2019’s Control was my game of the year for the year it released. It is also one of my favorite games of all time. The world that Remedy Entertainment crafted within it and spawning outward from it (along with their other games) has captivated me since my first playthrough. Due to this, I have been eagerly awaiting the release of Control Resonant. Now, with well over 50 hours of playtime and the first playthrough finished, I can say it was worth the wait.

In Control Resonant, you play as Dylan Faden, former Antagonist of Control and brother of Control’s protagonist, Jesse Faden. Remedy suggests that you do not have to play Control before diving into Resonant, and while I can see their intent, I think Control Resonant becomes a much different experience without its predecessor as a foundation.

After being in a coma since the end of Control, Dylan awakens to discover his sister is missing, The Oldest House’s lockdown has fallen, and a menagerie of monstrous entities has begun to ravage a twisted version of Manhattan. Together with the survivors of the Federal Bureau of Control, he must take up his weapon, The Aberrant, and fight to find his sister and hopefully save the city.

With that baseline out of the way, let’s get to some accessibility stuff first. Remedy Entertainment included a wide variety of accessibility options, including what they call “assist mode,” which serves to allow you to make the game either easier or more difficult, according to your needs. Additionally, assist mode also has a few other bonuses, but the mode can be individually tinkered with and tailored to your own needs and desires, rather than being tied to a singular set of difficulty settings.

Outside of assist mode, the developers added a whole host of accessibility features that change how various controls work, as well as graphical and sound adjustment settings. The one concern that I would have for people (which is plastered in a huge warning at the start of the game), is that Control Resonant could be a danger for people with photosensitivity issues. That is just the nature of the visuals presented, as some sections have a lot of flashing or strobing lights.

Accessibility aside, Control Resonant is a very dynamic experience. Instead of the third-person shooting of the first game, Resonant opts for a vibrant, offensive-focused hack-and-slash Action RPG vibe. That’s right, folks, you won’t find parries here, it’s all about taking the fight to your enemies and dealing damage. As you kill heavy enemies (which spawn lesser ones), you’ll get health elements to refill your health, so dodging damage and fighting effectively is your way to success.

Resonant, because of this, feels more like a mix of Devil May Cry or Bayonetta than something like Sekiro or Nioh. Personally, I like this because the focus on movement and aggression is much more fun (for me) than the timing-based action.

Control Resonant’s open-world is also different, as each zone of Manhattan evolves as you explore, find secrets, fight enemies, and resolve quests. Dylan himself doesn’t level up; instead, the zones level up, opening new possibilities and giving Dylan talent points to expand his abilities. This also ties into defeating zone bosses (the titular Resonants), which usually offer Dylan new combat abilities upon defeat.

Admittedly, this is where I am torn. The combat is enjoyable for the first few hours, and as you get new abilities and evolve The Aberrant, you really get into a nice groove. However, the enjoyment of exploring the world and engaging with the quests was so high for me that after a while I got annoyed by being interrupted by waves of enemies I’d have to kill before I could continue a puzzle or quest.

That’s mostly because I love the universe so much and wanted to soak in as much of the lore and questing as possible, though, so that isn’t really a failing. Plenty of other people will likely feel the opposite, enjoying meeting the Hiss and Mold creatures head-on.

Control Resonant’s story, world, and characters are where the game truly shines, though. Every side quest has an interesting story attached, and everything feeds into a unique journey for Dylan, his sister, and the entire Bureau of Control. I didn’t come close to completing everything in my first playthrough, but if I had taken the time to do so, this review might not get posted until January.

That’s not to say Resonant is overfull at all. In fact, I would say it has enough in it that people can engage with as much or as little as they like. Only a certain number of quests and areas are required, but there is a lot that players can check out off the beaten path if they want.

The acting work is some of Remedy’s best, and the soundtrack of Resonant is going to be playing while I’m working for probably the next few months off and on. Every piece of Control Resonant feels good and is enjoyable. Though there is one small thing to note.

On PC, I ran into several issues with the pre-release build. Mainly a few instances of quest bugs, dialogue skipping, and one particular set of dialogue that repeated every time I entered an area. After reporting these issues, Remedy did assure me that there are patches in the works to resolve them. I am also aware that some smaller issues I had were due to my aging PC.

Overall, Control Resonant is everything I wanted when I saw its announcement. It is a wonderful sequel to Control, and I’m looking forward to seeing what the next part of the Faden Siblings’ story is, since the developers have confirmed that this isn’t the end of their tale. If you liked Control, don’t skip Control Resonant. It may very well be my Game of the Year this year, though with such a stacked September and October, I’m not ruling anything else out yet.

A PC Review Copy of Control Resonant was provided by Remedy Entertainment for the purposes of this review.

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Control Resonant

$59.99

9.5

Score

9.5/10

Pros

• Incredible Story
• Engaging Exploration and Gameplay
• Fantastic Soundtrack and Voice Acting
• Lots of Great Side Quests
• Wonderful Accessibility Features

Cons

• A few quest bugs and glitches
• Combat gets annoying when solving puzzles