Control Resonant is the action role-playing game sequel to 2019's Control, and it was released on September 24, 2026. This page is a primer for readers arriving cold: what a first run looks like, how the combat loop is meant to feel, how difficulty is handled, where to play it, and what the launch hotfix changed. For a wider summary, see the Overview; for the platform situation, see Platforms and Release; for what each edition contains, see Editions and Pre-Orders.
Mental Model: Not A Soulslike
Resonant looks like a character-action game in its trailers, but it does not behave like a Soulslike. The studio has been explicit on this point in public press: there is a dodge, but there is no parry, and the encounter design is built around forward pressure rather than counter reads. Coming in expecting a deliberate, defensive cadence will fight the system; coming in expecting Devil May Cry-style aggression with a buildcrafting layer is the right mental frame.
The Aberrant in One Page
Dylan's weapon, the Aberrant, is a shapeshifting melee tool configured as a small loadout. Three slots matter from the start:
Primary form: the form basic combos run through.
Secondary form: the form special and charged attacks use.
Combo ender: the form Dylan switches into to close out a string with a finisher.
Remedy's pre-release material showed five forms: a heavy hammer, dual blades, a scythe, a whip, and bare fists. Guides to the released game list six named forms in two groups: a primary form picked at the start (the Glaive, a scythe; an axe-like form one guide calls Cleave; or a fast dual-dagger form), and a secondary form picked from Crush, Extend and Drill after Dylan first leaves the Oldest House, with the forms not chosen available to buy later in the Gap with Living Shards. Defeating Resonants, the major boss enemies the game takes its name from, rewards combat abilities rather than new forms.
Combat Ability Resource
Hitting enemies with melee strikes refills Dylan's Combat Ability resource. That meter pays for his supernatural abilities. Spending it on a power tends to stun enemies, which opens a window for an execution, which grants a temporary buff to melee damage and feeds back into the next round of strikes. The intended habit on a fresh save is to push forward, stay swinging, and treat every wave as a meter-building setup for the next ability use.
Where to Play
Resonant unlocked worldwide at 14:00 UTC on September 24, 2026, at the same instant on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC, and GeForce NOW has supported it since launch. The only way in earlier was the PlayStation 5 Digital Deluxe Edition, whose 48 hours of early access began at 14:00 UTC on September 22, 2026. The Mac version is due later in 2026.
Buy on PC. The game is on Steam (App ID 3669870) and the Epic Games Store. On Steam, Standard Edition owners can add the Deluxe content later with the Digital Deluxe Upgrade.
Buy on PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X|S. Standard and Digital Deluxe tiers are sold on both.
Treat a physical copy as a separate decision. Disc and SteelBook editions for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X have been on sale at retail since October 15, 2026, three weeks after the digital launch.
Cloud play is available. GeForce NOW has supported the game since launch.
If you want it on Mac, wait. The Mac build is due later in 2026 through Steam and the Mac App Store.
Newcomer Friendly
If you have never played the original Control (2019), you are not at a disadvantage. Remedy Entertainment has stated publicly that newcomers do not need to have played the first game to follow Resonant's story. The sequel is written so that the basics of the world, the agency, and the protagonist are introduced in-game rather than assumed as prior knowledge.
Your First Run
You play as Dylan Faden, a parautilitarian and the younger brother of the original Control's protagonist.
Combat is melee combat-focused and built around the Aberrant, a shapeshifting close-quarters weapon that swaps between hammer, dual blades, scythe, whip, and other forms.
Traversal powers come from main-quest areas called Faults. Guides to the released game list three: a double jump (from the Fault in Downtown), Shift, which lets Dylan align with the world's many Gravity Anomalies (from the Fault in the West Incursion Zone), and Reach, a grapple onto distortions (from the Subway Fault in the Evacuation Zone).
Skill trees and ability conversions happen inside the Gap, a metaphysical space inside Dylan's mind that doubles as the in-game menu.
The game opens in Downtown, the zone around the Oldest House. Guides to the released game place Central next, with the Evacuation Zone, the West Incursion Zone and The Park opening up after that, out of seven zones of Manhattan in all.
Three Decision Layers
Progression is built on three layered choices. None are cosmetic; each shapes how Dylan plays.
Layer | What It Controls |
|---|---|
Aberrant Form | The current shape of the Aberrant, which sets the basic attack chain and rhythm of melee strikes. |
Power Set | The mix of combat abilities equipped at the Mural, such as Push, Shield, Barrage and the Volatile Anomaly. The traversal abilities Reach and Shift are always available once earned. |
Talent Tree Branch | Skill tree branches with exclusive choices. A single playthrough cannot unlock everything; each branch tunes the build toward a different combat identity. |
Assist Mode and Difficulty
Resonant does not ship with a short list of difficulty levels. Instead it has an expanded Assist Mode: a set of per-mechanic sliders and toggles that can be enabled, disabled or changed at any point during play. Remedy's lead gameplay designer has been explicit about two things that separate it from the version in the first game. The sliders run in both directions, so they can make encounters harder as readily as easier, and nothing is locked behind using them. Trophies and achievements are not gated by Assist Mode.
The studio also ships four Assist Mode presets built around different ways of playing, which can then be fine-tuned setting by setting; adjusting any individual option switches the preset to Custom. The write-up introducing the system does not name them, but the names and one-line descriptions are shown in the official options screenshots published on September 15, 2026.
Preset | Official Description |
|---|---|
Custom | Any manual mix of settings. Selected automatically as soon as an individual option is changed. |
Field Agent | Brings story and exploration to the forefront, with combat rarely putting the player in danger. |
Strategist | Keeps fights fast and lethal for both sides, rewarding precise play where the slightest mistake matters. |
Ranger | Lets the player stand their ground and shrug off attacks, trading firepower for staying power. |
The design team's own recommendation is to play the intended combat rhythm first and then adjust the one mechanic that is in the way, rather than reaching for a preset up front.
The eleven launch settings below were named before release. The October 1, 2026 update added further Assist options, detailed later on this page.
Setting | Group |
|---|---|
Enemy Aggression | Enemy behaviour |
Enemy Projectile Speed | Enemy behaviour |
Perfect Dodge Window | Player defence |
Incoming Damage | Player defence |
Immortality | Player defence |
Outgoing Damage | Player offence |
Outgoing Falter | Player offence |
One-Hit Kills | Player offence |
One-Hit Falters | Player offence |
Enhanced Melee Magnetizing | Targeting assist |
Power Recovery Speed | Resources |
The grouping above is a reading aid rather than an in-game category. Storefront listings separately declare a wider set of accessibility options, including subtitle options, contrast controls, colour alternatives, custom volume controls, controller remapping and adjustable stick sensitivity; those are catalogued on Platforms and Release.
What the Launch Hotfix Changed
Remedy shipped hotfix 1.3.3 on launch day, September 24, 2026, to make the early hours less of a slog. Most enemies, and the Dancer and Deserter bosses, have less health and need fewer hits to Falter (stun) them for an execution. Dylan's maximum Aberrant Strength and Ability Strength are higher, with bigger gains the more upgrades he has. Respeccing is permanently cheaper, vendors stock more Reset Items, and the first Resonant boss, the Artist, drops two Reset Items instead of one. If the balance still does not suit you, Remedy's advice is to adjust Assist Mode in the Gameplay menu of the options. The full change list is on Platforms and Release.
Setting Setup
Control Resonant takes place roughly seven years after the events of the original Control. The Oldest House, the agency's shifting paranatural headquarters, suffered a containment failure. The lockdown that should have sealed the threats inside it gave way, and paranatural forces have spilled out into the surrounding city. As a result, Manhattan has been overrun by entities and altered geometry that do not behave like the real world.
The Federal Bureau of Control is the secret United States government agency charged with paranatural containment. With the Manhattan crisis too large for regular field agents, the Bureau deploys Dylan Faden into the city to help contain it. That deployment is the campaign's framing mission, and Dylan's search for his missing sister Jesse runs underneath it.
Release Status
Resonant launched digitally on September 24, 2026 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC through Steam and the Epic Games Store, with GeForce NOW supported from the same date; the Mac version is due later in 2026. Physical copies for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X followed separately on October 15, 2026. Before launch the only public hands-on was in person: a playable build ran on the gamescom show floor in Cologne from August 26 to 30, 2026, in Hall 6 on the Level Infinite booth. After the launch update the Xbox storefront catalogue lists the download at 93.70 GB on Xbox Series X|S and 115.50 GB for the PC version sold through the Microsoft Store, package sizes that move with patches; the Steam listing asks for 120 GB of SSD storage, and Remedy has not published a PlayStation 5 size. Valve rates the game Unsupported on Steam Deck. See Platforms and Release for the full platform picture.
Before You Start
Buy on the platform you intend to play on; on PC the Steam App ID is 3669870 and the Epic Games Store sells the same two digital tiers.
Look over the Assist Mode options in the Gameplay menu before the first fights if you want a gentler or a harsher start; they can be changed at any point.
For background, the five-part development diary series, finished on September 10, 2026 with an entry on the voice cast, is the clearest first-party account of combat, traversal and progression.
If you have the time, the original Control (2019) is optional but a fun primer. Remedy has said directly that it is not required to follow Resonant's story.
How Much Time to Set Aside
Plan for a long game. Remedy's own estimate, published on September 15, 2026, puts the main story at 25 to 35 hours, with plenty more for completionists. Earlier in development the team put the core experience at about thirty hours and a completionist run at about fifty, and one internal playthrough came in at thirty-five hours with side content still unfinished. Treat Resonant as a full-length campaign rather than a weekend run.
Because Manhattan is built as discrete zones with their own side content rather than one open map, the gap between a direct route and a thorough one is mostly the side layer: artifacts to gather, rogue Altered Items to track down, and optional encounters inside each zone.
For how the main story, the Jesse Sightings, the Resonant hunts and the side stories are organised, see the Quests page.
On PlayStation 5, main story quest progress can be tracked through the console's Activities cards, and Remedy said before launch that Game Help would be available after launch.
Finishing the story does not end the save. Remedy says players can keep going afterwards with unfinished side quests, World Feats or a New Game Plus run. The launch version of New Game+ could be beaten only once more. Update 1.4.0, released October 1, 2026, added New Game++, allowing unlimited repeated runs without erasing progress. Photo Mode remains expected in November 2026.
October 2026 Changes for New Players
Change | Details |
|---|---|
1.4.0: Save management | Main Menu Save Game slots increased from five to seven. Original-run and New Game+ saves have separate folders, accessible when loading a game from Main Menu. |
1.4.0: Power Core charge duration | A new Assist Mode option scales Power Core Charge Duration from 100% to 300%. |
1.4.0: Air finisher refund | A new Assist Mode option refunds one dodge and one jump after an air execution when the player is out of both. |
1.4.2: Every Dog Has Her Day | Restored the missing Artifact reward. Previous completers receive it retroactively only if they have not yet entered New Game+. |
Not Yet Documented
A few details a new player might want were still not published by Remedy when this page was last checked on September 27, 2026. There is no official default control layout, although the options support full controller remapping and the official options screenshots show that most abilities can be switched between hold and toggle inputs on both controller and mouse and keyboard. No PlayStation 5 download size has been published; the Xbox, Microsoft Store and Steam figures are noted under Release Status. Final PC system requirements were published on September 9, 2026 and are laid out in full on Platforms and Release; Mac system requirements are still pending. This page will be updated as the remaining details are confirmed.