I backed Republique when it was on Kickstarter, and then when it was being pitched as an iOS-exclusive title. It was, I thought, just what the platform needed: a high production value game with a strong narrative, gorgeous graphics, and tense gameplay…basically everything that most iOS games are not. I’ll even admit that I was actually a bit miffed when the developers promised a PC release of the game in a last-ditch (and ultimately successful) effort to actually reach their crowdfunding goal.

Republique was released for iOS first, and in fact it is already on its…third chapter, if memory serves, on that platform. It’s a very fun game to play, though not overly lengthy. But the gameplay is solid and very stealth-oriented, and the story is engaging and often riveting. And the voice cast — which includes David Hayter and Jennifer Hale — is top-tier.

But that’s not what this post is about. This post — something of a mea culpa, really — is to say that I’m certainly not miffed at what the results of of porting the game to PC have been: Republique Remastered (also available on Steam) is an excellent enhancement of the game, and indeed almost feels like a new game in and of itself (as opposed to just a port of a mobile game with better textures). Camouflaj did an excellent job of reworking the game’s control scheme for the dekstop…and, yes, they also enhanced the graphics considerably.

There’s also a Deluxe Edition upgrade available, which might well be worth checking out: in addition to the game’s soundtrack, it includes two prototype games — Human Condition and Vertical Slice — that show off the iterative design that Republique underwent.

Okay, that’s enough of that for now. I’ll post something Ultima-related later.