We’ve seen three Resonants thus far, the Deserter being the most recent, and what’s really stood out is how distinct they are. Speaking to IGN, lead gameplay designer Sergey Mohov reaffirmed this, noting, “I think you will have a really hard time finding two bosses that are anything like each other.”

However, as you’ve likely noticed from the fights, they can’t all be fought in the same way, which is what Remedy is aiming for. “We want you to come in there and get this sense of wonder, and also they test very different skills. Every boss, by definition, is a skill check. And some bosses, you’re going to have a harder time with some builds than others.

“So you will want to think a little bit about what artifact do I want to equip in this one? What are the damage types that I’m dealing with here? Is it better to attack it from range or is it better to stay up close?” said Mohov.

The Resonants are also intriguing because of their ties to The Patterning, a new paranatural threat alongside The Hiss and The Mold. Art director Elmeri Raitanen noted that, “It transforms the cityscape in this weird algorithmic pattern. Often you find these Resonants — former persons of power at some sort of a focal point or an anchor point of this localized patterning. So this poor person somehow becomes amalgamated into their surroundings as well. So it’s not just the person, but becomes part of the environment.”

Perhaps this has some connection to Manhattan’s other threats evolving as you take out each Resonant. Maybe it’s The Patterning’s way of fighting back. Of course, it also may be part of its greater plan. We won’t know for sure until we play the game, but Remedy confirmed that you can fight the Resonants in any order after the first. Several are optional and not necessary to see the ending, though you’d have to think they’ll influence it in some way.

Launching on September 24th, Control Resonant will be available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. It’s touted as 30 hours long for the average player, but completionists will have much more to discover.

As lead gameplay designer Sergey Mohov explained to IGN, “So Dylan doesn’t get XP, but zones do. Every time you do an activity in the zone, you get some XP for that zone. And every time the zone levels up, you get the zone improvement, [which are] things that increase, for instance, health drops while you are doing activities in that zone.”

They also unlock benefits like revealing loot chests or new challenge missions via arcade cabinets. The latter is recommended when you become stronger, though, and we can only assume the rewards are worth it. But it provides a strong reason to return to a previous location, especially slaying a Resonant.

“Enemies do have levels in the game, and they do get harder as you get into further zones. Every time you kill a Resonant, which is one of these tent-pole fights, you get an ability. But [The Hiss] also fights back, and it fights back by creating more threats for you in the world,” says Mohov.

“So once you defeat a Resonant, combat encounters throughout the world, not just in the zone where you fought the boss, will respond. New enemies are going to appear that weren’t there before, and a lot of the encounters are going to level up. So you need to be strategic about when you want to do that. Because you are going to grow in power a lot once you kill a Resonant, but also the world is going to get quite a lot of new threats, and there’s going to be new challenges for you to overcome.”

While a level-scaling system could seemingly put Dylan at a big disadvantage, leveling zones will provide more direct benefits like Talent Points, further enhancing his abilities. Also, though there’s only one difficulty, which Mohov describes as a “well-balanced, yet challenging experience,” you can enable different assist modes.

From the sound of it, Control Resonant’s approach to progression isn’t meant to tack on added health or more damage to enemies, but to evolve the world and mix up the threats encountered. It’s intriguing, if somewhat unconventional, but that’s part of the studio’s course.

Control Resonant launches on September 24th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. It recently went gold, but the physical edition has been delayed to October 15th.

PC players can now access FSR 4 options, with the image upscaling technology being enabled by default when playing on supported GPUs. FSR Frame Generation is also available in the graphics settings. Opacity Micromaps and Shader Execution have seen improvements as well, with the developers now making use of the Agility SDK.

As for the bug fixes, the Crossbow Cult Stash can no longer potentially block access to the Lighthouse in New Game Plus mode. Crashes that could occur when using Quick Slots in certain scenarios have also been fixed. For more details, check out the full patch notes below.

Alan Wake 2 was originally released all the way back in 2023, and we even liked it enough to name it our Game of the Year. Since its release, Remedy continued supporting the title with two expansions – Night Springs and The Lake House – the latter of which helped fill out more details about the larger connected universe that the studio has been building with Control. For more, check out our review.

The title has gone on to do quite well in terms of sales, having sold more than 3 million copies across all platforms as of earlier this month. It had already become the studio’s fastest-selling game by February 2024, crossing 1.3 million, before eventually hitting the 2 million milestone in February 2025. Remedy has said that the horror title is selling at an “expected pace”.

However, the new CEO of the studio – former EA executive Jean-Charles Gaudechon, who took on the role earlier this year – spoke about his belief that Alan Wake 2 and Control both should have sold more copies.

“Remedy is already one of the biggest game authors, with very strong signature products,” he continued. “Now, after seeing it from the inside, there’s so much more we can give in terms of super-strong authored, creative, crazy stories and gameplay. Honestly, we haven’t achieved half of the potential in terms of the products that we make.”

In the meantime, Remedy Entertainment is currently working on Control Resonant, which is slated for release across PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S on September 24th. Check out its latest gameplay trailer.

Alan Wake 2 August 16th update patch notes:

Improvements and additions

• [PC] Added support for FSR 4. FSR 4 is automatically enabled on supported GPUs when FSR Super Resolution is selected.
• [PC] Added support for FSR Frame Generation. The option is available in the graphics settings on supported GPUs.
• [PC] Opacity Micromaps and Shader Execution Reordering now use the Agility SDK, allowing support across multiple GPU vendors.
• Fixed lingering audio synchronization issues during cinematics on all platforms.

Fixes

• Fixed an issue where the Crossbow Cult Stash could block access to the Lighthouse in New Game Plus.
• Fixed a potential crash when using Quick Slots under specific circumstances.
• Other minor fixes and improvements

Those looking forward to the physical version, especially in this day and age of increasingly digital titles, will need to wait. It’s been delayed to October 15th, with Remedy needing “more time to deliver.” However, it asked players to “rest assured – nothing stays contained forever.” Considering Alan Wake 2 launched without a physical version – and received no small amount of backlash for the same – it’s good to see Control Resonant receiving one, even if it is a few weeks later.

Launching on September 24th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC, the sequel takes place seven years later. The Federal Bureau of Control is in ruins as paranatural entities break containment and spread throughout Manhattan. With director Jesse Faden missing, it’s up to her brother, Dylan, to set things right.

Unlike the original, Control Resonant places a heavy emphasis on melee combat, with Remedy eschewing parry and manual form-switching in favor of fast, responsive action. You can check out gameplay from a Fault, a dungeon where Dylan can discover a new ability, and a Resonant fight, the Deserter, here.

Naturally, Dylan confronts it, and to say it’s massive would be an understatement. While the fight starts pretty slowly, as the player avoids the lava streams it spews, the Deserter gets a bit more creative. From launching fiery projectiles to stabbing you with the many red-hot pipes protruding from its body, it’s an encounter to take seriously.

The sections before it are also worth noting, as Dylan takes out a group of Hiss and eventually solves a puzzle to access the factory. On the first floor, even more enemies assail him, and we see the many Aberrant forms come into play. Dylan may or may not cry when it’s all said and done, but he’s got the combat prowess to handle himself (especially without needing to parry).

All of this only makes the wait for Control Resonant’s September 24th launch that much more difficult. Stay tuned for more details in the meantime, though.

Speaking to IGN, lead gameplay designer Sergey Mohov revealed that originally, Remedy prototyped a means to switch forms on the Aberrant, your main weapon. However, the desire to make everything “feel immediate and visceral” ultimately led to its removal.

“We want everything to feel immediate. You press the button, the thing happens. That’s the philosophy of design. You press Square, Dylan does the attack. You press R1, Dylan does the ability. There’s no, ‘I’m switching to the mode of this, and then I am pressing another button or holding a modifier key’. We did prototype all of these things, and those slowed down the combat quite a lot, and we don’t want you thinking about that.”

Another mechanic that you won’t find is parrying or deflection – which is interesting since Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is one of its inspirations. Aside from dodging, Dylan’s only means defense is conjuring a shield from surrounding rocks. But otherwise, the development team is avoiding what’s become one of the more popular combat systems over the years.

“We did prototype parry and deflect mechanics, and decided to remove them,” said Mohov. “The idea behind the combat system of Control Resonant is that offense is the best defense. When we implemented these kinds of defensive mechanics, we noticed that we’re waiting for enemies to do something to press the button in return. And that just didn’t seem to fit the philosophy that we had for the combat system.”

Like its other inspiration, DOOM (2016), ripping and tearing through enemies is the modus operandi, either slicing them apart with the Aberrant’s dual-blade mode, Flurry, or breaking their stance with the two-handed hammer to execute them. Classic abilities from Control also come into play, and Remedy isn’t messing with the ease of use flinging a massive rock at any enemy entails.

Control Resonant is available on September 24th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC.

While sales for the sequel may not seem very high (it launched in late 2023), Alan Wake 2 is actually Remedy’s fastest-selling title, crossing 1.3 million by February 2024. It eventually sold over two million in February 2025, and recouped all development and marketing costs in the process. At this point, everything else is royalties, especially with the lack of “platform deal accruals.”

Alan Wake 2 is available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. It debuted to exceptional critical acclaim and even won our Game of the Year award for 2023. It’s received two paid expansions, Night Springs and The Lake House, since release, the latter teasing the events of Control Resonant.

Remedy is currently focused on the latter, which launches on September 24th and has already passed 1.5 million wishlists. Pre-orders are also performing quite well, at least on PlayStation, and marketing momentum continues. Check out the latest gameplay here or learn more about the overall playtime (which blows the original out of the water).

There was a “healthy momentum” when pre-orders opened last June, according to the company’s analytics, and it’s currently among the top three in the United States, Brazil and Germany on PlayStation. Which is important because those who pre-order the Deluxe Edition on PS5 will receive 48 hours of early access.

While Remedy didn’t go into detail about pre-orders compared precisely to Alan Wake 2 or the original Control, Resonant is apparently “tracking well against comparable titles.” As marketing amps up ahead of launch, there’s potential for a stronger opening, but time will tell.

Regarding the release date, especially with so many other titles landing in the same month, Remedy remains “confident in our positioning.” It also noted that the release window has become “slightly less crowded,” perhaps referring to Onimusha: Way of the Sword being preponed and Phantom Blade Zero getting delayed to late October.

Regardless, it believes that the “distinctiveness and quality” will help the title stand out. As such, “Our first priority is to ship an outstanding game, and that guided how we selected the release date. We position Control Resonant as a must-have day-one purchase while also building Control into a lasting franchise.”

Control Resonant launches on September 24th for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Check out the latest gameplay here, which gives us a closer look at a dungeon known as a Fault that players will explore, complete with its own story and unique ability to unlock.

The truth is even more complicated, as trains roam every single axis. While Dylan can reorient himself on different surfaces to avoid them, he must also fight off various Mold enemies. Some go down with a few quick strikes, but others require breaking with heavy attacks and executing. It’s here that we see the Aberrant glowing red, potentially with fire damage, and taking down grounded and flying foes alike.

Of course, the other big part of this gameplay is Jesse, Dylan’s sister, who’s seemingly dealing with something and willing herself not to forget. The two meet several times but are just as easily separated. Interestingly, she reveals that she didn’t wake Dylan to help but to “run.”

While we don’t see it in action, the Metro Fault is where he’ll learn Reach, which serves as a grappling hook. After completing the dungeon, you can activate fast travel to return, which could have end-game (or New Game Plus) implications.

Control Resonant arrives on September 24th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Head here for more details on its playtime, which should prove incredibly meaty for narrative fans and completionists alike.

Fortunately, lead gameplay designer Sergey Mohov has an answer. Speaking to TechRadar, he revealed that the “core experience” should take around 30 hours to complete. Not too shabby, especially since a completionist playthrough of the original is around the same figure.

If you’re looking to pursue the same path Resonant, expect to spend somewhere around 50 hours, which is indeed longer than its predecessor. And while playing the original is recommended, it’s not mandatory, thanks to a recap available from the main menu.

“I don’t think you have to play the first Control game to play Resonant, but if you do, it will enrich your experience, especially narratively. We put in a Control recap, right at the top of the main menu, though, so you don’t need to,” says Mohov.

Control Resonant launches on September 24th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Picking up seven years after the first game’s events, players control Dylan Faden as he emerges from the Oldest House into a Manhattan in ruins. Working with the Federal Bureau of Control, he seeks to contain the paranatural threat and perhaps find his sister, Jesse, in the process.

He’ll fight the Resonants, mysterious threats that pose a significant challenge, but interestingly, many of the strongest bosses are optional.