Been reading about this the last few days, looks really interesting. The small dev team is made up from folk that have worked for Cyanide, Blizzard and Ubisoft.

Who will this game interest? From the articles, looks like it would appeal to those folk who like Telltale games, Life is Strange, Heavy Rain - that kind of thing (but with more depth)
Points of interest:
- Setting inspired by Resident Evil 1 mansion
- RPG Lite elements
- Can level up traits at the end of each episode
- No fail states, fully adaptable narrative
- 3 archetype classes (occultist, detective or diplomat)
- Episodic - first episode due later this month, then schedule is 1 episode per 2 months
- Will release on Xbox One, PS4 and PC

To demonstrate the importance of skills in the choices, the developers presented a short video where the same scene was played twice. The hero was trying to save a woman (Emilie?) from a high-ranking henchman (although they told us that you can also be cowardly and run away and act as if you hadn't seen anything). The two men then begin their conversation until the skill "fight" is one of the options. In the first case, the hero being an accomplished diplomat, his fist went pathetically into the henchman's back and he didn't even flinch, which obviously ended badly for Louis. In the second case, the skill was more advanced and the young man managed to defeat his opponent. "Of these two possibilities will arise perfectly distinct scenarios," the developers told us.

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Official teaser trailer



Interview with Sylvain Sechi with gamereactor
https://www.gamereactor.eu/grtv/360073



Can't find any updates on an official release date yet.

Looks pretty interesting. Big fan of games like LiS & TWD so more developers in that space is no bad thing. Watched.

I am cautiously excited for this. It looks like it could be what Telltale should be doing if they had their act together.

Some more updates after the preview from playstationlifestyle - looks like release has been pushed to march though based on last line in article.

For those who have played games such as Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead, gameplay is similar in structure but quite different in execution. While basic mechanics are the same, walking around an area in an attempt to find clues that may help progress the story. However, the default skills loadout for Louis makes points of interest show up as little more than small dots of light, which illuminate once a crosshair is placed near them. Possessing the proper skill level when looking around an area will make it easier to spot clues.
A lot of games in this genre include quick-time events as a way to inject action sequences into the story, while still giving the player a chance to influence the action. The Councildoes this by freezing the story for a very brief amount of time, during key moments of a conversation. While the action is paused, the player must highlight a point of interest in the scene, and choose something to focus on.

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Another aspect of The Council is its RPG elements. Louis can rank up several abilities in three separate branches of a skill tree. These can help him deduce facts more easily, or to persuade someone to perform an action for him. Some of these skills also earn him intuition points. These points are used to choose the right action or unlock special dialog options, but they come at a cost and are not infinite. It is possible to replenish spent points, by consuming a special drink. However, consuming too many of these drinks will result in Louis becoming inebriated. This hides the countdown bar which shows how much time is left to make a decision.

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https://forums.focus-home.com/topic/5477/the-council-devblog-rpg-meets-narrative-adventure

We welcome you for a third time to Lord Mortimer’s island. Please, help yourself to some wine.

Today, the topic of discussion is the RPG systems of The Council, and how they complement the narrative adventure genre.

As we have already revealed, The Council is a game of consequences - you decide who to help or hinder, which path to follow and how to survive on the island. This is not as simple as binary decisions at key moments in the story. Louis de Richet’s capabilities are entirely at your discretion, and how you use them will shape the story as much as anything else.

The first major decision in this area is your class. Early in the story you’ll be able to characterise Louis as a smooth-talking diplomat, experienced occultist, or cunning detective. This determines your starting selection of abilities, and makes advancing those cheaper - but you aren’t locked into that class skill tree. Experience points are given out at the end of each quest, meaning several times each episode.


Whatever your class choice, you’ll have all 15 skills to pick from. They range from knowledge of politicians or religious figures the world over to manual dexterity for lockpicking and the raw strength of a boxer. Every skill unlocks its own paths while exploring the mansion or is usable in confrontations and opportunities to get the upper hand on your fellow guests.

Your abilities are not infinite, it takes effort to manipulate and charm your way to the top. The more adept you are at a skill, the less of your Effort Points it will cost to use. This is affected by the difficulty of the task at hand, while a number of special Talents and Items are there to help you as well.


Talents are extra, passive bonuses that Louis unlocks as you progress through the story. There’s a massive range available, with numerous different triggers and effects, and you can see all of them in the menu, letting you aim for the ones you prefer. Meanwhile, Items are acquired throughout the game via exploration. They have powerful effects like refunding effort points, or making skill uses free - but they’re rare, so use them wisely and only in urgent circumstances.


The Council is not just a narrative adventure - the RPG aspects of your class, skills, talents, and items control your fate as much as any other decision.

The Council Episode 1 “The Mad Ones” releases on PC, PS4 and Xbox One on March 13, 2018. thecouncil-game.com