Much of what made Remedy Entertainment’s 2019 title, Control, memorable is its distinctive lore. The game’s setting, the Brutalist Federal Bureau of Control headquarters known as The Oldest House, was rich with redacted documents and audio logs that detailed its hidden mysteries. This focus on lore has been expanded upon in the sequel, Control Resonant, which takes players to the Hiss-infected streets of Manhattan. While the quality of the writing remains high, the sheer volume of lore can become overwhelming and disrupt the game's pacing.
Even seemingly minor gameplay elements, such as a subway tuning fork puzzle, are elevated by accompanying notes that describe a frustrated research team. This narrative motivation imbues every piece of Control Resonant's world with purpose, setting Remedy apart from many of its peers. However, the density at which this lore is presented becomes a significant issue, particularly in the game’s mid-section.
During one mission set in an underground labyrinth, players encounter numerous FBC test sites. Each of these locations is densely packed with text and audio logs, creating a situation where reading one log is immediately followed by discovering another just steps away. This constant influx of narrative information can halt the player's progress.
The game’s audio logs introduce an additional layer of friction. They autoplay upon discovery, but this functionality is often interrupted by story-related audio cues. In a dialogue-heavy game like Control Resonant, these cues can trigger merely by moving a short distance after picking up an audio log, forcing players to navigate menus to resume playback. To ensure an audio log completes without interruption, players must remain stationary, which counteracts the game’s emphasis on fluid movement and action.
While these issues are not critical flaws, they do highlight a potential overreliance on a tell-don’t-show storytelling approach that detracts from the game’s momentum. Furthermore, the abundance of lore in Control Resonant feels less narratively cohesive than in its predecessor. The original Control, centered on the internal workings of a government agency, naturally lent itself to scattered paperwork, implying a certain laxity within the FBC. Control Resonant, which focuses more on the sibling relationship between Jesse and Dylan, finds its core emotional narrative diluted by the sheer volume of environmental storytelling.
This issue of lore overload is not exclusive to Remedy, appearing in titles ranging from compact indies to expansive open-world games. When used judiciously, such as in the Resident Evil series, environmental storytelling can enrich a game world. However, in action-oriented titles like Marvel's Wolverine, it can disrupt gameplay by forcing players to pause for extended periods to absorb narrative details.
The critique is not a call for less worldbuilding, but rather a suggestion for more integrated methods of achieving it. A preference for environmental design that allows players to infer narrative elements, rather than having them explicitly stated, is often more impactful. The real-world Manhattan that inspires Control Resonant’s setting offers countless examples of how mystery and unanswered questions can linger, a lesson the game could benefit from by occasionally saying less.