Remedy Entertainment’s Control Resonant rewards players who take the time to read the material scattered throughout the game, according to a review published by The Verge. The sequel to 2019’s Control is set in a world where the Federal Bureau of Control manages mysterious objects and entities, yet the agency still produces large amounts of heavily redacted reports, memos, and other paperwork. Reading is frequently optional, but the documents contain some of the game’s most memorable details.
The written material includes enemy logs compiled by the FBC’s Threat Assessment Team and unlocked automatically after a player fights each enemy type for the first time. The logs describe attack patterns and weaknesses that can be difficult to learn when enemies appear in large groups. The reviewer initially skipped the optional documents while learning to navigate the game’s M.C. Escher-inspired version of Manhattan and struggling with early combat. Remedy has deployed a hotfix addressing criticism of the combat balance, and an assist mode lets players adjust difficulty.
The logs also contain an office romance between two Threat Assessment Team members. Rick Patel documents the Hiss, while Lydia M.B. McPierce documents the mold and some later-game enemies. Rick is serious and straightforward, while Lydia frequently mocks the mold in her notes. Across dozens of logs, their personalities and the start of their relationship emerge.
In one log, Rick describes the dynamic between a Hiss-corrupted city bus called the Hiss Transporter and the drones it sends out as motherly. Lydia pushes back in a separate document about a mold enemy called the Spore Mother, noting that Rick chose the name and that she had been to therapy to avoid that urge. She later teases Rick, calling him Ricky, about beating him at chess and asks for a rematch. Rick references Lydia often and says he would have offered to trade responsibilities had he known about her emetophobia, so she could avoid the mold’s vomit-like attacks.
In a document about a dangerous Hiss variant he came close to during observations, Rick writes that he could have died and does not want to go without taking a chance on a relationship with Lydia. He asks what she thinks and tells her she can call him a coward over coffee for not saying it in person. The reviewer had not confirmed whether Lydia saw the note because one enemy log remained missing. In a late-game document, as the world appears doomed, Lydia adds an aside asking Ricky whether he wants to grab coffee if they survive.
The reviewer writes that reading improved the experience, helped with combat, and created attachment to two characters never met in person. Other documents cover topics including an influencer’s view of Manhattan’s streets and the FBC’s serious ethics violations.
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