The Council

Honest, detailed and spoiler-free review
The Council is a story-driven adventure game where you shape the story your own way. The game is an experimental mix of different genres that combined, work surprisingly well together. This is a game where choices really matter and the path you choose for the development of your character is gonna have an enormous impact on the upcoming events. I discovered this gem a few years ago. At the time, there was only one episode available which absolutely amazed me and left me craving for more. Years have passed and the game is a finished product now. I am excited to finally discover what it is about and experience all it has to offer.
A wise man once said “First impressions are the most lasting”. I agree with that which is why for me it is important that the game does not disappoint at the beginning and make you wanna keep playing it to discover more. Did it? Yes, it definitely bought me. First episode introduces the story and characters. I really enjoyed talking to people and getting to know them. The game also allowed me to explore this massive mansion a little and I have taken advantage of that by visiting every part that was accessible for me. Playing the episode evoked in me the feelings I had all those years ago. After I was done with the episode, I was absolutely hooked and wanted to keep playing. The time that passed since I first tried it was enough. I did not remember anything which allowed me to approach the game with a clean slate.
I felt like the second episode was a bit worse than the first. It involved much more active gameplay. There will be a lot of walking around the mansion and a lot of interactions with the objects. It starts really nice but the lack of action made it a little boring by the end of the episode. A few puzzles can also be encountered there which turned out pretty difficult to find a solution to but I managed. I didn’t find it relaxing as I did the first episode. All this walking, thinking and figuring things out was very demanding. As for the rest of the episodes, there was much more balance in terms of walking and talking. They are much more interesting because the twists and turns of the story are prioritized. Although I enjoyed all of the episodes, I still found them demanding enough to be in need of a break after completing each one. I couldn’t play this game for long during one session and their length was a little too long for me too.
Let’s talk about the story. It is really interesting and keeps you engaged from the start until the very end. We step into the shoes of Louis, a son of a respected authority figure who has been invited to participate in The Council as a replacement for his mother because she went missing. This is a meeting for the most influential figures in the world where discussions and decisions are made. During this game you will be playing a political game where you build relationships, investigate mysteries, manipulate people and try to sway them to your cause. You won’t really know who your allies and enemies are. You can’t know what their motives are and what they are trying to accomplish as they keep it to themselves. In case your interests don’t align or you trust the wrong person, it may backfire. I honestly had a lot of fun and I would love to see another game from this universe in the future.
When it comes to gameplay, the game continues not to disappoint. There is a trait system which allows you to influence people and objects by approaching them in a different way. An example of this would be that evolving your character with the knowledge of psychology may be useful in the future when you will be in need of a psychological analysis. The amount of possibilities is huge which allows for multiple replays and multiple endings. You discover immunities and weaknesses of people by talking to them, investigating their belongings or their behaviour based on the skills you invested into. This is what makes this game unique and stand out in this genre. You will also be given a lot of freedom when it comes to how you play the episode. At the start of each part of the episode, we are given a quest and it is up to us how we are going to approach it but the result must be the same. There will be quite a lot of puzzles. Most of them are easy but I encountered a few that I was unable to overcome without a walkthrough guide. I don’t like the difficulty of some of the puzzles. I believe that there are a few that are actually too complex to which finding a solution is too time consuming. Still, I think that this is a strong suit of this game.
There are a few characters in this game and each one is unique. I think those are well-written characters because each one stands for something else and adds a special flavour to the story. Their personalities are each other’s opposites. Right off the bat I was able to tell which ones I liked and which ones I didn’t. I believe I was able to relate to every single one of them which made it difficult when choosing sides. After all, those characters are explicit, interesting, charismatic, unforgettable and uniquely important to the story. In terms of voice acting I think that the game is on a high level as well. Only their expressions could have been better. When it comes to emotions, these faces have no life in them. During interactions you feel like you are talking to something that resembles a human but is far from it. Randomly moving lips while they are speaking with no synchronization whatsoever is not helping their case either.
While on the subject of negatives, this game has one big problem which can be considered a deal breaker for a lot of people and it is the fact that the game refuses to run in 60 fps. It doesn’t matter how well you adjust your visual settings, the number of frames doesn’t change. I believe that there are ways to remove the limit. I personally tried a few ways but none solved it for me. I played the whole thing having around 40-50 frames at all times. It was bothering me quite a lot at the start but I decided to keep playing because I was really enjoying the game. I eventually stopped paying attention to it which allowed me to embrace my experience. I find it really hard to believe sometimes that relatively new games like this one, still have this type of problems. It didn’t affect my overall experience much but what wasn’t a problem for me, may turn out to be one for somebody else so this is something to keep in mind.
To sum up, I found a gem that tells a really interesting and extraordinary story. It is a combination of a few of my favourite genres which makes this game unique and stand out among others. In terms of gameplay, the game gives you a lot of freedom and possibilities which only benefit it. It offers multiple replay choices and multiple endings. Unfortunately, this title refuses to run in 60 frames which I would consider to be its biggest disadvantage. What can also be considered a problem is the difficulty level of some of the puzzles. I must say I am proud to have found this game as many people don't seem to know it exists. It is something I feel like I can recommend with a clear conscience. Go ahead and give it a try, the first episode is free. It doesn’t cost anything but time and it will be well worth your time.
You can find more detailed reviews on my curator page Malfour's Choice.

Absolutely loved this game. Should have played it long ago. Many choices and story plot twists. Many different choices and paths to take. Loved from start to finish. Great game. Highly recommend to anyone who loves story driven games with many choices and consequences and branches in the story and how it plays out. The game mechanics are also very unique in that i have never played a game with such mechanics. the game has mostly a detective type game play but also uses many different skills you must build up in order for the choices you make to be available to you. Also has other mechanics i have not seen in other games. truly a Gem of a game. I must say this game is not a combat type game but more choices consequences and story/detective type game. If you love these type games with an excellent story, this game is absolutely for you.

The Council is an adventure story game where you are on an island with important historical figures like George Washington and Napoleon amongst others, where you will get to interact and find out about the secrets that everyone is hiding. The whole atmosphere is haunting and you can feel the suspense in the mansion. There are many puzzles which are rather difficult but I thoroughly enjoyed them after solving it. The content is rather long for an episodic game, but there are many save points. There are many collectibles and skill trees to follow, which made every run feel different. I definitely recommend this game, especially if you love story games or politics.

This game is truly amazing, and I highly recommend playing it. It may seem simple at first and not have a very long story, but it is filled with deep truths and secrets about life. If you are interested in historical symbols, political, historical, and social stories, this game will be incredibly fascinating for you.
The genre is somewhat mysterious and eerie, yet it is also educational and beautifully crafted. I believe that playing such games can contribute to intellectual growth, much like reading a book. You can learn interesting and valuable information within the game, and even get a closer look at the lives of some prominent political figures. Additionally, it introduces you to the mysteries of beliefs, politics, culture, and history.
In my opinion, this game is more than just a game—it offers a short yet meaningful journey and experience for the player. Every gamer should have this title on their list. I truly hope the developers create more versions of this game focusing on different political and historical narratives, expanding on this concept. This game combines learning, entertainment, and exploration all in one, making it a unique and worthwhile experience

The Council is a third-person adventure game set in 1793. You play as Louis de Richet, a member of a secret order. When your mother, who is also part of this order, goes missing, you travel to a remote island off England’s coast. There, the mysterious Lord Mortimer has gathered influential figures like Napoleon Bonaparte and George Washington for a secret meeting.
The story spans five episodes with several chapters each. It starts grounded, exploring politics, religion, myths, and art. The first three episodes keep this tone, but the last two shift heavily into supernatural territory. For me, this felt jarring, almost like playing two different games, which made the story lose some consistency. New gameplay mechanics also show up near the end but don't get much use, which feels like a missed chance.
At the start, you choose one of three professions. Each comes with its own skill tree that shapes how you play. Skills linked to your profession cost fewer points to upgrade, but you can still level up any of them. You earn experience by finishing quests, side tasks, and finding collectibles. Before each chapter, you can read books that give permanent bonuses to one or more skills.
The whole game revolves around using your skills and limited resources to get the upper hand in social situations. You spend a lot of time figuring out how to deal with different characters since they all have their own strengths and weaknesses. I found it annoying, though, when my choices didn’t really matter because scripted events forced a certain outcome. Sometimes, the game also just gives you a straight choice between two options to push the story in one direction or another.
Like I mentioned earlier, conversations (and confrontations) rely on your skills. You spend effort points to pass skill checks, but if your skill matches the difficulty, you don’t use any points. Managing these points and your items is important since you only have a limited amount, though you can find items to restore them or make the next skill check free. Some skills feel much more useful than others in dialogues, and you’ll notice which ones give better results.
I have to say, the puzzles are one of the best parts of The Council. You often need to hunt for information in books or by talking to other characters. Sometimes you have to remember details from way earlier in the game. They often have different solutions too, so your choices can change how everything turns out.
The art style can feel strange at first. The environments are beautifully designed, but the characters have these exaggerated, almost surreal facial features. Movements can feel stiff at times, and there are some texture and clipping issues too, but nothing game-breaking. I found the environment a bit repetitive, seeing so many similar hallways and rooms. You end up backtracking through them often, with only a few new areas added later.
The music and sound are well done. The voice acting is strong too, though it’s a bit strange that Louis, being French, doesn’t have a French accent when everyone else sounds like their nationality. Costumes fit the period nicely, except for one female character whose dress is so over-the-top that it pulled me out of the immersion a bit.
One thing that might annoy some players is the save system. The Council only uses autosave, so every choice you make is final. You can’t just reload if you miss an item or change your mind about a choice. To see it all, you’ll have to replay the game.

The Council has surprised me in more ways than one. Your choices do matter most of the time, there are clearly different endings. Even though the story is comprehensible based on what I’ve picked, there is also enough to learn more about if I went with different choices. The story was engaging to follow based on the voice actors, writing and wanting to find out what would happen next. However, I’m not sure I’m happy with the direction of the story the further I got and the twists that followed. Although the game is clearly mostly focused on the story/dialogues, there is still more gameplay than expected for this type of game. There are skill points, traits, items, some exploration and puzzles. Most of them are fun and they enhance the game. I enjoyed exploring the mansion and getting more access to areas with every episode.
The game’s strongest point is the choices you make and how you can manipulate others depending on your needs. I gotta say, the game made me feel dirty with how I was trying to convince others and willing to do anything to achieve an objective. The graphics might not be the best I’ve seen, but they’re still very pleasing on the eyes. The voice actors did a great job, they made the story. The achievements were very doable. There are 2-3 you have to keep in mind on your first run, you can play the game blindly aside from those and get the rest through chapter select after completing the game.
I disliked some of the puzzles though. A lot of them require too much effort or you need the right skill or enough points to solve them more easily. Honestly, it felt like some were just in the way, I just wanted to continue with the story. I didn’t hesitate to use online guides. I normally love puzzle games, not sure why these did not feel rewarding. Other than that, no complaints with the rest of the game. I enjoyed playing the Council and figuring the mystery. It took me around 16 hours to get all the achievements (rest was afk). It’s definitely worth playing for fans who enjoy these type of story games. The game is on sale often but even the normal price of €15 for all the 5 episodes is fair.

This was so good and I really hope the developers make more like it. I did not see where the plot was going to end up and it's just so gripping. I can often feel exasperated with some games that make you read everything and pick up everything to understand what's going on but I didn't feel like that with this game. I was genuinely invested in trying to find out what was going on and it didn't feel in any way tedious.
Also a couple of the characters were actually terrifying without it being a horror and I think it added a lot to the suspense and urgency with which I played.