He used the same process for all of them when composing the music: he started by reading the story, to understand the setting and characters as well as possible, and writing down notes about the games' emotional flow and the situations that occur throughout the stories. Using these notes, he constructed musical worldviews for the games, with a lot of weight on his first impressions. This approach, while slower than just designating songs to different areas of a game, allowed him to compose higher-quality songs with a better relationship to the games' worldviews. He was given a lot of freedom when working on the series, and was able to make the music he wanted to make for it, something he enjoyed greatly. Abo also got to compose each game's theme song, and was especially happy with ''Steins;Gate'' theme song, "Gate of Steiner", which he aimed to represent the entirety of the game with.

Originally, '' Occultic;Nine'' and '' Anonymous;Code'' were intended to be part of a separate series from ''Science Adventure''. The former's original light novels were labeled as a separate ''Paranormal Science NVL'' series. Its visual novel adaptation and ''Anonymous;Code'' were referred to internally as part of the ''Science Visual Novel series'', which was originally announced to be separate from ''Science Adventure'', but has since been incorporated into the series. ''Occultic;Nine'' was planned to be updated with new story content tying it more closely with ''Science Adventure'' with an expanded release titled ''New World'', but those plans were ultimately scrapped.

The ''Science Adventure'' series is partly the child of Infinity, a visual novel series primarily developed by the now-defunct company KID. It contains several references and similar themes, as well as a similar focus on science fiction elements. Some of the staff who worked with KID and the ''Infinity'' series, such as Naotaka Hayashi, Chiyomaru Shikura, and Takeshi Abo, came together to work on ''Chaos;Head'', and later, the rest of the ''Science Adventure'' series.

Reception

The games have also received generally positive reviews, both in Japan and the West. Critics have enjoyed the story, the music and visuals, and the implementation of the gameplay elements within the visual novel presentation, although some have noted how it is complicated and difficult to unlock certain routes. ''Anime News Network'' wrote that the series has well-paced mysteries and uses creative concepts, but that the conclusions often are not as good as the set-ups.

In 2009, ''Steins;Gate'' won ''Famitsu'' annual Game of Excellence award. ''RPGFan'' included ''Steins;Gate'' on a list over the 30 essential role-playing games of 2010–2015, calling it one of the best visual novels on the market. It was also nominated for the Golden Joystick Awards, for best handheld/mobile game of 2015.

In the West, while reviews for the series are generally positive, many of the official English releases for the games have been criticized for their subpar release quality, including mistranslations, inconsistent terminology, and technical issues, among other things. Because of the lacking quality of official releases, a large fan group called the Committee of Zero has worked on patches for most of the games, including massive translation fixes, content restoration, technical fixes, and other miscellaneous additions to improve the player experience. ''Anonymous;Code's'' English release received more praise on this front, being translated by the experienced, long-time ''Science Adventure'' fan Andrew Hodgson, along with a full English dub. However, the price was criticized, as many considered it too be too high for the game's length.

Sales

The ''Science Adventure'' series has been a commercial success for Mages, with the release of ''Chaos;Head'' and ''Steins;Gate'' helping establishing them as a game developer. In June 2011, ''Steins;Gate'' sales passed 300,000 copies sold, something Shikura noted as an achievement for its genre. A year later, he revealed that there had been more than 80,000 preorders for ''Robotics;Notes'', which was a large improvement compared to ''Steins;Gate'' original release. ''Steins;Gate 0'' similarly did well commercially, selling 100,000 copies during its first day, bringing the combined sales of all ''Steins;Gate'' games past one million copies. ''Chaos;Child'' original release, however, failed to chart on Media Create's weekly top 50 sales list in Japan, selling an estimated 1,415 copies.

The English console releases of ''Steins;Gate'' performed "phenomenally" well, with a large majority of the sold copies being of the PlayStation Vita version; according to PQube's head of marketing, Geraint Evans, it was the game that made PQube break through and get noticed as a publisher. ''Steins;Gate Elite'' international PC release was among the best-selling new releases of the month on Steam.

Related media and other appearances

In addition to the games, the series has seen adaptations and spin-offs in several types of media, such as audio dramas, stage plays, light novels, and manga. There are also anime adaptations of all four of the main series games – '' Chaos;Head'' (2008), ''Steins;Gate'' (2011), ''Robotics;Notes'' (2012–13), and '' Chaos;Child'' (2017) – and of ''Occultic;Nine'' (2016), as well as '' Steins;Gate 0'' (2018), a "final route" to the story of ''Steins;Gate 0''. The ''Steins;Gate'' anime series was followed by the anime film '' Load Region of Déjà Vu'' in 2013. A live action ''Steins;Gate'' television series is also in production by Skydance Television. There are several music albums featuring the games' original soundtracks, as well as albums featuring new arrangements.

The ''Steins;Gate'' characters Kurisu Makise and Mayuri Shiina appear in the 2012 role-playing video game '' Nendoroid Generation''. Kurisu also appears as a playable character along with the ''Chaos;Head'' character Rimi Sakihata in the 2011 fighting game '' Phantom Breaker'', and along with the ''Robotics;Notes'' character Frau Koujiro in the 2013 game '' Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds''. Multiple ''Steins;Gate'' characters also appear as bosses in the 2013 role-playing game '' Divine Gate''.

'' Our World is Ended'' is a Japanese science fiction visual novel developed by Red Entertainment and published by PQube in North America and Europe for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Microsoft Windows in 2019. But, this updated version, dubbed ''Judgement 7 - Our World is Ended'' was published by Mages in Japan for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 in 2019. Mages advertises this game as a "Masterpiece for Science Adventure fans".

Notes

References

External links

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{{Science Adventure series

Video games about urban legends
Science fiction video games
Video game franchises introduced in 2008