STACK #264 October 2026

GAMING FEATURE

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these gravity anomalies within the world. And the whole world can rotate, basically. We're really tapping into that, like finding these mind-bending journeys through the world where it's being paranaturally shaped around as you navigate through it.” A deft balancing act has been achieved between continuing the original story and allowing new players to enter the world of Control Resonant and not feel out of place. “We call it a sequel, and it is a sequel, but it's also an independent product that stands on its own feet,” confirms Kasurinen. “To me, these games go together like two siblings, each belong to the same family, but they have their own identity and desires and own fate, and they're connected. “Returning players will get to see a lot of familiar faces, familiar phenomena. The Hiss and Mold are there, but of course we're introducing a lot of new things as well. There's a fun layering of familiar things, but also definitely facing new challenges.” The most significant change in gameplay – and one that posed some challenges for Remedy - sees a shift from action-adventure to action RPG. “One of the challenges when you take steps towards an RPG direction has been the permutations of options that accumulate after we start to lay them in front of the player,” muses Kasurinen. “What was important to us was that we do it in our own way. And we're known for storytelling, creating these deep narratives, an interesting, complicated world, and so on. So, it felt like we had all the right ingredients to be able to step into this more RPG oriented direction. And it's been wonderful, we're really excited about it.” Ultimately, Kasurinen hopes that fans of Remedy games gain just as much from Control Resonant as from their previous games. “As a studio, we have existed for 30 years. So, there's a really loyal fanbase. That means a lot to us,

GENRE: Action RPG MULTIPLAYER: No

FORMAT:

Back in 2019, our heads were turned by thrilling sci-fi drenched action-adventure Control . Seven years later, a sequel is with us, and it changes up the formula in several ways. Remedy Entertainment’s Mikael Kasurinen, creative director on Control Resonant , tells us more. Words Amy Flower T he first thing that returning players will notice is the change of protagonist. This time the original game’s Jesse is TOTAL CONTROL!

out, and her brother Dylan – whom we also encountered originally - steps up to star. This has helped to bring a different overall feel to proceedings.

“The first game is inside the Oldest House, in isolation, and it's about Jesse, who's comes from the outside world into that space. She's new to that reality – she hasn't seen any of this stuff before. So, she learns a lot about these paranatural forces

The Alan Wake games, Control , and Control Resonant are all part of the larger Remedy Connected Universe. DYK?

20 years, his whole adult life. That's normal to him. So, it feels poetic and right that now his journey is from within that place we saw in the first game to the other direction. It's a reverse journey – going from that isolation and captivity, that strange place that's normal to him, to the outside world, and that outside world is weird and strange to him, yet familiar to us. There's something really exciting about that.” Don’t think for a minute that the paranatural events that made Control such an experience are gone though, in fact Kasurinen tells us that Remedy have upped the ante. “One part of the experience that I'm very excited about is the sense of motion that you have through the world. We put a lot of energy into it, like Shift, the way that you can tap into

and the nature of the FBC and all of that. But she's kind of trapped inside,” explains Kasurinen. “Dylan, he's been inside the Oldest House for

and as we created Control Resonant , it had a special meaning to us. “What we wanted to do was make sure that the fans get to experience the things that they've experienced with all the Remedy games in the past, yet at the same time, we wanted to do something new and unexpected, something that we're also invested and excited about to expand the universe.”

• Control Resonant is out Oct 15

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