The Council Review

"Episode 3: Ripples"

Campaign (Spoiler Free)

The third episode of The Council delivers on length while being a welcomed improvement over the second entry. This time around the focus is on political intrigue while also forwarding some behind the scenes plots. This of course includes some big reveals and shifts the game towards something more along the lines of the supernatural, an aspect teased many times in the past. This doesn't necessarily mean we see anything magical, but that appears to once again be something the series is bordering on.

The episode opens up with a heated discussion as The Council actually gets together for a chat about world situations. Your goal here is to work the sides in order to get the results you desire. There's some good choice here and that can directly alter what comes after. There was a bit of a fetch quest included within this episode, but it was a neat addition in terms of what you were sent out to accomplish. I felt the pacing was good here and that the story moved along in an interesting direction while altering what characters are at play going forward.

Gameplay

This isn't strictly cinematic as you do walk around and scavenge for supplies within the environment. You gather items to help in general conversation. Using your abilities creates a stress on the body and you need to balance how many points you use in each encounter. This is aided by the selection of a class and the abilities you get with it. The skill tree is open, but that initial start really can define your entire playthrough. The more you level these smaller points within the classes, the more dialogue you can get access to.

It also helps you to unlock further abilities to detect environmental aspects and even skip aspects of the game. The world is quite detailed being intimate as a setting, yet large in scale. It's all heavily detailed and for some reason the performance was slightly better on Xbox One X this time around. The loading screens were instant and the characters were smooth. The voice acting felt hit or miss here and at times the mouth wouldn't move while audio was being spit out.

The Council Episode 3: Ripples Screenshot

The Conclusion

The Council Episode 3: Ripples improves on the prior entry with a focus on political intrigue and a possible twist towards the supernatural. It's an interesting episode as I do love when political discussions are handled well as it involves different types of strategy. I'm really starting to see my research and chosen skills come into play as many new opportunities are opening up.

The episode ran better performance wise, though it still needs some work there. It was weird to have audio sync issues as sound would leave a mouth that wasn't opening. I really am enjoying the setup here in this series and am eager to see where things go. I hope they keep it balanced with realism, but continue to embrace the odd as the ending segment was quite something.

Read our Life is Strange: Before the Storm Episode 1 Review
View our Episodic Games Hub


The Council Review on Xbox One X
Review Code Provided by Evolve PR

Rating Overall: 7.5

Gamerheadquarters Reviewer Jason Stettner