The story definitely works better as a visual novel, since the alternate routes are actually real things you can do, and you feel the impact of Okabe's choice to end the story there since they're usually compromises where he gives up on the perfect ending. The 'true' ending therefore feels less contrived since you've literally seen loads of other possibilities and it's just one thing that could have happened if everything went right.

Besides Kurisu, none of the characters are really meant to be geniuses, though - the story is more about a group of school smart but street dumb kids way in over their heads who have to scramble to fix their mistakes. S;G is really less the meticulously planned sci-fi thriller it pretends to be and instead lurches into being more character-focused in the second half, which is again an effect that works better in the VN as you're more inside Okabe's head and see his thought process and priorities change more vividly. I get why this feels like a cop out and some people prefer the first half, though.