The Council – Ep 2: Hide and Seek | Xbox One Review
Our good friend Louis De Richet has returned to continue his quest in finding his mother in the 2nd episode of The Council. If you have not read my review of Episode 1, this series is a playable movie in the style of the Telltale games. In Hide and Seek, the first thing I discovered is two different endings to the first episode, one good and one bad. Unfortunately, I had received the bad ending. With this being said, I plan to play the entire game over again. I want to see if the endings really do have any effect on the overall story.
At the end of the last episode, Louis was left with a small moral issue. This sets into motion the story of the second episode. You are immediately introduced to one of the two new characters: Lord Mortimer himself. After he finally makes his grand entrance, you set out to work with him. You’re still searching for the whereabouts of your mother as well as the reason for her hiding on Mortimer’s Island. From the onset, you begin to understand Mortimer’s hidden agenda. And it’s not a favorable one.
The episode presents you with more investigations that help progress the story. One in particular is a very dark turn for a character from the previous episode. There is nothing new mechanically this time around, however your traits from the last episode will still be there. You’ll now have the ability to unlock more from the skill tree than was available before. There’s no point to resting in order to refill your ability points, forcing you to rely on those one-time-use items.
The puzzles and investigations in The Council‘s second episode are significantly more difficult. I felt frustrated at times, but in a good way. One challenge asks you to discern a combination lock on one side of a door by observing the combination from items in the room. Once you solve the puzzle and enter the room, the door shuts behind. You’ll have to solve the lock again, but this time you only have a couple attempts before you become trapped. Although that sounds like a problem, you’re given a very interesting turn of events if that does happen to you.
The Council Ep 2 Hide and Seek Final Verdict
Much like the last episode, this one also finishes on a rather significant cliffhanger. It seems apparent that your choices over both episodes decide your endings and paths in future episodes. I will highly encourage any fan of the Telltale series or similar games like The Bunker or Late Shift to give this game a try. It is a surprisingly well put together narrative with an RPG skill tree to help you progress. Now to wait till episode 3 to discover more about the The Council.
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
29.99
