Control Resonant has an impressive suite of options that let you tweak its difficulty settings and accessibility tools – but developer Remedy is keen to stress that this isn’t just about making things easier. The long-awaited paranatural sequel switches from third-person shooter to a melee-first action RPG, and the studio is well aware that the genre attracts plenty of players who “are actively looking for pain.” In order to accommodate for this, the Control Resonant assist mode actually goes both ways.
Remedy has been doing a great job with accessibility tweaks in its recent titles. While I changed almost nothing about the first Control, I did slightly increase enemy hitboxes to make shots feel a little more consistent against rapidly moving targets, and enjoyed the game more as a result. I was pretty satisfied with what I played of Control Resonant during my recent preview, but with playthroughs estimated at 30-50 hours it’s going to be important the combat feels as good as possible.
“Historically, difficulty in action games is handled with blunt instruments,” Lead Gameplay Designer Sergey Mohov explains. “Global modifiers – usually labeled easy, normal, and hard – often just tweak enemy health pools and damage output under the hood. While that technically works, it can completely undermine the meticulous tuning of a combat system. Nobody likes fighting a damage sponge unless they’re doing the dishes, and lowering enemy health across the board can make your progression feel unearned.”
Control Resonant’s more granular settings let you adjust the experience to your specific needs and constraints. If you find the enemy swarms overwhelming, you can reduce their aggression. If you struggle to read boss attack animations, you can widen the perfect dodge window, or lower incoming projectile speed. “We spent weeks arguing internally about the exact duration, down to a frame, of a standard dodge window,” Mohov remarks, “but realistically, human reflexes vary wildly.”
On the damage side of things, you can modify incoming and outgoing damage, along with how quickly falter (the stagger mechanic) builds up. You’re also able to increase the recovery speed of your powers, or use ‘enhanced melee magnetizing’ to help attacks land if your positioning isn’t quite right. If you just want to go all-in on the story, there are the ultimate boons of immortality, one-hit kills, and one-hit falters. “The idea is to let you change the specific things that are getting in your way,” Mohov notes.
If you’re not really sure where to start, Remedy has created “a few baselines based on how different groups in the studio like to play.” Field Agent will let you focus on story and exploration with combat “rarely putting you in danger.” Strategist enables “fast and lethal” fights that reward you for playing precisely. Ranger makes your attacks weaker but gives you the durability to “stand your ground and shrug off attacks.” From there, you can of course tweak things as much as you like.
Unlike the first Control, however, there’s also the option to go in the other direction. “If you think the base game is too forgiving, you can crank up enemy aggression, shrink your perfect dodge window down to a few frames, and increase incoming damage until every single world encounter is a life-or-death nail-biter,” Mohov suggests. “You have complete control over the friction.” Alongside all of this comes plenty of control-based customizations, whether you’d prefer to use hold or toggle settings, or apply filters to reduce motion or audio sensitivity.
“We talk a lot internally about designer intent,” Mohov concludes. “We do have a meticulously crafted, intended experience for Control Resonant. It’s balanced to be tense, demanding, and rewarding. However, our philosophy is straightforward: if you run into a wall and the friction becomes too much, we would much rather you tweak the rules to overcome it than put the controller down and stop playing. Your time is valuable, and there’s no single right way to experience the game.”
Control Resonant launches on Thursday September 24. Remedy adds that, in accordance with those beliefs, adjusting the accessibility settings will not have any impact on your ability to earn achievements. “Play the game exactly how you need to.” It’s a refreshing approach, and makes me all the more eager to dive into Dylan Faden’s story for myself.
