In trying to understand something new we have a tendency to draw comparisons to the familiar. That's probably why, in a 30-minute showcase of Control Resonant's gameplay, attendees mentioned Dark Souls, the Batman Arkham games, Alan Wake 2, and Bayonetta. Everyone has a lens they want to look through to bring the unfamiliar into focus.Remedy insisted that the biggest influence on Control Resonant is its predecessor, Control. The only influences that director Mikael Kasurinen and combat designer Sergey Mohov overtly acknowledged were Neon Genesis Evangelion and Sucker Punch's InFamous: Second Son.The former, a story about a traumatized boy defending a city from alien incursions using a biomechanical humanoid mecha in the hopes he will be able to understand himself and earn approval from others, is an apt point of reference for Control Resonant's protagonist Dylan Faden. Dylan, the brother of Federal Bureau of Control's director Jesse Faden, is a powerful parautilitarian who has abilities by way of a connection to an otherworldly entity called Polaris. Despite showing huge potential, Dylan was deemed to be unstable, going so far as to kill or cause the deaths of other FBC agents. In the events of the first game, Dylan was left in a coma after having The Hiss, another hostile entity, purged from his body.The commonalities between Evangelion's Shinji Ikari and Control's Dylan Faden are obvious, as are the nature of the worlds they exist in and the challenges they face. Unlike Shinji, though, Dylan is looking for his missing sister while fending off supernatural threats. Although Jesse Faden plays a significant role in Resonant, she's not a playable character; the focus of the narrative is squarely on how Dylan finds his way in a world that has been turned upside down, both literally and figuratively.Although the demo I saw was largely focused on the mechanics of the game, I got hints of the Dylan that has been freed from the confines of The Oldest House and is now fighting for the safety of Manhattan. This came by way of a conversation with Zoe De Vera, a new character who serves as Dylan's handler and acts as a handy contrast to him.During the events of Control, Zoe was on the outside, so she has no idea what transpired in The Oldest House or with Dylan. This means that, as Dylan slowly figures out who she is and what happened in the city while he was in the FBC's supernatural slammer, she's learning about Dylan and what happened to him in The Oldest House and during his time as a Prime Candidate for becoming an FBC director. That dynamic, Remedy indicated, extends to many of the other people that'll be encountered, some of whom are familiar faces, while others are completely new.Remedy wants players to take an active role in how Dylan engages with others, but in a way that feels natural. To that end, it has implemented an unintrusive dialogue system that works when you're standing face to face in a room, but also moving around Manhattan using your traversal abilities. Inspired by Firewatch, the conversations happen on the move via the classic in-ear method, and options appear for how the player wants Dylan to respond. This, Remedy hopes, will make players feel like they have some authorship over the story and the way it unfolds. Having said that, the team made it clear that those choices aren't stepping stones on branching pathways that conclude in different places. There is one pre-determined and scripted ending.In his conversation with Zoe, Dylan is very unsure of himself. Her sharp, somewhat dismissive and dry demeanor means that he's not quite sure whether she trusts him. And, given that there's so much resting on his shoulders and his history of being ostracized, trust is something Dylan clearly wants. Nevertheless, his attempt to connect with Zoe after she experiences a resonant event is coldly rebuffed, so it's clear the pair still have a ways to go.Returning to the other point of reference that Kasurinen and Mohov acknowledged, it's also easy to see how being fans of Sucker Punch and InFamous: Second Son manifests in Control Resonant. Although it may seem like any number of other open-world action-RPGs could be substituted in for InFamous with the same results, that isn't the case. There's something there that connects the two games in a unique way; something intangible; a vibe; a style; an attitude; all bringing a sense of unconventionality to something we know very well. If Remedy dropped Silent Melody by Working for a Nuclear Free City into the soundtrack it'd fit perfectly.The more obvious similarities to other games like Resonant come in the form of the core melee gameplay, which Mohov says is designed around flexibility for different takes on what Dylan is capable of. Remedy wants players to adopt an aggressive mindset in the way they engage enemies and utilize their abilities. To that end, there has been a conscious effort made to not include a parry. Instead, the closest players will get to it is a last-second dodge that slows down time just long enough to buy an extra second to read and react. Unlike a parry, a successful dodge won't leave enemies vulnerable or on the backfoot; it's just a little breathing room so you can adjust and get back on offense.This makes a lot of sense as a way to enhance the characterization of Dylan. As previously mentioned, thus far he's one of the most powerful parautilitarians in the Control universe, and so standing back and taking pot-shots with a gun wouldn't be the best way to embody that overwhelming potential for damage and destruction that is latent within him. The Aberrant-- Dylan's crude, shapeshifting weapon--is an equally effective embodiment of that raw power. As the player develops their Dylan and acquires new skills or powers, the Aberrant adapts to become the best conduit for unleashing that. It has primary and secondary forms, as well as powerful combo-enders. Remedy noted that you aren't tied to any one form and that flexibility is essential to creating a synergy between Dylan's melee output and power usage.There looked to be an interesting if-this-then-that ecosystem to combat, which is usually the hallmark of all games with satisfying combat mechanics. When Dylan lands a hit, he is given meter to use his special abilities, which can be used to inflict further damage or manipulate enemies and the environment to give you an advantage, and when the loop is closed with a powerful combo-ender, the next melee attack is given a boost in power, beginning the cycle all over again. The goal is to create a synergy with your build where one effect triggers the next and momentum builds until you've laid waste to everything around you.I watched as Dylan leapt into battle with a ground pound that damaged everyone around him, then launched into a double jump to give himself space and sent out a barrage of rocks at enemies to continue outputting damage while building his meter, then diving back down with an overhead smash of the Aberrant in its hammer form. From there, he quickly dashed between enemies on the battlefield, causing explosions and launching them into the air. That was followed up with an area-of-effect attack to create space for another dash and a grab to finish.Another build focused on being more tactical and using summons, but without altering the pace of combat or the offense-minded strategy. With this build, Dylan summoned a kind of turret that floated in the air and autonomously launched projectiles at enemies in the vicinity. Meanwhile, Dylan sprinted head-first into the fray, timing dodges for a slowdown, giving himself time to launch enemies into the air, following them up to meet them with what looked like a whip or scythe version of the Aberrant that hit multiple enemies at a distance. All the while, he was also inflicting status effects.This kind of versatility comes from Dylan's innate powers, but also by beating the more powerful Resonant enemies, who are effectively mini-bosses that have powers Dylan can inherit and equip in The Gap. This is a metaphysical place with a dreamlike logic that represents Dylan's psyche. At any point, players can hit a button and Dylan falls on his knees and retreats inside himself. The Gap is a suitably unnerving space that is depicted as a black void. In it, however, are three strange objects of different shapes and sizes. Think of them as kind of like The Nail from the first game, but each one can be used to upgrade either combat abilities, weapon upgrades, or talents. Other than those three things, The Gap looked to be mostly empty, but it will almost certainly change as the game progresses.You might be thinking that pretty much everything I've described sounds like other games you've played, and you're right. And so, can Remedy really say that its primary inspiration is Control, while ignoring the dozens of games that are clearly analogous to it? Based on what I've seen, the answer is yes, and it is the most Remedy and Control thing the studio could possibly do.Control Resonant is, in many ways, essentially an open-world superhero game. But unlike the Batman games or Insomniac's Spider-Man titles, it's not a superhero game that is a known quantity. The potential it holds and what stands to differentiate from games it could be compared to is the world of Control itself; we all know how Spider-Man is and should behave, the same goes for Batman, Ezio, or whoever. Like the world of InFamous, what makes Resonant exciting is what we don't know: what Dylan is capable of or what weird things are out there in that world.Gallery That was one of the most captivating things about the first game. At almost every turn, something that we thought we knew and understood behaved in a way we couldn't predict. In the world of Control they are called Altered Items; a fridge that kills everything in its vicinity unless someone is always looking at it; a rubber duck that teleports and makes quacking sounds; a globe depicting an alternative Earth that makes people depressed when touched; a chair in the shape of a hand that changes the gravity around itself.Looking at how Resonant plays, it's completely understandable why those other games come to mind. At times it does kind of play like Bayonetta, it is similar to the setup of InFamous, and The Gap is basically Alan Wake 2's Mind Place. We can put all that into a box and say we know what Control Resonant is. But if Remedy has taught us anything, it's that you might know what's in the box and it might not surprise you, but maybe the box itself might do something you don't expect.