Extreme Exorcism
Extreme Exorcism
Game
Game2018
The Council
Developer Big Bad Wolf
The Council is a 2018 episodic interactive mystery graphic adventure video game developed by Big Bad Wolf and published by Focus Home Interactive. It was released in five episodes between March 13, 2018, and December 4, 2018. Set in 1793, The Council follows Louis de Richet, a French man searching for his missing mother Sarah, who is the head of the French branch of a secret society known as the Golden Order. Louis… From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
238 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Lemmy, Mastodon) · newest Nov 4, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
79
LovedLoved
149 positive · 39 negative
95% range 73–84%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 149 | 39 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 6 | 3 | 35 |
| Lemmy * | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 3 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Mostly Positive
2,215 of 2,779 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
79% recommend · 147 yes, 38 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 185 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (4,817 of 5,740 positive).
Players praise the game's intriguing story, historical setting, and meaningful choices. [1][2][3] Some reviewers note the main character is unlikeable and the story declines after the third episode. [4][5][6] Several players mention poor optimization and tedious backtracking as drawbacks. [7][8][9]
Liked
Representative posts
- [5]
Overall: 5/10 Story: When I first started The Council, I was genuinely intrigued. The setting was unique, the atmosphere was dense with mystery, and the cast of characters, many of whom were drawn from actual history, gave it a compelling hook. Episodes 1 and 2 actually had me pretty engaged. The political intrigue mixed with occult undertones was refreshing, and the choices felt like they had weight. Yet, by …
- [1]
I love history, secret societies, political intrigue, and mysteries - and this game brings all of that together in perfect balance. The characters are incredibly well-written and multi-layered. Each one has their own motives, secrets, and hidden agendas. As the story unfolds, you realize you can’t fully trust anyone, and that creates an amazing sense of tension. The dialogues are a true highlight: they’re not just …
- [2]
Got this for $1.50 on sale and genuinely feel like I robbed the devs. Really really intriguing story, mystery and world building. Many great story twists. The game doesn't pander to you or treat you as stupid and the choices that you make, for the most part, have logical consequences. The riddles can be very challenging but don't feel unfair. All characters are generally written in a believable manner and it seldom …
- [3]
If you are tired of "choices matter" games where your decisions only change the color of the ending or a few lines of dialogue, The Council is exactly what you’ve been looking for. It takes the episodic narrative adventure genre and brilliantly infuses it with deep RPG mechanics. The Good: The Social Influence System: Instead of just picking dialogue options, you use skills like Etiquette, Psychology, Occultism, or …
- [4]
Some nice new ideas in this game, but it's hard to play when you despise the main character. The guy is just extremely unlikeable.
Summarised from 34 of the 226 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 11, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Players who liked The Council talk about engaging story with historical figures and occult mysteries; those who didn't talk about main character is unlikeable. Which matters more to you?
Critics, per Wikipedia
The Council received mixed to positive reviews. On Metacritic, the PC version holds a rating of 67 out of 100, with the PS4 version holding a score of 74. John-Paul Jones of PlayStation Universe gave a positive review, calling it "an innovative narrative adventure quite unlike any other" and stating: "Though the modest technical execution tarnishes The Council to an extent, it remains an innovative and clever adventure which does that rarest of things - it treats the audience as intelligent, educated individuals. With its sophisticated geopolitical backdrop, occult themes and in-depth RPG style progression and decision systems, The Council sets a compelling blueprint for the episodic…
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 238 · most liked firstThe decision to make the Council (should you have saved them) completely turn their back on the promises they made at the start of the first game? Dogshit. The decision to completely sideline the Spectre program? Awful. Everything to do with the Omega relay and the Collectors? Risible.
negative · AI labelView post →Anyway, my dream LOTR game idea is still an Oregon Trail mod, where you form a custom Fellowship at the Council of Elrond, and make decisions as you trek to Mordor
neutral · AI labelView post →A powerful letter to UK ministers from the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, warning strongly about curtailing human rights for trans people in a bogus 'zero-sum game'. It's clear the Commissioner is deeply worried that ministers are already on this path.
neutral · AI labelView post →A game I think a lot about is The Council, a 5-episode Adventure/RPG hybrid from 2018. Ep 1-3 are brilliant, full of political intrigue & lovecraftian vibes, with choices & consequences that emerge from combining RPG + puzzles. Then on Ep 4-5 it shifts from lovecraftian to lazy shonen. It sucks :/
neutral · AI labelView post →This and Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly, Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, Jim & Tammy Faye Bakker, Billy Graham, and now Watters, Gutfeld, and Paula White pony for ratings. The thing about takeovers is the long game is always in play. The Council for National Policy has been around forever.
neutral · AI labelView post →In my 11th-level Pathfinder 1e game, upon being offered free nonmagic supplies by the Council of a major city, one of the PCs asked for local maps with magic points of interest marked, and a cookbook of local dishes. When a player gives you fun like that, you gotta do SOMETHING with it. So I am. 1/2
neutral · AI labelView post →Wanna share some fanart I made for the game The Council. Honestly it's where I felt like my art was truly shifting into something I adored. This was so early on in my artstyle change, I was just starting to figure out what I want my art to be. I still love a lot of the fanart I made of this game
positive · AI labelView post →“...History has taken us by surprise.” Every year, the enigmatic Lord William Mortimer summons his council – a collection of the most prominent political figures of the age – to discuss the state of the world. In 1793, young occultist and heir apparent to the French chapter of the Golden Order Louis de Richet is invited to the island, under dire circumstances: his mother, the fearlessly bullheaded Sarah de Richet, has gone missing, and Mortimer is worried. Though his express reason for being…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Ireland now chairs the Council of the EU including the digital rulebook & tax reform files it has spent a decade resisting. You can’t referee a game you’re playing in. Here’s our call for Ireland to recuse itself 👇
neutral · AI labelView post →[Opinion] The long twilight: China is entering a century of demographic decline. cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/60358469 > [The author Carl Minzner is a Senior Fellow for China Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and a Professor at Fordham Law School, US.] > > [Archived](https://www.removepaywall.com/search?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foreignaffairs.com%2Fchina%2Fchinas-long-twilight-carl-minzner) > > During the boom years of the reform era, from 1978 to the early 2000s,…
neutral · AI labelView post →Today, May 20th, is the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea. A fitting date to announce the long awaited return of a classic Chaosium game: Credo, the game of duelling dogmas!
neutral · AI labelView post →as you all know, the best-feeling video game of all time, as decreed by the Council of Segata, is Ninja Gaiden Black. this is of course extremely uncontroversial. however, rise of the ronin is _exceptional_ and should be played for game feel ALONE. highly recommended, please check it out
neutral · AI labelView post →We’ve built an interactive game to show what the pressure of adult social care looks like in practice. In Run the Council, you take charge of a fictional council for four years. Can you run ‘Northfield Council’ amongst mounting financial pressures? Play here: www.labourtogether.uk/council-sim
neutral · AI labelView post →Overall: 5/10 Story: When I first started The Council, I was genuinely intrigued. The setting was unique, the atmosphere was dense with mystery, and the cast of characters, many of whom were drawn from actual history, gave it a compelling hook. Episodes 1 and 2 actually had me pretty engaged. The political intrigue mixed with occult undertones was refreshing, and the choices felt like they had weight. Yet, by Episode 3, it all started to fall apart. The biggest issue I had with the narrative…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Illustration of the Council of Six (minus one) from the PSO2 Trading Card game, via the Oracle Memories artbook. #PSO2 #PSO2NGS #PSO2scans
neutral · AI labelView post →I must say that I stopped playing in the middle of chapter 4. I see that maybe I don't have enough info to post a review at this stage but to be honest - I really lost interest in playing the game and upon spoiling myself online about what's to come I'm very positive I've made the right choice. Overall the game has a nice make-up and in the beginning the story sounds very promising. But I quickly found the game very tedious as most of the time it just seems to be a courier simulator. The manor…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I think my biggest hope for Midnight is them actually using the Horde Council -- whether that be for combat or simply communicating to one another in regards to Silvermoon City. I think it's long been overdue that the Council actually did something in game while all together.
neutral · AI labelView post →Germa N. Shepard heroically stopped Sovereign and saved the Citadel! Please ignore the Council blowing up in the background. Fanart of @breebunn.bsky.social 's playthrough of Mass Effect 1. Properly hyped for the next game! (Made in Procreate)
neutral · AI labelView post →the game actually trips on its own feet here bc it spends a not-insignificant time reminding you that The Council aren't the sole authority in the galaxy and that they obviously do not want to do full-scale war with the neighbours they benefit from financially, and then goes "oh well fuck em"
negative · AI labelView post →Some nice new ideas in this game, but it's hard to play when you despise the main character. The guy is just extremely unlikeable.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Watch Indianapolis's hottest new game show, where contestants try to figure out what the Council actually does, anyway! My latest constituent newsletter and video, "What's Your Job?" just dropped.
neutral · AI labelView post →Interesting premise, but it definitely feels like the team had no idea where the story was going at the start and tried to wing it as they went. The details don't always line up from episode to episode, and major plot elements get tossed out without a second thought. The story in general falls on its face in the 4th episode and doesn't recover. The 5th episode... exists. I can't say much more for it than that. I got it for $1.49 though, so no regrets.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Thrilled to share that the Fair Game project, featuring @romanpalace.bsky.social has won the Sustainability Category at the Council for British Archaeology Awards! 🎉 The project explores fallow deer, first brought to Britain by the Romans, to tackle environmental issues & food security.
neutral · AI labelView post →They didn't let me sex :(
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Around 2019/2020 I made an active choice to stop saying mean stuff about myself and treat myself like I’m my own best friend. Folks, it’s a game changer. The Council of me that live inside my head have never been happier with each other.
neutral · AI labelView post →[Opinion] The long twilight: China is entering a century of demographic decline. cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/60358469 > [The author Carl Minzner is a Senior Fellow for China Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and a Professor at Fordham Law School, US.] > > [Archived](https://www.removepaywall.com/search?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foreignaffairs.com%2Fchina%2Fchinas-long-twilight-carl-minzner) > > During the boom years of the reform era, from 1978 to the early 2000s,…
neutral · AI labelView post →This game is ass. Not the good kinda ass like The Council. It's just ass. Animation looks so jittery and horrible and there's no manual save but the autosave also doesn't always work : )
negative · AI labelView post →I'm resurrecting the Council of Wyrms for Pathfinder 2E. Play a dragon game... as a dragon! We only need 2-3 to make it work. startplaying.games/adventure/cl...
neutral · AI labelView post →0/10 This is the only game I’ve ever played I would award a 0/10 score; I’m completely lost for words as to what the f*ck I’ve just spent 20 hours playing. This is truly a game for nobody. On the one hand, a “The Council” enjoyer is a high-IQ history super-nerd who delights in cracking ciphres with pen and paper every 20 minutes. On the other hand, he also must be r*tarded enough to stomach this story-game’s “story”. Make no mistake: the developers of this game hate you. If you play this, you…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I love history, secret societies, political intrigue, and mysteries - and this game brings all of that together in perfect balance. The characters are incredibly well-written and multi-layered. Each one has their own motives, secrets, and hidden agendas. As the story unfolds, you realize you can’t fully trust anyone, and that creates an amazing sense of tension. The dialogues are a true highlight: they’re not just about picking lines, but about engaging in real intellectual duels. The puzzles…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The writing goes downhill come Chapter 4. What was supposed to be a story about political intrigue, statecraft, personal choice and its implication on the fate of the entire world, turned out to be irrelevant. Characters are mostly boring, flat and don't matter at all. And the most boring and inconsequential of them all is the MC. The poor writing epidemic had started way before everyone began talking about it. The writers didn't forget to cram some of the virtue-signalling twitter-coded s l…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It will suffice to say that I do not appreciate wanton women flaunting their assets and making attempts at stripping me of my purity. In the equal measure I do not approve of a gentleman wearing a tattered frock coat made of leather - this is a most barbaric fashion choice that does not deserve my respect. Nevertheless, despite the inadequacy of the above mentioned points, this is an acceptable diversion - enough to keep one at home and away from drinking clubs.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →You know what? I know Swansong sucks ass but it's made by the same people who made my all time favorite bad game The Council But I doubt Swansong can live up to the so bad it's good status of The Council tho it does make me tempted to play it just to see how bad it is
neutral · AI labelView post →What I liked: 1.Beautiful environment 2.Ability to meet and observe notable historical figures like Napoleon Bonaparte, George Washington, etc 3.Good voice acting 4.Story was interesting in the first part of the game. What I disliked: 1. Repetitive soundtrack which felt misplaced at times 2. Running around the mansion in circles trying to remember where is the room you need 3. Needing to go back and forth between exactly same locations endlessly 4. Some of the puzzles were tedious, others…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →My game recommendations for the steam summer sale are Killer7, The Council, Darkest Dungeon, Witchfire, Enshrouded, Tainted Grail: Fall of Avalon, Hellclock, and Voin
positive · AI labelView post →I see people in reviews complaining about FPS with a worse PC than mine, not every game needs to run on 240fps for it to be playable, great game, great story, if you want to play through a movie and enjoy history this ones for you
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Alright so this game.... I am barely giving it a thumbs up. It starts off REALLY strong. Lots of mystery. Lots of intrigue. Its got some really nice visuals that I adored. LOVE the dinning hall that opens right to the sky. But here's the thing. The pacing is very, very slow. So do be warned of that. The action is about what skills you've mastered (ex: Logic, Diversion, etc.) so that you can win conversations to get the information you need or to coerce the person you're speaking…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Got this for $1.50 on sale and genuinely feel like I robbed the devs. Really really intriguing story, mystery and world building. Many great story twists. The game doesn't pander to you or treat you as stupid and the choices that you make, for the most part, have logical consequences. The riddles can be very challenging but don't feel unfair. All characters are generally written in a believable manner and it seldom felt like their reactions or actions are out of place. Most importantly, if you…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →⣀⠤⠿⢤⢖⡆⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⡔⢩⠂⠀⠒⠗⠈⠀⠉⠢⠄⣀⠠⠤⠄⠒⢖⡒⢒⠂⠤⢄⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠇⠤⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⠀⠀⠈⠀⠈⠈⡨⢀⠡⡪⠢⡀⠀ ⠈⠒⠀⠤⠤⣄⡆⡂⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠢⠀⢕⠱⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⢳⣐⡐⠐⡀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⠀⠁⠇ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠑⢤⢁⠀⠆⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⢰⠀⠀⠀⡀⢄⡜⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠘⡦⠄⡷⠢⠤⠤⠤⠤⢬⢈⡇⢠⣈⣰⠎⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⣃⢸⡇⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠈⢪⢀⣺⡅⢈⠆⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠶⡿⠤⠚⠁⠀⠀⠀⢀⣠⡤⢺⣥⠟⢡⠃⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠉⠉⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Here I will leave this beautiful Capybara, whoever passes by can pet it and give it a thumbs up (I need Steam Points).
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The Council has surprised me in more ways than one. Your choices do matter most of the time, there are clearly different endings. Even though the story is comprehensible based on what I’ve picked, there is also enough to learn more about if I went with different choices. The story was engaging to follow based on the voice actors, writing and wanting to find out what would happen next. However, I’m not sure I’m happy with the direction of the story the further I got and the twists that followed.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →oh congrats to Civ 7 on being the most wanted pc game as determined by the ineffable whims of The Council during The PC Gaming Show: Most Wanted btw
neutral · AI labelView post →Great Game but look at that kitty, whoever pass by can pet it and give it a thumbs up. Have a nice day :3 ／＞ フ | _ _ l ／` ミ＿xノ / | / ヽ ﾉ │ | | | ／￣| | | | | (￣ヽ＿_ヽ_)__)
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →For the Price of 1.5 Euros, the game is very good. Yes there is poor optimization, but you dont rly need it to enjoy the game. A good immersion, for the money you spend you get some gameplay. You need to have patience in puzzles, If you fail an encounter you can just go to main menu and back in game for how many chances you need! Over all worth it, if u life story telling games
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The Advocate was victorious!!! It was really tense and basically anyone's game until the last hand. In the end, controlling the Empire and the Council kept me ahead.
neutral · AI labelView post →Reviewing (mostly) every game (or DLC) in my library, part 232: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆☆ (8/10) The Council is one of those games that feels like it shouldn’t work, and yet somehow, it absolutely does. It’s messy, yes. But it’s also daring, weirdly smart, and packed with enough political intrigue, occult mysteries, and branching dialogue trees to make any Telltale fan perk up. Its mechanics are bold and genuinely refreshing, even when the game struggles to keep up with its own ambition. Between the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Full-Time cheerleader for nostalgia. What the fuck? 😭 At least I made it onto the Council of Game Tastes.
neutral · AI labelView post →Abyssmal performance and horrendously over the top exaggerated character art style paired with sub par voice acting and an unfulfilling progression/story. Quite bad, would not recommend to most people if anyone.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is about a secret society called Dialogue led by Palantir's CEO Peter Thiel, where powerful people go to collude with each other and plan how to destroy our freedoms. Oh my bad that's real life.... This game is about a secret society called The Golden Order led by George Washington, where powerful people go to collude with each other and plan how to destroy our freedoms.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →If you are tired of "choices matter" games where your decisions only change the color of the ending or a few lines of dialogue, The Council is exactly what you’ve been looking for. It takes the episodic narrative adventure genre and brilliantly infuses it with deep RPG mechanics. The Good: The Social Influence System: Instead of just picking dialogue options, you use skills like Etiquette, Psychology, Occultism, or Politics. Managing your effort points (Effort Points) during conversations…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →What a shame. Started out with performance issues which is never a good start. The voice acting (in English) is really variable in quality from character to character but on the whole is mostly quite poor and the story devolves into drivel towards the end and the pacing sucks. Don't recommend this one.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The Council – a Telltale-style game at its worst. A chosen one story wrapped in mysticism and the occult, filled with unnecessary gameplay systems meant to create the illusion of agency while mostly wasting your time. A mystery-box narrative only works when its payoff matches its initial potential. The Council begins with an intriguing premise, a look into a secrete elite scoiety which shapes the world order. Unfortunately, the plot is derailed by heavy-handed supernatural elements that…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The best thing about this game is there's a Council reference in it A painting of Louis De Richet, the protagonist of The Council
positive · AI labelView post →It’s not a bad game in the strict sense of the word, but I can’t honestly recommend it. The core ideas are genuinely intriguing (18th century setting, secret societies, a mystery to solve, and appearances by historical figures like Washington and Bonaparte), yet in the end I feel they weren’t fully taken advantage of. The story, while interesting at first, drifts into strange directions as the chapters go on. Unfortunately, Chapter 5 brings all of that to a head—it feels both too bizarre and…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →My Experience The Council was a wild ride. As many other reviewers have noted, it resembles a Telltale or Life is Strange-type game, but with RPG elements added in. You play a man named Louis who visits the secret island of a rich man named Mortimer. You ostensibly visit to locate your mother, but when you arrive you find that much more is at stake. When you begin, you'll pick a class (Occultist, Diplomat, Detective). This class gives you proficiency in a certain starting group of skills. You…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Music Frustrations aside, it's Bandcamp Friday, so here's an album that's been in my ear: The Council of Trees by Castlesiege is my introduction to what people seem to be calling Dungeon Synth. TO put it short: PC game music with no video game.
neutral · AI labelView post →Apparently Cherami Leigh (V from CYBERPUNK 2077) is also in this game somewhere. I'm excited. The Council of Humanity communications guy also sounds vaguely familiar but I can't place him
neutral · AI labelView post →It amuses me that this might be the most actually Christian game since the Council Of Nicaea LARP. And like that one, I eagerly await some Theater Kid (laudatory) trying to run it in their Sunday School.
neutral · AI labelView post →Whilst much of the environment is beautifully rendered, the game itself is so annoying. Ridiculously slow paced, convoluted skill tree system, either patronising or confusing dialogue, no middle ground. I've no idea how far I got in a couple of hours but I can't take it anymore.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Managed to get through 11 minutes of terrible, expositional writing and painful voice acting before I abandoned Episode 1. It's like they locked an am-dram cast in a recording studio and only let them read their lines.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Choice-based RPG about how badly can you ♥♥♥♥ everything up and be horrified at how much better things could've gone. Highly encouraged feel-bad time!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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