When I played Control in 2019, I had a distinct sense of potential for the game and the studio’s future projects. The writing, the visuals, the vibes, it was all there. If they could clean up the gameplay side a bit more, boy, we could have something special.
When I played Alan Wake 2 in 2023, I felt the step towards that special thing. It wasn’t quite there yet, but the improvements they implemented between Control to Alan Wake 2 boded extremely well for the inevitable Control 2.
Remedy takes a sidestep with Control Resonant, but they also move backwards, further back from Control, to the point where I don’t see the potential for another 3rd person action game.
A huge frustration with Control Resonant (and frankly, the original Control) is the visibility of their issues, and this is perhaps even more annoying than the problems themselves. The combat is boring and enemies are too tanky. It’s bafflingly obvious. I mostly feel confusion reading positive reviews. Towards the end of the game, I had grown tired of needing to string together several combos (that mostly consisted of pressing one button 5 times) to bring down enemies. I toggled on Assist mode and was met with a message that said something like “you can change some values here, but we’ve intentionally and carefully tuned this game’s difficulty.”
I was shocked at the sentiment. By the end of the game, I had cranked up my damage output via Assist mode to its max, from 100 (default) to 500. And for bosses specifically (I absolutely cleared mobs too easily at 500), that felt like a fair base output–I was still dying and fights still lasted appropriate amounts of time.
I had increased my damage 5 times the default and I wasn’t even close to breaking the game. I love difficult games. One of my biggest complaints towards Onimusha was that it was too easy. I also love difficult bosses. I spent about 10 hours just fighting Malenia from Elden Ring and it was fun as hell.
And for as many skill trees/options there are in Control Resonant, it’s still just a lot of pressing one button over and over. I think of a game like Hi-Fi Rush, an all-timer for me, which really challenged me, and forced me to develop strategies and un-intuitive (positive) rhythms. The gulf between these games’ combat systems makes Control Resonant feel like a Mario Party in terms of player expression.
If, in Control Resonant, the bosses were fun to fight–then I have no problem. If the mob variety were improved–that would go a long way. If the combat system were better developed–then we’re having a different conversation. It’s a confluence of bosses without enough character, incredibly tanky enemies, and rudimentary (but somehow still overcomplicated) combat system.
The Nextlander crew talked about how they felt you couldn’t just do more Control for a Control 2. Players expect more than another romp with Jesse through the Oldest House. But is that really true? I would have loved a Control 2 that expanded on the original Control in a similar way that Alan Wake 2 expanded on its predecessor.
But that’s not a very productive line of thinking. I think what’s more interesting to think about is: how does this happen? Control Resonant is not some massive failure, but it marks a departure in scope and combat, and the game really fails on the combat side. As to how this happens, I think the answer is actual ambition. When discussing games, people often say “ambition” when they mean “size of the map.” It is actually very un-ambitious, very content, for Ubisoft to put out another generic open-world game. Control Resonant is quite large, but it also represents an outward look. Jesse and her adventure in the Oldest House looked inwards, towards herself and her setting; now, in Control Resonant, we look outwards, to the larger world, and the damage done to and by Dylan. Remedy marries this with a deep curiosity towards Dylan’s past and the events that kicked off his and Jesse’s lives. They shifted genres and settings (openish Metroidvania to a more typical open-world) at once: ambition.
They offset this ambition with a grounded and straightforward story. The murkiness of Dylan and Jesse’s first encounter with the slide projector is explored thoroughly, but still through the lens of an old memory. But ultimately, these siblings need to save the world with their psychic powers, thrusting their arms out and doing The Force hands at a TV. The ending is a bit whatever, I like that Dylan needed to embrace his dark side to do what needed to be done, and I don’t think I needed Jesse sacrificing herself for him. But it’s fine.
So where does that leave us? In terms of setting, I really liked The Underpass and Unknown. The Underpass’s mini-horror story, oppressive vibes, and limited scope worked very well. Likewise, Unknown’s bizarro geometry forced me to think about space and navigation in exciting ways. If I want Remedy to continue thinking/expanding on anything from Control Resonant, it would start with those settings. But as they are wont to do, I’d expect whatever comes next to take another sidestep. Let’s hope it moves forward this time.