Control Resonant has launched, and Remedy Entertainment has paired the release with hotfix 1.3.3, a balance patch that lowers enemy health pools and increases the strength of protagonist Dylan.
The hotfix is aimed primarily at the difficulty of the game’s opening hours. In its notes, quoted by GameSpot, the studio set out what it was trying to fix.
We strongly believe these changes will improve the gameplay feel and flow while still providing a challenge. Depending on player progression, enemies can feel too tanky during the early hours of the game.
What changed
Applying the Falter status to Hiss enemies is central to the game’s combat loop, because a faltered enemy can be finished with an instant kill. The hotfix reduces both enemy base health and the Falter level required to trigger that state, while raising Aberrant strength and maximum Ability strength.
Remedy also said it wants to encourage buildcrafting and experimentation, and has permanently reduced the cost of respeccing while increasing the stock of Reset Items held by vendors across the game. The first Resonant boss fight, against The Artist, now drops two Reset Items instead of one.
The changes bring the default difficulty down, but players who want more adjustment than the hotfix provides can use Assist Mode. Its toggles include making Dylan immortal and capable of one-hit kills, which GameSpot noted leaves the story and the game’s setting as the focus for players who want them.
The hotfix additionally revises a pair of English UI texts to better explain Build Power and Aberrant Strength. Remedy said those wording changes are English-only for now and will reach other languages later.
Reviewing the game for GameSpot, Mark Delaney wrote that "alongside the stellar art direction and a surprisingly touching story, Control Resonant’s gameplay loop feels more mainstream than anything this team has made since Max Payne."
