Société d'élite

Summary

tl;dr

Full Review

“Mr. president, are you a killer?”
~Keir Simmons

Есть нечто странное в том, что незнакомые люди вынуждены проводить многие дни вместе. Хотя их объединяет лишь желание переместиться из одного места в другое. Скука плюс анонимность и плюс ритмично-мягкое покачивание.

Самое сложное — не поиск истины, а как поступить с ней, когда её найдешь.

Such is the way of conspiracy...

How to lose friends & alienate people — Gameplay:

“All time is time. It does not change. It does not lend itself to warnings or explanations. It simply is. Take it moment by moment, and you will find that we are all, as I've said before, bugs in amber.”

Grievances:

• You cannot skip dialogue making some puzzles slightly obnoxious after trying repeated solutions and needing to hear the character's preamble into the puzzle. Another issue that because the dialogue is so skill check heavy, it makes you want to choose those options when they aren't always the best or even suited towards how you actually might want to react. It'd be interesting to be able to remove extra information from the dialogue choices. But the actual options in-game are very limited.
• Skill check options sometimes only make puzzles slightly easier. Where Louis typically voices a part of the solution. A few of the puzzles use Religious imagery and Bible verses. So, be wary if you're into sort of thing and it might affront your sensibilities. I found those puzzles specifically very convoluted, I gave them a few shots. But I've no shame in admitting I simply looked up the solution.
• Putting what this game is actually is about upfront I feel would have served it better in the end. If a sequel is ever to come, I'd imagine the plot twist would be revealed in the title or discovered in just a cursory glance.
• It's got a whimsical soundtrack, slightly jovial. Doesn't always seem to fit the semi-serious nature of the game. Perhaps to create dissonance or suggest dubious endeavors.

The Gist:

★★★★☆

Overview

• The future is NowThe Council's approach to narrative-adventure gameplay is rather unique for the genre. Along with common exploration sections, this title introduces a deep RPG-style skill system that is actively used in interactions, dialogues and verbal confrontations. Skills such as thievery, sleight of hand, logic and many more will dynamically apply to the current context. This system is further complemented by resource management, with different consumable types found in the world and usable to gain advantages. The choices, possibilities and outcomes of every chapter have lasting consequences, and are heavily determined by your skills and previous actions, with a depth not seen in almost any other game of this type.
• Both gold and daggers glitter in the dark
This title offers a solid, realistic and detailed representation of late 1700 aristocracy environments, uses, costumes and practices. Each area boasts very detailed graphics with rich details, quality representations of real-world paintings and monuments. Same goes for characters, all wearing clothes in line with the time period and using vocabulary, mannerisms and behaviors consistent with their standing. In addition, the political and social environments of high courts is realistically depicted, with all the complexity of palace intrigues, plots and plans to eliminate each other's rivals or gain more power.
• Ancient secrets
In addition to the deep dialogue / roleplaying system, the game offers some truly articulate puzzles that will require interpretation of multiple texts, paintings, decipher codes and remember past events - all at the same time in some cases. While skills can help making them a bit easier, they remain some of the most complex puzzles I saw in this genre for a long while.
• The paths of destiny
With some 9 endings and a high number of story-changing choices in each chapter, The Council has a very good replay value which is not common for the genre. Some characters may live or die, be your allies or enemies in each playthrough, and this will lead to massively different situations each time. Once is simply not enough to see every facet of this complex story.

• These nobles always seem so stiff!Animations and movement of all characters in general, always results very stiff particularly during action sequences. Sometimes models clip into their own clothes or walk and rotate in a very clunky manner. This can be quite immersion-breaking especially during dialogues or confrontations.

Rating: Excellent

In-Depth Breakdown

Technical Breakdown

• Critical ProblemsNone.
• Optimization
Not very good, the resource usage especially GPU-side is very high, even considering the high quality graphics.
• Performance
Runs without issues in 1440p, 85Hz.
• Bugs
No significant bugs to report.
• Other Issues
If alt-tabbed the game GPU usage spikes to a constant 99%. Do not alt-tab.

• Devil's thorn - Reveals vulnerabilities and immune of a person you are currently talking with, it has a timer.
• Royal jelly - Restores 2 Effort Points.
• Carmelite water - Use the next ability for free.
• Golden elixir - Removes negative status.