The Council (video game)
An episodic mystery adventure set in 1793 with RPG elements.
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The Council is a 2018 episodic interactive mystery graphic adventure game. It was created by the studio Big Bad Wolf and published by Focus Home Interactive. The game’s five episodes were released from March 13, 2018, to December 4, 2018.
Synopsis
The story takes place in 1793 and centers on Louis de Richet, a Frenchman looking for his missing mother, Sarah. Sarah leads the French branch of a secret society called the Golden Order. Louis travels to a secluded island near England’s coast, where influential political figures from Europe have gathered for unknown reasons.
The game mixes fictional characters with historical figures like Napoléon Bonaparte, Manuel Godoy, King George III, and Thomas Jefferson. It also includes real paintings, books, and sculptures in its setting and puzzles. As the first release from Big Bad Wolf, a branch of Cyanide, the game adds RPG elements such as leveling and skill systems that affect how players interact with the environment and other characters.
Reception
The game received mixed to positive reviews. Critics praised its complex story, setting, and art direction, but criticized its graphics, character animation, and technical issues.
Gameplay
In gameplay, players choose from three classes, each with a unique set of skills: Diplomat (Etiquette, Conviction, Politics, Diversion, Linguistics), Occultist (Science, Occultism, Manipulation, Erudition, Subterfuges), and Detective (Questioning, Vigilance, Psychology, Logic, Agility). An RPG experience point system raises the character’s level and skill levels. The progression system includes 15 character skills, 44 talents, and 20 traits.
Skills are developed by spending points and are grouped by class. Talents provide permanent bonuses, unlocked by leveling skills, performing specific actions, or consulting the game’s journal for information about other characters’ weaknesses. Traits are permanent positive or negative effects that players do not know they are gaining, as the requirements are hidden.
The story follows Louis de Richet, son of Sarah Faustine de Richet and a member of the Golden Order, a secret society that searches for occult artifacts. In the prologue, Louis and his mother are held captive after being caught stealing a mysterious artifact, not the book Al-Azif.
Narrative & World-Building
The Council places players in 1793, following Louis de Richet as he searches for his mother Sarah, head of the French branch of the Golden Order—a secret society hunting occult artifacts. The story opens with both mother and son captured after being caught stealing a book called Al-Azif.
Louis is then summoned to the manor of Lord Mortimer on a hard-to-find island off England's coast, ostensibly to help locate his mother, but the true purpose is far darker: influential political figures from across Europe and the United States have gathered there under Mortimer's mysterious influence. What sets the narrative apart is its braiding of fictional characters with real historical figures—George Washington, Napoléon Bonaparte, and Manuel Godoy all appear as key players in the conspiracy. The setting is further enriched by the incorporation of genuine paintings, books, and sculptures into the environment and puzzle design, creating a layered world where the line between art history and occult intrigue blurs.
Gameplay & RPG Systems
Rather than relying on a single fixed protagonist, The Council lets players choose from three distinct classes—Diplomat, Occultist, and Detective—each carrying its own five-skill set. The Diplomat works with Etiquette, Conviction, Politics, Diversion, and Linguistics; the Occultist draws on Science, Occultism, Manipulation, Erudition, and Subterfuges; the Detective leans on Questioning, Vigilance, Psychology, Logic, and Agility. Beyond these fifteen skills, the progression layer includes forty-four talents that grant permanent bonuses, unlocked through skill milestones, specific in-game actions, or consulting the journal for character weaknesses and immunities.
A third layer, twenty traits, applies hidden positive or negative effects the player never sees coming. An EXP system raises both the character's overall level and individual skill levels, meaning dialogue choices, environmental interactions, and NPC encounters all shift based on how the player has shaped Louis. This depth was a deliberate departure from standard point-and-click conventions.
Critical Reception
The Council landed in a mixed-to-positive range on review aggregators, with the PC build scoring 67 on Metacritic and the PS4 version reaching 74. Praise consistently centered on the narrative ambition, the rich 1793 setting, and the art direction that wove real artworks into the puzzle environment. Reviewers highlighted how the game treated its audience as educated, intelligent players, crafting a sophisticated geopolitical backdrop laced with occult themes. One critic called it an innovative narrative adventure unlike any other, while another emphasized the emotional stakes—characters you grow attached to can genuinely be lost through your decisions, and the tangled web of choices makes simple save-reload fixes impractical.
On the negative side, graphics, character animation, and technical glitches drew consistent criticism. Pacing was another recurring concern; one reviewer noted that despite mountains of dialogue, the game sometimes lacked substance. The final episodes also divided opinion, with some feeling the ending forced a particular path that could undermine a carefully built character.
Development & Release
The Council marked the debut of Big Bad Wolf, a French development studio operating as a branch of Cyanide, and was published by Focus Home Interactive. Rather than launching as a single product, the game rolled out in five episodes spanning from March 13 to December 4, 2018, giving players a sustained narrative arc over nearly nine months. The episodic structure allowed the story to unfold gradually, building the conspiracy around Lord Mortimer and the island gathering piece by piece.
The game's visual identity leaned heavily on real-world art—actual paintings, books, and sculptures were embedded into the setting and puzzle mechanics, giving the 1793 world a tangible cultural texture. Despite being a studio's first title, the project incorporated RPG-style leveling and skill systems that influenced both environmental interactions and NPC dialogue, a design choice that reviewers noted set it apart from conventional adventure games. The combination of historical conspiracy, occult mystery, and role-playing progression made it a distinctive entry in the episodic adventure space.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is The Council?
The Council is a 2018 episodic interactive mystery graphic adventure developed by Big Bad Wolf and published by Focus Home Interactive. It weaves together a historical conspiracy plot with light RPG mechanics across five separately released episodes.
How was The Council received by critics?
The Council earned a Metacritic score of 67 out of 100 on PC, landing in the mixed-to-average range. Reviewers generally praised the atmospheric 1793 setting and character-driven mystery while noting pacing issues across the five-episode structure.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: The Council (video game) (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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