Here's the thoughts I wrote down when playing Control Resonant:
I absolutely love the last of us vibes with the music when wandering the post apocalyptic New York. At first this kind of made me think of what a modern Breath of the Wild would be like but the more I played it the more I saw it wasn't quite that but was still it's own thing with the charm that you come to expect from Remedy games. This is definitely a step up from the first game. I feel the focus on melee combat is better suited than the gun combat of the first game. It’s a lot more fun to work out combos and dodging almost like Devil May Cry. I swear the title sequence with each area when you first enter, similar to that of when you start new chapters in Alan Wake 2 just does something to my brain that feels so aesthetically pleasing. It makes the game feel so grand and epic. It’s just so much the vibe.
I have fun with the main story quests and go off the path to do side quests or just find things that pop up on the map but eventually get to a point of getting bored but then remind myself I have more main quest objectives to get back to. At first exploration made me feel similar to that of Breath of the Wild but where the game falls short of that is it doesn’t give a continuous feed of different things to do unlike Breath of the Wild and even more so Tears of the Kingdom after where those were very addicting because it was easy to get lost in doing a bunch of random things and the game would segue you into doing something else and keep going. Control Resonant gives you plenty to do but there is apparent downtime between things to do that can make continuous play happen less. I feel Alan Wake 2 succeeded in this regard to where doing story objectives and completing side puzzles and exploration, each would lead you to the next thing seamlessly. Not a bad game but not as captivating as Remedy’s last big game in their gaming universe.
I like how when getting new abilities you get a section to practice with a song from the soundtrack like nods to the Ashtray Maze from the first game. It’s interesting how incorporated that element is this time around. But so far the closest thing to a unique experience I’ve had with this game is a section where Dylan has to sing karaoke to save a party of people that was pretty great. But through this I’m still playing to chase an itch of some spectacle to be at or close to the level of Herald of Darkness from Alan Wake 2. The Underpass is definitely my favorite part of the game so far and the most captivating as it feels like a more horror direction than the rest of the game but also builds on the best mind bending elements like the gravitational traversal and has opened up parts in each branch of the main story that has me wanting to play more. When I first got in there it made me feel the same way I felt when first dropping into The Depths in Tears of the Kingdom.
I tried doing side quests again and I found that I wasn’t enjoying them as much. I tend to question when playing games if I’m rushing through them especially if there’s others I’m looking forward to and I tried pushing to do the side quests more here but found that they just weren’t feeling as fulfilling for me as playing the main story. Maybe I’ll come back to them sometime later but to be completely honest I doubt it. The main story is just more fun between the story itself and how it has you exploring new places. Treading over the same areas with a refill of enemies as it happens when you defeat Resonants in the main story quest branch, it just dulls the experience for me. Especially since the enemies just become more damage sponges the further you go. It makes me think of how with Tears of the Kingdom enemies respawn and get stronger too but they also come with better weapons and crafting materials so there’s an added benefit to fighting them again where you don’t get that here. Funny to think of how much people complain about the weapon durability in those Zelda games but this feels like what it would be like if that mechanic was taken out and I’d say I’m much happier with it as it gives purpose to redoing these fights. Granted here you do get experience for each area when you fight enemies again. But it barely chips away towards leveling compared to completing main story quests.
I’ve experienced multiple bugs with playing the game all that required me to reload a save. Thankfully the auto save is frequent so not much is replayed but there’s definitely been more of an issue in this game than most I play.
Like the first game, the spectacle moment comes near the end of the game. But this time it's not a spectacle in the same manner as previous Remedy games with the exception of the Time Breaker chapter in the Alan Wake 2 DLC. This is seen in the flashback sequence where it's like playing a game from the SNES era of gaming like Earthbound but it’s so heartbreaking seeing all the too familiar family trauma play out as a juxtaposition to the colorful demeanor of this game. It's an interesting look into the childhood trauma of Dylan and Jesse but this part felt like it overstayed its welcome a little for me but when finishing it I still enjoyed it for what it was. I also enjoyed it as I was waiting to see my favorite character from the Remedy Universe.
Overall I enjoyed Control Resonant. I would put it around the same place as the first game if not a little higher in my liking of Remedy games. Alan Wake 2 is still my favorite by far from Remedy but I liked the story in this one quite a bit but the same with their other games but I would say the main factor that I look at with these games is gameplay and how much I enjoy the game mechanics. The Control games have fun gameplay but nothing that stands out too much for me but Resonant is more engaging than the first. I also feel the boss battles on this one are the best Remedy has made but still aren’t the best in general but still really fun.