Republique Remastered - Episode 5: Terminus Reviews
République is a great five-episode game. I enjoyed all of it, despite some low moments, and I’m floored that it’s all available on mobile. The twist on the stealth genre, effectively providing an excuse for the originally envisioned touch controls, adds a fold to what is typically a lonely adventure for the protagonist in this genre. And as stated, I think the risks Camouflaj took at the end ultimately make for an interesting conversation regarding player and character agency. Still, the story, even with all the additional exposition players can find, is never overwrought and straightforward. It’s a nice adventure to play through, and the choices added to the final episode add replay value I wasn’t expecting. I’m tempted to dive in again.
The epilogue of Camouflaj's Republique forgets about the mediocre God's Acre and tries to catch up with the first three episodes. But two years after the debut many ideas are outdated and the linear level design can't sustain a pleasant progression.
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Releasing five episodes over two years creates problems that are impossible to solve, and trying to work a passable narrative inside a challenging and coherent game was a task too herculean for Republique's development team. An academic interest in Republique, where you can observe a game’s promise before watching it suffocate, may merit some appreciation — but in no way does it meet its intended goals.
The high expectations that I developed after playing through the first three episodes of 'République' have been diminished by 'Terminus'. This is not the denouement I had expected, in terms of gameplay or story. Even so, I think the series as a whole is worth playing. The player just needs to keep in mind that, not unlike many great film series or TV shows, the best entries are in the beginning.
République Episode 5: Terminus is absolutely fantastic from start to near enough the end, and then cripples everything with a horrendous ending that does not wrap anything up, in fact throwing up even more questions than before. After being led along by the intrigue and mystery across the previous four episodes, building up the tension levels as high as possible, no matter how strong the core gameplay is here after the previous episode's dip in quality, the actual lack of direction in its story is so shockingly poor that it leaves a foul taste in the mouth and spoils everything. Ultimately, it is total dissatisfaction, smacking of a team unsure of how to tie up its loose story threads. What a sad way to see out a game with such promise…