The Council - Episode 3: Ripples | Xbox One | Review

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Following a lacklustre second outing, The Council reaches its midpoint faced with the unenviable task of recovering lost ground. Episode 3: Ripples shifts gears to have you focus on tackling conversational encounters with tactical turns of phrase, largely ditching the uninspired puzzle solving that shackled its predecessor, until a stifling blunder sees the experience nosedive just as it should be reaching a fevered pitch.

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by Sam Sant

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@SlamShotSam

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Developer: Big Bad Wolf
Publisher: Focus Home
Interactive
​Platforms: Xbox One,
​PS4, PC
​Players: 1

Back in cumbersome control of protagonist Louis de Richet, having already memorised the layout of Lord Mortimer’s grand mansion and its grounds dulls the impact when, on at least a couple of occasions, you’re left to meander without any immediately clear direction. It’s not all bad, as wandering directly correlates with unearthing snippets of optional intel that can be used to your advantage.

That’s more important than ever, as, now that all of the esteemed guests have trickled in, the shrouded conference motivating their convergence can finally begin. You and the collective cast of world leaders collude and collide over current affairs in order to shape the future on a global scale - which is presented as a big reveal, despite having been evident from the start - meaning your actions now have the potential to inspire far-reaching consequences.

Whilst it’s possible to spark war between nations, the intimate consequences tend to prove more affecting. In choosing to either derail a dubious proposal or aid its cause and gain influence with your host, you’ll straddle the line between seeming right and wrong, potentially jeopardising relationships that you’ve worked to nurture in the past. Promptly changing face now that your opinions no longer align, it’s easy to begin to question whether certain allegiances may have been misplaced, especially when you’re also given cause to consider that deep-seated character dislikes might stem from misunderstanding.

It’s during these congregations that having picked up a diverse range of skills pays dividends. Possessing the smarts to, for example, translate utterances spoken in foreign tongues to veil their meaning, can allow you to build a strong hand before the time comes to reveal it to the table.

Whilst it’s possible to spark war between nations, the intimate consequences tend to prove more affecting. 

With the old guard fond of early adjournments to retire to their rooms on exhausted whims, spritely Louis is left with spare time on his hands for pursuits outside of politics. Having reunited with his mother, all is not well, as she shares a thoroughly outlandish revelation alongside circumstantial evidence that almost makes it believable. Everything is called into question, making it crushingly unfortunate that, rather than being taken advantage of, any momentum grinds to a halt as you’re sent tottering off on a disconnected fetch quest.

Already the bane of gamers, this plodding section isn’t helped by inconsistencies like subtitles and verbalised dialogue conveying mismatched digits in a sequence, or conflicting quantities of objects to gather, whilst a written note incorrectly asserts that one of the items has already been found.

When you eventually return, gubbins gathered, they’re utilised in a puzzle which bravely requires absolute commitment. That closing conundrum helps to salvage things in the final moments, leaving us eager to see the consequences to follow, but far less so than we would have been if the fetch quest fat had been trimmed. While we did note that the second episode was less substantial than the first, blatant filler is most unwelcome.

Still, those familiar with The Council already know that you have to take the rough with the smooth, owing to its technical issues. Audio abruptly cuts out on the regular, the pitch of Louis’ voice drastically changes, some sections aren’t lip synced, extravagant period costumes clip through any and everything. Though we can’t deny it’s all a bit distracting, it’s just as often amusing, without muddying the game’s refined ambience all too much.

Ripples takes a step in the right direction, though not without catching the toe of its fancy buckled shoe and stumbling on the way. Despite the imperfections, we’re intrigued to see what curious events our remaining stays at the Mortimer estate hold in store, fingers firmly crossed that they’ll fully lean into the occult facade while refining the balance between serving a meaty helping that’s more killer than filler.

Pros

• Occult revelation, if true, could make for exciting things to come
• Places a larger focus on engaging character confrontations, instead of mediocre puzzle solving
• Challenges your perceptions, forcing you to take more time to weigh your options
• Finally hits its stride as Louis reunites with his mother & the meeting is called into session

Cons

• Lengthy fetch quest is a snooze fest
• Lacks clear direction at times, leaving you to sweep rooms until stumbling upon an objective
• Odd oversights present misleading inconsistencies
• Distracting technical issues

7/10