Cross-posting this here from the iOS thread since I ended up writing more than I expected:
Completed Republique yesterday. I had to replay to get the Exordium achievement because when I beat the game the first time I had no internet signal and it didn't register.
Beating the game again on NG+ doesn't trigger it either. Thankfully the second run was quick since I didn't scan almost anything and had already memorized all areas when I was going after collectibles.
Really enjoyed it, great game with well-rounded, albeit simple, stealth mechanics. Cooper is what really sold the intriguing setting and story to me though, by far the best character and the mix of deadpan humor, the emoticon faces and text-to-speech voice was lovely. The books and game cartridges were cool and I actively wanted to get them all to listen to everything. Having an in-game character giving impressions of games that actually exist was a very nice touch.
Looking forward to the rest of the episodes, and I'm curious to what they'll do in regards to the gameplay in order to keep it fresh for 4 more. I'm glad I played it on the iPhone, made for an interesting experience and it was a surprisingly good pick-up-and-play game for shorter sessions. The one-touch gameplay works very well after you get used to proper camera positioning before making Hope move. I'm not sure how it will translate to the PC version as far as being engaging goes though, I'm guessing they'll have to change some things.
I appreciate how polished everything felt. Even without listening to the commentaries (I only did it after beating it once, as I had them turned off on the first go) it's noticeable how they have a solid plan and aren't trying to throw too many things at the wall to see what sticks.
Amusing to see GAF mentioned like that on episode 0 of the making of too, haha.