The Council episode 3 review: League of extraordinary gentlepeople

The shadowy figures that be come together to finally move the plot into second gear, as the direction of The Council episode 3 hits you with a left hook.

Title: The Council episode 3: Ripples
Developer: Big Bad Wolf
Publisher: Focus Home Interactive
Platforms: PC (version reviewed), PS4, Xbox One
Release Date: July 24, 2018

Every time I think I understand what this episodic adventure game is about, the developers at Big Bad Wolf swerve so far to the left that I can’t comprehend what’s going on. The Council has been an uneven roller coaster of a journey so far, but like a frightened and thrilled occupant, I’m still intrigued where the ride is going to take me.

Episode 3, “Ripples,” leads off right after the stunning conclusion of the previous episode, with Louis de Richet still searching for his lost mother. I remain a bit disappointed about the narrative pacing of the series so far, as it aims to hook players with compelling story leads only to refocus and shift the attention to more important matters almost immediately.

We see this when, within minutes, you’re called to the conference with world leaders that has teased since the first 15 minutes of the series. It’s here where we see your previous choices and influential confrontations form an interesting dialogue, with various factions splitting off and creating their own sides of the manor; with or against Lord Mortimer.

It’s hard to describe what exactly this conference details without engaging in spoilers, but it completely shocked me that it would involve real-life geopolitical motivations of European interests within America during 1793. Quickly, it became the theme of the episode, as we forcefully came to a bizarre, otherworldly direction for just what the point of this adventure game is about.

The Council’s three episodes have felt awkward as standalone entries, with production value, emphasis on narrative over gameplay, and even cinematic quality have jumped back and forth. However, “Ripples” starts to bring things back around by maintaining a balancing act, highlighting the strengths of its predecessors while pushing away from its disappointing qualities.

As trope-ish they may be, there are standout moments that require players’ logic as well as gameplay decisions and player choices to influence the story. Using your skills to expose another character’s vulnerability can only go so far, as you need to pay attention to more than just what others say in order to come to a “correct” conclusion. Furthermore, you can fail and still continue the narrative.

It’s with this respect that The Council shines; it plays into your indecision and into the intensity to drive the tension. Did you make the right choice? You may not even get to know until much later. It helps to counteract the ease in which several episodes’ worth of experience points and level-up opportunities provide you in chances to use skills without expending focus points.

The voice acting continues to be a hit-and-miss situation, with the player’s Louis de Richet improving his French accent when attempting French words. Some characters pushed to the forefront continue to be disappointing additions to the narrative, and sometimes rooms of characters turn into fake accent faceoffs at the detriment of the scene’s compelling dialogue.

From an episode-to-episode perspective, “Ripples” feels like we’re finally starting to see what the bigger picture of the series entails. How exactly you can overcome such obstacles is starting to become clearer, but with just two more episodes remaining, we need to start to see a focus on an end-game. We may yet see an impressive turnaround heading to the finish line.

A copy of this game was provided to App Trigger for the purpose of this review. All scores are ranked out of 10, with .5 increments. Click here to learn more about our Review Policy.