Putting the 'role' back in role-playing games since 2002.
Donate to Codex
Good Old Games
  • Welcome to rpgcodex.net, a site dedicated to discussing computer based role-playing games in a free and open fashion. We're less strict than other forums, but please refer to the rules.

    "This message is awaiting moderator approval": All new users must pass through our moderation queue before they will be able to post normally. Until your account has "passed" your posts will only be visible to yourself (and moderators) until they are approved. Give us a week to get around to approving / deleting / ignoring your mundane opinion on crap before hassling us about it. Once you have passed the moderation period (think of it as a test), you will be able to post normally, just like all the other retards.

The Council - episodic narrative adventure with RPG elements set in the late 18th century

Barbarian

Arcane
Joined
Jun 7, 2015
Messages
7,305
I would volunteer to write a review for the codex after all chapters are released.

Who should I get in touch with?
 

taxalot

I'm a spicy fellow.
Patron
Joined
Oct 28, 2010
Messages
9,613
Location
Your wallet.
Codex 2013 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015
I'm only halfway in Episode 4 and
l0tePb.gif
 
Last edited:

Barbarian

Arcane
Joined
Jun 7, 2015
Messages
7,305
I finished it now. What can I say, I don't like the direction they took at all:

- Not a single puzzle in this chapter. It is all just a long railroad/exposition.

- As we all feared, they took the plot twists from the third chapter and went full retardo.

most of the characters are demons, the main character is a demon, you even get demonic superpowers! The whole plot about the al azif/necronomicon seems to have vanished and isn't mentioned at all. You are now a demon's son doing demon things.

Not only that, but:

the game moves away from the nice premise of investigation and intrigue in a mansion. They revealed too much too soon, and if you add that with the fact that what they revealed was retarded, they basically ruined the game before the last chapter

The only positive thing I can say is that some of the decisions you took did come back. No major effect on the plot or anything, but I did get a few scenes and expositions I wouldn't have gotten otherwise had I not kept some characters alive.

Basically:

:prosper:

I take back my offer to review it. Am disappointed.
 

taxalot

I'm a spicy fellow.
Patron
Joined
Oct 28, 2010
Messages
9,613
Location
Your wallet.
Codex 2013 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015
I finished it now. What can I say, I don't like the direction they took at all:

- Not a single puzzle in this chapter. It is all just a long railroad/exposition.

- As we all feared, they took the plot twists from the third chapter and went full retardo.

most of the characters are demons, the main character is a demon, you even get demonic superpowers! The whole plot about the al azif/necronomicon seems to have vanished and isn't mentioned at all. You are now a demon's son doing demon things.

Not only that, but:

the game moves away from the nice premise of investigation and intrigue in a mansion. They revealed too much too soon, and if you add that with the fact that what they revealed was retarded, they basically ruined the game before the last chapter

The only positive thing I can say is that some of the decisions you took did come back. No major effect on the plot or anything, but I did get a few scenes and expositions I wouldn't have gotten otherwise had I not kept some characters alive.

Basically:

:prosper:

I take back my offer to review it. Am disappointed.

My god, (still halfway into Ep4, haven't played since), the moment where Lord Mortimer has that conversation with you, I was like.

"Uh, okay, demons confirmed. That was sadly pretty much expected. Go on. Go on. Oh my god, no. Don't tell me he's getting there. Is he my dad ? That can't be. They won't dare. They won't fall for that cliché.

And then it happened exactly like this. Paraphrasing.

Mortimer : "In fact, verily, Monsieur de Richet, I happen to be your father."
LDR (not shocked at all) : "But, sir, it simply cannot be !"
Mortimer : "This might upset you, but if you look deep inside your soul, you will know it is the truth."

Holy shit. I'm not sure if they have massive balls or if the writers were feeling highly retarded the day they wrote. Possibly, both.
 

Barbarian

Arcane
Joined
Jun 7, 2015
Messages
7,305
The game had a lot of potential, some very nice ideas and a really good moment in the 3rd chapter(the wheel puzzle, which must be the best adventure puzzle in a few years at least).

But then it sunk to depths not even the worst pessimist would expect. 4th chapter is full blown interactive fiction with barely any player input and the direction they took with the plot is absolutely retarded.

I wouldn't reccomend it unless you want to play a game that intrigues you, rises up to a moment of near greatness and then takes a dump in your face. I doubt the 5th chapter will be anything other than a silly "wrap-up" of the convoluted and misguided plot revelation.
 
Last edited:

Barbarian

Arcane
Joined
Jun 7, 2015
Messages
7,305
2 to 4 depending on how much you explore the mansion. I personally wasted a lot of playing time going back and forth trying to enter into rooms and etc to not miss any encounters or items.

At the end of each chapter you get a screen with "missed opportunities" and such(i.e: "didn't meet so and so at the dining room", "didn't discover a secret about so and so", etc).
 

Barbarian

Arcane
Joined
Jun 7, 2015
Messages
7,305
In part yes lol. But I am quite autistic when it comes to that kind of thing.

For instance, in Expeditions: Viking I'm quite sure my playtime was considerably increased because I had to loot all the barrels and crates in every town.
 

taxalot

I'm a spicy fellow.
Patron
Joined
Oct 28, 2010
Messages
9,613
Location
Your wallet.
Codex 2013 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015
And finished it a couple of minutes later. I thought I was merely halfway through it but no, it's definitely shorter and lacking in content for this one episode. I am hoping Episode 5 has more content.

I really don't know what to think. It's impossible to deny that Episode 4 is a let down and that the story is going into a direction I hoped it wouldn't, but really, when you think about it, it was obvious from the very start of the first episode. It's hard to say that the game lost all its charm though although that clearly was the low point of the series so far.

Then again, Big Bad Wolf has said that The Council is merely the introductory chapter of a universe they are trying to build. If you let go of that twist and consider the entire thing as that, it's not really that bad and it remains intriguing. They can do many things with that universe : strategy, full fledged RPGs, more classic point & clicks, etc.

I still recommend to give it a try, but maybe not at current price. And yes, I am still intrigued about what is going to happen in the final episode, even though I'm way way less excited than I was at the end of Episode 3.
 

Barbarian

Arcane
Joined
Jun 7, 2015
Messages
7,305
I still recommend to give it a try, but maybe not at current price. And yes, I am still intrigued about what is going to happen in the final episode, even though I'm way way less excited than I was at the end of Episode 3.

I am not intrigued at all. I think the way this will end is obvious and dumb. I'm just a bit morbidly curious to meet
grandpa demon, who is actually jesus
just to see how much :prosper: it will be.

I will play the 5th chapter for the same reason I pirated Star Wars episode VIII. And because I already paid for the whole season, stupidly. There is no doubt it will be shit.
 

taxalot

I'm a spicy fellow.
Patron
Joined
Oct 28, 2010
Messages
9,613
Location
Your wallet.
Codex 2013 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015
Oh gosh, yes I forgot to mention this but yes, holy shit yes, the shoehorning of religion in this game. I mean, it's not wrong per se, but holy holy shit does this feel
awkward as fuck, there is no other word. Awkward.


For those of you who won't play the game, but want to know the super weird as fuck plot twist of Episode 4 :

-Lord Mortimer' who invites you on this island to take part in the conference is actually an immortal supernatural entity (a Daemon) inviting regularly the powerful of the world to manipulate them.
-He tells you that he is your father with dialogs hardly modified from Empire Strikes Back (I'm not making this up), I couldn't believe it when it happened.
-He reveals that he has 8 brothers, and that his father is Jesus, and he's pretty pissed at him. The final choice of Episode 4 is basically 'Do I side with the demons or do I side with that dude who is still friend with daddy Jesus ?'"

I haven't played anything this strange for a long, long, while.
 

Barbarian

Arcane
Joined
Jun 7, 2015
Messages
7,305
I haven't played anything this strange for a long, long, while.

Very kind choice of words there. I wouldn't call it "strange", but rather "retarded".

And it is tragic because they had very nice presentation and pacing for the plot until they dropped shit bombs in sequence. This will probably go down in history as the most idiotic and absurd plot twist ever made.
 

Zombra

An iron rock in the river of blood and evil
Patron
Joined
Jan 12, 2004
Messages
11,538
Location
Black Goat Woods !@#*%&^
Make the Codex Great Again! RPG Wokedex Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Codex+ Now Streaming! Serpent in the Staglands Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 BattleTech Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
Then again, Big Bad Wolf has said that The Council is merely the introductory chapter of a universe they are trying to build. If you let go of that twist and consider the entire thing as that, it's not really that bad and it remains intriguing. They can do many things with that universe : strategy, full fledged RPGs, more classic point & clicks, etc.
Cue the Face That Never Remembered. I like everything I've read about Big Bad Wolf, but they are a subsidiary of Cyanide, and Cyanide was recently bought out by Bigben Interactive. Focus Home will be the publisher for The Council Season One until the season ends with episode 5, but moving forward they'll be under the Bigben umbrella. In case the implication isn't clear, Focus is a good publisher and Bigben is bad, so any future stuff in this universe is likely to be ruined unless BBW goes their own way somehow.

My full rant on the subject.
 
Last edited:

taxalot

I'm a spicy fellow.
Patron
Joined
Oct 28, 2010
Messages
9,613
Location
Your wallet.
Codex 2013 PC RPG Website of the Year, 2015
Actually, the most worrying thing about this game is that each episode look more lazily / hastily mode than the previous one. Episode 4 felt seriously, seriously unfinished and unpolished. This might explain part of why the story revelation was terrible. Not only is it bad in itself, but it was told poorly.
 

Zombra

An iron rock in the river of blood and evil
Patron
Joined
Jan 12, 2004
Messages
11,538
Location
Black Goat Woods !@#*%&^
Make the Codex Great Again! RPG Wokedex Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Codex+ Now Streaming! Serpent in the Staglands Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 BattleTech Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
Played the first hour and I am super impressed so far. Even if this turns to garbage in the last couple chapters (and who knows, maybe chapter 5 will make up for the disappointment for 4) I think it'll be worth it for the fun getting there.

Skill checks, skill checks, skill checks. Fixed protagonist may mean "not an RPG" to some but character build is incredibly important. This may go away later if I decide to jack-of-trades but so far it's great to see so many conversational and environmental paths blocked because I didn't take certain skills.

Something not talked about much is the camera work ... the visual direction is wonderful. Unlike Belegarsson I enjoy all the dramatic closeups and so forth. Bending down to look at a cracked piece of wood, the camera drops back to show a moonlit sky and the vast curve of the mountainside against the sea. This is how they frame looking at a random hunk of wood. The camera can make things very intimate or sweepingly dramatic; it lends a very theatrical sense to everything which I enjoy.

The first "Confrontation" (boss battle!) was very engaging. I had all the wrong skills but managed to triumph by careful thought and examination of available options. Looking forward to more of these.
I was sure that telling the priest to fuck off when he asked about my work would be a mistake ... but he respected my confidential ethics! Great moment.
The only jarring thing is the amateurish voice acting, it sounds like me and some friends sitting around reading a script. We're fun people and have personalities but we're not good actors.

Aside from that this is setting a very high standard from the start, hope it maintains.
 
Last edited:

As an Amazon Associate, rpgcodex.net earns from qualifying purchases.
Back
Top Bottom