Unfortunately, not every aspect of the translation seems to have been done well. It seems as though the chapter titles were effectively untranslated, going under the same names as the pseudo-English on the title cards. A prime example of this is “Fugue of Ruin End,” one of the chapters in Suzuha’s routes—contrary to how it might seem, this isn’t actually the final chapter of the route.

The game’s script also has typos here and there, and occasionally, some Japanese-specific text such as “ktkr” or “otsu” are left unlocalized. To make up for this, however, the meaning of these terms are explained in the Tips List. If I were to compare this translation to the other games’, I’d say the that it’s better than Linear Bounded Phenogram’s, but below the original Steins;Gate’s.

Given the nature of how the game diverges from the original, it’s quite hard to consider this game canon. That being said, it does introduce the fact that Okabe’s family are greengrocers, which was later used in canon titles, so certain details do make it over. Like Phenogram, these details help build the world of Steins;Gate in small ways. The routes are generally good, although some are clearly better written than others. My personal highlights were the Faris and Mayuri routes, and to my surprise, Luka’s route as well. I never quite liked Luka’s characterization in the original visual novel, but My Darling’s Embrace has greatly improved my outlook on his character.

The routes generally follow a formula of one gag or plot point becoming the focus the entire route. A good example of this is the recurring gag that Moeka is bad at cleaning, or Luka’s training with Okabe. There was one route that had me annoyed at how full of themselves the character was, as it felt completely out of character for said character, but the other routes completely sucked me in and immersed me like any good fiction should do. My Darling’s Embrace is by no means a standalone entry, though. Having read Steins;Gate or Steins;Gate Elite is a must, and due to some heavy referencing in one of the routes, previous experience with the Chaos;Head visual novel is also ideal.