After putting it off for so long, I finally finished reading Steins;Gate (for a second time).
Before its Steam release I did play through it once, reaching the Mayuri end as I didn't have a guide. That was the first time I attempted to read something in Japanese only.
After the Steam release on 2016-09-09, I set about playing through it with a guide this time. But for various reasons the 43 hours in total that I spent on this play through has spanned over 4 years, from 2016-09-11 all the way to 2021-05-31.
Now onto finishing Steins;Gate 0. I couldn't find a guide as detailed as the one that I used for S;G (but I did still find a pretty good guide), so I might even make my own map after I finish reading it.
Some stuff I just realized
(Spoilers.)
In chapter 10 (on the Kurisu route), I didn't realize that after Okabe remembered Kurisu would be dead back in the β-worldline, he actually tried to continue to time leap to save Mayuri, and only gave up after perhaps a hundred attempts.
This part is sort of brushed over in the monologue. He mentions:
- Hiring body guards to protect Mayuri
- Borrowing a ton of money and “escaping to South America” (in a day??)
- Forcing his university's hospital to admit Mayuri despite her being completely healthy so that she can get help immediately if her heart fails
as well as other attempts. He didn't just say “oh well I guess I have no choice, bye bye Kurisu”, he did try and then fail.
This might also explain why he'd be so hesitant to go with Suzuha a second time and time travel to save Kurisu once he's back in the β-worldline, as in his perspective he had just failed not once, but perhaps a hundred times trying to fight destiny.
Another detail I cared about but ultimately probably isn't that important is that he actually did tell Mayuri everything before he jumps to β.