The Council - Episode 1: The Mad Ones

 Xbox One
User Score
7.9

Generally favorable reviews- based on 25 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 25
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 25
  3. Negative: 2 out of 25

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  1. 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 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    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    … Expand
  2. Yannyvideos
    Mar 13, 2018
    9
    After playing the first episode i am extremely excited to play the rest of the season. I have been following this game for a little while and was counting down the days to its release. It does not disappoint. I am a fan of the Tell Tale games and this is slightly similar in play style but they add so many awesome elements to it. I feel this should be more of a standard for future narrativeAfter playing the first episode i am extremely excited to play the rest of the season. I have been following this game for a little while and was counting down the days to its release. It does not disappoint. I am a fan of the Tell Tale games and this is slightly similar in play style but they add so many awesome elements to it. I feel this should be more of a standard for future narrative games. With the RPG element and the story can branch in many different directions depending on your choice. The replay value in this game is extremely high. I find myself playing this over and over just to see different conversations and different arks on the story. The story also pulls you in right from the start and with the different types of characters i found myself relating and caring for each in there own way. This is a developer i will be watching to see what great works they release in the future.… Expand
  3. Nobilis1984
    May 10, 2018
    5
    First I want to pronounce for the moment a praise. Telltale Games und Co. need competition. The first work these developers promises a lot of potential.
    Now the big doubt:
    Unfortunately, on this way it does not work. The graphics must become better and the animations are smoother. Concerning the contents all that fits. To me personally these are too many role play elements. But one    First I want to pronounce for the moment a praise. Telltale Games und Co. need competition. The first work these developers promises a lot of potential.
    Now the big doubt:
    Unfortunately, on this way it does not work. The graphics must become better and the animations are smoother. Concerning the contents all that fits. To me personally these are too many role play elements. But one cannot make it to any right.
    Hence, to 5/10 points    … Expand
  4. GReviews
    Apr 30, 2018
    8
    Ultimately what Big Bad Wolf have managed to pull off here is most definitely the right step for the genre. They have added a depth to the game play with the new additions and made this sort of game exciting again. Something which I believe Telltale lost in the end. The story telling, curve balls and mystery surrounding the story makes you want to keep playing and in fact buy the nextUltimately what Big Bad Wolf have managed to pull off here is most definitely the right step for the genre. They have added a depth to the game play with the new additions and made this sort of game exciting again. Something which I believe Telltale lost in the end. The story telling, curve balls and mystery surrounding the story makes you want to keep playing and in fact buy the next chapter. There is work to be done in the way of voice acting, lip syncing and a couple of mechanics to iron out here and there. But Big Bad Wolf have hit the ground running and I for one can’t wait for the next instalment.… Expand
  5. IndigoVox
    Mar 18, 2018
    9
    A great start for a new episodic series. I was a big fan of the Telltale games and this is a great evolution on episodic storytelling. It's the RPG elements that i really enjoy here, enriching the story and encouraging additional playthroughs by teasing you with things you could have done and skills you could have advanced to see different parts of the story. Looking forward to episode 2.
  6. AverageZebra
    May 21, 2020
    8
    This game will absolutely get mixed reactions as it may not be everyone's cup of tea. Not for me though. Although it must be said Episode One is a gripping introduction to a game that not that many will play, and that is the truth. My only hope for this game and the developers note the following: "Never put your eggs in your first episode. Several choice and story based games fall intoThis game will absolutely get mixed reactions as it may not be everyone's cup of tea. Not for me though. Although it must be said Episode One is a gripping introduction to a game that not that many will play, and that is the truth. My only hope for this game and the developers note the following: "Never put your eggs in your first episode. Several choice and story based games fall into this trap, they make an amazing first episode and then its all downhill form there, thinking the story gets better but no".
    In general, the game seems to be turning into a several-playthrough classic if you make it to be. The branching story, diverse, the characters, mysterious, the setting, eerily satisfying and finally the skill based gameplay, fresh, new and nothing short of inventive. The game punishes you for everything, constantly pointing out that you have missed a detail in someone's speech simply because you chose a different skill at the beginning of the game. I played the episode and so did my brother, and there were moments where we were discussing the choices we made and neither of us had any idea what either of us was talking about. There will be consequences to your choices. I believe this episode to be a 7.5 to start with but Metacritic scores 7 as a Mixed review, and I sincerely believe this to be a very good 7.5, a well deserved 7.5. I hope the coming episodes will surpass the thrill of The Mad Ones. Good Job Devs.    … Expand
  7. neomoonsevin
    Nov 26, 2022
    10
    i think this is great point and click exploration game first time playing good game
  8. emre-kumas
    Mar 18, 2023
    8
    Awesome story with multiple branches, every moment in the game there are some different things to do and it all depends on your skills. Leading conversations, persuading napoleon (or anyone) on a matter, etc. were fun things for me. I love the game but heard other episodes are not at this level. Still, I recommend it to anyone interested in politics and detective games. The story is captivating.

Awards & Rankings

52
#52 Best Xbox One Game of 2018
78
#78 Most Discussed Xbox One Game of 2018
54
#54 Most Shared Xbox One Game of 2018

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
79

Generally favorable reviews - based on 10 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 10
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 10
  3. Negative: 0 out of 10
  1. Cubed3
    Jan 7, 2019
    70
    With a dialogue-skill tree system, there is enough reasons to replay these episodes using different approaches to generate new endings or forks in the story, though the inability to skip cut-scenes makes this a grind. However, this is a great start from Big Bad Wolf, and the wait for future episodes is made a lot harder due to how engrossing this story is.
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  2. RPG Site
    May 14, 2018
    70
    More than enough new ideas have been thrown at The Council to make it stand out from the crowd, and, while flaws are clearly evident in the three hours that you will spend with this first episode, it makes for a promising start for what is left to come. Technical issues detract from the grandeur of its setting, but it's hard not to be swept up in the mystery that surrounds it all.
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  3. MondoXbox
    Mar 18, 2018
    84
    Big Bad Wolf delivers an intriguing adventure, enriched with complex and totally new RPG dialogue mechanics and brilliant - even if needing more polish - graphics. A very good narrative game that every lover of the genre should try.
    Read full review
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