The Council - Episode 1: The Mad Ones Reviews

The Council - Episode 1: The Mad Ones is ranked in the 63rd percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
Mar 20, 2018

Aside from the stilted voice acting and ugly visuals, The Council gets off to an excellent start with The Mad Ones. The over-arching plot is sufficiently intriguing, while the light RPG mechanics gives the narrative adventure genre the kick in the pants it has needed.

Read full review

7.5 / 10.0
Mar 14, 2018

If you can get past the slow start and some of the glaring technical problems of The Mad Ones, then you will find the most innovative episodic adventure games to come from a studio other than Telltale. I can see The Council becoming a standout title within its genre when it's finished, but as it stands The Mad Ones has enough problems to where everyone may not be on board just yet.

Read full review

8 / 10.0
Mar 13, 2018

The Council's first episode is a promising start. The Mad Ones builds the framework for what can be a wild narrative ride, but it's not clear yet how far this game will go in terms of its branching paths, or if the narrative will remain interesting throughout. I'm excited to learn more about the deceptive world of The Council and what Louis will uncover in upcoming episodes.

Read full review

7 / 10
Mar 13, 2018

This first episode takes its time to introduce the plot of the Council as well as the RPG mechanics. They suit very well to the narrative genre, allowing the player to follow its own path through the choices of the game.

Review in French | Read full review

ACG
Top Critic
Wait for Sale
Mar 13, 2018
The Council - Episode 1: The Mad Ones Review "Buy, Wait for Sale, Rent, Never Touch?" video thumbnail
7 / 10
May 12, 2018

More than enough new ideas have been thrown at The Council to make it stand out from the crowd, and, while flaws are clearly evident in the three hours that you will spend with this first episode, it makes for a promising start for what is left to come.

Read full review

RPG Fan
Top Critic
77%
May 6, 2018

A very promising start to a series with an intriguing story, interesting setting, and a unique spin on choice-based narratives.

Read full review

7 / 10
Mar 22, 2018

The Council provides some much needed zing to a stale genre. It has many issues, but there is plenty here to keep you intrigued about the next episode.

Read full review

8 / 10
Mar 16, 2018

The Council - Episode 1: The Mad Ones perfectly sets the tone for the remaining episodes, crafting an enthralling narrative with a colorful cast of characters. The inclusion of the RPG elements helps dynamically influence conversations and how you perceive other characters. Using your skills instead of focusing on win or lose quick time events is a nice change of pace for the genre. Finding manuscripts/books while you are exploring yield free skill points during each quest, rewarding players that thoroughly search the environments, not to mention pieces of amber that extends the number of available effort points. Although there were slight visual irregularities, and minor hiccups on panning camera shots, The Council performs rather well but doesn't have added support for PlayStation 4 Pro or Xbox One X.

Read full review

4 / 5.0
Mar 26, 2018

The Mad Ones is one of the strongest openers in episodic gaming to date.

Read full review

6 / 10
Mar 23, 2018

In many ways The Council is a brave step forward for narrative adventures; offering a multitude of ways to mold your character; more so than any effort in the genre before it.

Read full review

7 / 10.0
Mar 16, 2018

The Council: The Mad Ones is a good start. Adding RPG elements in a classic adventure game is a very good idea, but there's something wrong in the reactions. Also, the graphics are outdated.

Review in Italian | Read full review

8 / 10.0
Mar 13, 2018

The Council, just going by the first episode, is a very good attempt to evolve the choose-your-own adventure game style, going far beyond what Telltale have attempted.

Read full review

8 / 10.0
Mar 13, 2018

Occasionally rough around the edges, The Council's first episode is a surprisingly entertaining combination of Telltale's episodic adventure games and tabletop RPG elements.

Read full review

9 / 10.0
Mar 12, 2018

The Council gets off to an excellent start thanks to its brilliant characters, clever gameplay, unique RPG elements and the threat of long-lasting consequences, which ensured that I was captivated from start to finish. Twice.

Read full review

9.5 / 10.0
May 20, 2018

I lapped up all the skulking, whispering skullduggery and a few of the plot twists caught me by surprise. I can't wait for more.

Read full review

Cubed3
Top Critic
7 / 10
Jan 5, 2019

Episode One: The Mad Ones of The Council launches a riveting, dark, and twisted story of secret societies, engulfed with key historical figures such as George Washington and Napoleon.

Read full review

8 / 10.0
Mar 28, 2018

If the rest of the series plays out like The Council: Episode 1 – The Mad Ones, then adventure game fans are in for quite a ride. The storylines and mysteries are intriguing thus far. While there is simplicity in the puzzles, the RPG elements and deeper conversation system make the game more appealing than some other adventure titles. There's currently no timetable for future episodes of The Council, but adventure fans will enjoy this title.

Read full review

Ofisil
Top Critic
7 / 10
Apr 15, 2018

The Council is off to a really good start with Episode 1: The Mad Ones, with an occultism/conspiracy-heavy story that is as mysterious as it is engrossing, and a RPG skill system that works well in unison with the more "traditional" elements of narrative-driven gameplay. It's a rough diamond, for sure, but at least it is one that provides a fresh look on the genre, making it easy to get hungry for the next chapter.

Read full review

91 / 100
Mar 16, 2018

The Council - Episode 1: The Mad Ones is an excellent game. It can put elements of various game styles together and they all match in a perfect way. If you seek narrative, investigation and the feeling of being a detective from the 18th century, The Council is for you. The biggest problem here is in the end of the first episode, because the desire to play the next one is going to be strong.

Review in Portuguese | Read full review