Control rests on the it's excellent level design, atmosphere, cryptic lore, and sound design, and makes it a game that is almost a masterpiece.
But let me first describe things that belew my mind was the architecture of the Old House, wow, the way they have used brutalist architecture with the supernatural and surreal is incredible.
Secondly, the sound design is shockingly good, and so is the sense of discovery due to the level design with lore around each corner which gives you short snippets into the unfolding cryptic tale Remedy has threaded across its games.
Thirdly, the side missions, most of them are just worth doing as they are great, and well scripted, some are a little filler, but generally definitely worth it, and the perks of upgrading your character is a huge bonus for the later combat scenarios.
Lastly, the voice acting is also pretty much at point, along with performances, a highlight for sure, so is the DLCs, definitely one of the more excellent DLC expansions to a game with rich lore.
But there are a few small design issues that hold the game from becoming a 10/10:
One is the repeating enemy types, with just higher difficulty levels. The variety is a little low, but the world, and its metroidvania style of structure eases this a bit, but Remedy probably needs to improve on this for their upcoming sequel.
Two, is the map in the game. It is confusing, and tedious to use. I get that Remedy probably wanted you to be lost in the Old House like it was meant to be, and explore each corner to find your way through sign posting, but after sometime it becomes a little tedious, and also the sign-posting is not perfect, so can be frustrating.
Finally, certain combats are in red lighting and also the enemies glow with red, and red affect, so when there is a lot of stuff on the screen can be difficult to see. I think there should been a variation in the colour palette to make the enemies stand out a little more.
These are the 3 things I found irriating about Control, but it is no way a deal breaker. The rest of it is genuinely fantastic, and if remedy can fix these small issues I think Control Resonant would be something to behold.
For me Control is a 8.5/10 game, not in my top tier, but something I would remember for sure, and highly recommend to everyone.
