Duhuhu... I'm getting wet.

Robotics;Notes shifts between slice-of-life chapters featuring sports-anime-like robot building, and chapters focused on unraveling a mystery that feels in-line with mysteries of other Science;Adventure titles. The cast sits right behind Steins;Gate in terms of likeability, however the story starts to lose me towards the end, where it starts to reach the power of friendship and action flick levels that never quite resonated with me in any Sci;Adv game.

What immediately stands out is the presentation which features 3D models instead of static character sprites. They do feel awkward to watch at first, but you can get used to them over time and even enjoy the silly charm of some of the animations. The artstyle in CGs can also look a bit off at times, mostly in how the character faces are drawn.

The visual novel also features some interactive elements, similar to the phone mechanic in Steins;Gate. There is a fighting video game, during which you have to input the correct buttons at the correct time, an environment inspecting tool and Twitter. All of which matter when it comes to unlocking specific character routes. Unfortunately, the system is just as obscure and annoying to deal with as in Steins;Gate or VNs in general and you are better off just consulting a guide.

A weird aspect of the character routes is that they all happen pretty much chronologically one after another, which makes me wonder why not just ditch the route unlocking mechanic in the first place.

Coming back to the story, the beginning can feel very slow, as Sci;Adv games and visual novels in general tend to do. The main heroine Akiho is pretty good at carrying and driving the story forward while you slowly start to enjoy the rest of the cast as well. The main hero, Kaito, on the other hand, starts off quite annoying as a generally apathetic and boring guy. There is a reason for that and he gets a bit better later on, but it can be a struggle to follow the story, since a lot of it is told through his perspective.

What is pretty unique to the storytelling in Robotics;Notes is that it shifts perspectives quite frequently, which is a first for the Science;Adventure games. This helps keep things interesting and fresh as the story slowly starts to unravel and merge both the slice of life and mystery thriller halves. I did not enjoy the more action focused ending, which by now is the norm for me with this franchise. The conclusion of Steins;Gate remains pretty much the only Sci;Adv ending I have thoroughly enjoyed, as it felt more small and personal instead of a sudden growth in scope.

Overall, Robotics;Notes is a pretty good mix of slice of life and mystery, supported by a likeable cast and presented in a new, unusual, but charming in its own sort of way, 3D character model approach.

Thorough and interesting story, great characters, cool world. Don't skip out on this SciADV