One of the most critically praised visual novels on the market has arrived for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita in North America. PQube and 5pb Games announced that PlayStation gamers can get their hands on the visual novel and experience one of the most talked about pieces of fiction to come out of the genre.

The visual novel follows scientist Okabe Rintaro. It deviates from the original, putting gamers in an alternate time line where Rintaro failed to save the life of his one true love, Makise Kurisu. After she died Rintaro falls into deep depression and he leaves behind his research into time travel, prompting for catastrophic events to unfold with World War III looming in the near future.

Saving humanity becomes too burdensome for Rintaro to bear, and he can’t get over Kurisu until an AI known as “Amadeus” offers him some hope through some old research. Rintaro is then tasked with discovering more about Amadeus while facing off against the dark forces of the beta universe.

There’s a trailer that you can check out below, offering a quick look at some of the cast of characters you’ll meet and what the visual presentation of Steins; Gate 0 is like.

The visual novel genre has really taken off this last generation, especially on PC. It started with the emergence of the genre in Japan and then quickly found an audience in Western regions as well.

The eroge visual novels helped introduce a lot of people to the genre, especially with Winged Cloud and Sekai Project giving English speaking gamers a reason to be excited about the alternate choose-your-own-adventure stories. However, a lot of gamers became aware of the under-the-radar style of interactive storytelling and began exploring more fringe and deeply woven stories put together within the visual novel space. Steins; Gate and Clannad were two visual novels that really stood out, opening the pathway for them to begin popping up in the mainstream arenas.

Now we have visual novels appearing regularly on the PS Vita and PS4. You can pick up a digital or physical copy of Steins; Gate 0 for only $39.99 on PS Vita and $59.99 for the PS4. You can learn more about it by visiting the official Steins; Gate Facebook community.