The final chapter in The Council has a lot to live up to. Amazing endings are talked about forevermore around a water cooler on an afternoon coffee break, so with The Council wrapping up its enigmatic and absorbing story - one that I've generally loved this year - the question is can it really deliver on all that it has promised?
It's been a long time coming and since the launch of The Council back in March, everything has been gearing up for its conclusion. And that conclusion is now with us, as the fifth and final episode of The Council drops, alongside a physical Complete Edition of the game.Â
So here we are with the penultimate episode in the deeply political and highly intriguing saga which is The Council. The writers and developers have an even trickier job this time round than with the last episode, which was the complicated middle chapter. Here they have to set up most of the exposition and narrative to let the finale fully blossom. So how does it fare? Does it get the taste buds wet with anticipation or is it like a vegan sausage... alright, but a bit of a disappointment?
Should you be one of the many who has spent some time with The Council, then you are no doubt sitting back patiently waiting for the release of the next chapter. Today, that chapter has got itself a release date and details.Â
It’s always hard when it comes to the middle chapter of an episodic game. The writer and game developers have a tricky job to do; keeping the story going, ensuring the audience is still interested, but at the same time making sure they don’t waste their best material and are able to save it for the big finale. There are times when this middle chapter comes across as the weakest entry, as the familiarity of the settings gets a bit tired and the characters don't seem to surprise you anymore. But does The Council Episode 3: Ripples suffer from this problem? Or does it elevate matters and take the franchise to new highs?
It’s time to return to Lord Mortimer’s mysterious private island mansion and uncover more secrets, as the third episode of The Council arrives today for Season Pass holders on Xbox One, PS4 and PC.
So, here we are again, placed back into a world of mystery, intrigue, backstabbing, literature, and art. A sort of action-packed Antiques Roadshow, mixed with murder, sex, and world domination. I loved the first episode of The Council with its storylines, characters, design and brave refusal to dumb down to its audience. Can Episode 2: Hide and Seek keep my level of interest up or is it like the terrible second album?
When Focus Home Interactive decided to deliver an episodic storyteller into our lives, we didn't really know what to expect. I mean, only Telltale Game do that well, do they not? Well, no, and it seems Focus are on to a bit of a winner with The Council as today we see the second episode arrive.Â
The point and click story-driven adventure game has come into its own over the last decade, starting with Telltale’s "The Walking Dead" before developing and morphing into the latest “Life is Strange" series. This genre has shown how games don't shy away from death, gore, adult themes or how moral decisions can affect the world around you. The Council is a new game from this ever-growing genre and it hopes to tell an original story, and like Telltale who are plundering the DC and Marvel universes, it is also using some very famous faces indeed.
Sometimes all we really want is to become immersed in a stunning story, void of any shooting, combat and the like. The Council, which debuts today with its first episode - The Mad Ones - is just that.
