An intriguing episodic narrative adventure game titled The Council was announced by developer Big Bad Wolf and publisher Focus Home Interactive back in December. At that time, it was announced that the first episode, which is titled The Mad Ones, would release in February. Unfortunately, February passed without a word on the episodes release. That finally changed today though, as Big Bad Wolf announced that The Council – Episode 1: The Mad Ones will be releasing next week on March 13.

To celebrate this announcement, the developers released a new video titled Rethinking Narrative Adventure. In it, the developers explain the premise behind The Council, and what makes it stand out from other episodic games. The game begins with players controlling Louis de Richet, who is visiting the private island of Lord Mortimer, as his mother who is part of a special council there, has gone missing. That being said, he finds several prominent historical figures like George Washington are also on the island once he gets there.

On the gameplay side of things, The Council innovates by incorporating several RPG elements into the experience. Players choose between one of three classes - Diplomat, Occulist, and Detective - and can level up to unlock several skills throughout the series. Typical combat has also been replaced by a Confrontation System, where players work their way out of sticky situations through dialogue.

You can check out the Rethinking Narrative Adventure video below. The Council - Episode 1: The Mad Ones is now poised to release on March 13, with four subsequent episodes to follow later this year.