The Council - Episode 1: The Mad Ones

 PlayStation 4
Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 27 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 27
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 27
  3. Negative: 0 out of 27
  1. Playstation Official Magazine UK
    May 9, 2018
    70
    This mysterious mish-mash doesn't always work but nonetheless has my interest piqued and keeps my ears pricked up for the next bit of juicy gossip. [May 2018, p.94]
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  2. Eurogamer Italy
    Apr 11, 2018
    70
    The first episode of The Council sets the basis for an interesting adventure game, which cleverly uses some of the classic gameplay elements of RPGs. If in the next few episodes the narrative structure becomes more malleable, we will have to deal with a small masterpiece of the genre.
  3. PlayStation Country
    Mar 22, 2018
    70
    An impressively realised branching adventure game where your choices carry genuine weight. The first episode of The Council is well worth playing and we look forward to subsequent episodes.
  5. GameCrate
    Mar 20, 2018
    70
    Despite my frustrations with its shortcomings, I want to see where The Council leads me, and if it manages to deliver a narrative payoff in spite of itself.
  6. SpazioGames
    Mar 15, 2018
    70
    The Council: The Mad Ones is a good start. Adding RPG elements in a classic adventure game is a very good idea, but there's something wrong in the reactions. Also, the graphics are outdated.
  7. Gameblog.fr
    Mar 13, 2018
    70
    This first episode takes its time to introduce the plot of the Council as well as the RPG mechanics. They suit the narrative genre very well, allowing the player to follow its own path through the choices of the game.
  8. God is a Geek
    Mar 13, 2018
    60
    The opening episode isn’t exactly the most gripping of affairs, as this slow burning, political drama takes a while to get going and isn’t helped by poor presentation and dull puzzles. But there is potential here for an interesting story to be told in future episodes.
  9. GamesRadar+
    Mar 13, 2018
    60
    Despite its promising new mechanics that make conversation a game of strategy, the interaction between its characters lets The Council episode one down.
  10. Push Square
    Mar 13, 2018
    60
    The Council has impressive ambitions – even if its execution is not up to scratch. You’ll already know whether its alternate history backdrop appeals to you, but it’s the RPG elements that threaten to disrupt the narrative genre. We already like what this series is doing, but the writing and voice acting leaves a little to be desired. That said, this is a solid start, even if it is a bit too early to come to any conclusions about the overall story just yet.
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  1. TheSixthAxis
    Mar 13, 2018
    The Mad Ones’ episode lays the foundation of a potentially intriguing mystery narrative, part An Inspector Calls, part Murder on the Orient Express. The Social Influence system, if implemented well through the rest of the episodes, really could be a game changer for narrative adventures, evolving a genre that has needed fresh ideas for a while.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
7.5

Generally favorable reviews- based on 48 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 34 out of 48
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 48
  3. Negative: 7 out of 48
  1. gavin786
    Jan 25, 2019
    10
    Great Game-I hope the publisher makes a lot more, much better than Telltale Games' offerings. Fantastic game, intriguing, fantasticGreat Game-I hope the publisher makes a lot more, much better than Telltale Games' offerings. Fantastic game, intriguing, fantastic mechanics, great plot!… Full Review »
  2. SuperkenGaming
    Mar 13, 2018
    6
    The Council
    off the a rough Start
    The council is a narrative focused episodic adventure game, this game will eventually have 5 episodes, but    The Council
    off the a rough Start
    The council is a narrative focused episodic adventure game, this game will eventually have 5 episodes, but at the time of this review there is only one.
    Episode 1 the mad ones took me around 2 and a half hours to complete and is a very slow start.
    The game starts in the year 1793, you play a Louis de Richet, a member of a secret society...
    You’re invited to a private island off of the shores of England, but your mother is nowhere to be found...
    You spend the game trying to get information and find her.
    In hindsight, this is a pretty intriguing story being set up...
    There’s a secret society… historical figures like my homie George Washington are around, you have these crazy that’s so raven visions where you’re looking through the eyes of different characters that will randomly hit you..
    There’s tons of mystery and historical artifacts and paintings... creepy and intriguing characters…
    it’s just the delivery of this game is so slow, that instead of feeling like you’re immersed in history...
    You feel as though you’re immersed in a history lecture...
    The game doesn’t start to get exciting until its final chapter in this episode...
    The other chapters are so sluggish and boring.
    The gameplay features pretty light adventure aspects, I enjoyed these short breaks to solve a puzzle, theyre not hard enough to make you look up a guide, but enough to make you stop and think... and stopping to think is important as every action made in this game has consequences...
    For example I was trying to decipher a code and by trying everything I could, I ruined half of a clue, so I had to do a later puzzle in the game the hard way, with logic and trial and error…
    There’s also an effort system in this game...
    Effort depletes by mental and physical choices within the game
    There’s a high focus here on psychology, it’s all about manipulation, deceit, and attention to detail…
    You’ll get points based off of actions you complete during a chapter and at that chapters end you can dump your skill points in different skills to unlock more dialog choices during a confrontation, our youll have the ability to unlock doors and boxes, or level up your skills so that your choices consume less effort,
    You have to choose carefully when to go for a statement or question that consumes a lot of your effort as it is limited in each chapter.. Though there are consumables to partially refill it…
    But some situations and confrontations might not be as important to you as others...
    so you’ll choose to let information go and save your refills for later if you need them…
    Characters also remember your choices from earlier, so you’ll have a penalty while speaking to them, making it hard to squeeze info out of them.. But things can be made easier by making observations during dialog scenes or conversations... as you can find a psychological weakness or immunity... the dutchess for example like most women is immune to logic. And the butler characters has a weakness when it comes to being questioned.
    The system here sounds pretty complicated, and it kind of is...
    it almost takes you out of the moment as you’re trying to shift conversations but thinking of consumables and how much effort you have left...
    It makes it hard to pay attention to a story that by itself is so slow at the start that it’s hard to pay attention to on its own..
    But by the end the characters started to pull me in and I’m decently excited to see where this story goes... though I’m not dying for the next episode.
    Though depending on your choices, other characters might be.
    I give the council Episode 1 the mad ones a 6/10    … Full Review »
  3. Saeed9020
    Apr 29, 2023
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view. The game is nice but there is more than one challenges so difficult it's not difficult sometimes be impossible like skills development system if u r developing wrong skill then no way open door or box so u have to repeat chapter which be disappointing.
    Ingenral i recommended it for just patient players.    … Full Review »
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