The Council - Episode 3: Ripples Reviews
It can't be said enough that Ripples is fantastic for its story and feels more like a penultimate episode for how well it is structured and executed.
After the awful showing of Episode 2, I had absolutely no expectations going into this one. But hey, I came away relatively pleased and somewhat looking forward to what is to come next. The underlying issues that have plagued every episode thus far still persist here, but at least The Council is finally utilizing its strengths in the best way possible, despite its flaws.
While it can be argued that is entertaining, it also means those moments feel glossed over. Yet Ripples does keep your attention and its actual end really does set up a showdown of words that has great potential.
In the previous episode, The Council proved to be more than a one-episode wonder. Now it's shown it can even avoid the dreaded middle episode slump that so often befalls episodic games such as this. With a huge plot twist, the story is beginning to take on a whole different shape. Meanwhile, smart RPG-infused conversations and more interesting branching paths keep it all well worth another trip to the mansion.
Hopefully my complaints can be resolved in the next episode, but Ripples was not as enjoyable as I was hoping.
The Council continues to surprise and Episode 3 is without doubt the best so far.
The Council - Episode 3: Ripples gives a little more attention to dialogues and intrigues, leaving puzzles and riddles in the background. The ending, again, is not intriguing enough, but we already complained about this when reviewing previous episode.
Review in Russian | Read full review
Continuing to be one of the most intriguing narrative adventure series you can buy right now, Ripples furthers the narrative in a variety of interesting ways but nonetheless shows that The Council is in dire need of some fresh locales with which to embrace.
Ripples took my every criticism of "Hide and Seek's" core experience and fixed it, focusing more on The Council's incredible dialogue system than the puzzles of the manor.
Despite suffering from a gamut of technical issues, Ripples is a solid bounce-back for The Council. The plot continues to unfold in an interesting way, and the stronger focus on character interaction was a welcome development for this episode.
This third episode of The Council contains a large amount of technical issues, among which the many and tedious loading times, making the exploration less pleasant than it should be. Despite all this, the plot is finally moving on and all the choices made by the player seem to have a real impact on the story as a whole.
Review in French | Read full review
Major plot revelations and tense confrontations highlight what may be the most controversial episode of The Council yet.
Ripples doesn't quite hit the heights of The Council's first episode, but it's worlds better than the second one thanks to the simple act of actually moving the plot forward.
The Council - Episode 3: Ripples finally provides players with the answers they desire, but at the same time, proposes all new questions. Things are not as simple as I thought they would be, and an unseen power comes to light that genuinely has me excited for the remaining two episodes. The technical issues are such a drag, and by this point, I was hoping at least some of them would be resolved, but it appears like things are getting worse.
A potentially interesting entry marred by technical issues and stale environments.
Ripples again showcases the excellent storytelling and choice-driven gameplay that has made The Council such an intriguing experience thus far
With all that said though, The Council: Episode 3 – Ripples offers another fascinating look into this alternative history 18th century.
Unfortunately, the episode is plagued with glitches - one that can't be solved except for reloading the game - coupled with the choppy graphics and popping audio portions of the game that ruins what is otherwise the best story-driven episode of The Council yet.
The Council – Episode 3: Ripples delivers the best narrative to the game until now and the episode flows kind of rapidly. The technical problems keep on happening on the third episode, but they don't mess the fun within it. The ending lets the player with high expectations for the closure of the story.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Ripples can be a divisive episode for some. The big reveal doesn't seem so grand, and the switch from somewhat realistic to something more fantastic can be jarring. Some of the events show that the game isn't playing around when it comes to having choices matter, and there is some intrigue in regards to where things will go next. Let's hope the game performance doesn't regress further.