As of October 12, 2026, Control Resonant is barely three weeks old, yet it already boasts a 92% "Very Positive" rating from over 7,600 Steam reviews. This is a rare polished launch from Remedy Entertainment, free from the day-one bugs that plagued earlier RCU titles. However, there's a catch: Dylan's Combat Power refills almost exclusively through melee hits, and newcomers who cling to the original Control's ranged, Jesse-style playstyle will find themselves flattened by agile Hiss mobs within the first two hours. This breakdown separates the stylish action highs from avoidable navigation, puzzle, and pacing pain points before players buy.
The Core Pros: Aberrant Combat, Faults, and Build Variety
The five swappable Aberrant forms can be toggled mid-combo, turning fights into a stylish action loop closer to Devil May Cry than the 2019 original's Service Weapon ranged rhythm. Dimensional Faults—psyche-driven dungeons tied to Dylan's backstory—unlock critical traversal upgrades including double-jump and gravity shift, making open-world exploration feel mechanically rewarding rather than filler. Its deep paranatural RPG system supports fully specialized builds, from elemental status pressure setups that stack rot damage over 3 seconds per hit to raw physical brawler builds, while World Feats give completionists clear, tiered upgrade goals.
The game wears its weirdness on its sleeve, and that's a compliment. Each Aberrant form feels like a living creature, shifting and snarling as it morphs between a brutal fist, a sweeping blade, or a ranged psychic blast. Players who invest time in the skill tree will find that the combat system breathes with them, rewarding aggression and creativity. Believe it or not, the synergy between forms can turn a desperate fight into a ballet of destruction.
New Player Cons: Difficulty Spikes, Navigation, and Pacing
Early-game fights are widely cited as punishing: base Hiss mobs are twice as agile as their 2019 Oldest House counterparts, hit for 30% of your base health per strike, and hard punish passive ranged spacing. The key to overcoming these early spikes is ditching the original Control's slow, cover-based ranged habits to lean into aggressive melee combo chains. Warped Manhattan is visually striking but 30% easier to get lost in than the Oldest House, per Steam user reviews, with many flagging its default objective tracking as consistently unclear. Mandatory environmental puzzles can halt story progress for 20+ minutes for first-time players, while open-world filler quests and late-game resonance grinding add RPG tedium for fans of the original's tight, linear Metroidvania structure.
Let's be real: the first few hours can feel like a slap in the face. The Hiss mobs dance around players with unsettling grace, and the game's objective markers sometimes seem to whisper contradictory directions. Long story short, patience is a virtue here, but not everyone has it.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| ✅ Deep Aberrant combat with mid-combo swaps | ❌ Punishing early difficulty spikes |
| ✅ Dimensional Faults reward exploration | ❌ Confusing navigation in Warped Manhattan |
| ✅ Flexible RPG builds and World Feats | ❌ Mandatory puzzles that halt progress |
| ✅ Assist Mode with granular sliders | ❌ Open-world filler and grinding |
Assist Mode: The Accessibility Win That Saves New Players
Remedy skipped generic difficulty toggles in favor of three curated Assist Mode presets: Field Agent for story-first play, Strategist for default balanced difficulty, and Ranger for high-stakes survival runs. Granular sliders for Power Recovery Speed, Incoming/Outgoing Damage, and Perfect Dodge Window let players tune the exact pain point they are struggling with, no full difficulty reset required. Optional Immortality and One-Hit Kill toggles ensure even players who only care about the RCU narrative can finish Dylan's journey without bouncing off a tough Resonant boss fight.
This is the accessibility win that saves new players from frustration. It's like having a friendly FBC agent whispering in their ear, adjusting the world to their comfort. At the end of the day, more players get to experience Remedy's strange and wonderful universe.
Story, Setting, and Remedy Weirdness
Set seven years after the original's Hiss invasion of the Oldest House, the story follows Dylan Faden, who wakes from a years-long coma with unstable parautilitarian powers, a mysterious embedded chest object, and a missing sister, FBC Director Jesse Faden. The Hiss and a new cosmic threat called The Patterning have folded Manhattan into an interdimensional nightmare, with returning FBC agent Zoe de Vera guiding Dylan through his first missions. For longtime fans of Control and Remedy Entertainment, the expanded Remedy Connected Universe lore and Dylan's nuanced, redemptive character arc have earned consistent praise from outlets including IGN and Game Informer.
The city of Warped Manhattan is a character in its own right, its twisted skyscrapers and flickering realities practically humming with malevolent intent. Dylan's journey is one of redemption, and the narrative hooks keep players pushing forward even when the difficulty spikes.
Verdict: Is Control Resonant Worth It for New Players?
Control Resonant is a bold evolution of the franchise, not a direct sequel: its melee-first RPG loop is twice as deep and more flexible than the original's Metroidvania shooter structure. Its pros—rich worldbuilding, near-endless combat variety, fully customizable difficulty, and a tight, lore-driven narrative—outweigh the cons for most players, as long as they use Assist Mode to smooth early difficulty spikes and spend 1-2 hours exploring to level up before tackling main story bosses. If players can tolerate minor navigation friction and occasional puzzle choke points, it is one of 2026's highest-rated action games; if they are looking for a direct follow-up to Jesse's ranged-focused 2019 campaign, it will likely frustrate them.
So, is it worth it? For most, yes—provided they embrace the melee-first mindset and don't expect a simple rehash. The game is a beast of a different color, and once it clicks, it's hard to put down.
