The hit sci-fi visual novel from Japan Robotics;Notes Elite will be coming to the North American and European markets in 2020, as announced by worldwide publisher Spike Chunsoft during the 2019 Anime Expo.
For those who do not know, Robotics;Notes Elite is a video game developed by 5pb. It falls under the popular Science Adventure series of visual novels and is the third main game in the franchise. Originally released only in Japan as Robotics;Notes, the visual novel was first available on the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360. Its 2014 PlayStation Vita release saw the addition of Elite in its title, along with a few improvements on the original game. The 2020 release for the west will be receiving the same game with its Japanese voiceover, but with English text.
The game starts off in a robot club in Central Tanegashima Highschool. You play as Kaito Yashio, a member of the robot club who is addicted to a fighting game called Kill-Ballad. The only other member in the robotics club is Akiho Senomiya, who also serves as chairman of the organization. Despite her attempts to persuade Kaito to help her with her ultimate goal of completing a life-sized robot called Gan-tsuku, he’d much rather play video games all day.
In this universe, advanced technology is everywhere thanks to device called PhoneDroid which features augmented reality. Through a chance encounter, Kaito stumbles upon a mysterious A.R. annotation titled “Kimijima Report”. It contains instructions involving locations all over Tanegashima Island, which inevitably leads them to discover a conspiracy spanning the entire world. Through your travels, you will meet a number of colorful characters that help you in your quest, such as resident mechanic Subaru Hidaka and brilliant computer programmer Frau Koujiro.
The game follows the usual visual novel game format, with point and click controls and multiple-choice conversations that shape the storylines and dictate the endings for you and the characters around you. The announcement trailer released for PlayStation 4 on their official YouTube channel looked more like an anime opening rather than a video game trailer, so you’re not missing much. In the title card, there was a paragraph that made no sense except for its last line which was lifted from classic poem “Invictus”
“The science itself may prove cynical. However, one mustn’t forget that there is a scientific element in all things. The important truth is this: I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.”
Robotics;Notes Elite will release on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PC via Steam by 2020. Its direct sequel, Robotics;Notes DaSH, will follow suit in late 2020.
