Today’s game is Control. I’ve been wanting to pick this up and play it again for quite some time. I decided now was the perfect time for a second playthrough (along with finishing the DLCs).
I will admite i’ve spent quite a lot of time finagling the graphics though. I really wanted to try it with Raytracing as i hear it’s awesome with that and wanted to judge for myself. Unfortunately my RX 7600 XT just doesn’t seem up to the task unless i drop the scaling down low, and even then i still only get like 30 FPS at 720p and it’s all a messy smear. So not really worth it for me all just for some extra pretty rays.
I love getting into Remedy’s games too, and finding these references and inside jokes. For example The Neighbor of The Beast like right out of the gate. It reminds me of the logic behind noticing certain numbers as a pattern in real life, only hear it’s intentional. Almost like it’s the game gaslighting you if that makes sense.
Playing this is making me really miss Alan Wake 2’s Photomode as well. It was just a natural evolution. Here the controls are a lot less fine, such as the major F-Stops being like 0,5 > 0.7 > 1.0 > 4.0 > 5.7 > 8 > 16. I would love to have a F11 there. Legit love to default to that because 11 is such a nice number. There’s also just a lot less fine tuning for color grading and such.
I remember the game being short, so i got the the Telephone and decided that was a perfect point to stop for today. Especially because i gave the game another hour of play time than i should messing with Graphics and RT/FSR
I should really replay control, before the sequel comes out. Hope its good. The original is such a great game.
One of my favorite games. Love Remedy.
I might pick it up again, I also haven’t finished the DLCs.
Oh man, Control. I have to agree with Jesse, the ashtray maze sequence was fucking awesome.
Got this game a few years ago, but my GPU jus wasn’t up to the task a the time, I should really give it a go now.
759 days in a row? This guy’s outta Control!
this games art direction is so well done
It’s one of my all-time favorites. Excellent color palette! I need to come back and play this one now that I actually have a GPU that can do RTX without having to use frame gen.
I kind of dove into this game with no expectations and I absolutely loved it. The nonsense of this world you’re diving into is so well done and weird in all the best ways. I loved it.
I bought this game on a deep sale and enjoyed it so much I ended up buying it for at least 3 friends. Absolutely in my top 5 and really excited for the sequel.
I bought a copy for a friend and have been trying to get him to play it. So far no luck though. Maybe one day. Right now i think he has his hands full trying to play every Final Fantasy game
Loved this game, I hope the sequel is good
I was really into SCP when it came out, and it was such a gift. Probably my favorite third-person shooter, both for its atmosphere and combat. I especially like the amount of stuff to just read and get absorbed in the lore, wonder at how the place used to look like under non-crisis circumstances.
Great screenshots! Really capture the enigmatic feel that invites you to explore the world.
Any people waiting for the sequel here, how do you feel about combat in the upcoming game? Seems like it’s going to be more melee-focused, which isn’t my thing, but I like and respect that they’re trying to do something different as opposed to making more of the same thing. That’s the same reason I love the DOOM series - that variety helps each entry have its place instead of feeling like a DLC essentially.
I never really got into SCP, but (as controversial as they are in real life) i’ve always had a fond spot for fictionalized versions of 3 Letter Organizations like the FBI. It probably sounds stupid, but something about the suits and mysterious crimes angle has always been something i’m fond of. Control hits like all those sweet spots and then cranks the “mystery” angle up to a 10. Then throw in a little bit of Alan Wake and i’m sold.
That actually makes me wonder how come there’s relatively few such universes and stories arouns, given that suits and highly-secretive special forces are actually pretty popular in fiction. Maybe I’m overestimating the interest in such fiction.
I would like more stuff like Control and Men in Black, especially in gaming, with deep and explorable lore and world. But I think such stories basically happen as a response to something, like the SCP and the likes being a phenomenon rather than somethin (easily) reproducible, and Men in Black being a metaphor for migration and assimilation more than anything. At some point, there’s just nothing else to say about a thing from a given angle, and instead of feeling fresh and welcome and exciting, a new entry to a theme feels stale and meaningless, completely lacking anything interesting or captivating.
Which, I think, is what Control Resonant seems to try and do right by going outside The Oldest House and turning to a different kind of gameplay and worldbuilding. I think we’ll still be able to uncover stuff through reading and optional dialogue, but I doubt it will have the same form or extent as the first game.
Speaking of Control Resonant - are you even interested in it given this shift? Please be careful with plot details, as I haven’t finished the first game yet.
I cannot fucking wait for Control 2.
Remedy’s (!remedy@sopuli.xyz) recent games have ton of “every frame a painting” in them. I’m praying so hard their new CEO doesn’t mess it all up, but I am not hopeful.
I’m worried about the new CEO because Remedy is the first game studio in a long time that makes games that i feel like get me. They hit all the right beats. I’m trying to be optimistic about it but damn it’s hard lately
New CEO? I’ve missed that part, oh boy …
Control is one of my favorite games! I’ve really wanted to review it here, but I wanted to review Alan Wake first, since they’re tangentially connected. And you kept playing Alan Wake and posting about it, so I didn’t want to add more Alan Wake content to this community at the same time. It’s my goal to keep adding new content, which is why I generally don’t go back and discuss games I’ve already reviewed once.
I remember the game being short […]
Short?! I’ve played for 36 hours and still haven’t beaten it! Granted, I stopped playing when I got stuck on a boss fight and didn’t want to grind endless mobs to level up for the fight. Then when I did return, I decided to just start the whole game over because it’d been so long since I last played, I forgot what was going on. So I have two half-played game sessions on Steam.
Also, I got absorbed in the details of the game. Something about it scratches a particular itch for me so I love just exploring every nook and cranny and collecting every little bit of lore I can find in game. I love the world of SCP, and this game is based on the overall concept of it. I especially like how this game retcons Alan Wake into an anomaly that The Oldest House is tracking.
Fair enough on the Alan Wake. I have visited it quite a few times as it’s one of my favorite games i think i’ve ever played. I think it has to be outdone only by Halo with the number of playthroughs I’ve done (at least 3 i think. First one for the base game, a plathrough where i played the first DLC, and a third one where i play the 2nd DLC i missed). I think if it wasn’t so large I might have gone in by a 4th by now.
I think i beat the game in around 15 hours? It just a guess because i have 21 Hours on record and went halfway through the first DLC and did the Maneki-Neko side quest. I may just be a little bit of a try hard with Remedy games though
I especially like how this game retcons Alan Wake into an anomaly that The Oldest House is tracking.
I love this Retcon, because as far as i remember (And i may be completely wrong so feel free to correct me) it’s implied too that Alan may have something to do with this as well from the Dark Place. A retcon like this always feels a little risky as to devaluing one series actions over the other. But to me, it felt like they subtly give the idea so you can take it or leave it depending on how you feel about it
I remember just hanging out in the research division with those huge redwood trees in the main lobby. Loved the aesthetic of this game so much!
I loved that place in my first playthrough. I’m excited to get there purely so i can take some photos
I didn’t think it was a short game. But I’m not a particularly fast player. And I believe the DLCs were installed. Took me a while
I really liked it. From what I understood it’s part of the Alan Wake universe, should I play it ? I tried the beginning of the first one but it seemed a bit too slow/story driven for my taste.
I love Alan Wake. The first one and now the second ones are some of my favorite games of all time. The first one is very story driven, The second one though is a lot more survival horror akin to Resident Evil. I’d say the Second one is worth the experience, though i do highly encourage playing the first one as it makes a lot of stuff in the second really good
I might try the second one then!
Knew what this was from the first screenshot. Picked it up on sale, started it and beat the first few levels, then got drawn into something else. I really need to start this game over. So good.
This was the first game I played with raytracing and they nailed it first try. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone else use it so well yet. There are so many scenes that look like promotional renders, but then you can just go walking around in it.
Not to mention an amazing story I wasn’t at all prepared for. We could definitely use more games like it.
I’m not sure if you’d be able to help, but do you have any advice for getting Raytracing to work on my device (RX 7600 XT)? I really wanted to see if it was all it was claimed to be, but even at 1080p Medium with Medium RT it was having some issues
I wish I had advice. This game came in a bundle with my 4070 and I’ve only ever played it with this card.
Damn, oh well. I can live without it. If anything it gives me an excuse to come back too it whenever I finally replace my GPU
