What I love most about Control is how its a full concept game. Its like everyone in every area knew what that game was meant to be, as a creative work. It is just so complete, and yet the possibilities left in the writing feel endless. And then it is all tied into an ongoing universe that ultimately feels so much more alive for having that intricate and invitingly alienating mystery as sort of its 'grand stream' for story concepts to form from. It is at first hard to conceptualize how so many seemingly disparate things
can go together, but over time, you learn not to doubt it. It has a way of letting you know that you're in good hands, I like to think. The ideas are more unified than they often appear, and they kind of ease you into recognizing that at a pace that for me, feels more 'active' and exploratory on my end. It's the kind of writing that really wishes to engage you, use your own mind to make things happen.
It gets even better when you realize that they secretly have just one franchise going between all of these different titles - each major title is just another chapter in their crazy multiverse. I mean, from an artistic ambition standpoint, you really have to respect what Remedy has managed to pull off creatively. They are absolute madlads when it comes to how far down the rabbit hole they go in their whole overarching theming and general 'theory of universe,' the level of detail they manage to attain without writing themselves into corners. To me, it's masterful, even if it isn't the most accessible. Hell, I might actually call it obtuse. It is distinctly deliberate in its obtuseness. But at the same time, they are exceptional at maximizing the effect of inference. They can spin a top and spawn a new world in the heads of their audience. Remedy is all about taking you down to the abyssopelagic zone and making that sort of an inviting place to be, simply in how strange and intriguing it is. It's that, and the uncanny sense it all seems to make when you're down there. Half of the story running through all of their games is just friggin hyperabstraction and non-euclidean logic with heavy scoops of Jungian mysticism and Finnish mythology. It's the story of a multiverse, the birthing and melding of unstable realities, lovecraftian outer-god-like beings, and people interacting with all of it in intricately linked overarching narratives. And yet when you play through em each a few times, that whole world seems natural to you - nothing is really out of place. This could all easily have become your standard 'paranatural' camp, like X-Files for the now. But Remedy always does this style with such sincerity and depth that I think it elevates the work beyond that kind of stuff. It's just one of a kind art with them, always made with love and care.
The bosses never gave me a ton of trouble. I think I kinda just nerded out on the mechanics to a point where strategy was its own game for me. I like the combat flow that Control has... and yes, offense really is key. It's all about keeping that flow, knowing the moves to use when. Even your core defensive options in that game, are basically offense, or direct paths to it. Control... "Take control..." that theme alone says everything about the combat, really. Remedy plays this trick on your mind that makes everything feel intentional. I feel utterly gaslit by their games and I hope it never changes. Accept reality and take control of it. Harness whatever situations come along to chain the best offensive moves you can make each time, and just never stop moving. The action seems fast, but its more of a mental game. It's a test of continual focus and quick decision making more than reflexes. You explore all of the different ways to flow from situation to situation. Get yourself good and in the moment with different moves trained into you, and things go well. Whenever I lose that, I suck immediately. Fail over and over. It's either intuitive or it doesn't really work out. I guess it's a bit like driving stick. But then, unlike stick, it's more in the sizing up than the precision in execution. Know what I mean? It's never about sticking anything perfectly, just making the right moves at the right times. Setting the playing field up right. Creatively and efficiently sizing-down mobs that show up to introduce chaos that's meant to break you out of that flow. You instead flow into it, like Polaris's resonance itself.
What I hate most about Control is...
...the expedition DLC.
Not the game I'm playing today. I think I'd rather do a refresher on Alan Wake at some point, as I haven't since completing everything in Control. They should call the game I'm playing Metro Eggodust, just because even after all of this time, it's so dang immersive that all I can do is toast my eggos and eat em straight toaster-hand-mouth like a savage. Hunger really only gets in the way.
It's also physically huge as it's three 32" screens.
Whenever I play this I have to keep yelling 'STAY LEFT!!'.
