Focus Home Introduces The Council, An Episodic Murder Mystery

George Washington, Napoleon Bonaparte, and others will feature in this narrative-driven episodic title from French dev Big Bad Wolf.

Charles Singletary Jr

December 20, 2017 1:05 PM

2

TellTale games has made episodic content for many years, finally striking gold with the first season of The Walking Dead back in 2012. They've enjoyed a modicum of success with various properties since and opened the door for other devs, like Dontnod Entertainment with Life is Strange, to embrace the episodic format. Focus Home Interactive and French dev team Big Bad Wolf are teaming up for a new episodic narrative experience of their own called The Council, a tale of intrigue and manipulation.

The Council, which begins in 1793, has all of the makings of a classic murder mystery in its debut trailer. Players take on the role of secret society member Louis de Richet after being invited to a private island off the shores of England by Lord Mortimer. As expected, there are other high profile guests in attendance including Napoleon Bonaparte and George Washington. In addition to the hidden agendas of all the guests, Richet's own mother has gone missing on the island. 

This episodic affair is built on a social influence system that weaves right into the narrative and allows players to utilize skills and resources to achieve a desired outcome. Knowledge of the different guests' psychological vulnerabilities and immunities along with information and tools gained while exploring and investigating will play parts in these interactions, which sounds fairly similar to other popular episodic games. Your actions can't be taken back, the consequences are permanent, and failure in certain moments does not mean it's game over. 

Players will be able to shape Richet with 15 different skills they can invest in and are afforded a great deal of freedom as they attempt to unravel the story of The Council. Episode one, called The Mad Ones, will launch February 2018 on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. The complete season will include five episodes.

Charles Singletary Jr

News Editor

Charles Singletary Jr keeps the updates flowing as the News Editor, breaking stories while investigating the biggest topics in gaming and technology. He's pretty active on Twitter, so feel free to reach out to him @The_CSJR. Got a hot tip? Email him at Charles.Singletary@Shacknews.com.