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Chronologically, Control Resonant is the sequel to 2019's Control. However, in most cases the games are not directly connected. For developer Remedy, these are two sides of the same coin.

Control Resonant is both a sequel and a starting point.

Remedy explores the world of the supernatural from a whole new perspective.

When Resonant was first revealed last year, creative director Mikael Kasurinen said the game could be played in any order. The world of Control distorts reality in many ways, but the normal linear progression of time isn't really one of them. How to start a sequel?

It didn't click for me until I played Resonant myself. In a two-hour preview earlier this week, I not only played the game's opening, but also an open-ended section filled with later story missions and hiss battles. The events of Control and protagonist Jesse Faden's arc have already occurred, but Resonant isn't really about what happens next. It's about her older brother, Dylan, and they explore the same world from a very different perspective.

“From the moment we thought of Control as a franchise that would become several different games, we thought of it as a story about a world, and in every game we get a look into that world through different protagonists,” said Kasurinen.

"Jesse is coming from our world to the supernatural world. Dylan has always been there." Kasurinen added, comparing Control's mysterious, supernatural Oldest House setting to Resonant's Manhattan setting. "Now he's coming into our world. And our world is strange to him. He has nothing to do with it. So he's like a fish out of water in our world, just as Jesse was inside the Oldest House."

That fish-out-of-water feel is what makes Resonant a viable starting point for the series. Dylan knows a lot about the supernatural. Because of his abilities, he was held captive in the Oldest House for most of his life and trained to become a weapon. As he explores the outside world, he is in a position to explain the finer points of the supernatural to the people he meets and, by extension, to the player.

That's not to say that Resonant suffers from expository dialogue. You get as much information as you can get, which is about as much downtime as you can get for a little while. Combat in Resonant means constant movement. Defeat weak enemies to increase your ability gauge. Use these abilities against stronger enemies. In the process, you will inevitably lose your health. Kill weaker enemies to drop their health to obtain it. Repeat until all strong enemies are dead. If you don't want to die, you should probably be moving the whole time.

The loop reminded me of Doom from 2016. The catch is that you have to kill to keep killing until there's nothing left to kill, but that requires PlatinumGames' melee-focused flair. Combat wasn't slow in the original Control, but it didn't feel like this. Jesse uses a gun and has a confidence that Dylan doesn't yet have. As Dylan, I felt bad.

Sean Durrie, who plays Dylan, said, "The way I thought about it was that Jesse has his own powers and has to find his own powers. Dylan has his own powers and has to find his own powers."

And to survive as Dylan, I had to find my strength. I looked at his various skill trees (various weapon styles, abilities, and perks) to try and find a build that would give me the best chance against Heath. I found a lot of builds that I liked. My favorite build and Dylan's abilities, including the drill that can stab enemies and charge up, felt powerful, but I didn't find success until I learned how to move and chain everything properly.

If you came into Resonant knowing nothing about Heath, the Oldest House, or Jesse's otherworldly experiences, you wouldn't have time to get lost. Fighting and surviving are more pressing concerns. Explanations and knowledge can come later. There is no need to talk at length about the mysteries of the hiss when you can get up close to it and drill into it yourself with a big drill. And for those who take Resonant as a starting point? Well, they'll have a lot to look forward to later.