The Council – Ep 1: “The Mad Ones” | Xbox One Review
I know what you are thinking to yourself: here’s another throwaway narrative adventure. But The Council, from developer Big Bad Wolf, might actually surprise you. The game’s first episode, “The Mad Ones”, takes place in 1793 on an island owned by a mysterious man named Lord Mortimer. Louis de Richet and his mother Sarah belong to an enigmatic group called The Golden Order. Louis learns that Sarah has disappeared while conducting research on Mortimer. Upon his arrival, Louis meets an assortment of characters with ties to his mother and Lord Mortimer. These characters are all figures from history, ranging from George Washington to Napoleon Bonaparte. As Louis, you complete tasks for each of these familiar faces and unravel the mystery surrounding Sarah’s disappearance. Your conversations suggest something is awry and that Louis’ mother may have suffered a horrible fate.
The Council sets itself apart from other narrative adventures by including an RPG leveling system to the mix. When the game begins, you choose one of three classes, each with a unique skill set: Diplomat, Occultist, or Detective. Each chapter of the episode allows a certain amount of “actions” to spend on special abilities unique to each class. Once they’re gone, your character must rely solely on intuition, which can make for extremely difficult conversations.
Each class has it’s own distinct advantage. Choosing the Detective grants you problem-solving skills like unlocking safes or gaining additional information. The Occultist has knowledge of ancient languages to translate notes left by characters to ally people to your cause. Lastly, the Diplomat uses political knowledge to pry information in order to sway others to your favor.
You also have access to several items. Some help you advance through the skill trees or refresh the amount of skill points that you have during each chapter of the episode. Others guarantee success during your decision-making moments, but those are obviously in short supply. There is one drawback to these items, however. If you use too many, your character begins to suffer from negative effects that deter the item’s usefulness.
There is also a mechanic called the Social Influence system, which is how you manipulate characters during conversation. You can use characters fears or weaknesses against them to pull additional information. Each decision you make in the game, however, has lasting effects throughout the game. While learning a certain character’s weakness may be helpful, it can backfire if different characters also learn what you have. Also, if you use their fears against them, characters won’t be as willing to help you in the future. These effects transfer to later episodes, so each decision has implications on your relationships with each character down the road.
The sets and design of the game are dark and brooding when they need to be, yet light and relaxing at other times. I do appreciate how the developers placed you in a late 1700’s castle, but at times some items are hard to see because of the lighting. The characters themselves all are well designed, but I do have to gripe about a couple of the facial designs and features. The butler, for instance, has a face that just doesn’t seem to fit.
The Council: “The Mad Ones” Final Verdict
Although this is only the first episode, The Council definitely has me hooked and wanting more. Other narrative games reward you with a full set of achievements upon completing the story once. This game wants you to instead play again and again. I am already clamoring for the next episode to release, because I am excited to see where this story takes me.
This review is based of of an Xbox One review copy provided by Big Bad Wolf Studio, Focus Home Interactive and Evolve PR for coverage purposes.
The Council - Episode 1: "The Mad Ones"
Pros
- Compelling Narrative
- Clever RPG Mechanics
- Recognizable Historical Figures
Cons
- Difficult-To-See Items
- Odd Character Models
