And gives us teases of what's to be expected.
Remedy was kind enough to invite Stevivor over to an extended look at Control Resonant following last month’s PlayStation State of Play look at extended gameplay. This marks the second time we’ve been able to in-depth, but hands-off, with the upcoming sequel.
For this meetup, Control creative director Mikael Kasurinen and Resonant lead gameplay designer Sergey Mohov joined forces to explain why they call the title an “action RPG”. We break that all down for you below.
Dylan is customisable, from his movesets down to his outfits
First off, Resonant‘s action RPG roots really resonate (we couldn’t resist) through protagonist Dylan Faden himself. As explained by Mohov, players can customise Dylan’s build through three key pillars: combat abilities, weapon forms, and talents. Players can access Dylan’s build through a liminal space representing Dylan’s own psyche called the Gap, which players can access instantaneously and at any time by pressing down on the d-pad.
According to Mohov, combat abilities “greatly impact the type of build you will create,” as they’re gained by beating the Resonants — “former persons of power transformed by the mysterious pattern changing the world” — that Dylan is tasked to track down.
In an example, Mohov said that one Resonant offered up the choice of one of three unique abilities — a shield, much like that seen in the original Control, or a second to spawn telekinetic seekers that could also be picked up and launched at baddies; the third choice was not shown or detailed. Picking one ability over the other already differentiates your build as compared to another player, but it certainly doesn’t end there.
Like Jesse’s service pistol takes on different configurations in Control, so too does Dylan’s melee-focused Aberrant in Resonant. This accomplished through primary and secondary abilities, alongside combo finishers.
“The big nodes in the trees unlock the weapon forms,” Mohov told us, referring to on-screen ability trees for Aberrant. “The small ones are the moves and effects.
“You aren’t tied to a certain form of Aberrant; each attack can be different,” Mohov added. “Primary could be a dual-wielded dagger, [your] secondary a hammer, and your combo end or something completely different. The weapon shifts its shape depending on the equipped forms and the attacks you trigger.”
Mohov continued to say that talents are “the glue that ties your combat abilities and your melee attacks together,” going as far as to call them “build-defining.”
“Each branch of the tree can take you in a very different direction when it comes to your play style,” Mohov said. “Talents are designed to create synergy. One effect triggers the next, and if everything goes according to plan, the battle can be over very quickly.”
An example of a talent is the perfect dodge, an ability that will slow down time and increase Dylan’s next attack power if timed correctly.
“There is dodge mechanic. You do need to defend yourself,” Mohov said before asserting that Resonant is far more about attacking than defending. “At the end of the day, what doing a perfect dodge does is boost your next attack. You’re still going to be pushing forward even as you are avoiding… attacks.”
While talents appear to be refundable and talent points redistributable, Remedy was tight-lipped on whether or not players could bounce between combat abilities, or even obtain a combat ability you opted out as part of a choice later on. What Mohov did confirm, though, is that players “will not be able to unlock everything in a single playthrough.”
Finally, Dylan’s going to get in touch with his inner fashionista. Remedy quickly teased a variety of outfits that he can wear — it’s at the moment unclear if outfits are collections of various pieces of clothing, or if players will be able to mix-and-match to create their own unique looks. Watch this space.
Combat isn’t Soulslike, nor like Arkham
Upon seeing Resonant‘s combat in action, and asked if it’s inspired by the likes of a Soulslike or even the Batman Arkham franchise, Mohov said no.
“The thing is, it’s Control derived, it’s not Souls or any other game derived,” he said. “It’s a sequel to Control.”
Mohov asserted that “when we set out to make this sequel, the main inspiration was the first game, and how we translated that into [an] action RPG… into a melee-focused game.”
Kasurinen added that Control is equal parts gameplay and music, alluding to extremely memorable uses of music — not just a soundtrack — within Control and Alan Wake 2. We’re told to expect something similar from Resonant, most likely framed through new FBC agent and Dylan’s handler, Zoe De Vera, as portrayed by Frankie Kevitch. While promising more information on music later on, Kasurinen did tease that De Vera “loves music and will occasionally listen to, let’s say, well-curated songs.”
Manhattan is split up into zones — and sometimes “less is more”
We also got our first real look at Manhattan post-Hiss incursion. Or, maybe something far more sinister?
As De Vera — who was in Manhattan and not inside the Oldest House within the seven-year lockdown that started in Control — explains to Faden, Manhattan has been split by the FBC into sones. Central is where Zoe is located, Downtown is where the Oldest House sits; East Evacuation and West Incursion zones were also name-dropped, and the latter, according to De Vera has been hit hard by “patterning,” or whatever it is that’s basically turning the city into something out of a Doctor Strange movie.
“There’s many more zones beyond these,” Kasurinen said of zones and of Remedy’s very intentional decision to improve Control‘s mapping systems. “[But,] we don’t want the map to stress you out with tons of similar things to grind through, but instead it should convey an exciting selection of distinctive options on how you want to spend your time in this world. Less is more.”
Kasurinen added that there are major quests to be found within Manhattan — otherwise known as “Dylan’s Journey, which is essentially the main campaign” — alongside independent world questions and other “activities featuring action gameplay and puzzles” that add to the larger narrative.
“Some are bite-sized fun, while others require more time and attention,” he said. “Or if you’d like, you can explore the world and discover secrets and lore. We want the world to be a place that you want to return to.”
Control Resonant is planned for a 2026 release on Windows PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store, Mac via Steam and the Apple App Store, and consoles including Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, and PS5.
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