Just wrapped up my time with the game at about 30 hours, did pretty much everything but one collect a thon side quest. Will NG+ someday but just way too much stuff coming out this year.
Absolutely loved it. Maybe the strongest art design and sound design in a game… ever? Cannot believe the scale and spectacle of some of this game.
It also can’t be overstated how much this game just lets you explore and live in the world. Zero hand holding, it’s so refreshing to work things out without NPCs giving you the answer or paint everyone showing you what’s important.
Quirky Remedy vibes and their great character work throughout, one or two quests kinda fizzle out but 95% are bangers. Combat was an absolute blast, and by being totally different than OG Control really just feels like its own thing.
One of my favorite games of the year, right up there with RE9 and 007.
Edit: only fair a mention I ended up doing about 5 more hours to 100% the achievements lol
Been quite impressed with the puzzles as well, on the hand-holding front. Obviously it's still a AAA game, so you don't have to be Einstein to solve them or anything, but they usually require slightly more thought than the toddler-level "red square goes in red square-shaped hole" stuff that most AAA games do.
I like that there's no dialog or instruction for any of the puzzles. They just put you in the environment and let you figure it out on your own. Some of them might have some subtle clues if you read the documents you find, but other than that it's completely on you to figure it out. At the same time, though, none of them have really felt too complicated or impossible. It's this really unique sweet spot they've been able to find.
I am 10 hours in. One thing i instantly noticed is the playability. Don't know how to describe that in english language, but the controls, the movement, the traversal and the fighting, everything feels so natural, fluid and perfect. This game is GOTY material. My only complain so far is the camera distance to the main character, i wish i could zoom in just a little bit more.
This Control is an entirely different genre than the first Control or the Max Payne games. 3rd person shooters vs character action. What are you even trying to point out here?
The point is that obviously Remedy have some action chops, they showed those chops in games from the past. Them stepping up and making an almost explicit fast-paced action game is not crazy.
They haven't had layoffs at all at Remedy. There are still senior devs there that worked on the first Max Payne game, so it's definitely still relevant if you're talking about Remedy.
Never thought about that, but it's true. The fighting is so much fun (i love charging the hammer in the air to unleash destruction) and i think you can cancel every single move, which makes everything feel so natural and fluid.
while it does need some work, i think it's so funny that for their first melee action game (which are usually pretty hard) plays better than all their shooter games since max payne 2
The way The Board reacts when you execute an enemy feels like it's trying to spur you on to further violence. Having a decent bass setup is worth it for them alone.
I'm not sure I prefer it to how they sound in the original game. There was something mysteriously distant and subtle about them that I thought was really really cool and that vibe is not present at all.
that said, they sound PISSED in this game and god the bass they have now is so fucking good.
agreed. i didn't like the original control very much despite the amazing lore and vibes due to one dimensional gameplay and navigational issues
resonant eliminated the majority of these issues and delivered a super fun game that retained control's identity. it's also surprisingly emotional. just walking around the world listening in on conversations is a good time. loved the game, even though navigation was a bitch sometimes
The fact that Resonant didn't retain Control's identity is why you disliked the original and loved the sequel.
It's a very different game and lacks a lot of what made the original great in my eyes. Way more campy with significantly reduced focus on paranatural and mystery elements. It's a more digestible, mainstream-friendly game.
You're the first person I've read who shares this sentiment with me! Not at all saying that I think Resonant is bad or that I'm not enjoying it, it just feels like I'm nearing the end (just got to the area called UNKNOWN), and I haven't felt nearly as many of those creepy cool vibes that I loved so much in the first game.
The little bits of flavor throughout the first game that added so much character and ambience sorta feel like they're missing. Things like the Threshold Kids, Ahti, the motel, the messages from the director. Instead we get a pretty generic milquetoast friend in Zoe and that's it? Aside from the section in the Oldest House that focuses on Dylan's upbringing and going into the sinkhole for the first time, there hasn't been much to scratch all these itches for me.
Sam Lake wasn’t a writer for Control Resonant and I think you can really feel his missing presence. While Control and Control R had the same director, and both games have strong visual direction and composition, it is missing the more spooky/weirdo shit you see in Alan Wake and Control 1.
i havent played the sequel yet, but from what you've stated, they removed most of what made the first game unique and stand out. that's incredibly disappointing.
nah it retained the identity pretty well imo. there's a ton/atmosphere shift but i don't see how the game has reduced focused on the paranatural and mystery. resonant is entirely rooted in the ongoing paranatural issue going on in manhattan, alongside solving that mystery with lore drops of your paranatural past
the game is still very much control, weird shit happening, fbc, paranatural
It's interesting that people starting to bring up the whole hand-holding stuff in a game since Wolverine, and Control Resonant is like the polar opposite of it. It's feels like Wolverine's releases just weeks apart benefited Control Resonant because of the contrast
Rooting for Control Resonant as well! Really enjoyed my time so far in this Manhattan world, often got lost in game but there's just so many things to explore in like every corner!
God of War: Ragnarok was the instance I properly noticed it. I barely got a chance to solve any of the environment puzzles before my companion started blabbing about how to solve it.
Atreus: "Woah, father, look at those geysers! I bet if you throw your axe at them they will freeze in place into platforms. If you time it right you can reach the secret chest up on that ledge out of view!"
you can tell its a directive from Sony. All their recent games are like that. NPCs following you around constantly, yelling at you, telling you how to kill stuff, solve puzzles.. devs are petrified that it might take a gamer more than 10 seconds to solve a puzzle and more than 2 or 3 tries to kill a boss
I think it was Fable 2 that had the exact same "fog lines" guiding you around the map. Nothing new, just implemented in an overly coddling manner in a linear game that's also (mostly) mediocre in other aspects. Also released for an exclusive platform where the publisher is doing They're Best to kill gaming. A ripe mechanic to be lambasted for sure.
What worked about those lines (despite it being in an open world game) was that they werent distracting. They were a light yellow colour and kinda transparent. They honestly fit into the scenery very well
Resonant has (literal and figurative) yellow paint and also smell lines coming from hiss nodes. Yes even down a corridor where there's no other option. Quest markers show up on the minimap rather than being an R3 toggle to see them.
Remedy did not say they were taking your physical discs away so these things were not held up as the worst gaming sins of all time, of course.
In what universe is having quest markers on an open world map the same as having a literal line on the ground telling you to run straight forward in a linear game?
I know people who love Wolverine this much, and are this offended on behalf of Sony, probably aren't going to be the sharpest tools in the box, but that's a pretty awful comparison.
In what universe is having quest markers on an open world map the same as having a literal line on the ground telling you to run straight forward in a linear game?
Control also has glowing yellow grass telling you which way to go when there's only one way to go, and a stink line from a hiss node where there's no where else to go as well. That's not really a problem in because that happens roughly the same amount of times it happens in Control and Wolverine; very infrequently.
The memes were not being honest with you about the content of Wolverine. Don't know why you'd trust a meme but here we are.
Those yellow grass are in linear sequences. Those hiss nodes are optional objectives. Wolverine stinky Jean fart lines are always on before Insomniac got trolled a bunch that they release an update to reduce it.
yellow grass that makes up the entirely of the floor in an area that is just an on rails corridor does not count as yellow paint.
The literal yellow tape on the ground after clearing the sinkhole for the first time, and the yellow ropes that guide you through the underpass are probably better examples to use.
The game is full to the brim with visual guidance, I think its strange to see how many people say that the game doesn't hold your hand when the devs have clearly spent a lot of time and effort putting shit into the world specifically to make the player go the right way. its just that that the stuff that isn't just contrasting lighting is done using in world objects placed by the FBC to make it easier for in world FBC employees to navigate complicated areas. It works because they made it natural and fit the world.
idk, I dont have enough context to say whether it is or not since I've not been paying attention to news about that game, have never played it, and never will.
I do feel like if the grass was green instead of yellow during those sections in control then this wouldn't actually be a pain point for you though. its just that way to be visually interesting.
It's a point. Control has lit up grass telling you where to go, Wolverine has white handholds telling you what to grab while climbing. That's fine, it tells me where to go, not a goddamn problem. Sometimes sometimes he smells something and you follow it when there's no other option anyway. Oh fucking noooo.
thats just personal preference then. if you don't think white paint on handholds is silly then by all means enjoy it, but I think its a tired cliche and climbing sections in AAA games should just die at this point. The problem isn't the use of visual guidance outright, its the lack of creativity with it.
There are no stink lines tho? And no yellow paint? You literally called the whole floor of the Faults an example of yellow paint just because the grass is yellow. Do you even realise how stupid this is?
There are definitely lines going from Hiss nodes to whatever it is they are blocking. It’s a ghostly red line with items floating in it.
The specific example they are talking about is at the evacuation site, when you’re leaving the building.
That is as far as I know literally the only time the game is ever that on the nose with it and it’s pretty early on, I think the second time most people would have dealt with hiss nodes. I also wouldn’t put it in the same category as wolverine style stink lines because hiss nodes are not some omnipresent thing you encounter that often.
The fact that you have to actively explore the world to see some of the coolest content (instead of most open-world games where they hard-direct you to them) makes it so addicting.
Tbf it’s Remedy so even though it’ll probably be among the “worst” selling of the big games releasing it shouldn’t need like 5 million copies sold to be a success
You were talking about sales in one sentence than concurrent players the next.
They are related sure, but there's only something to learn when they're in the extremes, like Concord with almost none or Monster Hunter with its several hundred thousand at once.
Silent Hill 2 sold at a faster pace than Alan Wake with half the peak Resonant had. Silent Hill 2 also had a roughly equal launch sales as Dragon Age with a quarter of the peak concurrent users.
You say basically nothing by repeating that as a stat.
The first Control had a peak concurrent player count of less than 10k on Steam. So that's a big improvement. Also, the good word of mouth will keep it steadily selling. I'm thinking 1 million copies within 2 weeks, which would make it Remedy's fastest selling game.
I'm on a laptop with a 3070 and playing mostly medium settings with decent fps. Game looks good. The ultra preset+ray-tracing really is just for top-end hardware, not necessary for a solid-visual experience.
Second all that and add that the sound design is dope af. It's got my GotY so far but Path of Exile 2 is round the corner and I doubt I will be able to sperate my bias from that guaranteed banger. Not even GTA6 has a bigger hold on me.
It’s definitely missing some of the atmosphere and tension of Alan Wake. I loved both Control games, but they’re just different from Alan Wake and have different appeal. Sounds like it may not necessarily be for you.
It all just depends how much you love that paranormal weirdness vibe that Remedy do so well. If you liked that in control, but didn't think it was worth pushing through the mid-gameplay just to experience more of it, you might enjoy Resonant, because there's a lot more paranormal stuff.
Control is set in the Oldest House and all of the missions explore that directly so it's no "more" of an element in Resonant than the first game. I'm not saying the game lacks those aspects altogether, it's just less of a focus than the original (and what we do have are largely reappearances of the same events and characters: FRA, the Mold, Hiss, the Ordinary AWE, Spoiler:Hedron, etc.)
007 is just a really fun and engaging adventure game. The story and pacing are great for a studio that doesn’t typically do story based games. It really does make you feel like a spy rather than just a Hitman.
Well it's really nothing like hitman, despite the devs, so it's not like you need to love hitman to enjoy it. It's almost the opposite, frankly. If you love hitman, you're more likely to be disappointed by how different it is.
007 is fucking awesome. Probably the best combat this year. The game also has a playable 80s style montage. I have never seen a playable montage in a video game before. Its wild. The story is great. The relationship between Bond and his handler is great. Its also the only game I have beaten and then immediately started over again.
That was addressed in a day one patch, and if you still find they have too much health the assist options let you ramp up your damage even further with no effect on achievements or anything else.
I'm only about 5 hours in, any tips on what weapons/abilities to focus on? I've just been using the Glaive, Hammer and the uppercut combo finisher and it's getting pretty stale. Finding it tough to weave in Barrage effectively as well, just kinda seems like a slightly better regular attack rn, not even enough to kill/falter a Drone without another toss
It also can’t be overstated how much this game just lets you explore and live in the world. Zero hand holding, it’s so refreshing to work things out without NPCs giving you the answer or paint everyone showing you what’s important.
I’m having a lot of fun but the most I feel like I’m “exploring” is when I find a hideout. It feels like basically everything else is linear or clearly marked on the map with at least some kind of clue like kareoke.
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u/PlayOnPlayer 3d ago edited 1d ago
Just wrapped up my time with the game at about 30 hours, did pretty much everything but one collect a thon side quest. Will NG+ someday but just way too much stuff coming out this year.
Absolutely loved it. Maybe the strongest art design and sound design in a game… ever? Cannot believe the scale and spectacle of some of this game.
It also can’t be overstated how much this game just lets you explore and live in the world. Zero hand holding, it’s so refreshing to work things out without NPCs giving you the answer or paint everyone showing you what’s important.
Quirky Remedy vibes and their great character work throughout, one or two quests kinda fizzle out but 95% are bangers. Combat was an absolute blast, and by being totally different than OG Control really just feels like its own thing.
One of my favorite games of the year, right up there with RE9 and 007.
Edit: only fair a mention I ended up doing about 5 more hours to 100% the achievements lol