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Anyone remember Republique? The last episode is out and boy does it sh*t the bed

AHA-Lambda

AHA-Lambda

Member
Anyone remember Republique?

republique-remastered.jpg


https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/486250632/republique-by-camouflaj-logan
The 5 episode stealth adventure series that launched a Kickstarter campaign back in 2012, aiming to bring AAA quality gaming experiences to iOS. Yeah, that was now 4 years ago, man time flies!

Anyway, that game is now as of today finally complete. In fact it's even out on PS4 today too on disc.
For me at least, the game was always a bit mediocre but generally harmless. The gameplay is ultimately really basic (but it was intended for iOS originally to be fair) acting like a point and click game where you control the main character Hope, moving her between cover to avoid detection as you explore the environment. The game is way too easy as there is no penalty for being caught and the story itself was a total non starter; relegating far too much of it to audio tapes and collectibles. But I'd already bought it and I thought to finish it.

Anyway I just completed the final episode about 20 minutes ago on Steam, and wow, does it sh*t the bed in the story department here. From having almost no noteworth story at all to:

Irrational character motivations and logic
Cheap out of left field revelations
Cheap returns of characters once thought dead
Fake choices (i.e. pick one out of 3 options available. Tough, we'll just pick a 4th one for you)
And a plain unsatisfying finish to the story

I won't go into great detail for a number of reasons, namely that it's so new, and I don't have a great grasp of it myself cos of how poorly told it is, but mostly cos no one will know what I'm talking about out of context cos no one has played this thing!

Steamspy puts it at 25k owners on PC. This is 4 years post-kickstarter and after more than a year of general sale on Steam.
But even more interestingly, the steam forum page for the game today, on the launch of the final episode, is just plain barren. It has 9 new threads - 2 of them were by me.

I want to mention it cos at least to me this is probably the most embarassing, long in the tooth and botched handling of an episodic series I've played, and it's just worth highlighting for that alone. I can't think of a longer episodic release schedule except for perhaps Kentucky Route Zero, which is at least highly critically acclaimed.

Would love to hear some impressions from others who have played it, thoughts from anyone who was maybe going to get it on PS4 (all 4 of you?), and if you think I'm wrong please do call me out!
 
B

BiggNife

Member
One of the few kickstarters I genuinely regret backing. Played like half of the first episode and was bored to tears.
 
G

Grenchel

Member
I think I got the season pass for like a dollar on GOG awhile back. Too bad about the series, it looked sorta interesting.
 
7

7DollarHagane

Banned
It's probably not as simple as all this, but hard to believe he bailed from halo and metal gear for this.

Hopefully they do something better next.
 
AHA-Lambda

AHA-Lambda

Member
IvanJ said:
So you're saying it's not worth $25 on PS4?

Not that I was considering it anyway
Click to expand...

For $25? No.

7DollarHagane said:
It's probably not as simple as all this, but hard to believe he bailed from halo and metal gear for this.

Hopefully they do something better next.
Click to expand...

I may very well be wrong but I just can't imagine this has been a big sales success either though, which is what worries me more =/
 
F

FluxWaveZ

Member
I remember one of the developers talking about it on 8-4 Play. Unfortunately, I wasn't impressed by what I had seen in the GB Quick Look.
 
G

Glix

Member
1. This is why you dont listen to 8-4 when they are talking about something one of their friends are making (they would tell you the same i think lol). They hyped this shit hard and had Ryan on multiple times during the kickstarter days.

2. The amount of crowdfunded games that get feature/size creep are unbelieveable to me. So many of these things are announced as small projects and spiral out of control. This has always annoyed me in the industry, but when it is something crowdfunded with clear scope and goals its insane to me.

Edit - Surprised it hasnt been mentioned yet, game was made by Ryan Payton if i am not mistaken, who had a very high profile role on MGS4 before leaving konami to make this
 
P

Par Score

Member
BiggNife said:
One of the few kickstarters I genuinely regret backing. Played like half of the first episode and was bored to tears.
Click to expand...

Yep, pretty much the only total stinker I've backed.

I got suckered in when they finally, desperately added a PC version to save the up-to-that-point failing KS campaign. Kinda wanted to put my money where my mouth was that this didn't have to be iOS only.

Oh well, $20 or whatever from 4 years ago is literally worthless at this point anyway, so no big loss.
 
S

Sora_N

Member
I googled and could barely find info on the game. I had 60% off for ps4 but I canceled it last week already since I felt it probably sucked.
 
P

Purple Cheeto

Member
Glix said:
1. This is why you dont listen to 8-4 when they are talking about something one of their friends are making (they would tell you the same i think lol). They hyped this shit hard and had Ryan on multiple times during the kickstarter days.

2. The amount of crowdfunded games that get feature/size creep are unbelieveable to me. So many of these things are announced as small projects and spiral out of control. This has always annoyed me in the industry, but when it is something crowdfunded with clear scope and goals its insane to me.

Edit - Surprised it hasnt been mentioned yet, game was made by Ryan Payton if i am not mistaken, who had a very high profile role on MGS4 before leaving konami to make this
Click to expand...

Ryan Payton only had a high profile among nerds on message boards because he was supposedly hand picked by Kojima. He was a podcast runner who got hired as an associate producer and somehow managed to sucker someone in to hiring him as a narrative designer on Halo.

He didn't really work his way up the ladder or stick around any projects long enough to see how to properly scope and run them from start to finish before setting off and kickstarting a game, so it isn't really surprising that the whole thing spiraled out of control.
 
G

Glix

Member
Purple Cheeto said:
Ryan Payton only had a high profile among nerds on message boards because he was supposedly hand picked by Kojima. He was a podcast runner who got hired as an associate producer and somehow managed to sucker someone in to hiring him as a narrative designer on Halo.

He didn't really work his way up the ladder or stick around any projects long enough to see how to properly scope and run them from start to finish before setting off and kickstarting a game, so it isn't really surprising that the whole thing spiraled out of control.
Click to expand...

Huh thats very interesting.

I only said his role was high profile ;-)
 
R

ramoisdead

Member
I won a Steam key for this game. It sucks to hear it's bad but now I kind of interested in playing it to see for myself how bad the story is.
 
S

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
The Republique KS probably shouldn't have happened. When it launched there was a very strong signal that there was not demand for this product from this team. The team mounted a VERY aggressive campaign including lots of promises that materially altered the scope of the project (especially the PC port) and tons and tons of networking to get famous people to promote the thing. It just barely made its goal in the end--something that almost always means it undershot the actual amount of money the team needed. The damning thing isn't that the game took so long to be made, but how little reaction there was from the very beginning. It seems like many people who were interested during the KS either never played the game or played a few minutes of the first episode. The feedback is not negative, it's just indifferent. The resulting PC launch really hasn't moved the needle at all. It's a bummer, but I think this is maybe one of the reasons why KS's all-or-nothing funding model can actually be good: by signalling the developers that their project needs a rethink or they need more experience. I can think of a few other KSes that have similarly had to pull out all of the stops to brutally slog to the bare minimum goal, and most of them have had bad development trouble (Indivisible is one that seems to be a bit of an exception).

How did Amplitude console turn out?
 
AHA-Lambda

AHA-Lambda

Member
Totally forgot about Amplitude! Damn that's actually a really spot on comparison :eek:

As always your posts just hit the nail on the head :p
 
PulseONE

PulseONE

Member
I finished the first episode on Android, but really couldn't be bothered to start the second one.

It seemed like it had some interesting ideas, but it felt like I had to slog through too much to get to them
 
R

Rodney McKay

Member
I think I actually own the entire game through some pricing error on iOS (it was the full game for like $1 or $5 or something, but I've never played any of it.

I think I heard that if I wanted to play it at this point I'm required to download EVERY episode at once on the iOS version, which apparently means I need 6-8GBs from what I heard in the other thread about this final release.

At the best of times I only have about 3-5 GBs free on my 32GB iPad Mini (I have about two folder pages worth of games), so unless I delete stuff that I actually plan to download this, I won't even be able to try it.
 
D

DigiMish

Member
Pretty crazy that you guys are so down on the game.

I thought the gameplay was solid - at its core, it's a stealth game with good level layouts and guard patrol paths - which is what you want in a stealth game.

The simplicity that a lot of the people talk about comes from there not being too many tools or guns for you to use - but it has some like the taser/pepper spray or even the underused mines.

Control method is unique on PC at least - you don't control the hero directly - but instead change views from various camera angles and direct her from there.

Story is enjoyable - it's set in a Dystopian world and has got some great characters, with good voicework. Most of the story requires you to listen to listen to tapes though, but there's some great world building as well.

Game is a looker too once they upgraded it to Unity 5.

I would definitely recommend you guys give it a try for just $25. Curious to see how the game feels now that you can control the hero directly in the console version. The game is unique - there's not really anything out there that feels like it.
 
R

Remembrance

Member
I want to download the whole thing on iOS, just because all the discussions about this game past chapter 2 are pretty much... non-discussions due to the hassle of just obtaining or playing it. The last thread didn't make it past page 2.

But the promise of the remaining chapters being mediocre just kills the desire to do that. (Plus the need to replay the first two chapters. Because chapter 2 had that first big decision that was supposed to matter later on.)
 
R

RomanticHeroX

Member
Nothing about it ever sounded appealing, nor did it ever seem like a product anybody actually wanted. I've never played any of it, but it sure seems nobody is particularly thrilled with it now that it's finally limping across the goal. The only thing that really comes to mind thinking about it is the endless plugging on podcasts (mostly 8-4) from people who were friends with the dev.
 
R

Reedirect

Member
Damn, I was actually one of the few excited about the PS4 release. With all episodes coming out after such a long period of time, I assume most, if not all, players on mobile lost interest. Cases like this remind me why I'm still hesitant to admit that I actually really like episodic gaming, because waiting for 2+ years for a complete story is just ridiculous.

How "Remastered" is the PS4/PC version anyway? Any considerable updates over mobile?
 
E

epmode

Member
Stumpokapow said:
How did Amplitude console turn out?
Click to expand...

Virtually unplayable with the PS4 controller's squishy triggers. Some people manage with other control schemes, I actively dislike everything I tried.

Also, the music isn't nearly as catchy as the other games either but I suppose I might have changed my mind if I enjoyed playing.
 
deriks

deriks

4-Time GIF/Meme God
I bought the first chapter, played like an hour or somthing and stopped because it's boring as hell
 
L

LukasTaves

Member
I backed this, for some reason they never sent me my key, and when I heard the first impressions I just stopped trying to get me to send one XD
 
Certinty

Certinty

Member
PS4 improvements look rather good now being able to control the character as well?

Don't really care if the story sucks but if the gameplay itself works it looks like something I'll enjoy.
 
S

sarcoa

Member
I just finished episode 5.

I don't know if the ending was poorly constructed, or if my memories of the characters and their respective motivations was deluded by two years of time and hundreds of other games but I have no idea why anything happened. The game went to being a stylish ode to dystopian literature to an hastily assembled mash up of science fiction and questionable storytelling decisions. It probably would have been better, or at least more effective, had I consumed it all at once, but I'm not even sure the game's worth a second look.
 
R

ryseing

Member
Stumpokapow said:
How did Amplitude console turn out?
Click to expand...

I enjoyed it and am glad it got made + spent the money on it, but it was very barebones (no online play) and the soundtrack was kinda weak. The inhouse stuff was good but the licensed stuff left much to be desired. I'd pay for DLC but it doesn't look like that is going to happen with Harmonix's current financial state.

I also coincidentally happened to back Republique and am kinda bummed I did. The concept was really cool, but I ended up getting rid of my iOS device that I was intending to play it on and was not impressed by the PC release. Might get it on PS4 one of these days whenever it goes on stupid cheap sale.
 
P

Parham

Banned
Given the game's sales numbers, I wonder how Camouflaj has stayed solvent. Have they raised funding recently?
 
C

crazygambit

Member
DigiMish said:
Pretty crazy that you guys are so down on the game.

I thought the gameplay was solid - at its core, it's a stealth game with good level layouts and guard patrol paths - which is what you want in a stealth game.

The simplicity that a lot of the people talk about comes from there not being too many tools or guns for you to use - but it has some like the taser/pepper spray or even the underused mines.

Control method is unique on PC at least - you don't control the hero directly - but instead change views from various camera angles and direct her from there.

Story is enjoyable - it's set in a Dystopian world and has got some great characters, with good voicework. Most of the story requires you to listen to listen to tapes though, but there's some great world building as well.

Game is a looker too once they upgraded it to Unity 5.

I would definitely recommend you guys give it a try for just $25. Curious to see how the game feels now that you can control the hero directly in the console version. The game is unique - there's not really anything out there that feels like it.
Click to expand...

Ryan is that you?

Jesus, just $25? $25 to try a game that's getting completely panned seems like a bit much.
 
D

daegan

Member
I finished the first chapter, and was happy to back it, but I never played the rest. I think I'll start it over now that everything is out.

I think, though, I would've rather had what they originally envisioned and that was a game truly designed for mobile. It's a shame there are so few of those, and I do think expanding to PC (and consoles, now) spread the team too thin.

Super excited for whatever they do next, though. I think Ryan "gets" a lot of how to plan for a single-player experience in ways that not everyone does (Halo 4 -> Halo 5 is a huge example of this, the latter being like a wet blanket for one player.)
 
A

ArjanN

Member
I was only halfway the third episode, but I thought it was pretty OK so far.

You can really see the Resident Evil/MGS inspirations (even if the game actually feels more like a point and click adventure, mostly because the penalty for stealth is low)

You're right in that most of the story in the audio tapes/notes etc. but it's not bad, David Hayter does a pretty good job as a paranoid revolutionist.
 
N

No_Style

Member
I backed this and it was one of the titles that just soured me on Kickstarting games. The first episode was such a let down that just didn't give a damn about the rest.

Now, I only back established devs and no more rag tag groups.
 
A

AgentOtaku

Member
Stumpokapow said:
The Republique KS probably shouldn't have happened. When it launched there was a very strong signal that there was not demand for this product from this team. The team mounted a VERY aggressive campaign including lots of promises that materially altered the scope of the project (especially the PC port) and tons and tons of networking to get famous people to promote the thing. It just barely made its goal in the end--something that almost always means it undershot the actual amount of money the team needed. The damning thing isn't that the game took so long to be made, but how little reaction there was from the very beginning. It seems like many people who were interested during the KS either never played the game or played a few minutes of the first episode. The feedback is not negative, it's just indifferent. The resulting PC launch really hasn't moved the needle at all. It's a bummer, but I think this is maybe one of the reasons why KS's all-or-nothing funding model can actually be good: by signalling the developers that their project needs a rethink or they need more experience. I can think of a few other KSes that have similarly had to pull out all of the stops to brutally slog to the bare minimum goal, and most of them have had bad development trouble (Indivisible is one that seems to be a bit of an exception).

How did Amplitude console turn out?
Click to expand...

Nailed it

I was always amazed about the amount of indifference there was to this
 
T

Tapejara

Member
ArjanN said:
I was only halfway the third episode, but I thought it was pretty OK so far.

You can really see the Resident Evil/MGS inspirations (even if the game actually feels more like a point and click adventure, mostly because the penalty for stealth is low)

You're right in that most of the story in the audio tapes/notes etc. but it's not bad, David Hayter does a pretty good job as a paranoid revolutionist.
Click to expand...

Wait, this game was by one of the MGS4 producers and has Hayter involved? I'm surprised I never payed attention to it before - though something about Hayter's involvement does sound familiar.

Might pick up the PS4 version when I can find it cheap.
 
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