Kinda Funny Gamescast: Video Game Podcast - Control Resonant Spoilercast - Kinda Funny Gamescast

Episode Date: September 29, 2026

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My rec league goalie says he plays for the love of the game. You gave up six goals last week, Steve? Maybe play to win, huh? Like with Bet365, I get paid the second my team goes out big with early payout and can cash out at any time before the game ends. Steve, Bet365, the home of winning early. Must be 19 and older, Ontario only. Please play responsibly.

If you were someone you know is concerns about gambling, visit connectsontario.ca or call 1866-5-1-2,600. Terms and conditions apply. Get 70% off. two-year plan when you go to protonvPN.com slash kind of funny. If you want to get our shows ad-free and our exclusive shows, go to patreon.com slash kind of funny. Hello gamers. Welcome in to a really exciting games cast.

One that we normally put later on in the day. I don't know why Kevin's laughing right now. You're very small. You're just a little guy. Was the camera just moving the whole time? What's happening? No, I didn't touch anything. The odds are that you just didn't do it. No, yeah, I mean, you're right. You're 100% right.

I'm betting money. We had last minute, like, update to the roster. Yeah, Chad, Blessing was going to be here. He had a doctor's appointment. A snake's bid him. You pan out just a tiny bit for me. Do you want me? Yeah, you physically have the camera pulled down just a little bit.

Or else you're going to be so big in the frame. No, right. I don't know. camera. Oh, the camera. Yeah. Come in a five, two. Wow. Now it looks perfect. Now you nail that one. We crushed that, everybody. Yeah. Welcome in everybody. We usually like to do our spoiler cast a bit later, right? We don't want to do them too quickly after the game comes out, but this whole month is just extremely fucked with just a lot of stuff going on.

So today is the Control Resonant Spoiler cast. Bookmark this for later if you want to come back. because we're going to dive deep into all of the head-drawn resonance. Spoilery talk. We're going to be talking about vending machines, and we're going to be talking about time-shifting parabolas and Langston, that guy Langston, who's really, really neat. All sorts of cool stuff I can't wait to get into on this Control Resonist Sporler cast. Welcome to the Games cast for September 29th, 2026.

I am Annie Cortez. I am joined by Michael Hyam. Howdy. Thank you for having me. Sorry I can't be there in the office for this one. I am in Los Angeles, California babysitting to very rambunctious cats and chilling with the homies. But I couldn't miss this because Control Resident, beautiful game. Kind of a banger. We're also joined by Tumor Hussein. Hello, I have nothing going on, so I came here. Hey, Tams here. Super stoked to talk about this, everybody. Make sure you get all your super chat questions in as well. Be talking to us through super chats, be talking to us through the normal chats. Get any of your questions out. And, you know, there's a good chance that there will be several questions being asked.

And I'm like, damn, hadn't really even consider that possibility because this game is just, it just goes a lot of places in typical remedy fashion. I would love to, again, warn the viewers and listeners, if you do not want control resonant spoilers, get out right now. You've been given plenty of time. But don't click out. Just leave it running in the background.

But if you mute it, I think that can't, I think YouTube is like, well, we won't monetize this part because it's muted. So mute the tab on Chrome. That's what I do. Whenever I go to like a Target,

I just set all the videos to kind of funny in my videos. Set them all to like muted tabs or whatever. If you're watching like be part of the show. If you're watching that Target, if you happen to be at Target right now, We're getting into the spoilers real deep, all right? Be a part of the show by Superchatting on YouTube.com

forward slash kind of funny games. Remember, we could not do this without our producers on patreon.com forward slash kind of funny. So thank you to Omega Buster, Delaney the Somme Toining, and Michael Pesavento. For now, let's begin with topic of the show. Dot, stots, dot, stop, dots, dots. Control, resident, spoiler, guys. You've been, you're at Target right now.

You've been warned. You've been waiting for this. Plenty of times. This is why you drove up to the local target. Guys, control resident. What a game. What a game. It's my goady.

And it's pretty easily my goady as well. Oh, nice. I really enjoyed this experience, talked about it all in the review. And I just, I can't stop thinking about it, man. It's one of those in our line of work where we are constantly moving on to the next thing. You know a game really has its hooks in you when. and you are about three things later that you've moved on to, but you're still thinking about the thing from three games prior.

And Control Resident has kind of done that for me. I really, really enjoyed it. Hi, M, you reviewed for IGN, correct? I sure did. 8 out of 10 at IGN. And that means great. 8 means great. I think this is a great game.

And kind of same with you, Andy. The more time away from the game, the more I appreciated it, and the more I've been able to like stew on the things that I cared about most. And I think now in retrospect, I look at it, and I think it's a very special game for the reasons that, like when you're playing the game, when you're in the moment,

you're enjoying things as they are. But I think once I came away from it, and there's a lot of things that I had problems with the game, but the things that mattered most, those are the things that stuck with me. And that's the sign of a memorable game. and something that is more than just something that you play to either kill time or because like you just want to play a game. It's like there are moments of this game that I will that we'll get into that are probably going to stick with me for a long time.

And I think that is that is what makes certain games to me more powerful than the than the actual gameplay experience that they offer. Yeah. Like I was mentioned earlier, anytime you can if you're in our line of work experiencing so many different experiences. of all varying different shooters, horror, small indie, all sorts of like walks of life. When something can be memorable, it's like what an achievement when you can just kind of stick in somebody's brain? Tam, how did you feel about control risk? You reviewed it on your YouTube channel.

I did it on my YouTube channel. The GameSpot review was done by Mark Delaney. I believe we gave it at 9-10. It's great review. And what's your YouTube channel? My YouTube channel is YouTube.com slash Tomoh H. Please subscribe and watch myself there. Put it on.

If you're in Target, just flick to... flick to that tab. There's several other netbooks like on another... Yeah, iPad's just getting there. Yeah, I mean, I think this game, obviously everything you guys said is 100% true. I think what I

really, really appreciated from this game is it kind of is in line with what is happening in the game where it kind of like it breaks your reality long enough for you to see what really matters. And what I mean by that is

I think that we, at least for us, speak for myself, I think I've started to autopilot my way through a lot of games. Where there's nothing in it to me in these new games. A lot of them are very similar to each other. They're formulaic. You just have such a tight grasp on what every game is likely going to be before it even comes out that when you get a game like control, it feels like reality is kind of reshaping around you.

Everything you see and feel and kind of like here, in this game, it's designed to kind of shock your system a bit to remind you that, hey, this is what games can also be. And I think that's what I appreciate it most for in that it reminded me that video games can aspire to be so much more than what we have now, which is, unfortunately, largely in the AAA space, chasing a lot of trends and adhering to formulas that are tried and true. And some of them are done really well. Some of them are kind of like cookie cutter. But this is a game that is a reminder that games can be so creative, so different, so shocking, so, like, inspiring and so uniquely from a viewpoint and from a team that has their own thing going on. And that is what I really,

really loved about it, from the visuals to the story, to the acting, it is unmistakably remedy to the point where no one else could have created this thing in the way that it exists. I think that's so, so special. They have such a great leash to just to do the weird thing without it feeling too out of place. And I was mentioning this on stream yesterday where I like, unfortunately because

whenever we experience, whenever at least I experience something that is extremely memorable, the sequel can be better in all ways, shapes, and forms but it won't have that like, yeah, but you'll never forget it's your first time, you know.

And I always bring up the God of War 2018 to Ragnarok experience, where Ragnarok was, or 2018 was such a, like, holy shit, I haven't experienced something like this. The single camera, the way the narrative was just so strong and these characters that you're growing and bonding with and awesome combat, all that cool stuff with the great set pieces. And then Ragnarok, in my opinion,

in every way possible, it's a better video game at its core, what it's doing mechanically, ability-wise, in terms of variety with enemies, like it's overall a better video game when you check down the boxes of what makes a video game better. But it isn't 2018, because I already experienced that, right?

And it's always like, well, if Ragnarok came out in 2018, then that be my memorable experience. This game doesn't fall victim to that, in my opinion, because control was such a memorable thing, and the ash tree maze will be one of those things

that I'll be remembering on my, deathbed and this game, albeit completely different combat-wise, right? You're not third-person shooting anymore, but everything it does, it never, I never at once felt like, hey, this is cool, but it's not Control 2019. Yeah. There were still so many amazing set piece moments. I am just like sitting back in the computer chair like, I, God damn, remedy is just so damn special. Mike, Mike, what are you going to say? Uh, damn, I forgot. So we'll probably go, oh, I was going to say this. It was kind of a jumping off of what Tam was saying is like about like it being like very distinctly remedy.

And the thing too is that I could not wait to talk about this game with other people who had played it. Because when you write a review, there are just certain things you can't mention. You can allude to them. But you also don't want to. I've really been conscious of this as I've become like reviews editor is that I'm really conscious of. not just not making sure you don't spoil something, but make sure you don't spoil the feeling. Because when you set up expectations, like, oh, I can't tell you about this thing, but you're going to feel this. Like, that in a way is also kind of...

That's a spoiler to me. That, yes. And so that's a really hard thing to capture is like... But that is such an integral part of why control is greater than the sum of its parts, is that there are those specific moments. that evoke a certain feeling where something unpredictable happens. And how do you quantify that without giving it away? It's something that I struggled with. And then so I looked forward to like talking to other people about this and the spoiler cast here because now I can openly talk about why this game matters and why it hits

harder than it being a semi open world action game that remedy made. It's like, yeah, though that stuff is cool. It works well. but the things that, like I said, the things that matter now are, they're on the table, so yeah. The amount of times that I mentioned on the review, like I'm trying my, I want to try my hardest to not overly glaze this game

because I don't want to set the expectations too high, but just know that in every moment it needed to hit me, it did, and I was sitting there feeling shit, just any sort of emotion possible. And when, I think when a game can kind of make you, run the, it can make you run the emotional gamut of like sadness, like, damn, that was a depressing side quest or holy shit, I can't believe what I'm even looking at right now. I think that's like the mark of a very special game made by a very special developer.

Agreed. Let's get into it, guys. Yeah. Yeah. Are they one person or not? They are. I think they are. Didn't they say, didn't he say as much in the first game? He did. Yeah.

But there's always a tinge of remedy to it where you're like, but what is real? There's no clean answer to it because everything that you would assume makes it a clean answer is then undone by some other revelation later on. In that, like, Dylan says that there was a child called Jesse Dylan Faden. and then later on you are in an area where multiple timelines are happening at the same time overlapping and encroaching on each other. So it's not a clean break. Maybe there was one, the other, and both happening at the same time. And the fact that... Radigan is America.

Yeah, Radigan is America. That's what I'm saying. And the fact that the ending, the way it ends with obviously the swap, it then kind of puts into your mind that does that mean that they have at least the Jesse part has the ability to move between these timelines? Because did she resurrect Dylan or did she just pull Dylan a different Dylan in or move them entirely to a different timeline? It's a very, very, it's one of those games that, again, I hate going back to From software, but never a clean answer. Designed to make it so that until the next chapter happens, you'll never be able to definitively say this is what has. happened, which I really love about this universe. Yeah, and you get the, the moments of Dylan

mentioning his grandma being like, yeah, there's only, you know, talking to my one grandchild or whatever, and like, it's kind of odd that she would mention one grandchild. And as demon hacker says in the chat, that's why the mom shoots Dylan, because there is some, like, there is some uncertainty of fear and paranormal shit going on. And maybe there's some stuff infecting her brain as well, but that moment, the whole sequence with the shadows on the walls was just... It's incredible. So fucking perfect. And it's, it's, this is one of those games where you think you experience the peak

moment already. And they kept on like just one-upping themselves without, without it being like, well, we'll throw just more visuals at you and hope that it hits you in a bigger way. It's like, we'll give you a more meaningful set piece here that is not an insane action moment. It is just like one of the most coolest creative things you've experienced in a game. They're really good at

riding the intensity to exactly where it needs to go and then pulling back because so much of everything that you're doing up until that point is the topsy-turvy kaleidoscope of geometry kind of it's overwhelming. So then when you get to that point it's exactly the time when I think

as people we need to take the off the gas a bit and it like pulls back into something way more sweet and way more it feels like an indie game it feels like a game from a completely different developer and it feels like a mechanic that an entire video game

would be built on and it just they're so good at knowing the right moments to ratchet up the intensity and bring it down and make the moment where it's down be a impactful emotionally resonant moment so just incredible design or

or if they just throw in a earthbound RPG in the middle of the whole thing. Oh my God. God. Dude, I, like, that is a whole thing I want to unpack, of course. Yeah. But talking about, like, because so the, um, guiding the lights in the, in that

fault, um, that was probably the moment where I like, I stopped and I was like, oh shit. Control is like hitting me like pretty hard. Where, because throughout, throughout all of control one, all you know Dylan as is the F, an FBC

experiment who's, who's, like going crazy and you don't even know if he has consciousness or if he's even aware of who he is. And so he feels like an object rather than a person, an object of power. And just to quickly interject, for people who may not, you know, may not fully be, you know, into like the twin peaks of the world and the X-Files and all of this sort of like perinatural stuff, to me, because that's kind of me, right? I didn't know shit about Twin Peaks or anything like that going into this and a lot of what the inspirations and the house of leaves and all that. But to me, I was like, oh, he's like a dangerous X-Men.

And for the layman, he's a dangerous mutant that is like, we got to contain this for you. Yeah. Yeah. And then so like, but the way, the important part for me about Control Resonant is that it, like all that paranormal stuff that you enjoy from control, it feels a lot more. I describe it as matter of fact. Like, it's no longer a mystery. That's just the reality in which these characters live in. So instead of trying to shock you with the

Paranatural stuff, which it still does in pockets, right? But it's about humanizing the people who have been affected by it, and particularly Dylan. And so that was the moment, and you're in that fault and you're guiding the lights of child Jesse and child Dylan together and seeing like the sort of like the that, the silhouettes of their past life where Dylan is trying to piece it together. Like that stuff was like really sweet,

where it's like, oh yeah, Dylan is a person. who lived a very traumatic life from childhood. And all he knows is either, you know, he had moments in his childhood that were great that he remembers, but also quickly went abusive. And then all of a sudden became an experiment. So it's like, how do you piece together a life that has never been fully lived? And I think that was the moment in which, like, I really felt for Dylan. And it's like, oh, yeah, he's like, he's a sad sack.

And he doesn't really have much guidance in the world. But he's starting to make sense of it. And that was like the humanizing aspect to where, okay, Jesse and Dylan feel like fully formed characters who have past lives. And you're seeing it unfold before you. And wow, I didn't expect like to hit me. It's like, man, but you really, when you think about like Dylan and Jesse's lives. Yeah. And him piecing that, piecing all that back together, trying to remember the good stuff.

And why just. Yeah. It's so tragic. Because the thing is like, okay, yeah, their brother and sister or whatever. And like the, the paranormal stuff leads to more questions towards the end of the game that are very interesting, of course. But I think like as separate characters, the reason why is like, okay, yeah, their brother and sister, but why do they matter to each other? I think that part while I was trying to like cling on to, it's like, I know they're related, but why are they important to each other? Because it has to be more than just blood relation.

And that was the moment where I'm like, oh, they shared a lot of common interests. They only had each other growing up. And so when that's ripped away from them, like there's no other North Star for either of them. I don't know. Jesse has like the FBC and the whole like an entire game dedicated to her figuring that out. But here when you focus on Dylan and him trying to come to terms with who he is, like that was a moment where it all clicked for me, man. Like that was that was such a beautiful way to like not just show you in a cutscene, but make you do something along with it where you are the one guiding them together. and then you see the full picture.

And I just thought that was really beautiful. Yeah, I mean, like the first game is about it. What made it interesting was it took the ordinary and made it extraordinary by, you know, showing you that the paranormal exists in the world that you are, you are very familiar with and is your own world. And that is a lot of where the magic of that game is. It is that inversion. And I talk about this on my video on YouTube where it's like, that is what that game was about.

Take the ordinary, make it extraordinary. Wherever it's a fridge that, you know, people or whatever it made, all these, like, that's what these objects of power and altered world events are. And this game is the very opposite of that, where everything, it's like you said, is a matter of fact, is extraordinary. So they did the smart thing of showing how ordinary people within it can exist and how they need to exist and why they need to exist. And it is finding the humanity in all this madness. And Dylan was the perfect character to do that with because he is someone who was kind of robbed of all that and he he is the victim of other people's ambitions

he is the victim of other people's issues and that is so much who he internalized himself being that when you get control of him you get to see this constant push and pull the struggle between who he wants to be who he thinks he is and who he should be and it's such a complicated dynamic having those three elements within himself but also trying to find out where his sister is and knowing that a lot of who he is is anchored to her. It's such a massively complicated personal dynamic that I haven't seen explored in a way this to this extent in any games, yet alone in a game that is as wildly signed sci-fi as this game is.

Yeah, for those relationships to be explored in a, essentially a hack and slash RPG is pretty fucking wild. And I cannot believe the amount of god dang I'm so glad I'm so glad darling's back. What a fun. By the end of it just being like you've

man I hope you I want you to die. What a piece of shit dude. Yeah. And I think that's such a great revelation to go from one movie to the or from one game to the next where you have a lovable character. You know he's a he's a fun character anytime he does pop up in these

a AMV or, you know, FMV. FMV. Anime and music video. Yeah. I think it was Johnny Ballsian, Lincoln Park. You know, he is this lovable character and also a familiar face and somebody that I do like seeing any time he does pop up in a remedy title.

But to go from, you know, getting one side of the story to getting the complete other side of the story and all of the, just all of the complicated nature that he goes through where there's still. still maybe 10% of them that's like, man, this is what we're doing is really fucked up to this kid. But he's all about his own ambition. He's all about just like, I want to figure out this. I want to figure out what's happening here. And it's really, really, it's really fucked up to experience in real time. Yeah. I mean, he's, Dylan's basically had two abusive dads.

And that's all he's ever known. He's never had a maternal figure. So I wonder if that factors into the split in Jesse as well because Jesse is his sister, but she's also the only person before he meets Zoe that greets him and treats him with any sort of warmth and love that he's been missing. And I think that that is part of the theme of this game as well where he's chasing normality.

He's chasing someone the only person who ever treated him like a human being. And the path of discovery or the journey of discovery is him realizing that it's it's not just one person that can give you that he finds that in zoe it takes a little time but it's his his kind of like grounding in the world is how he realizes that there's more to people than just being used as a tool and being abused by them jesse was one person who was his his kind of like refuge from that but his his transition into existing in the world outside of the oldest house part of that and the importance of that is discreetly. there are other people like Jesse. And I think that's why he gets to the point

where he is at the end. Because without Zoe, I think he would be as lost as he was in the original game. Yeah, it's his only clingy, it's the only object of humanity that he has in his life. And I want to shout out,

thank you to Giant Bomb for the raid right now. Appreciate you, everybody over there from Giant Bomb. But big warning, because we are diving real deep into control resident spoilers. So make sure you bookmark this on YouTube and come back to it

later because it's already a treat to have been a part of this podcast. And I can't wait to dive deeper into all sorts of reveals, our favorite side quests, all of the stuff that while you're talking to other reviewers, you're like, have you done this thing yet? Oh, man, definitely do that thing. But I'm so stuck to actually like talk about these things now. But we'll have to hear all about that after a word from our sponsors. This episode is brought to you by Proton VPN.

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That's P-R-O-T-O-N-V-P-N-V-N-com slash kind of funny for 70% off your two-year plan. That's ProtonvP-N-V-P-N-com slash kind of funny. Our fantasy commission says for him it's all about the friendships. Cute, Kevin, but I disagree. Like with Bet365. I get paid the second my team goes up big with early payout and can cash out at any time before the game ends. No hard feelings, Kevin.

Just faster payouts from Bet365. The home of winning early. Must be 19 and older. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. If you were someone you know as concerns about gambling, visit connectsontario.ca. Or call 1866 5 through 1,2600.

2600. Terms and conditions apply. Welcome back gamers. We have a couple of super chats from our lovely audience. Demon hacker who says, who got it the worst? I think it's the underpass guys. Oh yeah, they were in a rough spot, man. Oh, my God. Yeah.

That was a moment where Blessing is texting me and going, I think he texted me something along the lines of, man, this mission is really tripping me the fuck up. And and then I message him back. I send him, I feel like I'm going crazy.

When lines of dialogue would repeat, I think I'd accidentally click the same one. But it was just, it was these weird time patterning moments. Really, really fascinating stuff right there. Yeah. In the main quest, I think the underpass was like in my top three. It's the way I talked about with the guiding the child versions of them in the light and the fall. I think my second favorite would be the underpass mission there because converging timelines and breaking timelines and how they all like mix together. Like that's, it's hard to do that right or it's hard to do that in a way that makes sense.

But I think like there's so many bits and pieces. Yeah, it's clever. And they show that in so many ways where you get comms from Zoe. We're like, wait, did you just say that? Or it's like he'll say something. And then the Zoe on the other end is like, who are you talking about? who are you talking to and then they're kind of confused together and you're confused as the player and then the deeper you get into it you start to see other visions of other dillins doing what

he just did and i was like is it pulling like my gameplay ghost or something yeah like it's like it's a maro cart ghost or whatever and then my drimaton yeah yeah i was like what is what is going on here and then when you start to piece that together with the documents and the tapes that you pick up from the expedition team that was exploring the stuff and seeing versions of them in their repeat labs, some of them dead, some of them all alive, or like one person survived and just trying to figure it out. And then having that one scientist who was piecing it all together, finally meeting with a timeline version of her who can set it all right. It was just perfect. Again, again, it's another way in which they take these very esoteric concepts, these really mind-beding,

paranormal things, but then gives them a human elements where like I'd never met, I'd barely even just met these characters and I only only know them through the documents I picked up and the little bits and pieces I see of their remains at these different offices that they were working in. Yet I really felt for them. And it's like, I like, it was, it was beautiful. I was like, damn. To not, yeah, to feel that dread for the versions of them that don't know what's coming. Yeah. Because I, I thought it was just so. perfect to come across those areas and Zoe they're all dead. Like, oh my God, this whole expansion, she's like, that's impossible. We've gotten, we've been getting readings or whatever.

And one of them just phoned me. Yeah. And then to then come across them in another whatever timeline version of them and they're all alive like, oh, you're Dylan, you're, and be like, what is going? Like, I thought it was just so, and I don't really know how I was personally exploring that. You know, haven't you all played Ace Combat? Yeah, eight, the most recent one? Yeah, yeah. I barely started the last night. You know at the end of a mission,

it shows you, like, the trail of, like, everywhere that you explored and, like, or how you flew through the mission. I need, I wish I had a recap of, like, how I explored this area, because I don't even know how I was, I just don't know. Like, my brain was just so busted in that moment.

And I feel like, wait, how am I back here, though? If I, I don't really know what they were doing in real time, but it felt like they were fucking with the game in real time. You know what it reminded me all of? And I remember, did you ever watch the TV series Dark? No, but I always want to, yeah. The only thing that has made me feel like, yeah, made me feel like how dark made me feel is this, where it all makes sense and no sense whatsoever.

And you need that, that show has a complicated, like, timeline thing happening to the same degree where they actually went in and made a specific website that explains everything that happens every step of the way, episode by episode. So you could be like, I'm on this episode, and it would show you everything that happened so that you could get it clear in your head. That's what I need for this day at times. But also, if you haven't seen Doc,

that show is incredible. Is this scary? No, no, no. It's unsettling more than scary. I'm cool. It's fantastic. If you like the control, you should go and watch Doc.

100%. Hell yeah. We have Commerzzie with a super chat. It says, shout out to Matthew Porreta. Darling is such a big piece of shit in this game. and he plays him so well. 100% agreed. Ryan Downing with a $10 super chat.

Thank you, Ryan Downing. Very generous of you. Says someone, somewhat confirm this theory from Reddit that there was only one child named Jesse Dylan Fadden that was split into two different people. This is likely to two dimensions or timelines running into each other.

Also said, love the 8-bit part. Could you imagine how horrifying those children sucking on the not-mother would have looked in the not-eight-bit world? Yeah. Yeah, that's the thing. that the high em said we need to talk about that and i completely agree because i was not expecting this to have the the inscription moment so yeah unload michael yeah so um about maybe like 80% of the of the way through the screen starts the artifact and i was like oh they're gonna pull some like

metal gear m gs2 type shit on me right now um so i was and then they make you do that little text adventure where you have to like move the number the numbers around in the binary like in this like what looks like the matrix and you're moving the numbers around you're picking up the different letters to spell out wake up Dylan and it's like oh it's like this is like a near automata moment

yeah and then it boots back up yeah incredible game and there's a lot of near automata in control resin not just gameplay wise not just in like combat and platform field but in conceptually I feel like they looked at maybe they looked at that game and said how can we do our

own version of this where we subvert expectations and very unpredictable ways. And the way they did it was by building a 16-bit-style earthbound RPG in their game. So when Dylan wakes up, when you say wake up Dylan, it then flips into a prequel in the form of an earthbound style RPG. And I think this is such a, it is a crazy way to not just have like an intermission, but fill in a lot of the blanks that were previously just in documents. I think there's a document in Control the original game that outlines everything that happened in this section where they talk about their hometown and going to the slopes and using the

projector and seeing other worlds, picking up slides, and when all the townsfolk got infected, like, that is outlined in a document in the original game. They turned it into an entire section and built a turn-based RPG around it. Now, the turn-based RPG stuff is very simple, very straightforward. It feels like it was a pretty simple RPG-style game. But it is so effective for the way it uses pixel art to portray a lot of these things. And it adds to the unsettling nature. I always think that, you know, pixel art horror is a very powerful thing because of how uncanny it is.

And that is what they did with this, where when the town, folks turn into those monsters, they look fucking horrifying. And when you go into the different slide projector worlds, it looks super unsettling. And when Dylan is brought back to when he was, when he was younger when he was an FBC experiment and talking to Trench and Dr. Darling in those moments in the 16-bit game, it is, it is so creepy. It is horrifying. And there's a certain atmosphere that it creates. That like not only are they doing this throwback RPG, but it is serving as a prequel. So, you know, it's a, it's throwing back to a lot of different things.

And like I say in my reviews, like, I think this game is very powerful for how it moves control forward, but it also works as a prequel. And I think that this, and this section is, it is, it's one of my favorite moments in a very long time in a game. And then when I was done with it, I was like, oh shit. hope that I want them to like build out an entire game with more depth in this style to tell a lot of things that happen in control. And like the last thing I'll say about it is going back to like the relationship between Dylan

and Jesse and the power of video games because all of us kind of grew up in the 16 bit era. And there's a lot of games that are very powerful for us like Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy Six, some Mario RPG, all very important games to me. So when Dylan Jesse, Jesse share this connection through video games, when you go into the faults, What's on the screens on the TVs that you are trying to phase through? It's their game severed circle too, which is a fantasy RPG that they played growing up. A fake game within the game. But to them, that was like one of their bonding experiences.

And I think one of the beautiful moments in this 16-bit thing is like when they go back home and their parents are arguing, they go back up to the room, Jesse goes to bed. And then if you interact with the with the TV and Jesse's like, oh, don't really feel like playing today. I'm not in the mood. And Dylan says, but I just want to leave the title screen music playing in the background. Yeah. Man, that's like...

It's so good. That's just like how comforting these games that we grew up with are. And so for them, for a remedy to like recognize that, but also instill that in their characters and make them more fully formed. Like I feel like I can relate to Dylan and Jesse in a way none of the paranormal stuff could have done.

Yeah. So just like shout out to like, how they built this section and what it meant for the story and these characters. Yeah, I think you're talking about not being able to relate to the paranormal stuff. There is, there is, that element does seem like a big, uh, block for anybody trying to relate to these people on a human level because whenever we play any game dealing with an apocalypse or a really scary force or a monster, you could put yourself in those shoes a bit easier than you can whenever you're talking about a head drawn and a patterning and a resin.

And you're like, those words don't really mean a whole lot to me. And I don't really see how that could, you know, first of all I don't know why this thing is doing that. And I don't know, you know, when I think of just an easy bad guy I could think of, it's Thanos. What does he want to do? He wants to snap all the way the existence, half of the existence in the universe for some people can just have more resources or whatever. When I think about control, one, you know, as much as I love control, the whole time I'm playing, I'm like, but like I don't really know what the hiss is. And I still don't really understand why a lot of these things even exist and why these were the forces that they chose to go with as like the antagonistic forces. but it's these human moments that really it's these human moments and it's also the moments with the actual resonance that you fight

and getting their back stories and it's like damn remedy is so fucking good at what they do it's incredibly brave of them to take a moment that is so crucial to everything that has and has is and will happen in control and just turn it into something completely unexpected and it is so smart because if you think about it if they depicted any of that in a style that was similar to what everything else

is in that game it just wouldn't have been as effective because by that point you've seen monsters of all shapes and sizes you've done insane things that it would just feel like another part of a already quite ridiculous game but by like pulling

back and going there not only do they kind of create a start contrast, but it's like what Michael says, it automatically transports you into a childlike mindset, a feeling, and the only way you can really convey the emotional impact of what happens to them as children is by effectively putting people into a mind frame that you shared with them. It's like what Michael was saying. It reminds you that sequence where they just want to turn the music on the title screen music, It reminds you of moments in your own life when you needed to get away from something

and that thing that you turned to wasn't a person. It was a piece of media that was important to you, like a game. I've been there. I'm sure we've all been there. And that is such a... Who can relate? Yeah, who can relate? Yeah, that is a thing that is like to successfully pull that off, it's not game design.

It's not game design. but it's basically magic. To pull that off, it's unbelievable. To have all these elements just hit the same way, at the same wavelength. Yeah, and it's just such a key moment in the game that I think that if they didn't do it exactly in this way, I think a lot of the game would have fallen apart.

So just incredible, they're big brains on these people for identifying that and knowing that this is what it needed to be. Incredible behavior. Sound of a smirk with a five, dollar super chat says found out that I'm six degrees from Frankie Kevich aka Zoe best character played her co-stars wedding oh shit oh nice she streams all the time go support their movie Velasapaster 2 holy shit that's amazing she's streaming through the game currently so I've been watching the streams and

getting some insight from and seeing their reaction to the game themselves it's really fascinating and fun yeah we got J.B. Boniface It was his favorite song on Zoe's mixtape. I mean, for me, it's the moment that was already kind of shown off through a lot of the previews. It was the apartment underground, the sinkhole moment. Flying through, going to follow the lights, the TVs that are being turned on. Like, that moment made me tear up at the preview event. Like, you finished that much?

moment and then it just cuts to the screen that's like, thank you for playing this preview of Control Residence. And I was just like full tears by I was like, man, this is magic, man. Like this is like, this is why this is the best medium ever. You cannot experience this moment and have it hit this hard in a movie or in a book. Like, this is why we play games. And that was like, I think my favorite song just sonically, just from a song standpoint, but also just from an emotional, an emotional standpoint of like the visuals and the gameplay are also hitting and also the fear from Dylan and the kind of you noticing as a player oh this is how they are going to connect through a lot of this play through a lot of this video game the the music will be the thing that

kind of ties them together it's just so perfect yeah and also like it worth pointing out it's It's incredible. Like the people look back at the first control and they always just talk about the ashtray maze and how unbelievable that was. This game is start to finish like 100 different astray mazes. And it is wild.

Like it is absurd that. And I love that they use that mixtape approach to connect it all together. Not only because it's like it shows off so much of what Zoe is about, but it also helps ground Dylan into this world and give him something that he's been robbed of in a major way. It's so normal and so taken for granted, music. And it all kind of culminates

in that final moment at the end where they're sitting on the bench and she's like, oh, I've got everything that you came in with your CD players here and they listened to a song together. And that is such a sweet moment and so well-threaded throughout the entire game's design presentation and then into the narrative and characterization. Yeah. What a game. Hi, any of your favorite songs on the? Yeah, I think it's the last song that plays, the sixth song in her mixtape, which I think is a, maybe I'm getting mixed up with something that's in the middle of it, but it's more like a Finnish or like a polka type song. I think that's like I'm into a lot of like different genres of music. I listen to a lot of Latin music.

I listen to a lot of like old Russian composers. Passenamey. A lot of the, I listen to a lot of vocaloid also. Arx Band is one of my favorite bands. Yeah, the goats, man. And so, like, when Remedy kind of, like, it's almost like Remedy is sharing a part of their culture through the game as well, where they put in something that is like folksy,

that is of, out of their country, and that comes through it. And like a lot of polka I actually enjoy because it's very catchy, and the way in which it's syncopated, it reminds me of ragtime piano as well, is that that was one of my favorite moments in my favorite songs in there because a lot of the other music that Zoe was sharing is like oh yeah this feels like contemporary it feels like what someone our age or around our age

would probably be listening to but that moment it felt like it felt like Remedy is trying to share something with us through the game and I thought that was really cool yeah they did the same thing in Alan Wake where I think it was Artie that does the musical performance really early in Alan Wake yeah and that shack

yeah yeah yeah and it's like one of those things where it's just like oh my God I go watch this it didn't really occur to It didn't quite occur to me what was happening. Because when we do that apartment flying, plane shifting, the floors now, the ceiling, all that shit. And I did that at the preview. I was like, damn, that's awesome. But I hope that there's, like, maybe one or two extra. I hope they didn't just show me their ashtray maze right now, you know, at this preview event.

And then that moment early on when you first unlock the plane shift and you are kind of climbing back out. And I was like, oh, shit, this is how they're going to present this connection between them. This is how they are going to grow their relationship. I was like, oh, shit, I'm in for some awesome stuff if they are going to continue at this pace. Yeah, I loved all that shit. That was really, really cool. I want to talk about one of my favorite. I know everyone wants to talk about their favorite, like, threads or whatever.

Oh, please do. Yeah. I really like the Areech subplot, which was really fascinating as a character study, because obviously Aish was in the original game. as well but who he is in this game is very different and he is of all the characters I think he had the most ability to relate to what Dylan's been through but just wasn't able to connect the dots in the way that could have made them close friends because he everything that he undergoes is a normal version of what Dylan went through like expectation put on him unexpectedly like there's a bit at the

end where he says, I just wanted to be a security guard. I was just a security god. That's what he signed up to be. And by the end of the game, he's, you know, he's at one point, I think he's co-director and he's like leading all the, all the operations. And that is something that Dylan went through where he just wanted to be a kid. And then- And he's like, I didn't even get a pay raise. Like, what the fuck? Somebody more responsibilities. The PCO is unused. But like, yeah, he was, you know, Dylan just wanted to be a child. And then through no fault of his own. He, you know, some, some kind of like circumstances happen.

And now he's being experimented on and told that you're being groomed to be the next director of the FEC and FCB. And also, like, you know, you have to protect the world from these paranormal threats. And you're just like being forced into. It's like, I'm 12, dude. Yeah, being forged into a weapon that you just don't know and don't understand the context for. And then Elish goes through the same thing where he comes in. He just wants to be a random run of the mill.

security guard and by the end of it he is he believes that it's on him to protect the entire world he needs to find the way to solve this pattern issue and kill the hiss and that's why he's pushed to such extremes where he uses the resonant entity as an amplifying device to try and kill the the hiss because he believes that's the only way he can live up to his potential and there's so much like mirroring between him and and what he's had to go through he's he's he's he's basically doing what Dr. Darling wants Dylan to do by unlocking his full potential. And it ends in such a poor way for him where he is, he becomes everything he tries to fight. And at one point he, you know, he is almost dragging Dylan down with him.

And it's such a sad ending for him because he didn't realize that he had so much more in common with Dylan than he was willing to allow them to allow himself to see. Instead, he treated him like the villain of the story and treat him like he was to bring him. blame for everything. When he is the victim of the Bureau of Control and the people who are above him in the same way that Dylan was, such a sad ending for him. He deserved... When he is... When he's going through his shit and obviously just being very cold towards Dylan, when he

has those small moments of breaking down and being like seven fucking years and I couldn't do anything. I couldn't do anything about this threat. Darling says that to him. Darling says that to Dylan, remember? Yeah, yeah. And it, you know, I'm just like, damn, just like Zion Williamson with the Pelicans, you know what I mean? Like, I just, I haven't done anything here.

It's just, it's fucking. I had to throw in a little NBA thing there for Tam. Love it. I, yeah, I, my only thing about that mission, it's like, this game to me is like so perfect, but it could be even more perfect if his, if his glitching, his talk was not alluded to, really. Yeah. Because I would have loved that story turned even more than I already did. Had we not had, if it were just like a couple of references to, oh, my fucking head hurts, man, I'm just pissed off and I just, oh, the stupid headache, whatever. I think that would have been fine for me.

But the amount of, like, his voice going to the hiss talk and, like, glitching and sounding all, I'm like, okay, you're going to turn into a bad guy. And, like, I wish that wasn't so obvious. I see what you mean. I think it worked for me that they did that. and I think it was more effective because you get, you basically are clued into what is happening to him and it builds that empathy

and it kind of, as you're going through it with him, you're realizing there's nothing you can do to take him off this path because he's so in there and at the same time because you've had so much experience with the hiss and also the patterning,

you kind of feel for him because you know what's happening inside his brain because you've seen all the other residents. And you've seen it happen to other people as well. And you're like, damn, Eirish hates me, but I know why this is happening and I can't snap him out of it. And that's why those moments where you're given the opportunity to choose your dialogue feel like they carry so much weight as well. Because when you're trying to be like the better person and empathize and it just does not land with him, you know that it's not him.

There's something more inside of him. And I don't think that you would have made that connection if a sudden reveal was right at the end. But I'll go ahead. I'll say, so you have dialogue options and they don't really affect the trajectory. you of the story, but I like that they, it kind of, it makes you feel like you're painting the, your version of Dylan and the way he responds to those moments. And so my favorite moment was when they're reconstructing the CFD, the resident to destroy the, that's taken over to that building in the evacuation zone. Areech is like, going, go teeing off on you and like calling you

subhuman and telling Dylan that he's a worthless piece of shit. And then one of the responses is straight up, fuck you, Ereche. I was like, hell, I had never chosen a dialogue option. so fast, dude. I was like, how dare you hurt my precious boy, Dylan? Yeah. And that moment felt so good because at that moment, I thought, like, I felt like Areech was just being a dickhead because he's a dickhead. And then once you started to piece it together, I'm like, oh, he's, he's not as strong-willed.

Like, I think it also contrasts with how strong-willed Dylan is because Dylan has been able to, like, keep that at bay throughout this game. And you could see it happening to Ares who does not know how to. handle it and then eventually becomes all it takes him over completely and he becomes a super boss and then so it wasn't towards the end when i knew that he was going to be the boss at the end of that that that mission of that resident unknown resident in the unknown territory i was like oh man like you know i and you can also after you defeat the boss and you see a note left about like how people uh were like sending their like their like their thoughts and thoughts and prayers for a rich uh back at the base

and then zoe's like oh damn like how do you feel and then you can choose like oh well he you can choose a couple dialogue options where he was no hero or he wasn't in control so i don't blame him or you just kind of like yeah it's it's fine if everyone sees him that way um and i think it's just like that whole arc really puts into perspective who a rich was and how how like even when he is very antagonistic towards Dylan and it's put in a really difficult position it's like this his and the residents like all this stuff right here is just like so out of some people's control and i think it bolsters Dylan as a character more than anything so i just like and to take like such a it wasn't necessarily a minor care he's a supporting character in the

regional game but like i've given him this full arc to where it was really like important to contrast what was happening to Dylan. I think that was just a really smart move and I really like what they did there. I also think it's so tragic that that boss that boss fight immediately kicks off with Areech basically taking over

all the people that were on his team and it sucks because you know that that kind of signals the extent at which he's no longer in control and being corrupted because before that mission there's times where he's like hey you're going to look after my team right? That's the one moment of humanity he will show when he's

asking Dylan to take care of his team. And so when you get there, and the first thing he does is basically kill his entire team. You're like, damn, this guy just had, he was not, he did not have a chance. And he's become someone who he definitely wouldn't have been. And that shows you the extent of like the, the, the power of the hiss and the patterning that is happening to them. I wish Remedy would have redacted the top of the skill tree. So I didn't know that. I didn't know you could command enemies, or that, or just not have it all. And then have like the tiers of the kingdom of Gannendorf moment where the health bar just gets bigger and just like if you once you get

to that part there's like a new section to unlock oh shit the new power or whatever but that whole line of dialogue was just some of the best acted shit where you are getting to that fight and you are constantly talking to a rich who's saying there's a big threat here Dylan and you know I'm we got to take you down and he's just talking about himself the whole time and you're getting Dylan going like, Arish, talk to me, man, like what's going on?

And, yeah, like, Tam, that moment is, like, one that I was thinking about the whole time throughout this conversation

of him just being like, you guys got this, right? You're going to take care of my team, Dylan, right? Yeah. You know, and it's like,

oh, it's so fucking heartbreaking, dude. It's just so, I think they're, like, perfectly paced out and, you know,

the way that they are telling you these story beats throughout these lines, throughout the focus and dialogue, is, like just so perfectly done, I think. I also wanted to bring up

one of my favorite side quests ever. Mother fucking Fred. I did the Fred. Menace. It's just, it's such a goofy ass side quest that is so perfect

in terms of like this is not a side quest that has any bearing on any consequences, but it just shows that remedy wants to put quality as much and as many places as possible you're not just going to get the big you know memorable story beats

when you're killing a resident or when you're doing like the main key side quests but we're also going to put some memorable goofy shit in other random spots and the idea of of this resident of this entity that his name is fra but he calls himself Fred and he's inside of the body of a person

no he actually made his body look like a person wearing a suit and to then slowly convince everybody around him that he should be the director and for Dylan to be like well we got to lock this guy up like that's kind of dangerous it's kind of harmless right now but who knows what it could turn into and then to slowly just get

what I think like when when Remedy can really showcase its comedic chops of Dylan just suddenly being like, yeah, Zoe, like, I think he'd be a great director. And so he'd be like, what the fuck are you talking about, Dylan? Like, here, you're not, you're not, he's like, I don't know. I don't know, he'd be pretty good at the job.

And I just, like, the way that that little sidequess, again, as inconsequential as it is, and as skippable as it is, it's another example of like, that's a completely skippable side quest that I don't think should be skipped because of just how fun and silly it is and how much it made me smile.

And I love whatever there are missable things in games that can have that effect on you, you know? Yeah. So yeah, shout out to the Fred SideQuitz. That's one that near the end of my play. I was like, bless it, you got to do it. It's so goofy.

It's not very long, but it's just going to make you smile. It's the same with the mold. It's like trying to stop him from eating the mold. Oh, yeah. That's so funny. Yeah, yeah. It smells so good, man. Dude, the side quest in the park with the lady

who was duplicating. Oh, yeah. The twin sisters? fucking crazy. Like that's another one. I'm like, this is a skivable thing that is just so damn good. Yeah. Yeah. And like they, they present themselves as like pretty straightforward side quest. But like the more you unravel it, because it doesn't it is you have to like wait for it to kind of unfold as you go through the side quest series. And then once you get to the end of it, you're like, yo, they're like doing some crazy shit. And like the, like the Fred Fraud side quest is like a microcosm of that where it's like a little bit smaller than I don't know if you've talked to him after you lock him into the. into the container and then you can just like shoot the shit with him kind of and it's it's it's kind of cute actually it's like oh he's just like some guy yeah he's a good guy yeah and then yeah yeah and on the flip side you have something that's like pretty fucked up and I think that's like

the side quest and in totality are just an example of how remedy can bounce between all these different tones where it's dark sometimes it's a dark comedy sometimes it's really fucked up sometimes it's straight up goofy, but it all, it doesn't feel like there's any dissonance between, like any of these things are all connected. And that's, that's kind of like the Lynchian thing to it also. It's like being able to make all these surreal concepts feel human and also really fucking goofy all at the same time. Like, remedy has figured that out in the past, but I think Control Resonant is such a great

example of them perfecting that. Yeah. Yeah. It's awesome. Did you all do the taxi side quests? Yes. Yes. That was cool.

It was awesome. And I was, I don't know if there are different outcomes to it. But by the end of it, it was just that like, I was disappointed by the final one. It took me a long time to find the final one. Yeah. But the, you know, for people who will not play the game, there are these side quests where a little, a sort of a side activity. It's not, it's just something you stumble upon. there's a honking taxi in the middle of nowhere.

That sounds like I'm trying to censor myself from saying fucking taxi or something. There's a honking taxi out there. There's a taxi that is honking. It asks you to get into the car, and then it kind of just takes you off into a... It's like a little pocket diamond. Like another realm. Yeah.

Yeah. And you got to escape. And I think the level of variety in those puzzles were so... cool because it could have I shouldn't be impressed by something as minimal as that but like it could have just been the most basic shit ever and it could have been duplicated

eight times or whatever or six times but I just I love when the developer puts in that effort of like now we're now you're trying to see which taxi looks different and which ones which ones lights are off and now you're shining a light at it

and it's casting different shadows like I love that stuff man but I wasn't. I was a bit disappointed by the end of it where it's just I was expecting at least see this lady or something like that. Was everybody's outcome the same where it was just like. Yeah, I see you. It was the same for me. But yeah.

Yeah, I don't know if like the the story aspect of that side quest hit quite a bit, but I really did enjoy like the mini game aspect to it. I felt like a child playing with toys where because at first it took me a while to figure out that I was playing a spot the difference game. Yeah. And I was just like, I was just getting into the taxi cabs. I'm like, what the fuck am I doing, dude? And then I'm like, wait, there's probably something about these. And it's like, which one's flashing their lights differently? And like shining the shadow, shining the light onto the shadow was like, every time I saw or heard a new taxi, I'm like, oh, I can't wait to see what the minigame is going to be this time.

Yeah. Yeah. And one was like putting the right parts back into the taxi. And it's just like, what the, it was fun. I think I would have enjoyed, if that had a more satisfying story outcome, I think I would have felt. felt a lot stronger about it, but I just loved the sort of mini-game aspect of it. And it was more about the journey than the destination at that point. Yeah, yeah.

Trying to think of any other... Favorite enemy? For me, it's Demon Bus. Incredible enemy design. Just the bus. Let's fight this bus. Yeah. Demon Bus is cool. It's also got the best execution animation. That's what I was like...

When I saw R3, I'm like, fuck yeah. This shit's gonna blow up. I would say that the... the resident I gotta get the name right the resonance in the furnace the deserter

I think that's I loved uncovering all of the voice memos and voice notes and just notes period and it's one of the few franchises where I finally I actually want to learn more because so much is kind of shrouded in mystery

and that one had some really fascinating stuff to uncover about yeah about this dude and it It was young gravy at the end of the day. Yeah, it was fucking young gravy. Jesse Vitale's the one who told me about this. I was like, what the fuck? Yeah, there's little things like that.

They're so fucking weird. But like, it works so well. I hated that boss fight. I thought that boss fight was ass. But my least favorite one was the, uh, the park one. It was just like kind of boring to me. Oh, yeah. I was like, kill this thing and then hit, do a critical hit on the main thing.

Yeah. I thought it was cool for like teaching you how the dimensional stuff, uh, like the gravity rush. stuff works, but that was fine. But like, but yeah, like the journey of uncovering who that resident was was like pretty, it was like the journey there was fascinating. The fight not so much. But there's like a lot of little things like tucked in. Like we talked about the underpass and just like seeing everyone's sanity be chipped

away slowly as you uncover more of that. And I know Callie Plagie over at the verge wrote about the enemy logs. So every time you fight it. new enemy, it puts a log in your codex and you could read about it. But tucked within that is like two scientists going back and forth who are like interested in meeting each other and kind of asking each other out on dates, trying to gauge their interests through the notes about the enemies. Oh, wow. So there's like storytelling embedded in even what's just supposed to be like flavor text. Yeah. So like that's like,

again, that's a microcosm of how, how remedy is embedding storytelling in all different parts. Like that was obviously a strong point in control. Like I know remember when that game came out, we were in the GameSpot Office. We were talking a lot about, oh, did you see this? Did you find out this? Did you pick up this document? Holy shit. This, like, I didn't know that this toaster was going to eat people live.

Like little things like that. And that still continues with resonant. And it's just, I don't know. No one really does it like them. Dude, the underpass moment of getting to the physicist and the astral plane, I was blown away by that. I could not believe that we how the wait I'm in the astral plane like I just that whole concept of that area being in this zone and this physicist too is just going nuts and eventually becomes the resident that you have to destroy. I thought all it's just like there are so many perfectly paced out now this discovery now this combat encounter leads to this discovery and I'm sorry.

and I'm slowly figuring out this puzzle and it's just so hard to not glaze this game until the end of time. What are the key questions that you think remain going into the I guess whatever happens next with it because that universe is still like it's in a different place now

like the board is no longer in the astral plane or what is going on there? The board is in your aberrant. Yeah, they're in the aberrant, but is the aberrant the board or is it just still a... The board is gone from the astroplane. So they're out of there, but then the Aberon is speculated to be like a chunk of the nail. Yeah.

So it's like what is, there's so many wild questions that are still happening there. Like, what is the board up to? Where are they going? Like, where's Atee at first? Where's Ate? Yeah. Well, he was in the, he was in the, he was in the eighth. Yeah, the eight bit thing.

But, yeah, I was expecting to see him make a little cameo here. Yeah. Yeah. That was, that was his cameo. I mean, like, I mean, it feels like, I actually feel like the, not a lot had been resolved by the end of this game. Yeah. It feels like what we got out of is like, okay, Dylan is now a normal person and can be part of the, of this world as an FBC contractor, as they described. Got an apartment.

He's got a apartment. Yes. Oh, dude, the moment of him just accepting the hiss and now the hiss are on your side and you're, dude, that shit. was fucking awesome. I was like, dude, this is so rad. Yeah,

but I think like, it's so ripe for the next, whatever they can do with the next game because like, Jesse, like in that end, Jesse gives Dylan her life essence, for lack of a better term. And then she's in a coma back at the FBC base.

So it's like, obviously there's a lot that's unresolved here. So I almost see Control Resident as like, not necessarily giving you answers, but setting you up for whatever comes in. the next game. So there's definitely give you a next game.

And I'll almost think like maybe the next game has like Dylan and Jesse who played completely different. I think they combine into one person. Oh shit. That'd be sick. Yeah.

I think they're combining to one person. We're going to be playing fucking Redmond from the Resoninant from the Ashes. You have gun and sword. Yeah, gun and sword, dude. Exactly.

And you can figure out, you go after the board. Finally. You're like, what the hell are you guys talking about? Mike West says Calling it now Flute Guy at the Goody's is going to go Hamlin Control Reson

Pops up in the medley Very, very excited for whatever pops up there The karaoke, another fun ass side mission I wanted to shout out I do want to give a shout out to Sean Dury who's the voice act The actor for Dylan Because that is an incredible performance

That I think is way more nuanced Than people realize That a lot of people might realize because the way he plays that character is really, really fascinating. The kind of emotional growth how it changes the way he delivers lines and the lines that he delivers, it's really convincing how he goes from this person who's incredibly powerful, but just completely out of his element,

being in the real world, to slowly opening up, having those moments of self-doubt and anger at himself, giving up but then finding that friendship the the kind of scale on which the the voice acting the acting that needs to happen is it feels so vast and he's like across all of it and does it so well that I'm I was like damn this is a hell of a performance he fits every emotion including talking to dog yeah yeah exactly the talking to dog emotion so does it in a way where he doesn't feel like a a human that has had experiences if you get what I mean,

he still feels like he's faking it until he makes it and it's like a detachment slightly. He knows the right thing to say but he doesn't quite know the emotion that should be behind it and how to present that. So he just kind of goes with it and sometimes lines feel a bit awkward but in the right way.

It's just very, very good. Yeah. That's part of why I really liked Dylan as a character is that it felt accurate to what was supposed to be portrayed And so like, like him being like a sad boy who doesn't like like in the beginning where he's telling the FBC, oh, he's telling Pope. It's like, no, I just want to like, please you can you can use me. I just want to.

It feels like kind of pathetic. But in a way that's like, yeah, that's kind of. Desperation. That's his framework that he's working with in the moment in that particular part of the game. And then there's like moments where he kind of like lets himself go. I think the sketching, the sketching the different scenes was really a nice touch where, you know, it's not really important to the story, but it's a little whimsical where it's like you piece this robot back to or this vending machine that has like robot arms. It's like, oh, isn't this kind of cool?

It sketches it. It also shows you what he was doing while he was just in confinement all those years. He was just drawing, expressing himself. Just like, yeah, I'm thinking in my video game severed circle and I'm looking at the most boring-ass architecture I've ever seen in my life. I just want to be a kid with an imagination. Let me pretend these are spaceships or whatever. Man, this is a, this is a great time, guys. Hell of a game. Hell of a game. Thank you for joining me for this games cast. Michael, hi, where can people find you? Oh, you can find me all of my bullshit at IGN.com. I reviews editor at IGN.com. So I have a lot of reviews coming out through the rest of the year, obviously. throughout this week.

I got some good folks posting some good things there. So pay attention to that. You can find me on Blue Sky at B-R-A-Z-Y-A-Z-N-B-Sky-Sky-D-Sky-S-E-N-B-Sky-Sky-M-M-H. And on Instagram at I am Michael. Tomor-H, how about yourself? You can find my work and work I enable at GAMSpot.com. And then you can find my videos that I'm doing on my YouTube channel,

TomorH. I'm on Instagram, TomorH. I've got Bonfire Sit, a place that I chucked some written stuff up every now and then, and there's a podcast feed for that as well. Yeah, that's pretty much everything. We appreciate you watching everybody.

Thank you for hanging out with us. Each and every weekday we get together to talk about the biggest reviews, previews, and topics in video games live on YouTube, Twitch, and podcast services around the globe. If you love what you do, please support us over on our Patreon. Patreon.com forward slash kind of funny,

because when you don't support the things you love, they go away forever. They die. Stick around because Snowbike Mike will be playing something on stream, I believe. Until next time, take care of yourself, take care of each other. We'll see later, gamers. Peace. My reg league goalie says he plays for the love of the game. You gave up six goals last week, Steve. Maybe play to win, huh? Like with Bet365, I get paid the second my team goes up big with early

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