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

[V_K]

So it's an RPG/Adventure and not an immersive sim. Duh.

 

[ebPD8PePfC]

That genre distinction is pointless to the question of making the game better.

I'm playing through SMT apocalypse right now and it suffers from the same problem. There are no buttons for jump and climb, and instead you have predefined points where you can Interact. This flattens the 3d space, making it feel like a glorified menu. So it's not a genre problem, it's a design choice, and it a choice that doesn't work for many games.
Sam and Max wouldn't have been a better game if the virtual space was treated in a realistic manner and you were allowed you to explore it at will. This game would have.

 

[Zombra]

So it's an RPG/Adventure and not an immersive sim. Duh.

They also forgot to make it open world. Because open world is always better!

There are no buttons for jump and climb

Jesus fucking christ.

 

[Verylittlefishes]

So it's an RPG/Adventure and not an immersive sim. Duh.

There is no such thing as an immersive sim. Also everybody who use word "immersive" should be castrated abd burned at the stake.

 

[V_K]

So it's an RPG/Adventure and not an immersive sim. Duh.

There is no such thing as an immersive sim. Also everybody who use word "immersive" should be castrated abd burned at the stake.

Sure-sure. There's only CYOAs and VNs, all the rest is heresy.

 

[LESS T_T]

The first episode is now free.

 

[V_K]

Сыграйте в сюжетную приключенческую игру, в которой важны и ваши решения, и развитие вашего персонажа. Став членом тайного общества в 1793 г., окунитесь в историю интриг и махинаций, чтобы найти вашу мать.

Russian localisation seems... promising.

 

[Verylittlefishes]

Сыграйте в сюжетную приключенческую игру, в которой важны и ваши решения, и развитие вашего персонажа. Став членом тайного общества в 1793 г., окунитесь в историю интриг и махинаций, чтобы найти вашу мать.

Russian localisation seems... promising.

чтобы найти мать вашу

 

[Smoker]

The first episode is now free.

I wonder how many people will quit just from the mother's english voice actress.

 

[Zombra]

Decided to give The Council a shot ... Pretty early in but it's pretty interesting, the subtle introduction of occult themes (depending on how they pay off) seems like they would be a good fit. Somehow looking forward to this more than 2 atm (more optimistic about it at least).

No spoilers, but ... it gets less subtle. I strongly suggest you proceed with no expectations of how it's going to turn out as a lot of people hated the direction the story went. Don't set yourself up for disappointment, just keep going with an open mind.

 

[distant]

No spoilers, but ... it gets less subtle. I strongly suggest you proceed with no expectations of how it's going to turn out as a lot of people hated the direction the story went. Don't set yourself up for disappointment, just keep going with an open mind.

Alright I think that I've kind of gotten to the point where I'm done with it,

Spoiler

(wandering through the tomb with the portraits, piecing together the memories of your arrival).

Was pretty engaged for a long time but the reveal kind of evaporated interest and I haven't touched it for a while. It's less the idea itself but more the execution. All the tension and political intrigue just evaporated, especially with the inclusion of

Spoiler

mind control

. The jarring shift of character dynamics,

Spoiler

(your mum is your sister, so is Emma by the way, her sister, is also your sister, this guy is your father and you're all demons).

Spoiler

Even the "antagonist" is barely fleshed out, his motivations are explained to you but you never really get a chance to understand his perspective as a character, it's just brushed over as "antiquated" and pro-Authoritarian so choosing to side with him doesn't really feel like a meaningful choice, so naturally I went with the "intended" route. The threat of the "father" doesn't have much impact, I guess it's supposed to be ominous but meh, consequences of defiance, the power that he has over you isn't really well explained.

All that said they are still a great fit for VTM,

Spoiler

(change demons into vampires)

, with pre-built lore and motivations and we're good to go. Writing was really interesting for a long time, ending felt kind of rushed, some investment into making all the

Spoiler

supernatural

stuff more visceral would go a long way, less explaining and more showing.

 

[V_K]

Alright I think that I've kind of gotten to the point where I'm done with it,

There's like 20 minutes left to play until the ending, might as well just finish it.

 

[Verylittlefishes]

Just tell me is it bad in the end?

 

[InD_ImaginE]

Just tell me is it bad in the end?

The game 4th and 5th chapter feel rushed, basically.

The reveal in and on itself might be interesting but the execution of the reveal is lacking. The reveal opens up a new power that should be game-changing... but simply petters out due to limited opportunity to actually use it cleverly.

 

[distant]

Alright I think that I've kind of gotten to the point where I'm done with it,

There's like 20 minutes left to play until the ending, might as well just finish it.

If you're telling me that the last 20 minute somehow redeems it and brings it to a satisfying conclusion deserving of the first few chapters then cool, but if it just limps its way to the finish line I'll just cut my losses.

 

[V_K]

Well, the ending confrontation is nice in the sense that your earlier choices will have a significant effect on how it plays out.

 

[Tigranes]

Alright I think that I've kind of gotten to the point where I'm done with it,

There's like 20 minutes left to play until the ending, might as well just finish it.

If you're telling me that the last 20 minute somehow redeems it and brings it to a satisfying conclusion deserving of the first few chapters then cool, but if it just limps its way to the finish line I'll just cut my losses.

Oh, it doesn't limp. It vigorously throws itself off a cliff.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Looked at this every fucking time it went on sale and then talked myself out of it due to backlog reasons. Still have plenty of backlog reasons, but this most recent sale is especially cheap ($6) and with the first episode free I figured I'd play the first episode to demo it and........ I absolutely fucking love it. I'm getting the sense that the C&C isn't going to be very strict at all, but the light RPG layered on top of light adventuring and the almost complete lack of interrogation dialog (No clicking out every single option except in I think one single case thus far) is right up my fucking alley. I didn't even realize it was a Cyanide game until I launched it, and since I usually like their stories fairly well and feel so-so about the gameplay, the Council's good in that regard. In fact as I was playing it it made me wish the recent Call of Cthulhu game was more along these lines. Bit more linear, focused, ideally tight on C&C and skill checks during scenes. It's not really a full adventure game and not really a full RPG (Yeah yeah, you could argue that Disco Elysium is the extension of something like this, but that nailed reactivity far more than the Council looks to be doing) but I really dig it. Going to pick up the full thing now, bit of a shame that it doesn't look like they're making more games along these lines, or at least I haven't heard of them.

Edit: Actually reminds me of Torment Tides of Numenera a little too, with spending points to succeed on skill checks. I was disappointed to find that (Seemingly at least) you just need a single rank in a skill to pass ANY checks involving that skill, they just cost more. It could be the game coming at me with kiddie gloves though since most skills are fairly low-cost, I've seen at least one 5-point check so maybe things ramp up later. Leaning in to occult and manipulation primarily since if I have the option to play an occult asshole I'll take it, but when I got a firmer grasp on how the skill system works I've been dipping in to some cross-class stuff just so I can pass more checks.

 

[bertram_tung]

Looked at this every fucking time it went on sale and then talked myself out of it due to backlog reasons. Still have plenty of backlog reasons, but this most recent sale is especially cheap ($6) and with the first episode free I figured I'd play the first episode to demo it and........ I absolutely fucking love it. I'm getting the sense that the C&C isn't going to be very strict at all, but the light RPG layered on top of light adventuring and the almost complete lack of interrogation dialog (No clicking out every single option except in I think one single case thus far) is right up my fucking alley. I didn't even realize it was a Cyanide game until I launched it, and since I usually like their stories fairly well and feel so-so about the gameplay, the Council's good in that regard. In fact as I was playing it it made me wish the recent Call of Cthulhu game was more along these lines. Bit more linear, focused, ideally tight on C&C and skill checks during scenes. It's not really a full adventure game and not really a full RPG (Yeah yeah, you could argue that Disco Elysium is the extension of something like this, but that nailed reactivity far more than the Council looks to be doing) but I really dig it. Going to pick up the full thing now, bit of a shame that it doesn't look like they're making more games along these lines, or at least I haven't heard of them.

last i heard the same people who made the council are making a similar type of game set in the World of Darkness universe
Bloodlines 2 is getting all the attention but I think that the other one is going to be the sleeper hit

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

last i heard the same people who made the council are making a similar type of game set in the World of Darkness universe
Bloodlines 2 is getting all the attention but I think that the other one is going to be the sleeper hit

Oh SHIT, no kidding? That has the potential to be awesome. WoD's a cool setting in the right hands, and a WoD game with a focus on story and tightly paced scenes like this (With little "Take your time wandering around" parts) would be cool. Assuming I don't change my tune after I finish all of this I'd definitely pick up a WoD game in that style a lot sooner now that I've had a taste of it.

 

[bertram_tung]

last i heard the same people who made the council are making a similar type of game set in the World of Darkness universe
Bloodlines 2 is getting all the attention but I think that the other one is going to be the sleeper hit

Oh SHIT, no kidding? That has the potential to be awesome. WoD's a cool setting in the right hands, and a WoD game with a focus on story and tightly paced scenes like this (With little "Take your time wandering around" parts) would be cool. Assuming I don't change my tune after I finish all of this I'd definitely pick up a WoD game in that style a lot sooner now that I've had a taste of it.

yeah i agree. here it is
developer is Big Bad Wolf, same as the Council
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire:_The_Masquerade_–_Swansong

 

[V_K]

It could be the game coming at me with kiddie gloves though since most skills are fairly low-cost, I've seen at least one 5-point check so maybe things ramp up later.

They do, and there is no resting, unlike Numenera, so in theory effort management is a lot more important than in TToN. Unfortunately the game is really generous with skill-raising books and effort-restoring items, so if you explore thoroughly, you'll never have any issues. Well, unless you succumb to trap checks - some checks are useless and are only put there to make you waste effort, and then each NPC has a couple of skills they're immune to, so these checks always fail and give you a debuff.

It's not really a full adventure game and not really a full RPG (Yeah yeah, you could argue that Disco Elysium is the extension of something like this, but that nailed reactivity far more than the Council looks to be doing)

I haven't played Disco, but I heard it gets worse C&C-wise from midgame on. The Council, on the other hand, doesn't let you screw up much in the first couple of episodes, but choices get more and more important from roughly the third episode on. There are several different endings and even more ways to get there. It also has a nice mechanic where at the end of the episode it gives you a rundown of things you could have done differently (vaguely formulated, so no direct spoilers). Puzzles also ramp up to fairly solid adventure levels, and you can "fail forward" in a couple of them.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

It could be the game coming at me with kiddie gloves though since most skills are fairly low-cost, I've seen at least one 5-point check so maybe things ramp up later.

They do, and there is no resting, unlike Numenera, so in theory effort management is a lot more important than in TToN. Unfortunately the game is really generous with skill-raising books and effort-restoring items, so if you explore thoroughly, you'll never have any issues. Well, unless you succumb to trap checks - some checks are useless and are only put there to make you waste effort, and then each NPC has a couple of skills they're immune to, so these checks always fail and give you a debuff.

Does feel like you get story mandated rests. I noticed that between each "Quest" break I got a partial refill on effort points and it refreshed my debuffs. Definitely noticed the false/waste checks, but that's cool. Means that not everything is with a skill check is automatically beneficial. Unfortunately I'm also a big sucker for that kinda shit, because WHAT IF? The strengths/weaknesses in conversation's neat too. Glad to hear the C&C and difficulty picks up a bit later, though the ending of episode 1 felt like I might've screwed the pooch.

Disco's C&C does get a bit worse later on, but that's also where you're getting some of the payoffs for stuff you did earlier. The most immediate example of something that kinda clunked in the Council that likely wouldn't have clunked in Disco is I had a conversation "Bossfight" with Titties McGee and my answer was "You are working with X" and she says something along the lines of "Very impressive, no getting it past you, I'm working with X" and then the next line of dialog was "I'm working with X" which seems like a clear indicator that even if I'd failed that previous moment, it would have segued to this line so that knowledge is presumably always held by the player. Disco tends to funnel you to the same ultimate destination, but it feels as though there are more ways of reaching that end point. Fewer things that stand out as mandatory knowledge.

I'm talking out of my ass of course since I'm just going on a single run of the first episode, and I'm enjoying the hell out of it, but a few parts like that stuck out. Although during the "Quests", there was only one day where I succeeded on everything and it didn't have anything listed as a failure or missed opportunity, so I presumably am missing stuff. Possibly not all of it related to story choices, since I noticed during a few big conversations there were a ton of opportunities I missed. Speaking of THOSE, I'm still not really sure how they work. Occasionally the screen freezes and I'm presented with a few clickable spots. Through all but one of them I apparently succeeded, but I failed on the last one. I did notice my cursor changed into a skill icon when I failed, and I know you don't use effort during those, so maybe if I hover over a click-spot it tells me what the skill of the potential opportunity is and then I have to pick which click-spot is most likely to be in relation to that. Haven't really grokked how that mechanic works.

 

[HoboForEternity]

last i heard the same people who made the council are making a similar type of game set in the World of Darkness universe
Bloodlines 2 is getting all the attention but I think that the other one is going to be the sleeper hit

Oh SHIT, no kidding? That has the potential to be awesome. WoD's a cool setting in the right hands, and a WoD game with a focus on story and tightly paced scenes like this (With little "Take your time wandering around" parts) would be cool. Assuming I don't change my tune after I finish all of this I'd definitely pick up a WoD game in that style a lot sooner now that I've had a taste of it.

yeah i agree. here it is
developer is Big Bad Wolf, same as the Council
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire:_The_Masquerade_–_Swansong

h y p e

 

[V_K]

Does feel like you get story mandated rests.

You get two points of effort back on each level-up, which in the first couple episodes usually coincide with rests, but become rarer later on. Oh, and you get some effort back if you exploit an NPC's weakness.

Occasionally the screen freezes and I'm presented with a few clickable spots. Through all but one of them I apparently succeeded, but I failed on the last one. I did notice my cursor changed into a skill icon when I failed, and I know you don't use effort during those, so maybe if I hover over a click-spot it tells me what the skill of the potential opportunity is and then I have to pick which click-spot is most likely to be in relation to that. Haven't really grokked how that mechanic works.

It's bascially QTEs mixed with skillchecks. IIRC they don't affect much and thankfully there aren't many of them.