Remedy Entertainment's highly anticipated action RPG, Control: Resonance, is set to release next month, with over 1.5 million wishlists already accumulated. In a recent interview with IGN, Lead Gameplay Designer Sergey Mohov revealed that the development team had tested weapon switching and block/parry mechanics during the prototype phase, but ultimately removed both to pursue a combat experience that feels "instantaneous and satisfying."
According to Mohov, the team initially prototyped a weapon stance-switching feature for the protagonist's "Aberrant" weapon. However, the team wanted "every action to feel instantaneous"—press a button, and the action happens immediately. This was the core design philosophy.
"We tested all these features, but they clearly slowed down the combat pace," said Mohov. "We didn't want players thinking, 'I need to switch to a certain mode first, then press another button or hold a combination.' So we decided to remove these intermediate steps."
Also removed was the parry/deflect mechanic—a notable decision given that Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice was one of the inspirations for Control: Resonance. But Remedy clearly chose not to follow this trend.
"We did create prototypes for blocking and parrying, but ultimately decided to remove them," explained Mohov. "The core concept of Control: Resonance's combat system is 'offense is the best defense.' When we added these defensive mechanics, we found players started waiting for enemies to attack before pressing buttons to counter—this completely contradicted our original design intent for the combat system."
Aside from dodging, the protagonist Dylan's only defensive option is to form a shield by condensing nearby rocks. However, the team prefers players to maintain a continuous offensive rhythm rather than passively waiting.
Like another source of inspiration, DOOM (2016), Control: Resonance encourages players to take the initiative—tearing through enemies with the Aberrant's dual-blade "Storm" mode, or executing foes after breaking their posture with two-handed hammer strikes. Classic supernatural abilities from the previous game, Control, will also remain effective, such as casually grabbing massive boulders to hurl at enemies.
Control: Resonance will launch on Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC on September 24.