Patches I wish hadn't been needed

I keep wanting to like Kurisu more than I do. The game writes her as the only person in the room who can shut Okabe down, then spends most of the script using her as his reflector — she pushes back on his bit but rarely gets a scene that isn't about him. Her route patches this a little; the true route patches it more. I wish it hadn't needed patching.

Mayuri is the better test of the script's sincerity. The game asks you to take her seriously as a person worth saving, and it earns that — partly by refusing to turn her into a romance subject. That restraint matters.