00:00:02
control what a looker but recording
00:00:05
footage can be a pain I'd know
00:00:07
especially in competitive multiplayer
00:00:09
games like control or control where
00:00:11
you're worrying if things are actually
00:00:12
being recorded fiddling about with hot
00:00:14
Keys In the Heat of the Moment then
00:00:16
waiting through the Library of
00:00:17
Alexandria to find the right clip
00:00:19
somewhere in which will be the right
00:00:20
moment today's sponsor is outplayed
00:00:23
which does all that for you if it's
00:00:24
interesting it records it automatically
00:00:26
and you decide what's interesting so
00:00:28
your time saved and just space and your
00:00:30
frustration edit the clip right there in
00:00:32
the app send it to your friends with a
00:00:34
few clicks of your mouse out ples free
00:00:36
links in the
00:00:40
[Music]
00:00:52
description fair warning this one's
00:00:54
going to be weirder than usual 5 years
00:00:56
have passed and controll has changed
00:00:59
it's twice as big yet now a small part
00:01:01
of Gaming's best connected universe and
00:01:03
it has become the cult classic that it
00:01:05
was always going to be control was
00:01:07
always going to draw me back to see
00:01:09
what's new and to give it a fairer truer
00:01:11
and closer look control is about a woman
00:01:13
who believes in Magic searching for a
00:01:16
building that no one can see where she
00:01:17
hopes to find an organization that
00:01:19
doesn't exist because her imaginary
00:01:21
friend told her to but Jesse is not
00:01:23
crazy she watched the Federal Bureau of
00:01:26
control take her brother when they were
00:01:27
young and they saw something they
00:01:28
weren't supposed to see a crack in the
00:01:31
solid gray of ordinary life she was
00:01:33
saved by her friend Polaris her formless
00:01:36
guiding star and now Jesse wants to find
00:01:38
her brother but deep down she just wants
00:01:40
a way in to the freedom and wonder of
00:01:42
the world of magic control begins with
00:01:45
our foot in the door of the oldest house
00:01:47
we're finally here what will we find do
00:01:50
you like what you hear an escape from
00:01:52
the mundane an entrance to a life of
00:01:54
magic it's one of our oldest fantasies
00:01:57
runs wide and deep it's when we've all
00:01:58
indulged and it has come at just the
00:02:01
right time the 21st century the New
00:02:03
World of Concrete and glass where we are
00:02:05
estranged from Magic We Are Scientists
00:02:08
Skeptics and materialists we are distant
00:02:11
from nature and though we might be
00:02:12
fascinated by black holes for being the
00:02:14
one thing in the universe that seems to
00:02:16
break all the rules or radiation for its
00:02:18
capacity to make monsters and behave
00:02:20
like a curse magic does not feel as
00:02:22
though it could be a part of this world
00:02:24
so most takes on controls fantasy leave
00:02:26
this world behind finding themselves
00:02:28
somewhere older but not control control
00:02:31
doesn't believe in Escape inside its
00:02:33
Hogwarts the things that characterize
00:02:35
Modern Life only intensify and the
00:02:37
wondrous has given a home in our world
00:02:39
the world that drove it out control
00:02:41
Bridges the widening gap between reality
00:02:43
and Magic it makes magic feel real
00:02:46
plausible close for that it is one of
00:02:49
the strongest and freshest takes on this
00:02:51
old fantasy and among those were the
00:02:53
most to say it is only minutes before
00:02:55
Jesse finds what she came for there's an
00:02:57
elevator that wasn't there at first the
00:02:59
J Jor overhears her thoughts ATI the
00:03:02
janitor is a friendly face in my book
00:03:04
better than somebody with no face at all
00:03:06
she stands now over the dead body of the
00:03:08
last director of control while the board
00:03:11
a pyramid who speaks in static convened
00:03:13
in the astral plane votes her the new
00:03:15
one and in a way that only half
00:03:17
surprises her Jesse feels a profound
00:03:20
sense of relief you know what I'm
00:03:24
happy happy to be
00:03:27
here the simplest thing that makes
00:03:29
controls magic feel real is the control
00:03:31
is really realistic as you can see in
00:03:34
fact it's more realistic now than ever
00:03:36
because 5 years on some of us can
00:03:37
actually run the rate racing this was
00:03:39
early RT 20 series Tech and you can tell
00:03:42
the noise problem isn't exactly subtle
00:03:44
in the blackest parts of the house but
00:03:46
the growing pains seem like specks in
00:03:47
the face of the fact that few games have
00:03:49
ever benefited from real-time rate
00:03:50
tracing as much as control in part
00:03:53
because of its environments that are
00:03:54
simple and mostly reflective and in part
00:03:56
because of its unique interest in
00:03:58
feeling real so the floors light up
00:04:00
small details are given Dimension by
00:04:02
shadows and flashing lights are spice to
00:04:04
the spectacle of combat we gain drama of
00:04:07
the red of the hiss piercing deeper a
00:04:09
stronger contrast between light and dark
00:04:11
or a vast gaping Shadow to emphasize the
00:04:13
immensity of a thing and every window
00:04:15
becomes a mirror but the reflections
00:04:17
don't overwhelm the scene it is the
00:04:19
difference between being alone in the
00:04:20
hotline chamber and being surrounded by
00:04:22
your ghostly Echo and the matter meets
00:04:24
the standards set by the Light concrete
00:04:26
wood glass skin sometimes there's a
00:04:29
certain wax about the faces but these
00:04:31
are materials with the kind of
00:04:32
definition that by looking at them you
00:04:34
know how they'd feel to touch there is a
00:04:36
pronounced physicality to the house a
00:04:38
Clarity of sense and I've seen it in
00:04:40
other games but there's nothing quite
00:04:42
like control because in the house it's
00:04:44
not just Skin Deep the realism of
00:04:46
Destruction this world was made to
00:04:48
crumble in intricate detail even things
00:04:51
you'd never expect a vast concrete table
00:04:53
can be completely dismantled Rock by
00:04:55
Rock punish the walls enough and a chunk
00:04:57
may fall loose itself ask to be used as
00:05:00
a bludgeon for a pillar or a desk or
00:05:02
something seductively delicate dust
00:05:04
makes clouds rains from shaken ceilings
00:05:07
and repaints the floors lights flicker
00:05:09
blinds bounce control convinces you it's
00:05:12
real well mostly apparently the bureau
00:05:15
makes their fax machines from adamantium
00:05:17
and also certain kinds of desk and the
00:05:19
bathroom sinks and the trash cans which
00:05:21
never does feel right when they're
00:05:23
standing next to something that can be
00:05:24
broken that should be harder to break
00:05:26
which they basically always are things
00:05:28
don't land right either launch a fridge
00:05:31
and it hits like a fridge let a fridge
00:05:32
fall and it lands like it weighs
00:05:36
£5 those problems considered I'd say the
00:05:39
destruction is brought down to about a
00:05:41
9.8 tragic the world becomes the central
00:05:44
means by which control realizes its
00:05:46
power fantasy do anything pretty much
00:05:48
anywhere and the world will make it
00:05:50
significant Miss and it still feels good
00:05:53
cuz man at least you [__] up that
00:05:55
guy's office in dividing the world into
00:05:57
an endless array of physics objects
00:05:58
Jesse's powers can have second order
00:06:00
effects given the 5 years they've had to
00:06:02
fix it it's a shame that there is still
00:06:04
at times an awkward delay on evades
00:06:06
destruction effects but the cool part is
00:06:08
that when you evade things break and not
00:06:10
just the things you evaded through also
00:06:12
the things you evaded near suggesting
00:06:14
the presence of a pressure wave levitate
00:06:16
in anything light or loose below is
00:06:17
pushed aside portraying a powerful
00:06:19
downward Force launch and debris is
00:06:21
drawn into a gravity well grounding
00:06:23
launch in a physical reality it's cool
00:06:26
and real and it's cool because it's real
00:06:28
you don't feel like you're drawing on an
00:06:29
authored force of convenience whose name
00:06:31
is Magic you feel as if you're pulling
00:06:33
on the strings of physics the forces we
00:06:35
know and feel in our real lives and it
00:06:37
is in this way control convinces us of
00:06:40
magic it sells you on the force and the
00:06:42
notion that if telekinesis really
00:06:44
existed this is what it would be like
00:06:46
yeah you should probably play this
00:06:49
game in control magic is surrounded by
00:06:52
everything magic isn't to highlight and
00:06:54
heighten both extremes to make it known
00:06:57
what about the modern world makes it
00:06:58
hostile to Magic on the other hand to
00:07:00
display what magic means in a modern
00:07:02
context it's contrast that is control
00:07:05
Central creative strategy but being real
00:07:08
isn't the only thing that characterizes
00:07:10
Modern Life the FBC after all is a place
00:07:13
of science its biggest sector is the
00:07:15
research sector where magic is proven
00:07:18
repeatedly made legitimate by modern
00:07:20
conceptions of legitimacy you see it was
00:07:22
always real but they were hiding the
00:07:24
truth from you much of control's law
00:07:26
draws from Real World conceptions of
00:07:28
Magic and real attempts of science to
00:07:30
explain magical phenomena resonance
00:07:32
entanglement synchronicity yian Notions
00:07:35
of the collective unconscious it's the
00:07:37
oldest trick in the book to make a
00:07:38
fictional World feel plausible just so
00:07:40
happens that the oldest house has more
00:07:42
to gain from that trick than most the
00:07:44
FBC is also a bureau a bureaucracy an
00:07:47
institution based on routine protocol
00:07:49
and hierarchy a manifestation of
00:07:52
man-made power and it is power that
00:07:53
paints the walls overwhelming Grays and
00:07:56
whites plaques portraits and the Black
00:07:58
Pyramid that booms down always from
00:08:00
above brutalism vast masses of concrete
00:08:03
that Define controls architecture that
00:08:05
create an impression of weight and a
00:08:07
movability it is hard to be intimidated
00:08:09
when you're playing as Jesse feden and
00:08:11
yet apparently not impossible it is the
00:08:14
opposite of magic of what magic will
00:08:15
twist it into bending its supposedly
00:08:18
immovable walls into Spirals and circles
00:08:20
moving the most solid thing like water a
00:08:23
contrast that is both impressive and
00:08:25
somewhat disturbing it's useful to
00:08:26
control that the bureau don't use Tech
00:08:28
mate any lighter than the 60s because
00:08:30
back then Tech wasn't elegant it was
00:08:32
large and cold and heavy a smartphone
00:08:35
might as well be magic but a terminal
00:08:37
that's a machine in its quainter spaces
00:08:39
the FBC is an office a dream of white
00:08:42
color workspace somewhere familiar to
00:08:44
many a 24 Century Joe what is the
00:08:47
opposite of that the Daydream the
00:08:48
mystical Realm of the perpetually bored
00:08:51
something that exists outside the rules
00:08:53
un intimidated by the notion of a boss
00:08:55
and here they are chaos red represented
00:08:58
as a fluid co-workers hang possessed
00:09:01
chanting an endless meaningless
00:09:03
incantation they got what they dreamed
00:09:04
for for magic to invade and lift them
00:09:06
from routine sometimes it's you who
00:09:09
makes the image complete the graceful
00:09:11
floating that characterizes levitate
00:09:13
makes Jesse the Counterpoint to her
00:09:14
surroundings join the possessed relieve
00:09:17
the weight of order the bureau forms a
00:09:18
violent contrast with the forces it
00:09:20
seeks to control even when that force is
00:09:22
you a battle Illustrated in every frame
00:09:24
of play as clear from a glance as from
00:09:27
the story itself controls art is like
00:09:29
art man meaningful in many of the ways
00:09:32
art in a gallery is Meaningful as it
00:09:33
describes a deep human truth and
00:09:36
provokes us to think perhaps about the
00:09:38
fragility of our systems of power maybe
00:09:40
about our estrangement at the hands of
00:09:42
Modern Life from the spirit from Magic
00:09:44
in the oldest house every magical thing
00:09:46
must take on a bureaucratic identity
00:09:49
incomprehensibility is represented with
00:09:50
sensor keys and the sound of a bad
00:09:52
signal runes become signs rituals become
00:09:55
protocols magical wisdom is written on
00:09:57
Post-it notes and bulletin boards gods
00:09:59
and Kings given corporate titles
00:10:02
director and board all the tenets of
00:10:04
corporate graphic design echoed and
00:10:06
controls minimalism this extends to the
00:10:08
spaces themselves dead letters an office
00:10:11
but only in the foreground only in name
00:10:13
and purpose beneath that it's a church
00:10:16
with arches an altar and desks like pews
00:10:19
a symmetry maintained throughout this is
00:10:21
a mail room but really it's a cedral
00:10:24
computers or monoliths the hallways are
00:10:26
less subtle they look like the gateways
00:10:28
to an ancient tomb whether Grand or
00:10:30
granular you're drawn to consider the
00:10:32
truth of these comparisons that some of
00:10:33
the old ways might still be with us and
00:10:35
it is in this way control once again
00:10:37
makes magic feel close to Modern Life
00:10:40
perhaps most obviously though is that it
00:10:42
makes control look good bureaucracy is
00:10:44
boring but it's not boring when it's
00:10:46
actually a Warhammer Citadel in the
00:10:48
house boring is the skin not the flashh
00:10:51
control is never boring it carefully
00:10:53
composes its imagery keeping visual
00:10:55
noise at a minimum balancing colors and
00:10:57
light and dark succeeding by every
00:10:59
measure of the SS of beauty and
00:11:01
ultimately arriving at a unique visual
00:11:03
style a proprietary blend of modernist
00:11:05
magic minimalist Aesthetics with retro
00:11:07
Tech along with a general affection for
00:11:09
brutalism and surrealism the only thing
00:11:12
that feels like control is control it is
00:11:14
beautiful in a way that is original and
00:11:16
that's useful to draw the eye to keep it
00:11:19
there to motivate exploration to make
00:11:21
every corner turned an intrinsic reward
00:11:23
but my praise for the art isn't over
00:11:25
just yet because there is another
00:11:27
contrast control is also the kind of art
00:11:29
that only games can be the contrast of
00:11:31
order in chaos is one we as Jesse feden
00:11:34
participate in environments are neat
00:11:36
symmetrical and squeaky clean designed
00:11:39
in absolute opposition to what you'll
00:11:41
make of them as an inevitability of play
00:11:43
be that combat or mocking about with a
00:11:45
destruction sandbox which will become an
00:11:47
activity As Natural as walking because
00:11:49
the destruction sandbox is really that
00:11:51
good in that sense you play as entropy
00:11:54
you make a glorious mess and in doing so
00:11:57
you enact a kind of Revenge on this plan
00:11:59
Jesse is a willing Ambassador for magic
00:12:01
Rebels against these wouldbe oppressors
00:12:03
like tagging a bank with graffiti or
00:12:05
skateboarding down a Subway rail by
00:12:08
doing it we connect with it and we
00:12:10
indulge in perhaps the most widely
00:12:11
relatable aspect of the fantasy of
00:12:13
making magic real to use superpowers to
00:12:15
blow up your workplace or maybe your
00:12:17
school or whatever this place means to
00:12:19
you but chaos isn't just the aesthetic
00:12:21
result of combat it's the mechanical
00:12:23
foundation too remedy toyed with cover
00:12:26
Mechanics for a short period of early
00:12:27
development before making the wise
00:12:29
choice not to repeat Quantum break's
00:12:30
mistakes instead Jesse's defense would
00:12:33
be her movement move or die she controls
00:12:36
responsively and another vast
00:12:37
improvement over Tim breaker's temporal
00:12:39
tales and one that would usually come at
00:12:41
the cost of Animation Fidelity but Jesse
00:12:43
makes any such compromise seriously
00:12:45
difficult to notice remedy's animation
00:12:47
work does an exceptional job of
00:12:49
capturing the physicality of gameplay
00:12:51
she stumbles from Falls flinches and
00:12:53
throws her body forward as part of
00:12:55
launch the exchange of forces a play in
00:12:57
combat are made as visible on Jesse's
00:12:59
body as they are on the puppeteered
00:13:00
corpses of the hiss it's reactivity the
00:13:03
most important element of making a third
00:13:05
person shooter feel good remedy have
00:13:07
always known that in fact it was them
00:13:10
who pioneered it and now Max pay's
00:13:12
stepdaughter is here to prove it again
00:13:14
whether it's a bullet or a fax machine
00:13:15
the hiss will make it feel significant
00:13:18
Health has an important role to play too
00:13:20
you lose it really quickly but you also
00:13:22
gain it back quickly by shooting drops
00:13:24
of energy out of the hiss to heal then
00:13:26
you must be near the enemy it's this
00:13:28
combin combined with the fact that the
00:13:29
service weapon much prefers close range
00:13:32
that heavily encourages Jesse to stay
00:13:34
amidst the chaos and to be relentlessly
00:13:36
aggressive once there if there's a
00:13:37
problem with all this chaos it's the
00:13:39
Distortion effect that emanates from the
00:13:41
hiss it's too big it takes too long to
00:13:43
fade it's too obtrusive the problem
00:13:45
isn't that it affects your performance
00:13:47
because launch has an Aimbot so you can
00:13:48
just shoot through it the problem is
00:13:50
that reactivity is the best thing about
00:13:52
control but you can't see that
00:13:54
reactivity if and when your screen is
00:13:56
smeared in Vaseline it's a problem to be
00:13:59
fair though it is one problem control is
00:14:02
one of the best feeling third person
00:14:03
shooters ever made so that's good and in
00:14:06
embodying chaos both visually and
00:14:08
mechanically combat becomes another
00:14:10
performance of contrast against the
00:14:11
order of the bureau [__] even the
00:14:14
structure of control works that way
00:14:16
Rebellion isn't inherent to the open
00:14:18
world genre but when your open world is
00:14:20
a looming manifestation of order and
00:14:21
hierarchy free form exploration can
00:14:24
become a CounterPoint in a way control
00:14:26
delivers the childhood fantasy of
00:14:28
sneaking through your school at night
00:14:29
being somewhere you shouldn't be I think
00:14:31
that does this game a lot of favors
00:14:33
control is one of the most artistically
00:14:35
effective third person shooters ever
00:14:37
made you really should play this game
00:14:39
I'm no longer
00:14:42
asking it's no secret that the foremost
00:14:44
inspiration for the oldest house was the
00:14:46
house of leaves one of the founding
00:14:48
novels of the new weird genre that
00:14:50
centers a house that cheats by our rules
00:14:52
at least HS are too long impossibly long
00:14:55
doors lead to the wrong place even the
00:14:57
pages play the game and so does the
00:15:00
oldest house in Concept in the law but
00:15:03
in practice what's remarkable about the
00:15:05
oldest house is how unlike the house of
00:15:07
leaves it really is the oldest house is
00:15:10
normal consistent not that weird it
00:15:12
can't be it's not allowed to be because
00:15:15
it's thoroughly explorable and being
00:15:16
built on a Metroid Vania structure some
00:15:18
optional paths demand that you come back
00:15:20
later with a higher clearance card or a
00:15:22
different ability so players are going
00:15:24
to return to Old locations at some point
00:15:27
when they feel like it and when they do
00:15:29
the way back still needs to be the way
00:15:31
back it's for this reason we never
00:15:33
actually get to experience a house shift
00:15:35
to get back you won't be using a GPS nor
00:15:38
Quest markers because control doesn't
00:15:40
have them you're expected to navigate
00:15:42
the house with diagetic information
00:15:43
alone you have a map and your directions
00:15:46
are those laid out in the wild more than
00:15:48
any other it's this part of control that
00:15:50
causes the most friction with a Normy
00:15:51
pilled casual people have a tendency to
00:15:53
get lost in this game and that was
00:15:55
inevitable because most games don't work
00:15:57
this way and friction is the price of
00:15:59
doing anything outside the norm if you
00:16:01
like art it's a price worth paying but
00:16:03
only to the degree you actually had to
00:16:05
the problem is the information control
00:16:07
provides often isn't enough there is a
00:16:09
gap that must be filled with perception
00:16:11
a spatial awareness a developing mental
00:16:14
map in the long term a mindset and in
00:16:16
absence of an appropriate tutorial to
00:16:18
instill that mindset an early encounter
00:16:20
that could only be solved with
00:16:22
environmental cues the way people learn
00:16:24
their lesson is all too often a painful
00:16:26
period of getting woefully lost having
00:16:27
reckoned without her the end result of
00:16:29
Remedy risk is twofold firstly immersion
00:16:33
as we Traverse the unknown our
00:16:34
experience aligns with Jesse you behave
00:16:37
as if you were really there fully
00:16:38
inhabiting the newcomer drawn forward by
00:16:40
Clues and what catches the eye the other
00:16:42
is realism because that's realistic
00:16:45
ultimately you will form a heightened
00:16:46
spatial awareness of the oldest house an
00:16:49
impression of solidity and Truth to the
00:16:51
space which is also realistic and in a
00:16:53
particularly useful way because in most
00:16:56
video games transdimensional [__]
00:16:58
impossible spaces and knowing implicitly
00:17:00
that there's not really anything outside
00:17:02
those walls is part of the course taken
00:17:04
for granted not in control which is why
00:17:07
when something wrong does happen it
00:17:08
lands with the significance it's
00:17:10
supposed to have teleportation means
00:17:12
something when you have a mental map to
00:17:14
be disrupted it can be disappointing
00:17:16
that the oldest house is not the fluid
00:17:18
world it's made out to be but it is
00:17:19
precisely its solidity that makes a jump
00:17:22
cut
00:17:23
powerful the basic Loop for gameplay and
00:17:26
control is progressing towards the next
00:17:28
control point whilst clearing rooms of
00:17:30
hiss and exploring the environment there
00:17:32
is a lot to explore in the rooms
00:17:33
themselves but there are also different
00:17:35
ways to go which is where you'll find
00:17:36
most of the game side content nowhere is
00:17:38
controls Beauty more useful to it than
00:17:40
here it's worth having a look just for
00:17:42
the looking part control points are
00:17:44
remedies take on bonfires where what's
00:17:46
taken is not so much the gameplay
00:17:48
significance as the convenience of them
00:17:50
they balance fast travel provide an in
00:17:52
Universe context for respawning and
00:17:53
neatly tie the upgrade systems together
00:17:56
they're smart they work but they come
00:17:58
with a classic downside of mandating bus
00:18:00
runs which is a big problem when you die
00:18:02
in an encounter that lives on its
00:18:04
spontaneity you come back a second time
00:18:06
you watch it follow the exact same
00:18:07
script and that makes it look like it's
00:18:09
following a script sometimes it's a
00:18:11
matter of fact not impression fridge
00:18:13
Duty Philip can't look away or the
00:18:14
fridge gets violent but we don't get him
00:18:16
out in time we try to cleanse it
00:18:18
following a spot of Vengeance and we are
00:18:20
summoned to a blackened plane ruled by a
00:18:22
being like the board the former die to
00:18:24
the former and Philip comes back but the
00:18:26
Light of Christ is swiftly retracted as
00:18:28
we then listen to the fridge turn Philip
00:18:30
into humus again and wait for the former
00:18:32
to arrive again see you later
00:18:34
refrigerator piece of [__] patches have
00:18:36
moved boss spawns closer to the boss
00:18:38
since the last video but that doesn't
00:18:39
solve the awkward reunions sorry about
00:18:41
that former just had to make a quick run
00:18:43
now where were we oh yes throwing boxes
00:18:45
at each other control often struggles to
00:18:47
translate the weird into game mechanics
00:18:50
the anchor mold one and the former are
00:18:52
good boss fights in every way apart from
00:18:55
how you fight them they have one attack
00:18:57
or two but no mechanics would serve to
00:18:59
complicate your response which will be
00:19:01
throwing a torrent of rocks at them
00:19:02
until they fall over they're simple and
00:19:04
predictable they're not that fun nor
00:19:06
fitting with the character of something
00:19:08
alien I excuse Ed from this
00:19:10
generalization because being a
00:19:11
reflection of Jesse her mechanics live
00:19:13
up to a concept and I also excuse Mr
00:19:15
tamasi for being unpredictably [__] he
00:19:18
is a normal enemy with a big health bar
00:19:20
and an army of other normal enemies who
00:19:21
make this fight the hardest fight in the
00:19:23
game tamasi is so very far beneath
00:19:25
remedy but when it comes to difficulty
00:19:27
the problem is more often being too easy
00:19:29
buses don't scale very well but the
00:19:31
anchor and mold one hit you with a
00:19:33
comeback later roadblock when they're
00:19:34
first accessible so you tend to do them
00:19:36
fairly late which can lead to a sub 60c
00:19:38
curb stomp controls boss fights are
00:19:40
deeply troubled but their problems
00:19:42
aren't limited to the boss fights in the
00:19:45
pit a deep threshold of the house lost
00:19:47
to a spreading mold a humid Maze of what
00:19:49
is otherwise solid control content we
00:19:51
are tasked with finding five research
00:19:53
samples what is that it find five turds
00:19:57
gross
00:19:59
underill is going to owe me for this for
00:20:01
Ati we have janitorial tasks such as
00:20:04
going to a place and shooting five
00:20:06
putrid mold scrotums or going to a place
00:20:08
and shooting five putrid mold people or
00:20:11
shooting the same piece of [__] we've
00:20:12
already shot in the campaign or talking
00:20:14
to five plants I hope those nasty HS
00:20:17
haven't been bothering you too much I
00:20:19
forgive that one cuz it's funny in both
00:20:20
cases the context fits it's janitorial
00:20:23
work it's scientific inquiry the bread
00:20:25
and butter of the FBC the problem is not
00:20:28
that they mind so much as they
00:20:29
underwhelm but there are things beyond
00:20:31
that defense enter the furnace doesn't
00:20:34
it seem like it's looking at you there's
00:20:35
an account nearby of a woman who heard
00:20:37
it speak to her pleased to be fed that
00:20:39
she couldn't resist so we feed it find
00:20:42
all the barrels throw all the barrels
00:20:44
not very interesting but hey it's build
00:20:47
up right for the cool thing that will
00:20:48
happen at the
00:20:53
end ah two skill points cool the furnace
00:20:57
is exceptional leash [__] and also in
00:20:59
the sense that controls altered items
00:21:01
usually represent the best of its side
00:21:03
content altered items otherwise known as
00:21:05
scps that is of all controls
00:21:08
Inspirations the most loved and known
00:21:10
secure contain protect is an online
00:21:12
Collective of fiction centering
00:21:13
Supernatural entities that are
00:21:15
categorized and discussed from the
00:21:16
perspective of a clandestine military
00:21:18
organization SCP created to do as their
00:21:21
name instructs sound familiar it was a
00:21:23
smart inspiration what the SCP Universe
00:21:26
offers is a lens of plausibility the end
00:21:28
ities as do controls altered items
00:21:30
largely take the form of everyday things
00:21:33
a ship a stairwell a furnace each
00:21:35
mundane on the surface but hiding an
00:21:37
unknowable and often horrific connection
00:21:39
to the other side some of these altered
00:21:41
items compose the foundation of controls
00:21:43
world the secret to transdimensional
00:21:45
travel is an American Motel the hotline
00:21:47
to the dead in the distant is a Bak
00:21:49
light telephone Jesse gets her powers
00:21:51
from binding to aled items and she walks
00:21:53
within one too the oldest house itself
00:21:56
it is through their apparent mundanity
00:21:57
that SC like the FBC allows you to
00:22:00
indulge the notion firstly that magical
00:22:02
and monstrous things might exist all
00:22:04
around you even in your Modern Life and
00:22:06
secondly that the only reason you never
00:22:08
find out is because there's a grand
00:22:10
conspiracy to hide it from you the FBC
00:22:12
is filled with such accounts be it
00:22:14
physical evidence taken from the scene
00:22:15
or documents written almost exactly like
00:22:18
authentic SCP entries those that were
00:22:20
captured now serve their time in the
00:22:22
panopticon a supernatural prison that is
00:22:24
for us not unlike a zoo and some of them
00:22:26
are causing trouble that is for us to
00:22:28
solve the traffic light red yellow green
00:22:31
you can guess how it works the challenge
00:22:33
is controlling your impatience and
00:22:35
choosing cover that will fully Shield
00:22:37
you from the red light the nature of the
00:22:39
thing is the encounter it's Unique and
00:22:41
for that it is fitting and appropriately
00:22:43
whelming the mirror mirror on the wall
00:22:46
how do I open this [__] wall the
00:22:48
mirror will tell you you read its SCP
00:22:50
entry from this you learn its nature and
00:22:53
that provides the clues you need to
00:22:54
solve the puzzle fantastic the astral
00:22:57
Spike an extra plan Predator that hunts
00:22:59
thoughts and Consciousness a frenzied
00:23:01
ball of mass and flickering light that
00:23:03
slowly rages towards you and it can't be
00:23:05
stopped it's bordering on scary your
00:23:08
only hope is to lure it into a prison
00:23:10
one of the smartest Encounters in the
00:23:11
game The Mannequin is different it
00:23:13
stares from across the Twisted Hall you
00:23:15
approach and then they're everywhere and
00:23:17
you won't know what to do but you'll
00:23:19
notice something that whenever you can't
00:23:20
see them they turn to look it's a
00:23:22
chilling realization and the only thing
00:23:24
to do is to stumble onto the one true
00:23:26
mannequin before you [__] yourself it is
00:23:28
an example of how the absence of formal
00:23:30
mechanics can be a better move than poor
00:23:32
mechanics the rubber duck is similar
00:23:34
there's a Chase but there's no game to
00:23:35
it it is literally taking the piss out
00:23:37
of you the challenge is tolerating its
00:23:39
mocking quacks control side content is
00:23:42
troubled it has Source it has stunning
00:23:45
visuals and cool ideas but it reeks of
00:23:47
control's greatest foe the tight budget
00:23:50
sometimes that could still lead to
00:23:51
effective gam play other times it means
00:23:54
three bosses that play the same and
00:23:55
three quests that have you shooting
00:23:57
spots I think the greatest success of
00:23:59
the altered items is tonal it is this
00:24:01
notion that anything could be
00:24:03
Supernatural that lays a sense of
00:24:04
Suspicion or curiosity upon everything
00:24:07
in the bureau nothing can be immediately
00:24:09
dismissed as normal or mundane this is a
00:24:12
useful aspect of control's atmosphere
00:24:14
and control is a good SCP game which
00:24:16
makes a strong contribution to its
00:24:18
fantasy of plausible magic but there is
00:24:20
an important difference SCP is a horror
00:24:23
Universe controls is not it's also not
00:24:26
the opposite Whimsical and wonderful
00:24:27
like hog warts indeed control isn't
00:24:30
interested in prescribing any particular
00:24:32
emotional tone to the supernatural
00:24:34
instead it wants to let the supernatural
00:24:36
speak for itself perhaps the best way to
00:24:38
explain what that means is to show you
00:24:40
how remedy try not to speak for their
00:24:42
Creations no introductory Cuts scene
00:24:44
imposes a fearful perspective on mold
00:24:46
one or the anchor there's no
00:24:48
intimidating title the description at
00:24:49
top the health bar is written in plain
00:24:51
lowercase font there's no dramatic
00:24:53
soundtrack in the background in fact
00:24:55
there's rarely any dramatic soundtrack
00:24:57
in control music does not speak for the
00:24:59
action or for the weird there are
00:25:01
unsettling elements about the former and
00:25:03
mold one but they are not inherently
00:25:05
monstrous beings and control offers no
00:25:07
condemnation of its enemies you aren't
00:25:09
meant to hate them not even the hiss
00:25:11
it's not evil it's a virus and its
00:25:13
nature is to propagate it is control's
00:25:16
belief that different things are just
00:25:18
that different indeed the defining
00:25:20
characteristic of its alien Minds is
00:25:22
difficulty to communicate and the
00:25:24
absence of a prescribed tone allows
00:25:26
Nuance to more easily come through
00:25:28
convey conventional Boss music makes it
00:25:29
harder to consider the possibility that
00:25:31
a boss might not be deserving of their
00:25:33
fate there are exceptions the standard
00:25:35
his combatants it's harder to say you
00:25:37
aren't imposing a perspective on the his
00:25:39
when an incomprehensible viral sound for
00:25:42
some reason turns everyone into a
00:25:43
different kind of stereotypical
00:25:45
Goosebumps Monster zombies ghouls
00:25:47
witches it is probably no coincidence
00:25:50
that these exceptions are the least
00:25:51
interesting elements of controls art to
00:25:53
the degree to which the rule stands
00:25:55
though it is I think the great success
00:25:57
of controls approach to the weird its
00:25:59
emotional pallet can take on strange
00:26:02
small conflicting and unexpected flavors
00:26:05
and that's pretty useful to a game about
00:26:06
confronting truly different things it
00:26:09
makes them feel real plausible in a way
00:26:11
a game that locked its gods and Aliens
00:26:13
into the man-made emotional restraints
00:26:15
of a more distinct genre never could it
00:26:17
gives control emotional breadth it can
00:26:19
feel like anything and it will always
00:26:21
fit making for a world that it is harder
00:26:23
to get bored of and it's a damn good
00:26:25
thing for a mystery game too because you
00:26:28
can't really know what the next thing is
00:26:29
going to feel
00:26:31
like with mda's soul and scully's form
00:26:34
control is a game defined by mystery
00:26:37
when we walk through those doors we're
00:26:38
here to find Jesse's brother Dylan but
00:26:40
that's not what's really driving us
00:26:42
forward Dylan is a faceless abstract a
00:26:44
notion and he remains that way until we
00:26:46
find him his absence causes Jesse pain
00:26:49
but none that control is interested in
00:26:51
connecting us to what's more interesting
00:26:53
is the question of why they took him
00:26:55
what weren't he and Jesse supposed to
00:26:56
see when they were children in ordinary
00:26:58
what did they do to him all we have are
00:27:00
questions and at first questions are all
00:27:02
we find the director dead by his own
00:27:04
hand why what's the deal with artti or
00:27:07
the board how'd the his get in what does
00:27:09
a sound want and what about Jesse's
00:27:11
imaginary friend control throws you into
00:27:13
the deep end of the unexpected and it's
00:27:15
got you hooked but all of that happens
00:27:17
in hour one after that the main story
00:27:20
The One driven by Cuts scene and
00:27:21
character takes a back seat and the main
00:27:24
method of narrative delivery shifts to
00:27:25
the environment story via exploration
00:27:28
like Dark Souls yeah I said it that's
00:27:30
analysis but it's also a fact remedy
00:27:33
wanted a new approach for storytelling
00:27:35
one that would work for a nonlinear game
00:27:37
that would allow a player to enter a
00:27:38
space in any sequence at an unknown time
00:27:41
and nevertheless receive a narrative
00:27:43
hence the item descriptions in all the
00:27:45
ways information can be received without
00:27:47
an event presently occurring or an
00:27:49
actual character needing to be there
00:27:51
some things are instantly digestible the
00:27:53
primary visual fixture of a space there
00:27:55
are enemies workplace bulletins posted
00:27:58
notes computer screens there are
00:27:59
documents that demand a committed read
00:28:01
and thanks to a modern setting there is
00:28:03
video and audio technologies that allow
00:28:06
NPCs to leave behind their ghosts in
00:28:08
fact the conspicuous absence of the star
00:28:10
of the show is another of control's big
00:28:12
Mysteries where is Dr darling there is a
00:28:14
balance of levity through things like
00:28:16
darling and the inherent comedy of
00:28:18
interrogating a rubber duck quack if you
00:28:21
can understand my
00:28:23
words no response with darker tones the
00:28:26
accounts of those who never turned there
00:28:28
is a balance of reading listening
00:28:30
watching and viewing firsthand of
00:28:32
highbrow conceptual stuff with
00:28:34
interpersonal drama and this varied
00:28:36
breadth proves useful to work against
00:28:38
the sheer amount of law from wearing out
00:28:40
some elements of law are self-contained
00:28:42
an Audi log that tells a complete story
00:28:45
but most elements of law are not they
00:28:47
are pieces Snippets perspectives with a
00:28:49
lot of space intentionally left blank in
00:28:52
the literal form of a redacted bar or by
00:28:54
simple means of omission so we gain
00:28:57
information and with with it we gain new
00:28:59
questions another balance a careful
00:29:01
balance of getting more and wanting more
00:29:03
a drip feed of information in which you
00:29:05
almost see the impression of a
00:29:06
conventional reward Loop where small
00:29:08
nuggets of satisfaction are distributed
00:29:10
at an irregular but frequent Pace
00:29:12
learning can be quite addicting in
00:29:14
control remedy prove highly effective at
00:29:17
giving you enough to make you want to
00:29:18
know what they didn't give you a
00:29:20
document tells a story with an important
00:29:22
character whose name is hidden someone
00:29:24
disappears I wonder where too you walk
00:29:27
into a testing chamber filled with Sands
00:29:29
blown in from someplace else from a
00:29:31
looming wall where a door was once open
00:29:33
controls consistent aesthetic Brilliance
00:29:36
makes for some very strong hooks
00:29:38
mechanically this works smoothly
00:29:41
experientially this from sofan design
00:29:43
model evokes the feeling of always being
00:29:45
somewhat lost of being surrounded by the
00:29:47
unknown like the scps control
00:29:50
storytelling becoming an important
00:29:51
component of its atmosphere another of
00:29:53
remedy's important successes is how
00:29:55
effectively they concentrate questions
00:29:57
and information
00:29:58
keeping things interesting by layering
00:30:00
one idea inside another communicating
00:30:03
with subtext and subtler implications
00:30:05
take a document it says stuff but some
00:30:07
parts are redacted a literal Blank Space
00:30:10
an implicit question of what's behind it
00:30:12
but also of who put it there let's say
00:30:14
you know what the blank term is because
00:30:16
it fits in length and concept and
00:30:18
there's only one thing it could be the
00:30:19
board who would want their involvement
00:30:21
covered up there's an answer to that
00:30:23
there's the way the board speaks
00:30:24
struggling to talk in the terms a human
00:30:26
would comprehend so it provides
00:30:28
alternate translations which have
00:30:30
alternate implications favorite SLC
00:30:32
Curren director does that mean it only
00:30:34
chooses directors it likes better than
00:30:36
the last one or does it call every
00:30:38
director its favorite director I bet you
00:30:40
say that to all the girls the ocean view
00:30:42
is its own question but look closer the
00:30:44
posters changing each time you visit
00:30:46
like they're trying to tell you
00:30:47
something the strange symbols on the
00:30:49
doors three pulls of a cord to get there
00:30:51
three pulls back why why three what is
00:30:54
this place and why is it framed there's
00:30:57
the way d looks off to the side at times
00:30:59
and stumbles through certain lectures
00:31:01
with an unexplained anxiety there's
00:31:03
threshold kids a TV show made for
00:31:05
Jesse's brother to educate him on
00:31:07
paranatural Concepts
00:31:09
[Music]
00:31:19
what I'm not allowed to go outside
00:31:24
anymore and in threshold kids is a
00:31:27
second statement that the bureau was
00:31:28
Disturbed enough to think this [__]
00:31:30
Voodoo Conjuring ass nightmare was child
00:31:34
friendly
00:31:37
yes taken individually the realization
00:31:39
of all the different kinds of Law and
00:31:41
control is exceptional if you can look
00:31:43
past the lifelong trauma threshold kids
00:31:45
is a pretty good puppet show and perhaps
00:31:47
there is a special convenience in
00:31:48
control being as realistic as it is that
00:31:50
live action doesn't feel out of place so
00:31:53
on a limited budget remedy could plunk a
00:31:55
camera in front of Matthew peretta and
00:31:57
perfectly capture a full 30 minutes of
00:31:59
the game's best performance darling's
00:32:01
got a sizzling Charisma there's a sitcom
00:32:03
kind of humor in his awkward
00:32:05
interactions with his less awkward
00:32:06
co-workers and each lecture is kept
00:32:08
brief remedy meet the challenge of
00:32:10
making boring our science lectures
00:32:12
neither boring nor us so effectively
00:32:15
that it doesn't even occur to you that
00:32:16
the challenge would have needed to be
00:32:17
met it also benefits from being
00:32:19
interactive in the sense that the
00:32:21
projector is a physics object so you can
00:32:22
just take darling with you it's a shame
00:32:24
the same can't be said for audio logs or
00:32:26
radio interviews which cannot be
00:32:28
transported or otherwise listened to on
00:32:29
the move with reading you control the
00:32:32
pace with video there's visual
00:32:33
engagement but in demanding that you sit
00:32:35
here twiddling your thumbs for the audio
00:32:37
logs control creates a high likelihood
00:32:39
that people are just going to keep on
00:32:40
moving I did enough to feel guilty about
00:32:43
it and when I didn't I always had to
00:32:45
resist the temptation to the weakest
00:32:47
link among controls information
00:32:48
formations is the hotline allow me to
00:32:51
properly introduce you sometimes you
00:32:53
will come across trench's ghost slipping
00:32:55
through the cracks of death speaking in
00:32:57
broken Pros to guide you forward an
00:33:00
attack perhaps it should not be
00:33:02
surprising that a projected image so
00:33:03
effectively evokes the sense of a
00:33:05
Consciousness projected From A Distant
00:33:07
place this is the first of many times
00:33:09
remedy us a shift in art form to portray
00:33:11
a shift in dimension and it's beautiful
00:33:13
mirroring controls art style I would
00:33:15
often find myself aligning Jesse to
00:33:17
perfect the image the connection is weak
00:33:20
a bad signal and some things are lost to
00:33:22
noise unless you turn to the hotline the
00:33:24
bake light telephone connected to all of
00:33:26
time and space Google Translate for
00:33:28
Lovecraft and friends the problems begin
00:33:31
with how you use it menu Collectibles
00:33:33
hotline what the [__] it's unintuitive
00:33:36
for one and it literally removes you
00:33:38
from the experience it's even got a
00:33:39
[__] video player UI there is no
00:33:42
sense that you're interacting with an
00:33:43
object of power let alone that you're
00:33:45
still rooted in the world of control
00:33:47
nothing makes you appreciate watching a
00:33:48
lecture with Jesse inhabiting the world
00:33:51
quite like watching a YouTube video from
00:33:53
a menu when a call becomes available
00:33:55
there's a small notification tucked down
00:33:56
to the side of theen screen and there is
00:33:58
no ring which makes it surprisingly easy
00:34:00
to miss that is most of trench's
00:34:03
characterization and most of Jesse's
00:34:05
Communications with the board the
00:34:06
hotline is a comprehensive [__] up a
00:34:09
shame an anomaly both in the sense that
00:34:11
the delivery of controls law is
00:34:13
otherwise a comprehensive success and in
00:34:15
the sense that the problems with
00:34:16
controls law usually have nothing to do
00:34:18
with the law itself its biggest problem
00:34:20
is that it is burdened with making up
00:34:22
for control story so let's talk about
00:34:25
control story what does that
00:34:26
aformentioned about back seat mean it
00:34:28
means an overwhelmingly materialistic
00:34:30
story driven by plot not by character
00:34:33
one where most of what you do is not
00:34:35
because of who you are but because there
00:34:37
is a physical problem that needs to be
00:34:38
solved the door's jammed fix it [__]
00:34:41
it's one where the character is not
00:34:42
affected by what happens in any terms
00:34:44
other than physical terms you were in
00:34:46
danger now you were safe it's one where
00:34:48
those characters have very little going
00:34:49
on beneath the surface and also on the
00:34:52
surface one note personalities and
00:34:54
nothing human beneath it the bureau
00:34:56
presents profoundly boring cast Pope is
00:34:59
a researcher her turn-ons include
00:35:01
research she's excitable a Proto darling
00:35:04
and sort of charming that way Marshall
00:35:05
is a soldier lady according to her
00:35:07
co-workers she's really tough as far as
00:35:09
you'll see she stands around looking
00:35:11
tough Underhill is a bit rude Langston
00:35:13
is a bit weird and then there's this guy
00:35:15
I'll give you a million bucks if you
00:35:17
played control and you recall this man's
00:35:18
name 3 2 1 exactly the answer was a he
00:35:22
is a man who is nice during in-game
00:35:24
conversations there is no motion capture
00:35:26
body language is stilted while facial
00:35:28
animations range from passible to some
00:35:30
kind of Proto stroke that looks like
00:35:32
they're at a dentist exam it can be
00:35:34
profoundly uncanny to watch characters
00:35:36
who look that good animate that poorly
00:35:39
which sure as [__] doesn't help with a
00:35:40
matter of being able to connect or even
00:35:42
wanting to engage with controls humans
00:35:45
of all the ways to get information in
00:35:46
control talking to people was the one I
00:35:48
avoided the most this leads me to the
00:35:51
controversial matter of Jesse feden I
00:35:53
liked Jesse feden but liking her was the
00:35:55
easy part she is warm kind and sometimes
00:35:59
funny I hope your day has been
00:36:03
productive little
00:36:06
plant that really works huh and courney
00:36:10
Hope plays her without the assured silky
00:36:12
sharpness of the average video game
00:36:14
heroin but instead with a youthfulness
00:36:16
and crucially a surprising normalness
00:36:18
that proves remarkably effective at
00:36:20
making a woman who has lived anything
00:36:21
but a normal life feel relatable and
00:36:24
real my
00:36:25
turn should I lie
00:36:29
Jesse faden I'm just visiting I should
00:36:32
have lied someone to identify with and
00:36:34
ground ourselves in it is also that
00:36:36
unpracticed normalness the faint quiver
00:36:39
and distinct youth in her voice she led
00:36:41
me to
00:36:43
you I call her
00:36:46
Polaris that connects us to the truth as
00:36:49
the natural cool of the average
00:36:51
protagonist is not that her strength and
00:36:53
perseverance are not effortless or to be
00:36:55
taken for granted we are told that
00:36:57
beneath the determined hero we play as a
00:36:59
troubled child but it would be easy to
00:37:01
forget if Courtney Hope did not keep
00:37:02
that part of her present it makes Jesse
00:37:04
much easier to connect to it helps that
00:37:06
Jesse is the living embodiment of the
00:37:08
fantasy control cells the player we both
00:37:10
want the same thing a sincere passion
00:37:12
for all things magical is Jesse's
00:37:14
defining trait it is what motivates her
00:37:16
and it is what makes her strong Jesse is
00:37:19
cool not because she is skilled or tough
00:37:21
or Fearless but because her passion
00:37:23
drives her past her fear because she is
00:37:25
willing to reach out to the unknown and
00:37:26
connect to it and I love that about her
00:37:28
I loved playing someone who was cool in
00:37:31
that way and I love that this distinct
00:37:33
characterization allowed Jesse to be
00:37:35
such a thematically resonant
00:37:36
Counterpoint to all that surrounds her
00:37:38
being pretty good with altered items
00:37:40
isn't standard Bureau procedure man he
00:37:43
doesn't know us very well and because
00:37:45
the game control is delivers on the
00:37:47
fantasy Jesse and body so well
00:37:49
everything you do is therefore a
00:37:50
fulfillment of Jesse's character to rush
00:37:53
towards a demon clock that might be
00:37:54
deadly to throw a bench through an
00:37:56
office or search for SE secet and its
00:37:58
scattered files for the experience of
00:37:59
the player to align with that of the
00:38:01
character is a crucial component of
00:38:03
immersion and it helps keep what Jesse
00:38:04
thematically represents present in your
00:38:06
mind 5 years ago I and too many others
00:38:09
criticized how fast Jesse warms to the
00:38:11
magic of the house I retract that and
00:38:13
class it as a blatant misreading the
00:38:15
actual believability problem is the
00:38:17
speed with which she accepts violence
00:38:19
shooting people with a magic Glock there
00:38:21
was no indication Jesse used to do side
00:38:23
jobs for the cartel but this has become
00:38:25
one of remedy's signature problems you
00:38:27
might noticed that I'm speaking almost
00:38:29
entirely about foundational elements of
00:38:30
Jesse's character it's true I like Jesse
00:38:33
I liked being her and I was interested
00:38:35
in how she'd react to the things and
00:38:36
people in the house but to succeed as a
00:38:39
character in the main story you need
00:38:40
more than a solid foundation did I lose
00:38:43
you there for a moment Control won't
00:38:44
give her one it doesn't seem able in
00:38:47
part it's that Jesse achieves her
00:38:48
Central goal her deepest need the moment
00:38:51
the game starts proof and wonder in part
00:38:54
it's that it's exceptionally difficult
00:38:56
to do great character with a plot that
00:38:58
is unwilling to test them her stats are
00:39:00
tested her ability to fix doors but not
00:39:02
her character it's hard to overstate how
00:39:05
serious a lacking this is the story
00:39:07
doesn't do anything with the characters
00:39:09
inside it there are other good
00:39:10
characters in control but what connects
00:39:12
them is their inability to address what
00:39:14
control lacks emotional engagement
00:39:16
astral pain the Phantom director Dr
00:39:19
creatine and arti the god/ fish SL
00:39:23
janitor succeed as Mysteries and as
00:39:25
presences not as human beings we want to
00:39:28
know more about them because they are so
00:39:29
compellingly strange it's not often
00:39:31
you'll encounter a finnished janitor who
00:39:33
reads Minds on the side nor a hardboiled
00:39:36
detective type who talks to the Elder
00:39:37
Gods but their sole purpose is to be
00:39:40
interesting and to tell us interesting
00:39:41
things darling and trench left the
00:39:43
building before the game began and as
00:39:45
Spirits now they are merely fated to
00:39:47
guide you on the coin flips and we're
00:39:49
brought back to mystery control story
00:39:51
establishes control Central Mysteries
00:39:53
but it doesn't show much interest in
00:39:55
advancing them this isn't an escalating
00:39:57
series of Revelations and deepening
00:39:59
Mysteries you start in the dark and for
00:40:01
the most part you stay there this can be
00:40:03
frustrating particularly in combination
00:40:05
with the character side because what it
00:40:07
amounts to is the sense that the story
00:40:09
is going nowhere it also causes problems
00:40:11
for the law ones that remedy self from
00:40:13
that from soft of not in Dark Souls the
00:40:16
larger Mysteries of the world bear
00:40:17
almost no relevance to anything current
00:40:19
or important for you you're there to
00:40:21
kill the four big guys and Link the fire
00:40:23
everything else is tangential and a
00:40:25
useful upside of that approach is that
00:40:27
ious engagement with the law can only be
00:40:29
motivated by pure curiosity there is no
00:40:31
sense that it is necessary things are
00:40:33
different in control where the large
00:40:35
Mysteries of the world are directly
00:40:37
relevant to Jesse what she's doing and
00:40:39
why she's doing it there is the sense
00:40:40
that having answers is important and
00:40:42
therefore the sense that engaging with
00:40:44
the law is something I should do I am
00:40:46
still curious but it is joined by a
00:40:49
pressure and that's why in moments when
00:40:51
my curiosity was running low I would
00:40:53
force myself to read to listen as if it
00:40:55
were homework because I figured where
00:40:57
else is control's narrative substance
00:40:59
going to come from this sense of mine
00:41:01
was too often proven correct an
00:41:03
excellent example is the ordinary awe
00:41:06
here we walk into Jesse's paast through
00:41:08
a recreation of her childhood town where
00:41:10
every single thing every name object
00:41:13
every detail that we didn't already know
00:41:16
is hidden away in audiio logs in
00:41:17
documents in lectures from what's part
00:41:20
of the main story or instantly
00:41:21
digestible we learned that ordinary is a
00:41:24
town was it worth the wall staring [__]
00:41:26
yeah it was but wish I didn't have to
00:41:28
make that calculation the sense of
00:41:30
should whittles slowly at the joy of
00:41:32
exploration and control particularly
00:41:34
with time because it's with time that
00:41:36
the reality of the central narrative
00:41:37
stagnation settles in it's with time
00:41:40
that the actual number of law things to
00:41:41
interact with increases it's with time
00:41:43
that the parts of the oldest house
00:41:45
you're exploring become more relevant to
00:41:46
the central narrative and so it's with
00:41:48
time that the sense of should
00:41:50
intensifies for these reasons in the
00:41:52
research sector in the early game this
00:41:54
problem is minimal but in containment in
00:41:57
the late game it's quite significant
00:41:59
even enough to have a serious impact on
00:42:00
the pacing if you want to get anything
00:42:03
from ordinary or the prime candidate
00:42:04
program control can take on an
00:42:06
incredibly staggered character split
00:42:09
between short periods of forward motion
00:42:11
and long periods of perusing the
00:42:12
interactive Wiki in these parts of the
00:42:14
game control storytelling kind of sucks
00:42:17
there is a further element the element
00:42:19
of trust this is crucial to any story
00:42:21
driven by mystery it is impossible to
00:42:24
physically point to and yet if you've
00:42:25
ever played a game like this before then
00:42:28
you know its significance people are
00:42:30
conscious of how far it's reasonable to
00:42:32
think and if they don't think it's
00:42:34
likely the developers thought that far
00:42:35
then they're probably not going to think
00:42:37
that far either people know they
00:42:39
probably won't get things right but they
00:42:40
need to believe there's a chance they
00:42:42
could it's this that makes the game real
00:42:45
people engage with law as much as they
00:42:47
trust it and trust is difficult to
00:42:49
establish in 2019 I didn't trust control
00:42:52
I didn't trust it because of its Central
00:42:54
narrative because I figured if you can't
00:42:56
write a compelling character if it's too
00:42:58
much to ask for the plot to have
00:42:59
momentum then what's the chance you can
00:43:01
realize a complex web of backstories or
00:43:03
an unseen chess game of higher forces I
00:43:05
feared that much of this world was
00:43:07
weirdness and nonsense disguised as
00:43:08
mystery I told 600,000 people as much I
00:43:12
was wrong because I now have the answers
00:43:14
I once thought did not exist and of
00:43:15
those I don't I trust that they're out
00:43:17
there why paying attention YouTubers the
00:43:20
fact that more answers now exist because
00:43:22
remedy have made more things and most of
00:43:24
all an incredibly generous helping of
00:43:26
faith to tide me over until my trust was
00:43:28
earned for the part of what I said that
00:43:30
was born of ignorance I'm sorry but even
00:43:33
now I recognize in control what made me
00:43:35
distrustful control story sucks which
00:43:38
sucks for control story but to an
00:43:40
unfortunate degree it sucks for all the
00:43:42
other stories and control too that casts
00:43:44
a shadow of doubt and a harmful pressure
00:43:46
to do things the central narrative won't
00:43:48
I love this [__] world I loved
00:43:50
exploring it 5 years later more than
00:43:52
ever but I understand why some people
00:43:55
lost the magic that used to be me
00:43:57
control to has some problems to
00:44:01
solve so control is one of the best
00:44:03
feeling third person shooters ever but
00:44:06
what will sustain that experience over a
00:44:07
long period of time is its mechanical
00:44:09
strength Jesse we have to cook and we're
00:44:12
off to a good start because there are a
00:44:14
number of interesting things to be done
00:44:15
with launch every launch expends a
00:44:17
limited pool of energy so it is in your
00:44:19
interest to line up launches that'll hit
00:44:21
more than one enemy two birds one
00:44:23
forklift that places a strong incentive
00:44:25
on Smart positioning a second kind of
00:44:27
two for one is rooted in the way objects
00:44:29
float towards you when you select them
00:44:31
those objects can hit enemies in their
00:44:33
path you can position yourself to put
00:44:35
enemies in their path and that's free
00:44:36
damage there is a remarkable degree to
00:44:38
which the perceptive player can find
00:44:40
Opportunities to be clever in this way
00:44:42
the list goes on near objects hit much
00:44:44
quicker than far objects everything is
00:44:46
physics based so things in the way of
00:44:47
your chosen object will slow it down and
00:44:49
objects themselves have their own
00:44:51
properties big things hit harder than
00:44:53
small things explosives hit the hardest
00:44:55
but they're also the rarest and so it
00:44:57
becomes useful to think about what
00:44:58
you're launching either to optimize for
00:45:00
damage or to conserve the most useful
00:45:02
thing for the most important enemy it's
00:45:04
a good thing in this context the control
00:45:06
has you moving around so much since the
00:45:08
depth of launch is tied to the
00:45:09
environment and to positioning being in
00:45:11
a constant Rush means being constantly
00:45:13
cycled through new positions and new
00:45:15
parts of the environment with a fresh
00:45:17
stock of objects to launch the pace of
00:45:18
interesting choices available to you is
00:45:20
in this way kept at a high controls
00:45:22
level design is strong most Arenas
00:45:25
providing new kinds of things to launch
00:45:26
which which is good for the spectacle
00:45:28
and in some way for the story as you
00:45:30
engage with a narrative context of the
00:45:32
space during combat most Arenas feature
00:45:34
a mix of open spaces and Tighter spaces
00:45:36
keeping things varied and allowing
00:45:37
pliers to optimize navigation according
00:45:39
to the range of their weapon most Arenas
00:45:41
feature circular paths and enough cover
00:45:43
to allow for constant movement most
00:45:45
Arenas feature some kind of vertical
00:45:46
element to hugely raise the number of
00:45:48
relevant sight lines and from that
00:45:50
create more interesting fights it's good
00:45:52
shooter level design and yet the cost to
00:45:54
the believability of the space is
00:45:56
minimal in part because remedy put a lot
00:45:58
of work into making it minimal but also
00:46:00
because believability comes easier to a
00:46:02
building that makes its own rules as we
00:46:03
move into advanced depth we start
00:46:05
talking about overpenetration with
00:46:07
Pierce which can Pierce enemies for
00:46:09
conventional two for ones but also the
00:46:11
environment even through otherwise
00:46:13
unbreakable structures Jesse can seize
00:46:15
enemies in control which has a double
00:46:17
use as a stun you can partially seize
00:46:19
and use its disabling effect to close
00:46:21
the gap Jesse can also launch objects
00:46:23
immediately from their starting position
00:46:25
or at any point on the path it takes as
00:46:27
it floats towards you which means you
00:46:28
don't have to shoot straight on from
00:46:30
Jesse's point of view which means the
00:46:32
fastest and most perceptive players can
00:46:34
line up two for ones from behind or the
00:46:36
side there's meat on the bone here the
00:46:38
question is is it enough the answer is
00:46:41
it's not that simple launch is the best
00:46:43
source of the game's depth launch is
00:46:45
also the best source of the game's
00:46:46
shallowness what does that mean it means
00:46:48
this launch can be deep when you're not
00:46:50
using it deeply either because it's not
00:46:52
worthwhile or because there's no
00:46:53
opportunity then launch is pretty
00:46:55
shallow you press the button Jesse will
00:46:57
choose an object you vaguely point at
00:46:59
your target Jesse will aim it for you
00:47:01
launch lacks the most skill intensive
00:47:03
part of using a gun and you are going to
00:47:05
be using launcher hell of a lot why well
00:47:08
why don't I hit you with an example this
00:47:10
is what happens if you melee someone in
00:47:12
control bit of damage bit a knock back
00:47:14
and this is what happens if you launch
00:47:16
at someone in
00:47:17
control that's more damage and more
00:47:20
knockback that's better than melee in
00:47:23
melee range huh okay maybe there's a guy
00:47:26
far away so you switch to grip the
00:47:28
handgun or pierce the sniper form for
00:47:30
the service weapon now you're going to
00:47:31
need to charge Pierce and you're going
00:47:32
to need to aim it with a very sensitive
00:47:34
reticle and no aim assist by default
00:47:37
grip doesn't need to charge but it does
00:47:39
lose accuracy fast launch on the other
00:47:41
hand has an Aimbot it's a better sniper
00:47:44
than the sniper at sniper range a
00:47:46
different scenario you're in danger
00:47:48
there's a shield in control but you
00:47:50
won't often use it it's slow it kills
00:47:52
your visibility and it means you can't
00:47:54
attack which means you can't heal launch
00:47:56
meanwhile removes a threat quickly and
00:47:59
gives you health there are almost no
00:48:01
situations where it isn't the smartest
00:48:02
way to get out of danger one more
00:48:04
example there's a guy it's a normal
00:48:06
encounter you're going to be running
00:48:07
around a lot in a normal encounter and
00:48:09
that makes the service weapon much
00:48:10
harder to handle on account of its
00:48:12
slippery aim especially in comparison to
00:48:14
launch which has a [__] aim bot and
00:48:16
is also likely to be much stronger there
00:48:19
are not many situations where launch
00:48:21
isn't the best gun in the game if you
00:48:23
can use launch and you usually can it's
00:48:26
always best to in most cases that means
00:48:28
less depth because the correct decision
00:48:30
is always the same and less variety as
00:48:32
large parts of a move set collect dust
00:48:35
either seen less often or not at all C's
00:48:37
suffers the same fate but through a Less
00:48:39
Direct mechanism launch doesn't do
00:48:41
anything that ciz can but the speed of
00:48:43
combat particularly when launch is
00:48:45
Juiced means that ciz is an incredibly
00:48:47
inefficient means of fighting doubly so
00:48:49
without upgrades and the problem there
00:48:51
is that you're probably not going to
00:48:52
upgrade C's because you're probably
00:48:54
going to be spending your relatively
00:48:55
precious slots and points on much more
00:48:57
useful things for which upgrades cost
00:48:59
the same amount remedy skill tree
00:49:01
balance is baffling three points on
00:49:02
melee or three on launch I don't know
00:49:04
man maybe the one that's always in use
00:49:06
and is also better and also has higher
00:49:08
upgrade percentages yeah that one C is
00:49:11
cool it's fun to build an army and on
00:49:13
occasion a seized Ally as a genuinely
00:49:15
useful distraction when I used it I used
00:49:17
it for these reasons and it's not as
00:49:19
though you'll never use the service
00:49:20
weapon either sometimes you'll use it
00:49:22
because it's worthwhile often times
00:49:23
because launch ran out of energy but
00:49:25
balance impacts character if you're
00:49:27
mostly using the service weapon to pass
00:49:29
the time until launch is recharged then
00:49:31
the service weapon takes on a feeling of
00:49:33
weakness that undermines its mythical
00:49:35
stature and launch recharging won't take
00:49:37
long because it is limited by energy but
00:49:39
with time and investment into the
00:49:41
progression system those limits
00:49:42
dramatically lessen at best aiming the
00:49:45
service weapon when the service weapon
00:49:46
is relevant playing to the strength of
00:49:48
its forms intrinsic whims in advanced
00:49:50
plays where possible is as far as
00:49:52
controled substance goes at worst it's a
00:49:54
game where you press the die button
00:49:55
pointing vaguely in the enemy's
00:49:57
Direction it's impossibly cool but
00:49:59
mechanically flat so the hope would be
00:50:02
that enemy and encounter design might
00:50:03
get us out of this mess and it does try
00:50:06
but it doesn't succeed I want to start
00:50:07
with the exception mostly for the
00:50:09
selfish purpose of soothing my guilt for
00:50:11
a prior incident of being a dumbass in
00:50:12
the last video I said two things that
00:50:15
Shield was useless and that there was no
00:50:17
way to reliably avoid damage from his
00:50:19
distorted which I used to call Creepers
00:50:21
on account of the way they sneak up on
00:50:22
you and explode guess what guys Shield
00:50:24
is how you reliably avoid damage from
00:50:26
from his distorted for [__] sake I
00:50:29
mean The Shield's still useless outside
00:50:31
of that but I have come to appreciate
00:50:32
the distorted encounters for the simple
00:50:34
reason that they compel a different
00:50:36
response from everything else
00:50:38
mechanically yes but experientially too
00:50:40
this is the one enemy that doesn't
00:50:42
fulfill Jess's power fantasy you were
00:50:44
the hunted the one enemy that's the
00:50:46
exception the rule is a large amount of
00:50:48
ideas that basically don't work it's
00:50:51
easy to imagine why remedy might have
00:50:53
made certain choices there is a common
00:50:55
perception third third person shooters
00:50:57
are games where you shoot your gun
00:50:59
getting players to move away from genre
00:51:01
conventions can be extremely difficult
00:51:03
and so in control we see mechanics like
00:51:05
enemy Shields that specifically exist to
00:51:07
encourage launch over the service weapon
00:51:09
bullets scratch them launch breaks
00:51:11
through them it works it just doesn't
00:51:13
understand its situation in practice
00:51:15
enemy Shields make you do something you
00:51:17
were already going to do they are
00:51:18
mechanical dead weight what about his
00:51:20
clusters these are priests they heal
00:51:23
enemies in their presence so you're
00:51:24
either going to want to burst down the
00:51:26
cluster itself before it can teleport
00:51:28
away or to burst down some other enemy
00:51:30
before it has time to heal in either
00:51:32
case you want to deal damage as quickly
00:51:34
as possible launch is how you do that
00:51:36
there's popping zip things which slowly
00:51:39
Advance towards you until they're close
00:51:40
enough to explode to maximize their
00:51:42
distance you want to kill them as
00:51:43
quickly as possible which means launch
00:51:46
and then there's fights with flying
00:51:47
enemies which are exclusively the least
00:51:49
interesting fights in the game level
00:51:51
design is completely removed from the
00:51:53
equation that's a basic feature of the
00:51:54
premise while viable options collapse to
00:51:57
pierce and launch but because you're
00:51:58
fighting small distant targets the
00:52:01
pressure is placed on Aim so launch wins
00:52:03
the debate because launch doesn't need
00:52:05
to be aimed weak enemies which are most
00:52:07
flying enemies die in one hit so
00:52:09
choosing what object to throw is made
00:52:10
irrelevant two for ones are rarer
00:52:12
because of the environment while tougher
00:52:14
enemies are only tougher because they
00:52:15
can dodge a mechanic that was by
00:52:17
remedy's admission specifically designed
00:52:20
to discourage launch that in reality
00:52:22
does no such thing because the best
00:52:24
approach when someone Dodges is to
00:52:26
quickly spam out more launches so that
00:52:28
they die before they can dodge again
00:52:30
kill this guy first kill this guy
00:52:31
quickly demands for DPS simply reinforce
00:52:34
launches dominance what happens as a
00:52:36
result is that encounter design is
00:52:38
flattened it just doesn't matter that
00:52:40
much what kind of enemies you're going
00:52:41
up against because your approach will
00:52:43
mostly be the same later into the game
00:52:45
Jesse unlocks a new ability levitate she
00:52:48
can fly now this has a number of real
00:52:50
upsides the foremost being that it's
00:52:52
[__] dope another being that with
00:52:54
levitate comes the ground pound the new
00:52:56
strongest attack in the game the
00:52:58
trade-off is that it consumes all your
00:52:59
energy which if use poorly places you in
00:53:02
the middle of the heat with no defense
00:53:04
if you can kill a worthwhile targe in
00:53:05
one it's genuinely useful the challenge
00:53:08
is in judging that unfortunately
00:53:10
levitate has a downside it erases level
00:53:12
design you're no longer beholden to the
00:53:14
paths and tunnels of the Arena there's a
00:53:16
guy up in the girders you don't need to
00:53:18
think about how to get there levitate
00:53:19
means it's the same answer every time
00:53:22
that's not a big loss but it is
00:53:23
something here's a big loss levitate
00:53:26
means that launch always has a usable
00:53:28
sight line there's a guy behind a large
00:53:30
obstacle not only [__] more one of
00:53:32
the last things standing in launch's way
00:53:34
with a literal things standing in its
00:53:35
way stuff in the environment that a box
00:53:38
may bounce off but a bullet may not or
00:53:40
that might encourage you to close the
00:53:41
gap making the shotgun more viable yeah
00:53:44
not anymore with levitate and later game
00:53:46
upgrades that solidify launches strength
00:53:48
control gets shallower with time not
00:53:50
deeper so it's bad then uh no not really
00:53:54
to be honest it even feels wrong to call
00:53:56
controls combat mediocre because
00:53:58
mediocre summons images of dust sladen
00:54:00
cover Shooters a [__] Far Cry 6
00:54:02
something everyone has already seen
00:54:04
before mediocre feels like an unfitting
00:54:06
description of a combat system I
00:54:08
recommend everyone try just to engage in
00:54:10
its basic motions Dr darling was right
00:54:13
Jesse is dynamite which is to say
00:54:16
spectacular but not for long how do we
00:54:18
solve this problem it's a difficult
00:54:20
question because the simple answer Nerf
00:54:22
launch causes an even bigger problem
00:54:24
that launch is the coolest thing about
00:54:25
control I want to be using it the second
00:54:28
game will have to be careful Buffs to
00:54:30
Jesse's other abilities level design
00:54:32
that is still interesting with levitate
00:54:34
launch not being able to One-Shot from
00:54:35
full health but what control really
00:54:37
needs is to wake up it needs enemy
00:54:39
design to understand the game it's in it
00:54:41
needs to rethink the thinking that led
00:54:43
to launch upgrades costing the same
00:54:45
amount as melee upgrades it needs a new
00:54:47
philosophy until it gets one the problem
00:54:49
with the control we have boiled down to
00:54:51
a single word is I think time they can't
00:54:54
keep it up it's like a pensioners
00:54:55
erection and the campaign the story they
00:54:58
also erode like the combat does as the
00:55:00
game plows on but there is one big
00:55:02
difference with combat there is a lot of
00:55:04
design that is functionally inert
00:55:06
mechanics encouraging a strategy that's
00:55:08
already dominant enemies whose presence
00:55:10
means almost nothing abilities you'll
00:55:12
rarely use if ever but with a campaign
00:55:15
the problem is not ineffectual things
00:55:17
it's the absence of things there's
00:55:19
simply not enough there take the puzzles
00:55:22
a decent example is darling's HRA lab
00:55:24
you've got to figure out the correct
00:55:25
sequence of symbols based off slightly
00:55:27
vague Clues you can find on a series of
00:55:29
whiteboards and that's your lot most of
00:55:31
the other puzzles are about launching
00:55:32
power boxes into power box recepticles
00:55:35
which is cool because it's novel to use
00:55:36
launch to solve problems that aren't
00:55:38
trying to shoot you but then it stops
00:55:40
being novel which is a problem because
00:55:42
it also doesn't evolve there's finding
00:55:44
the box which is always easy and there's
00:55:46
getting the box to the right place which
00:55:48
is also always easy it's like an
00:55:50
endlessly recurring level one and yet
00:55:53
even when you've done this dance several
00:55:54
times before control will still believe
00:55:56
it necessary to explain this simple
00:55:58
premise which speaks to a fear of anyone
00:56:00
getting stuck so powerful that remedy
00:56:03
believed tutorial isation with objective
00:56:05
prompts in a game as otherwise immersive
00:56:06
as control was justified according to
00:56:09
one designer a similar fear led to the
00:56:11
flattening of puzzles in the Ocean View
00:56:12
Motel which account for the remainder of
00:56:14
the campaign's quantity you are
00:56:16
presented with a thing that thing is in
00:56:17
a certain State a similar thing exists
00:56:19
in all three rooms of the motel your job
00:56:22
is to match their States they're weird
00:56:24
and I like that but the formula never
00:56:25
changed es and the problem isn't that
00:56:27
they're easy indeed it's entirely
00:56:29
possible that hard puzzles would have
00:56:30
screwed with the pace the problem is
00:56:32
that in never changing they just stop
00:56:34
being interesting a microcosm in that
00:56:37
way for much of control's campaign the
00:56:38
core Loop of progressing through the
00:56:40
house aggressing against the his and
00:56:42
undressing the law no other synonym
00:56:44
rhymed sorry goes unperturbed with the
00:56:47
spice you learn to expect from the side
00:56:49
content remaining absent there's no
00:56:51
Mushroom Kingdom Here no boss fights
00:56:53
those are all optional no surprise
00:56:55
encounters and not much in the way of
00:56:56
wacky SCP stuff either while the
00:56:59
characterization in the game Central
00:57:00
Mysteries continue to not continue
00:57:02
you're increasingly directed by a plot
00:57:04
that seems intent on erasing any sense
00:57:06
of narrative momentum goal find Dylan
00:57:09
but first make more HRA vest to protect
00:57:11
the still living from being possessed by
00:57:13
the hiss despite the fact that everyone
00:57:14
you know or care about already has one
00:57:16
so you're really doing this for people
00:57:17
who are only implied to exist okay then
00:57:20
after the H lab but oh dear wouldn't you
00:57:22
know it we're fresh out of H crafting
00:57:24
materials guess that'll just be enough
00:57:26
very quick trip down to a [__] Quarry
00:57:28
where you can mine some more in
00:57:30
situations like these it would be better
00:57:32
to have no plot Direction at all it's
00:57:34
better to feel like you're moving
00:57:35
forward simply because it's the next
00:57:37
place to go than it is to feel like
00:57:38
you're only here doing this because
00:57:40
you've been contracted to do someone
00:57:42
else's chores wouldn't it be better to
00:57:44
learn that the benov TV is wreaking
00:57:46
havoc in the containment sector
00:57:47
organically and then put a stop to it
00:57:49
instead of walking into the front office
00:57:51
and then being told to stop the TV this
00:57:53
part of the game does pick up a little
00:57:55
Dylan's and reach no more obfuscations
00:57:58
but then you find Dylan who has painted
00:58:00
Jesse's name on his cell in blood oh boy
00:58:03
it's silly it's cliche it doesn't fit
00:58:05
control in the slightest it barely even
00:58:07
makes sense he rocks up back at base
00:58:10
having been possessed by the hiss he
00:58:11
offers scattered insights into his cruel
00:58:13
treatment at the hands of the bureau and
00:58:15
little as to the nature of the hiss
00:58:17
Jesse is not unaffected by this but for
00:58:19
her nothing really changes that's the
00:58:22
problem finding Dylan feels
00:58:24
insignificant we did it okay okay now
00:58:26
back to fixing doors the stories pressed
00:58:28
into the walls of the world the law
00:58:30
despite its struggles the intrinsic
00:58:32
pleasure of Simply seeing the next thing
00:58:35
this is what keeps control's heart
00:58:36
beating but it could have done with some
00:58:38
help by the end of act two the flame has
00:58:40
begun to sputter then act three starts
00:58:43
it's very short and it acts as a shot of
00:58:45
adrenaline act three is where it stops
00:58:47
being possible to generalize anything in
00:58:49
control we need to get to dimensional
00:58:51
research but we can't get through the
00:58:53
maze standing in the way so Arty calls
00:58:55
with telepathy of course and after
00:58:57
walking through a series of rooms for 5
00:58:59
minutes which sadly was not made
00:59:01
engaging just because remedy overlaid a
00:59:02
PNG of some trees our boy hooks us up
00:59:05
with a zesty new Bop there is a saying
00:59:07
amongst fans of control what's your
00:59:09
favorite level and why is it the ashtray
00:59:11
maze you're about to find out this is
00:59:13
the exception to the rules the exception
00:59:15
to the campaign's general lack of source
00:59:17
and on the face of it the exception to
00:59:19
remedy's attempts not to speak for the
00:59:20
things in their game there's a rock song
00:59:22
backing a set piece and it's a pretty
00:59:24
damn good one or Army is made of the
00:59:26
ashray maze the combat always lent
00:59:29
itself to spectacle and the song
00:59:30
alongside being amazing was composed for
00:59:33
control the lyrics written for Jesse a
00:59:35
dramatization of her journey its
00:59:37
progression walking with the level and
00:59:39
lock step all of it heightened even
00:59:41
further because there's nothing else
00:59:42
like it in control it's a beautifully
00:59:44
tuned explosion of theatrical energy and
00:59:47
yet it doesn't really break control's
00:59:49
rule remedy and not imposing an emotion
00:59:51
onto their Creation The Wild is the song
00:59:54
and the means by which we hear it are
00:59:56
are diagetic in the real world take
00:59:58
control as composed by Poets of the fall
01:00:00
but in the fiction they are the old gods
01:00:02
of Asgard the washed up ancient rockers
01:00:05
from Bright Falls friends of artti and
01:00:07
they are speaking to Jesse through this
01:00:09
diis control's unique flavor of emotion
01:00:12
is maintained and the set piece gains a
01:00:14
narrative Dimension the music is a
01:00:16
character thing it's the cheering of
01:00:18
strange beings unknown to Jesse it's the
01:00:20
reassurance that the World of Magic is
01:00:22
looking back at her and for the first
01:00:24
time smiling it is as though Jesse has
01:00:26
passed a test and in that there is a
01:00:28
special cathis that was awesome I love
01:00:32
the ashr Beyond is dimensional research
01:00:35
this is where they use the slide
01:00:37
projector that Jesse and Dylan found in
01:00:39
ordinary the hiss are pouring in through
01:00:41
slid Escape 39 we need to find it and
01:00:43
turn it off but instead we find Polaris
01:00:46
no we find hedrin which is the source of
01:00:49
Polaris HRA hedron resonance amplifiers
01:00:52
boost it signal staving off the hiss and
01:00:55
the hiss no and now they're here and so
01:00:57
we fight to save her with a sense of
01:00:59
urgency it's a challenging fight there
01:01:01
is a sense of relief when we beat it
01:01:03
when we repel the hiss which provides
01:01:05
just the right setup for what happens
01:01:08
next we failed hedrin falls apart it's
01:01:11
hard to feel anything for a sound inside
01:01:13
a hexagon that doesn't talk and
01:01:14
expresses no emotion but there is
01:01:16
emotion in Jesse's attachment to this
01:01:17
being it's her friend it protected her
01:01:20
it made her feel special her whole life
01:01:22
it's the link to the world she wanted to
01:01:24
believe in the thing that showed her she
01:01:25
was wasn't crazy with Jesse's grief and
01:01:28
her fear Courtney Hope proves herself
01:01:30
once again and then the hedin push their
01:01:32
fingers through the surface into the wet
01:01:34
and then Jesse is gone oh my god did
01:01:37
control just make something interesting
01:01:39
happen with the plot and create emotion
01:01:41
with the characters well welcome back
01:01:43
remedy let's hope this goes somewhere
01:01:45
compelling huh we wake in Jesse's
01:01:47
nightmare which as it turns out is being
01:01:49
a wagy for the hiss a corporate slave to
01:01:51
an uncaring bureaucracy a life without
01:01:54
magic of course this is what she Fe we
01:01:56
collect coffee cups deliver papers bring
01:01:59
trenches mail yes sir sorry sir I'll do
01:02:01
that right away sir it's mechanically
01:02:04
effective gray as it should be and it
01:02:06
keeps happening the same day every day
01:02:08
but some things change artti knows he
01:02:11
sees through the dream trench is losing
01:02:13
his grip the his tighten theirs there is
01:02:15
repetition and dissent and through this
01:02:18
you're made to expect that if you simply
01:02:19
keep repeating then eventually you'll
01:02:21
break through and you will but it is
01:02:23
this expectation that makes it likely
01:02:25
you'll miss the most important thing
01:02:27
that happens here trench Rambles to
01:02:29
himself delivering his mail is the final
01:02:31
task of each day the compulsion is to do
01:02:33
it immediately in the hope that you'll
01:02:34
finally wake indeed Jesse insists the
01:02:37
moment you enter his office I need to
01:02:39
keep moving who then would have known
01:02:41
that on his last day of Consciousness
01:02:42
he'd keep rambling for 5 minutes a
01:02:46
5minute monologue the majority of what
01:02:48
trench says in control and the answers
01:02:50
to so many things where we can find the
01:02:52
slide projector who let the hiss in and
01:02:54
why the details of his Feud with darling
01:02:56
and the nature of artti you shouldn't
01:02:58
miss this the most important things are
01:03:00
in the first 30 seconds so there's hope
01:03:02
but if you do there will be holes that
01:03:04
can never be filled and Jesse will just
01:03:06
seem to magically know where the slide
01:03:08
projector is the bigger problem is what
01:03:10
happens next darling calls using the
01:03:12
hotline which means he's either dead or
01:03:14
somewhere far far away he tells us that
01:03:17
hedrin was not a source but a catalyst
01:03:19
he tells us to find his office there is
01:03:21
an entrance to the Ocean View Motel and
01:03:23
in the third room is darling dancing
01:03:26
singing a cover written for Jesse he's
01:03:29
hyping her up it's an earworm and it's
01:03:31
hilarious because it's so profoundly
01:03:33
unexpected in the climax of the darkest
01:03:35
part of the game it works beautifully
01:03:37
darling's use of the hotline his
01:03:39
appearance in a video that couldn't have
01:03:40
been pre-recorded his final log where he
01:03:42
told us that he would fully expose
01:03:44
himself to hedrin Resonance and that
01:03:45
would change him combined to suggest
01:03:47
that communicating in the form of a
01:03:48
music video is a manifestation of
01:03:51
distance he is in some other dimension
01:03:53
now and this is his way of telling you
01:03:55
to get back on your feet at Jesse's low
01:03:57
point it feels emotionally right enjoy
01:04:00
it it won't last long another door is
01:04:02
opened inside we find Jesse or Polaris
01:04:06
Jesse Polaris she says grow brighter and
01:04:09
from this Jesse somehow concludes that
01:04:11
hedrin is dead but Polaris lives on
01:04:14
inside her confused well maybe you're
01:04:16
supposed to be Jesse's choice of words
01:04:19
suggest that hedrin and Polaris are two
01:04:20
separate beings with Separate Lives
01:04:23
selves and separate intentions which was
01:04:25
never before implied it's never
01:04:27
specified in this new context what
01:04:28
darling meant by Catalyst and Jesse
01:04:30
Wonders that perhaps hedrin was trying
01:04:32
to teach her how to trigger Jesse
01:04:34
Polaris which doesn't really line up
01:04:36
with anything we've just experienced
01:04:37
Jesse Polaris was triggered by Jesse
01:04:39
resisting the his his possession with
01:04:41
the unique benefits of darling's help
01:04:43
but that could have happened at any time
01:04:45
most control fans reached the conclusion
01:04:47
that hedrin was a source Catalyst for
01:04:49
Polaris and when it died Jesse became
01:04:51
the new source Catalyst for Polaris but
01:04:54
Jesse she wonders if she ever understand
01:04:56
she wonders if that's okay indeed the
01:04:58
concepts and language here seem
01:05:00
intentionally confusing perhaps to make
01:05:02
an artistic point that some things can't
01:05:04
be understood and nor do they have to be
01:05:06
but that if true is a point clumsily
01:05:08
made because it's not the nature of
01:05:10
Polaris that confuses it's the
01:05:12
intentionally confusing ways that
01:05:14
Polaris is described and there is a
01:05:16
price of all this strangeness a death is
01:05:18
reversed and Jesse recovers from her
01:05:20
darkest hour for a reason that feels
01:05:22
like it was pulled from thin air and
01:05:24
that has nothing to do with her
01:05:25
character
01:05:26
it's really very unsatisfying but now
01:05:29
the [__] is back and we're back in the
01:05:31
[__] in business burning with the
01:05:33
Resonance of hedron Jesse Parts the
01:05:34
seething tides of his in the Nostalgia
01:05:36
Department with a newfound confidence
01:05:38
she condemns trench's obsessive need for
01:05:40
control and marches forward the board is
01:05:42
in danger the hiss have wormed their way
01:05:44
into the astral plane oh my god there
01:05:46
are Stakes all of a sudden well what
01:05:48
impeccable timing that the clock would
01:05:50
start ticking the moment we needed it to
01:05:52
it is very contrived the board tosses
01:05:55
you in a emergency can of Jesse juice
01:05:57
for the apocalyptic occasion and you
01:05:58
become Unstoppable unfortunately for
01:06:01
remedy scribbling level 30 above the
01:06:03
enemy's heads and cranking launch damage
01:06:05
even higher than it already was doesn't
01:06:07
actually make the following 10 standard
01:06:09
combat encounters feel especially
01:06:10
climactic at the end you will find no
01:06:13
boss fight you cleanse Dylan he falls
01:06:15
into a coma a limbo that neither leads
01:06:17
to a sense of Victory or defeat the
01:06:19
projector is turned off but some hiss
01:06:21
remain because the postgame content
01:06:22
needs it to and Jesse accepts her
01:06:24
director ship over with the Bureau of
01:06:26
control and then the game ends it's cold
01:06:29
emotionless it's not even conceptually
01:06:31
interesting which was kind of control's
01:06:33
whole thing Jesse's decision to direct
01:06:35
the bureau willingly doesn't not make
01:06:37
sense but it also doesn't feel earned
01:06:39
for the last few hours control has
01:06:41
insisted upon the notion of taking
01:06:43
control it was sung to Jesse it was
01:06:45
baked into her nightmare both the title
01:06:47
of the mission and represented as a
01:06:49
change in status from an obedient office
01:06:51
peon to director of The Bureau the
01:06:53
notion doesn't come out of nowhere where
01:06:55
the setup fails is the lack of Deep
01:06:57
Roots in character why does Jesse feden
01:07:01
take control in what way did the events
01:07:03
of the game Teach Jesse that what she
01:07:05
needed as a person was control a lack of
01:07:08
control is not a defining feature of her
01:07:10
character she does claim that this is
01:07:12
her mess to clean up perhaps implying
01:07:14
that she feels responsible for what
01:07:15
happened because she was the one who
01:07:17
discovered the slide projector when she
01:07:18
was a child but no sense of guilt is
01:07:20
dramatized in this story it's not that
01:07:22
Jesse's choice is illogical it makes
01:07:24
sense that she would want to to control
01:07:25
the organization responsible for her
01:07:27
brother and the world that she loves but
01:07:29
that's Logic the problem is that in
01:07:31
being detached from any dramatically
01:07:33
relevant aspect of character it does not
01:07:35
lead to an emotionally satisfying end it
01:07:38
also doesn't lead to a thematically
01:07:39
satisfying end what's the message of
01:07:42
control that taking control is good but
01:07:45
why where's the because section and hang
01:07:48
on a minute isn't trench explicitly
01:07:50
condemned for his obsessive need for
01:07:52
control those are Jesse's exact words
01:07:54
spoken about five minutes ago while
01:07:56
Jesse herself is celebrated for taking
01:07:58
more and more control and then total
01:08:00
control of the Bureau of control so is
01:08:02
control the problem or the solution
01:08:04
remedy aren't confused they know the
01:08:06
difference between Jesse and trench
01:08:07
trench LED from a stance of fear his
01:08:09
paranoia locked Dylan in a cage trench
01:08:12
bad while Jesse's position is one of
01:08:13
acceptance and that's good but that's
01:08:15
not what the ending says it's not about
01:08:18
the difference between Jesse and trench
01:08:19
it's about Jesse realizing her contrived
01:08:21
Destiny as girl boss Prime it's an
01:08:23
ending shaped like an ending but that
01:08:25
leaves you without thought or feeling
01:08:27
you want to know what I think what I
01:08:29
think control is really about I think
01:08:31
that control is about our relationship
01:08:33
to the subconscious mind the source of
01:08:35
what might as well be magic Sam Lake
01:08:38
face of Max pain heart of Remedies
01:08:40
inexhaustible creativity likes car young
01:08:43
an old Swiss psychologist who thought a
01:08:45
lot about the goings on in the deepest
01:08:47
parts of our head control likes car
01:08:49
young indeed so does the entire remedy
01:08:51
connected Universe it uses his terms
01:08:54
like threshold archet type and Shadow
01:08:56
its law tells us his theories are true
01:08:58
that Humanity's Collective unconscious
01:09:00
projects a measurable psychic Force we
01:09:03
can change the likelihood of something
01:09:04
being a receptical for these forces just
01:09:07
by thinking about it that the archetypes
01:09:09
of our mind are tangible and sometimes
01:09:11
its stories are founded on Carl Young's
01:09:13
lessons in Alan Wake 2 we integrate the
01:09:16
archetypal Shadow to integrate is to
01:09:18
make an aspect of the unconscious
01:09:20
conscious to bring it out of the dark
01:09:21
and into the light to accept it and make
01:09:23
it a part of ourselves if we do our
01:09:26
Consciousness will grow if we don't it
01:09:28
will rule our lives and we will call it
01:09:30
fate you might say young believed in
01:09:32
control that's what Jesse is an
01:09:35
embodiment of integration a natural
01:09:37
Avatar of accepting the unknown learning
01:09:39
from it and making it a part of her
01:09:41
being though in more physical and
01:09:43
literal terms this is why Jesse chooses
01:09:45
to direct the bureau despite what
01:09:47
they've done to her world to her brother
01:09:49
to her she takes control because control
01:09:51
is good Polaris in the hiss aelan Minds
01:09:54
on the surface only in the low terms of
01:09:56
law but what they really are are
01:09:58
manifestations of the unconscious mind
01:10:01
they strike me as instinctual less
01:10:04
conscious more like a collective impulse
01:10:08
Vibes and resonances literally and
01:10:10
symbolically who can only be described
01:10:12
as a feeling who can express only in
01:10:15
unconscious terms Polaris is the
01:10:17
imaginary friend silent to all butt
01:10:19
Jesse and gains a spoken voice when it
01:10:21
is integrated into her and the hiss an
01:10:24
earworm whose relent L incantation is
01:10:26
written in the form of a data IST poem a
01:10:28
20th century surrealist form of poetry
01:10:30
that is designed specifically to never
01:10:33
make sense in conscious terms to
01:10:35
resemble the flowing of a dream I'd open
01:10:37
my eyes with those those words still on
01:10:40
my
01:10:41
lips in the dream they had made perfect
01:10:45
sense but awake they're like a like a
01:10:48
foreign
01:10:50
language already forgotten control is
01:10:53
about a war between concrete and liquid
01:10:55
science and Magic one level deeper is
01:10:58
what those things represent the solidity
01:11:00
of Consciousness against the lapping
01:11:02
waves of thought and feeling in our
01:11:03
deeper minds and Jesse fights for both
01:11:06
her loyalties split between Magic and
01:11:08
the people of the bureau Jesse is a hero
01:11:10
of Two Worlds who will bring unity and
01:11:12
peace through control I think what this
01:11:14
game really means to tell you is that
01:11:16
this war is real and that there is a way
01:11:18
to end it if it isn't about that [__] if
01:11:21
it is well sweet but it doesn't offer an
01:11:23
ironclad defense controls World
01:11:26
captivated me like nothing ever has I
01:11:28
haven't been thinking about it for all
01:11:29
this time because I wanted to find out
01:11:31
for the sake of an analysis I might
01:11:32
never have made whether or not there was
01:11:34
anything really there I've been thinking
01:11:36
about control because it made me want to
01:11:38
as far as I'm concerned it can claim the
01:11:40
benefits of analysis and yet the truth
01:11:42
remains that stories succeed when they
01:11:44
communicate in Emotion control story
01:11:46
doesn't it's fascinating and it has a
01:11:48
third act peppered with flashes of
01:11:50
Brilliance but it mostly isn't about
01:11:52
anything besides finding a way to open
01:11:54
the next door at the pest of a cardboard
01:11:55
cutout Jesse's character Arc might make
01:11:58
perfect sense through a certain thematic
01:11:59
lens but if you view her as a human
01:12:01
being it remains Hollow and unimpactful
01:12:04
the ending has you throw boxes at
01:12:05
zombies to save a triangle why probably
01:12:08
because control suffered from major
01:12:09
budgetary constraints and it went into
01:12:11
production before the screenplay was
01:12:13
finished the reality of creating things
01:12:15
is the greatest influence on any created
01:12:17
thing control is weird in case you
01:12:19
hadn't noticed so it benefits from a
01:12:21
protective shell of plausible
01:12:23
deniability that makes people who feel
01:12:24
left behind think I just didn't get it
01:12:27
well I don't think you did but I don't
01:12:29
think that's your fault either one of
01:12:31
control stories fail to succeed neither
01:12:33
involve character yet while one kept me
01:12:35
fascinated the other made me feel
01:12:37
something control is lucky because the
01:12:39
strength of all the other kinds of
01:12:40
stories it tells means the whole its
01:12:42
Central narrative leaves in the game is
01:12:44
small enough not to be a lethal wound
01:12:46
you will not leave the oldest house
01:12:48
wanting for something meaningful you'll
01:12:50
just have to face up to a nasty scar a
01:12:52
permanent limp one among many control is
01:12:55
brilliant and it is haunted by emptiness
01:12:58
by lacking an absence riddled with holes
01:13:00
like this controll is a [__] cuz it's
01:13:03
hard to square the two truths that it is
01:13:05
in many ways one of my favorite games
01:13:07
and that sometimes it honestly isn't
01:13:09
that exciting luckily for me now's not
01:13:12
really the time for conclusions because
01:13:14
this isn't the end not anymore Jesse fad
01:13:17
and rises from her desk with a sweet new
01:13:19
hairpiece willing director of the Bureau
01:13:21
of control and now things have changed
01:13:24
in 2019 there was little left to do you
01:13:26
could wrap up side missions maybe
01:13:28
collect some outfits such as minimalist
01:13:30
Sith Lord cool I guess mid mid mid
01:13:34
director of McDonald's and some more
01:13:36
assorted mid point being it was a dry
01:13:38
selection but it's been 5 years since
01:13:40
then we've had a free content update and
01:13:43
two new chapters that amount to an act
01:13:44
four The Adventures of director feden
01:13:47
I'm a big fan of the way remedy don't
01:13:48
make the DLC look or feel like DLC
01:13:51
instead presenting themselves like
01:13:53
anything else would something stumbled
01:13:55
on to an alert that suddenly appears
01:13:57
when the game ends it is time to do the
01:13:59
DLC but it feels like a natural
01:14:01
continuation of control so what first
01:14:04
that depends if your plan is to head
01:14:06
into Alan Wake 2 after control do
01:14:08
Foundation First and Alan Wake last
01:14:10
otherwise Allen comes first because it
01:14:12
functions more like a villain of the
01:14:13
week episode than a turning point the
01:14:15
next stage of Jesse's story that way
01:14:17
functioning well as a break between the
01:14:19
ending of the main game and the true
01:14:21
ending of control in Foundation act four
01:14:23
then takes on a satisfied and well-paced
01:14:25
AR so what's John click whining about
01:14:28
this time something dark sling in the
01:14:30
new investigation sector EML Hartman the
01:14:33
therapist from Bright Falls has been
01:14:34
spit roasted by the corrupting force of
01:14:36
the dark presence in the his emerging
01:14:38
here as a 20ft gremlin bastard haunting
01:14:41
the halls of Investigations there's a
01:14:43
soft cat and mouse dynamic as you engage
01:14:45
in control's usual gameplay Loop nothing
01:14:47
so impressive or AI driven is alien
01:14:49
isolation but at scripted moments that
01:14:51
are not always predictable Harman will
01:14:53
find you when he does you're the Mouse
01:14:55
unsurprisingly the theme of the Allen
01:14:57
wake DLC is horror and it's pretty well
01:14:59
done the investigation sector is
01:15:01
characterized by an eerie sense of
01:15:03
Abandonment anyone here cluttered debris
01:15:06
things left in a hurry others marked out
01:15:08
of order the rest of the bureau was
01:15:09
taken by the hiss before anyone could
01:15:11
react but this disaster took time and so
01:15:14
a different tale is told of fear the
01:15:16
ceilings are low the walls are cramped
01:15:19
light barely has room to breathe
01:15:20
Darkness presses closer remedy nail the
01:15:23
atmosphere and the tutorial I
01:15:25
light is the core mechanic down here
01:15:27
Jesse doesn't have a flashlight but she
01:15:28
does have a lamp and the force launch
01:15:31
adds an element of feedback and
01:15:33
physicality that makes controls among
01:15:35
the most intrinsically satisfying
01:15:36
flashlights I've used in a game yet
01:15:38
remed have done that twice but it's a
01:15:40
minor Victory you'll only be using the
01:15:42
lamp to cook some Darkness goop never to
01:15:44
fight anyone or to light the way no for
01:15:46
that we return to the Embrace of an old
01:15:48
friend oh hey power boxes how have you
01:15:51
been not this [__] guy again good
01:15:53
news is remedy have seen the in a second
01:15:55
sense finally we've moved past level one
01:15:58
you'll have to think for a moment to
01:15:59
solve wake's puzzles maybe one thing
01:16:01
needs to happen before another thing can
01:16:03
be done they're better they're fine
01:16:05
they're best when they're being used to
01:16:07
make a mechanical challenge out of the
01:16:08
horror Harman pounces and you're trapped
01:16:11
in an elevator and then surrounded by
01:16:12
swamp-like Darkness you can see the glow
01:16:14
of a power box in the Mist you can spend
01:16:17
only moments in the swamp before Harman
01:16:18
catches you figure it out Jesse the game
01:16:21
is one of short bursts forward hoping
01:16:23
you have enough time to make it to the
01:16:24
next pack of light to the next box to
01:16:26
turn on the next light it's a remarkably
01:16:28
effective concept it's kind of scary and
01:16:31
remedy lean on it a lot even for some
01:16:33
unique combat challenges where the
01:16:35
darkness creates a limited space of
01:16:37
safety and a limited time to work
01:16:38
outside it but it's used Too Much remedy
01:16:41
as ever do too little to change the
01:16:43
routine soon the routine becomes
01:16:45
predictable you become confidently aware
01:16:48
of exactly how much time you have to
01:16:50
safely move in the dark and as that
01:16:51
truth matures the horror loses much of
01:16:53
its effect oh [__] Harman slowly becomes
01:16:57
oh hey Harman as with the base game time
01:17:00
weakens Alan Wake there are no other
01:17:02
enemies just the hiss Hartman and
01:17:04
gallons of black goo it's solid not much
01:17:06
more so what's it like to be director
01:17:09
complicated when Jessi came here she was
01:17:12
everything the bureau was not so
01:17:13
trashing their offices and spraying dirt
01:17:15
across their freshly cleaned floors was
01:17:17
a coherent act now Jesse is the Willing
01:17:20
director this is her house and these are
01:17:22
her people but laying it to ruin is
01:17:24
still the basic means of interaction
01:17:26
with control it's how you pass the time
01:17:28
it's an inevitability of combat the
01:17:30
result is an unaddressed dissonance
01:17:33
control was designed for a woman who
01:17:34
opposed her environment not its leader
01:17:37
and to a noticeable degree you can feel
01:17:39
it control becomes a less cohesive
01:17:41
experience in its postgame it's a
01:17:43
problem a lurking offness that future
01:17:45
entries are going to have to deal with
01:17:47
on the flip side the DLCs introduce a
01:17:49
new mechanic to help legitimize the role
01:17:51
of director through gameplay certain
01:17:53
encounters allow you to summon Allied
01:17:54
Rangers in mechanical terms that's no
01:17:57
different from having a seized Ally
01:17:58
their primary value is distraction but
01:18:00
in narrative terms having a human friend
01:18:02
is very different from mind controlling
01:18:04
a corpse you're the reason they're here
01:18:06
if they die it's because of you and if
01:18:08
you were good enough you could have
01:18:09
saved them remember the Marines in Halo
01:18:11
it can introduce a unique tension to
01:18:13
these encounters it works nicely it's in
01:18:16
these moments that you feel like direct
01:18:17
to the most another of alen wake's
01:18:19
mechanical contributions is a new way to
01:18:21
blow up your own crib surge a grenade
01:18:23
launcher for the service weapon which
01:18:25
differentiates itself from charge the
01:18:26
rocket launcher by empowering the player
01:18:28
to decide when the bomb goes off
01:18:30
triggered detonation and the bombs stick
01:18:33
even to launchable objects oh my God is
01:18:37
that a whole new dimension of combat to
01:18:39
master uh no upon further testing it
01:18:41
turns out the damage of a launched
01:18:43
object is identical with or without the
01:18:45
explosion a silent Nerf that defies
01:18:47
logic and inevitably expectation thanks
01:18:50
remedy you got my balls looking like
01:18:52
they were cooked by Walter White but in
01:18:53
spite of that crushing disappointment
01:18:55
surge is fun I like blowing things up
01:18:58
its real problem is its competition and
01:19:00
that's the real conversation there's a
01:19:02
sniper a shotgun a machine gun and a
01:19:04
pistol in control along with surge and
01:19:06
charge that makes six to choose from but
01:19:08
you can only equip two at a time now
01:19:10
broadly speaking there are two types of
01:19:12
Encounters in control ones with flying
01:19:14
enemies which means longer ranges and
01:19:16
ones without flying enemies which tend
01:19:17
to be much tighter to cover all your
01:19:19
bases then you want something accurate
01:19:21
like grip or Pierce paired with
01:19:22
something intimate like shatter or spin
01:19:24
you're not going to die if you rock a
01:19:26
different combo but you are putting
01:19:27
yourself at an obvious disadvantage
01:19:29
Surge and charge are actively harmful at
01:19:32
close range because Splash damage
01:19:33
believes in gender equality and they are
01:19:35
also terrible at long range because they
01:19:37
fire slow inaccurate projectiles so
01:19:39
you're left with a narrow set of
01:19:41
circ*mstances where they make sense like
01:19:43
the not many times enemies decide to
01:19:45
form a group or embarrassing a distorted
01:19:47
by sticking a bomb to its little
01:19:48
invisibility cloak which is wonderful in
01:19:51
the three distorted encounters left in
01:19:52
control the problem is a two-way weapon
01:19:54
limit leaves no room for these weapons
01:19:56
unless you're willing to accept the
01:19:58
debuff they represent some people are
01:20:00
but incentives are like gravity it's a
01:20:02
shame in a game like control that wants
01:20:04
for variation and strange because the
01:20:06
limitation doesn't seem to have much of
01:20:08
a point in most games with two weapon
01:20:10
limits there's a major balancing
01:20:12
implication more guns means you can
01:20:14
shoot more because more of the ammo
01:20:16
you're carrying can be used and with
01:20:18
more guns you can avoid reloading by
01:20:20
weapon switching more often the more
01:20:22
guns the stronger but here's the thing
01:20:24
control doesn't work that way because
01:20:26
the service weapon has a universal
01:20:28
cooldown every form shares the same
01:20:30
magazine if I use shatter that spends
01:20:32
the mag for grip what that means is
01:20:34
having another slot wouldn't make Jesse
01:20:36
significantly stronger I couldn't avoid
01:20:38
any limitations or shoot any more often
01:20:40
but maybe I'd use charge sometimes if I
01:20:42
had it on me in fact having just one
01:20:45
more slot three instead of two would
01:20:47
make space for a fun option whilst
01:20:49
having both ranges covered so why two
01:20:51
what's the benefit I'd grip my teeth and
01:20:53
accept the reality of developing for a
01:20:55
controller if the d-pad was occupied but
01:20:58
it isn't it's doing nothing and remedy
01:21:00
stated defense that the limitation
01:21:01
invites the player to carefully prepare
01:21:03
for the next encounter would only make
01:21:05
sense if you had any way to know ahead
01:21:07
of time what kind of enemies would be in
01:21:09
future encounters which you don't or
01:21:12
more pressingly if preparation would
01:21:14
actually be useful in control which it
01:21:16
wouldn't if I equip two close-range
01:21:18
weapons for a close- range encounter
01:21:19
they share a magazine so I'm shooting at
01:21:22
exactly the same rate as I was before
01:21:24
the two weapon limit doesn't do anything
01:21:25
for control besides limit it it limits
01:21:28
variation in a game wanting for
01:21:30
variation that's a shame so let's change
01:21:32
the subject Alan Wake control Quantum
01:21:35
Break Even max pain all sharing the same
01:21:38
world as part of Gaming's foremost
01:21:40
connected Universe we've seen multiple
01:21:42
entries sharing a setting in the same
01:21:43
franchise but here it is multiple
01:21:45
franchises that share a setting with
01:21:47
remedy we change protagonist genre tone
01:21:50
and fantasy among the most foundational
01:21:53
elements of art provid iding hugely
01:21:55
different perspectives on the same
01:21:56
things characters and ideas control is
01:21:59
where that idea solidified the oldest
01:22:01
house like a Nexus from which everything
01:22:03
else branches and the Allen wake DLC is
01:22:05
the first time that connection has gone
01:22:07
beyond reference Beyond a passing
01:22:09
Glimpse to asking for a date like when
01:22:11
Steve Rogers first woke in Stark's time
01:22:14
question is does that benefit the games
01:22:16
simply yes because each game in it is at
01:22:19
its core about mystery and each game's
01:22:21
Mysteries are good and now they are
01:22:23
connected on the Horizon of control I
01:22:25
now see so much more more patterns more
01:22:28
possibilities a bigger bigger picture I
01:22:30
care about control so I started caring
01:22:33
about Alan Wake I can see Alan Wake as a
01:22:36
new dimension of control and that
01:22:38
excites me Alan Wake is the future of
01:22:40
control and that excites me more and so
01:22:42
I explore the investigation sector with
01:22:44
a special Fascination law that talks of
01:22:47
Alice and the bureau's perspective on
01:22:48
bright falls in the dark place the DLC
01:22:51
is given fuel by its connection and so
01:22:53
is Alan W too so is the universe a saga
01:22:57
I meet Tim breaker and I'm instantly
01:22:59
intrigued cuz that's Quantum bloke Tim
01:23:01
Breer timebreaker you guys get it when
01:23:03
he talks of a redhead woman I'm pucked
01:23:05
up like a cat who had the rustling of
01:23:06
the biscuit bag across the house because
01:23:08
I happen to know a red-head woman two in
01:23:11
fact Jane control and Quantum Becky but
01:23:13
which Courtney Hope might it be I'm
01:23:15
waiting to hear about how alen's writing
01:23:17
might have changed the hiss to see
01:23:18
another snippet of darling as the
01:23:20
television sets change signal I explore
01:23:22
the fbc's abandoned station with
01:23:24
particular excitement a saga and I view
01:23:26
the Triangular symbology of the cult of
01:23:28
the tree with unique suspicion Alan Wake
01:23:31
2 rewarded me for knowing control this
01:23:34
more than anything established my trust
01:23:36
in the remedy connected Universe not
01:23:38
that it was always planned out or that
01:23:39
everything in it will become relevant or
01:23:41
that remedy will somehow overcome the IP
01:23:43
laws that keep Quantum Brak locked in
01:23:44
the Microsoft threshold but the
01:23:46
franchise and genre can and will
01:23:48
meaningfully into weave the RCU Works
01:23:50
forwards but it works backwards too back
01:23:53
in time as long as long ago as Max Payne
01:23:55
1 whose famous phone call now sounds
01:23:57
strangely like something written by wake
01:23:59
and spoken by the hiss there's Quantum
01:24:01
break where Mr hatch and Mr door share a
01:24:04
striking resemblance and there's control
01:24:06
with its realm of doors where the
01:24:08
symbols have taken on a new meaning
01:24:10
entire conversations a given context and
01:24:12
so many other things too cast in a new
01:24:14
light as the borders of Jesse's wild
01:24:16
grow and the post appeals further back
01:24:18
the remedy connected Universe has proven
01:24:21
itself because Control Made Alan Wake 2
01:24:23
better and Alan Wake 2 made control
01:24:26
better and remedy have earned my trust
01:24:28
that it will all happen again soon and
01:24:30
no part of control benefits more than
01:24:32
here in Alan Wake the darker spookier
01:24:34
tone of Investigations welcomes the
01:24:36
slower Pace demanded by large periods of
01:24:38
reading things and scaring the
01:24:40
environments for Clues getting bogged
01:24:42
down is less of a problem for the pace
01:24:44
here it fits so the exploration is good
01:24:47
the lore is good the central Mysteries
01:24:48
are fascinating which is good because
01:24:50
the DLC doesn't bother with any other
01:24:52
kind of story well apart from from one
01:24:54
PA call from Langston who carefully
01:24:56
considers the chances of Jesse liking
01:24:58
his cat for like 10 minutes Langston was
01:25:01
the officer in charge of the panopticon
01:25:03
most interesting of the bureau NPCs in
01:25:05
the base game but that's not saying much
01:25:07
until now I suppose the content of his
01:25:09
introspection covers everything from his
01:25:11
cat to his philosophy perhaps it's
01:25:13
unsurprising to say that that does make
01:25:15
him a more interesting character I like
01:25:17
that you get to decide whether to or for
01:25:19
how long to entertain him his endless
01:25:21
rambling reveals an innocent kind of
01:25:23
vulnerability a lonely less that
01:25:24
characterizes a player's decision to
01:25:26
stay as a favor to Langston which I
01:25:28
think adds a unique layer of attachment
01:25:30
and is also the kind of thing a good
01:25:32
director might do well I guess I like
01:25:34
Langston now I'm not quite sure what
01:25:37
remedy with thinking Langston isn't
01:25:39
important he doesn't actually do
01:25:40
anything in this DLC or in the base game
01:25:42
besides talk but [__] it why not control
01:25:45
is a better game for him being a better
01:25:47
character I'll take the win moving on to
01:25:49
the level design during the second half
01:25:51
of the DLC remedies start getting way
01:25:53
too comfortable with giant empty
01:25:55
concrete rooms one giant empty concrete
01:25:57
room is fine but six that's too many
01:26:00
giant empty concrete rooms it starts to
01:26:02
get a bit dull creeps too close to
01:26:04
living up to the memes about controls
01:26:06
art style Alan Wake is brought down by
01:26:08
its second half as repetition sets in of
01:26:10
mechanics and environment a lacking that
01:26:13
it seems control has not yet found a way
01:26:14
to escape stoop to a six started at a 9
01:26:17
take the mean average that's just fine
01:26:19
though there is another problem one I
01:26:22
need to discuss separately control has a
01:26:24
loot system yeah now I've prepared a
01:26:27
thought experiment for you if you had to
01:26:29
choose between a large non-conditional
01:26:32
buff to something you're always using or
01:26:34
a minor conditional buff to something
01:26:36
you're rarely using what would it be the
01:26:38
most obvious problem with controls loot
01:26:40
besides the fact that it's all boring
01:26:42
stat Buffs is that remedies seem to
01:26:44
think that's a much harder Choice than
01:26:45
it really is you've got limited mod
01:26:48
slots three for Jesse three for each of
01:26:50
her two guns and the balance is
01:26:52
certifiably insane lots more health lots
01:26:54
more energy lots more damage I'll have
01:26:57
those ones please every other personal
01:26:59
mod has to compete with that Holy
01:27:00
Trinity and they inevitably fail because
01:27:03
everything else is situational how often
01:27:05
am I using Shield or seiz 50% faster
01:27:08
seiz is good but it's not as good as
01:27:10
making my health bar 30% longer and even
01:27:13
if it was 100% longer or 200 it still
01:27:16
wouldn't be as good it's no better for
01:27:18
the guns improved Zoom for Pierce or 30%
01:27:21
more damage when I'm aiming it's a
01:27:24
sniper man when aren't I aiming mod
01:27:26
stack you can equip multiple versions of
01:27:28
the same one so the best combination is
01:27:31
never going to be anything besides
01:27:32
stacking the best damage mods you have
01:27:34
aim damage headshot damage or damage
01:27:38
damage the most interesting building
01:27:39
control is using energy renewal on head
01:27:41
shot with spin because being a machine
01:27:43
gun spin can do a lot of head shot the
01:27:46
result is an energy tractor beam energy
01:27:48
being the thing you need to launch so
01:27:50
the most interesting build for the
01:27:52
service weapon is the one that makes it
01:27:54
so there's no reason to use the service
01:27:56
weapon in the early game when Jesse has
01:27:58
one slot for herself and each of her
01:28:00
guns you equip the good mod and then you
01:28:02
spend the next few hours un excitedly
01:28:04
opening chests hoping for the slim
01:28:06
possibility that you'll get a slightly
01:28:07
better version of that good mod with
01:28:09
time things slightly improve maybe it's
01:28:11
better to sacrifice the health mod for a
01:28:13
second energy mod but we are still
01:28:15
looking at a world record Contender for
01:28:17
Gaming's most unnecessary loot system I
01:28:19
haven't even mentioned the inventory
01:28:20
space which is low enough to demand
01:28:22
multiple trips for slow deletions one by
01:28:24
co*cking one over the course of the game
01:28:26
or that rarity levels can be far too
01:28:28
close to each other leading to moments
01:28:29
where you find a prime version of the
01:28:31
good mod only to find it's a 1%
01:28:33
Improvement control actually did the
01:28:35
meme this sounds catastrophic and it is
01:28:38
for the loot system just not for the
01:28:39
game it doesn't bug things down it just
01:28:42
means the chests the game didn't need
01:28:43
aren't exciting and the process of
01:28:45
upgrading the service weapon is a bit
01:28:47
sterile but why am I talking about this
01:28:49
now for three reasons one is the fact
01:28:51
that I didn't have a segue oer the
01:28:53
second is that the deal DC makes it much
01:28:55
worse you might be wondering how's that
01:28:57
possible answer they double down DLC
01:29:00
mods are more conditional happier to
01:29:02
provide minor Buffs for abilities you
01:29:03
never use they've given up on trying to
01:29:05
compete with the good mods and for the
01:29:07
player even remotely interested in
01:29:09
making good choices that's going to make
01:29:10
pretty much every chest in any DLC area
01:29:13
a guaranteed dud gains 16% ammo from
01:29:16
taking melee damage 20% cheaper evades
01:29:18
when you've recently hit someone with a
01:29:20
shield bash Health recovery on launch is
01:29:22
pretty good but that's about it their
01:29:24
one upside is that through their
01:29:26
absurdity they create a small potential
01:29:28
for challenge runs if for some reason
01:29:30
you want a good evade build instead of a
01:29:32
good build well actually it'd still be
01:29:34
smarter to equip the energy Buffs but
01:29:36
okay if for the sake of a bump in
01:29:38
variety you want to challenging a vade
01:29:40
build where you're incentivized to take
01:29:42
explosion damage or something now you
01:29:44
can do that is anyone going to do that
01:29:46
math says yes and for whoever that
01:29:49
person is I'm happy unfortunately we
01:29:51
haven't even gotten to the third reason
01:29:52
yet that some of the post game content
01:29:54
seems way the hell too sure of the loots
01:29:56
ability to motivate me Expeditions the
01:29:59
free content update put a penny in the
01:30:01
magic juke box and off you [__] to the
01:30:03
formation an unmapped region of the
01:30:05
Black Rock Quarry where the hiss will be
01:30:06
fought and loot will be taken if you
01:30:09
beat all four basic objectives at a
01:30:11
significantly raised difficulty within
01:30:13
25 minutes where death wipes progress on
01:30:15
whatever objective you died on and even
01:30:17
if you make it you're still not [__]
01:30:19
done cuz now it's time for a boss fight
01:30:21
it's a boss fight in name and health bar
01:30:23
only just a usual distorted but the
01:30:25
point is Expeditions are a serious
01:30:27
Challenge and that's a problem because
01:30:29
the purpose remedy of assigned to them
01:30:30
is the loot the golden chest at the end
01:30:33
in which you will find some of the worst
01:30:35
mods in the game Expeditions have a
01:30:36
number of exclusive mods which are some
01:30:39
of the worst mods in the game they also
01:30:41
have the good mods and so what you're
01:30:42
trudging through control's hardest
01:30:44
content for are slightly better
01:30:45
percentages on mods you will already
01:30:47
have by the time Expeditions unlock
01:30:49
who's excited by that not no one but not
01:30:52
many loot can't motivate [__] in control
01:30:55
but that doesn't mean Expeditions can't
01:30:56
work outside of their given purpose I
01:30:58
think they look great I appreciate
01:31:00
having a serious challenge in control
01:31:02
but I don't think they work as the kind
01:31:03
of repeatable postgame combat Arena
01:31:05
you'd boot up for a quick session every
01:31:07
now and then or even as a tiered
01:31:08
activity that expects more than one
01:31:10
increasingly difficult run to test
01:31:12
yourself against mainly because
01:31:14
Expeditions don't hold up to repetition
01:31:16
why the time limit 25 minutes is tight
01:31:19
and that is going to have a restricting
01:31:21
effect on gameplay you need to be
01:31:22
efficient and you can't afford to die
01:31:24
which doubles the pressure to play smart
01:31:26
and to do nothing but the gravity of the
01:31:28
balance that says launch launch launch
01:31:30
is always best that says headshot damage
01:31:32
mods are always best that says charge is
01:31:34
a bad choice strengthens to crush most
01:31:36
any Whimsical impulse you can't be
01:31:38
throwing in melees for the [__] of it
01:31:40
certainly not on bad guys who can
01:31:41
on-shot you with health bars longer than
01:31:43
the River Nile it's a pressure to do the
01:31:45
same thing that doesn't go well with
01:31:47
repetition it gets worse objectives that
01:31:49
don't demand all enemies dead gives you
01:31:51
a massive incentive to rush the
01:31:52
objective and to leave us quickly as
01:31:54
possible to skip the enemies to do that
01:31:56
every subsequent run only making slight
01:31:58
improvements to your route Expedition
01:32:01
not plural any more than once the fun
01:32:03
starts to fade you'll find that the fun
01:32:05
is fading let's [__] go I knew I
01:32:07
could get that in there control is a
01:32:09
better game for having them just not by
01:32:11
much guess the song ended good timing
01:32:14
the best endgame activity in control is
01:32:17
shum
01:32:19
sh
01:32:20
shim sh who
01:32:25
whatever an altered arcade machine that
01:32:27
allows Jesse to replay boss fights and
01:32:29
the ashray Maze and take part in two new
01:32:32
combat challenges new is being generous
01:32:35
it's just Logistics from the containment
01:32:37
sector and waves of normal enemies but
01:32:39
there's no time limit and it's a genuine
01:32:41
challenge given the dependence of
01:32:42
controls Combat on its environment being
01:32:45
stuck in the same room limits shum
01:32:46
success as a repeatable Arena mode but
01:32:48
it is a solid Arena mode and it's also
01:32:51
the ashray maon speed dial control is a
01:32:53
better a game for having this too
01:32:56
W games are so realistic these days
01:33:00
which leaves us with Foundation if Alan
01:33:02
Wake was the next step for the remedy
01:33:04
universe and control by connection
01:33:06
Foundation is the next step for control
01:33:08
and the remedy verse by connection here
01:33:10
Jesse and the bureau move forward by
01:33:13
going downward to the roots of the
01:33:14
oldest house Marshall is missing the
01:33:17
board inform you of an urgent crisis
01:33:18
[__] in the foundation making this
01:33:21
Jesse's first official task as Direct
01:33:24
the foundation is not what you'd expect
01:33:26
it's white caves and red sand it's
01:33:29
Primal like you've gone back in time
01:33:31
it's completely unlike the oldest house
01:33:33
and that's part of the reason it works
01:33:34
so well so late into the game and yet it
01:33:36
is completely like control a contrast of
01:33:39
simple bold materials and colors it's
01:33:41
alien and yet fitting it's so [__]
01:33:44
beautiful but I would not want to be
01:33:46
here alone soon we find the ID the
01:33:48
beings we so thoughtlessly used for
01:33:50
practice in the astral plane Gather in
01:33:52
these dark caves black blank faceless
01:33:55
but not devoid they're creepy and
01:33:57
innocent they're a mystery a human
01:33:59
redacted bar is that why they're called
01:34:01
the it the unknowable unconscious the
01:34:04
foundation of the human psyche fits into
01:34:06
my game theory documents and Audi logs
01:34:08
track the bureau's first expedition into
01:34:10
the oldest house the first head of
01:34:12
research the first director to be
01:34:14
appointed the service weapon to meet the
01:34:15
board the place felt so strange people
01:34:18
went mad not everyone trusted the ID not
01:34:20
everyone trusted the board in the quiet
01:34:22
Caverns now we imagine what it must have
01:34:24
been like for that first team to see
01:34:26
cave paintings made by things that might
01:34:28
be human watched by The Faceless to be
01:34:30
lost in a shifting maze in the shadow of
01:34:32
black monuments to be commanded by an
01:34:34
unknown astral being that could bestow
01:34:36
the tools and powers of a God that no
01:34:38
one dared to question at least not
01:34:40
openly because the ID didn't seem to
01:34:42
like that the Lauren Foundation is
01:34:44
uniquely focused by control standards it
01:34:46
tells one Central Narrative of fear and
01:34:49
Fascination whose Echoes become an
01:34:51
atmosphere in the present you start to
01:34:53
feel the strange energies they describe
01:34:55
ask the questions they did of the blank
01:34:57
and faceless like a found footage story
01:35:00
art and law working in close cooperation
01:35:02
what we hear of the past haunting what
01:35:04
we see in the present and it works like
01:35:06
magic sometimes a place in a good game
01:35:08
stays with you I am followed by the
01:35:10
foundation the first hour or two of this
01:35:12
DLC is an elevation of what control did
01:35:15
best so for me this was the best part of
01:35:18
control but there's more down in these
01:35:19
caves than the Ethereal ladies and
01:35:21
Gentlemen please welcome a new [__]
01:35:23
enemy type I swear I met this guy behind
01:35:25
a McDonald's once the his sharpened have
01:35:27
an Axe and anger issues that are a thing
01:35:30
for Jesse they really want to close the
01:35:31
distance but unlike the charged they're
01:35:33
going to they're fast they have an evade
01:35:36
they hit hard and it's hard to hit them
01:35:38
back and that puts you on the back foot
01:35:40
the sharpened effectively encourage
01:35:41
evade and a defensive use of levitate
01:35:43
but they don't allow that to be an easy
01:35:45
counter when you fly they throw axes
01:35:47
which gives you two options catch the
01:35:49
axes with launch or rade both cost
01:35:51
energy keeping it up costs energy faster
01:35:54
than you can recover energy flight then
01:35:56
is a fleeting Refuge leaving us with a
01:35:58
unique trade-off between the ground
01:35:59
which is dangerous and the air which is
01:36:01
costly the simple benefit of encouraging
01:36:04
the use of any ability that costs energy
01:36:06
besides launch is that the higher energy
01:36:08
demands encourages using launch with
01:36:10
wiser intent at a more considered Pace
01:36:13
what all this amounts to is one of the
01:36:14
most intrinsically challenging enemies
01:36:16
in control and a basic Victory when a
01:36:19
sharpened is in an encounter the
01:36:21
encounter is different the sharpened is
01:36:23
successful ful enemy design in a game
01:36:24
with mostly flaccid enemy design and
01:36:27
perhaps that is the reason they aren't
01:36:28
always seen that way a lot of people get
01:36:30
their asses kicked and call it
01:36:31
frustrating not because dodging attacks
01:36:33
is that difficult a concept to grasp but
01:36:35
because friction is the inevitable
01:36:37
result of being different in a game that
01:36:38
has spent the last 15 hours training you
01:36:40
to think of most every encounter as the
01:36:42
same a lot of people forget that the
01:36:44
Dodge button even exists in control it's
01:36:47
not normal to need to adapt and the
01:36:49
price of breaking that Norm is that some
01:36:50
people are slow to learn but I'll
01:36:52
concede that perhaps the sharpened would
01:36:54
have gone down smoother with the tool
01:36:55
tip a reminder that Jesse's Dodge is a
01:36:58
thing foundation's Flagship mechanics
01:37:00
though come courtesy of the board there
01:37:02
are crystal beds in the caves and we are
01:37:04
given a choice would you like to destroy
01:37:06
crystals to access new areas or would
01:37:08
you like to extend crystals which can
01:37:10
form parts to access new areas and
01:37:12
activate traps in combat well the second
01:37:15
one can do more so I pick the second one
01:37:17
there's a limited degree to which you
01:37:19
can manipulate where an enemy is in
01:37:21
control there's no Force push you can't
01:37:23
launch living enemies so the most you
01:37:25
can do to intentionally set up a trap is
01:37:27
backing away from those who chase you
01:37:29
sometimes that can happen but mostly
01:37:31
opportunities arise by chance and the
01:37:34
challenge then is simply being quick
01:37:35
enough to hit the button it's an
01:37:37
expansion just not a very big one same
01:37:39
thing goes for the choice nice to have
01:37:41
lays a small sense of ownership over a
01:37:43
playthrough but that's about it
01:37:45
consequences don't last because before
01:37:47
long you will get the second ability you
01:37:49
just won't have permission seeds of
01:37:51
Suspicion planted by the law grow into a
01:37:53
central narrative conflict a question
01:37:56
should we trust the board when the
01:37:58
opportunity comes to access power to the
01:38:00
board says no and the Brad says yo is
01:38:02
this [__] for real they offer no
01:38:03
explanation they command bluntly there's
01:38:06
evidence they've been hiding things from
01:38:07
you Jesse doesn't like that so she
01:38:10
decides to piss and [__] all over the
01:38:12
place figuratively speaking the former
01:38:14
shows up result of a longlasting feud
01:38:16
with the board the board tells you not
01:38:18
to trust the former the former tells you
01:38:20
not to trust the board but the board's
01:38:21
being stingy with the powers and the
01:38:22
former offer the second one free of
01:38:24
charge so hey here's to new friends I'm
01:38:26
being serious control expects you to
01:38:28
believe that Jesse would trust the
01:38:30
muffled words of a buge eyed fro Loop
01:38:31
who was actively trying to kill us the
01:38:33
last three times we met and who seemed
01:38:35
intent on undermining the containment of
01:38:37
aled items at the FBC and she does all
01:38:39
this based entirely on the promise of a
01:38:41
new toy I don't like you deciding what I
01:38:43
can't slash can't happen I mean i' do
01:38:46
that and I respect Jesse's naturally
01:38:48
trusting nature but your director of the
01:38:51
FBC and presumably not so suicidal the
01:38:54
board's untrustworthy that doesn't mean
01:38:56
immediately start trusting everyone the
01:38:57
board doesn't like I suppose Jesse never
01:39:00
did learn not to take free candy from
01:39:01
the strange looking man in a white van
01:39:03
but [__] me it makes her look petulant
01:39:06
and dumb but it is giving me something
01:39:08
you won't safe monies on that not being
01:39:10
remedy's intent I'd call it a misfire a
01:39:13
failed attempt at being part of Jesse's
01:39:15
overconfident characterization in
01:39:17
foundation not sure she's ready I'm here
01:39:21
aren't I I Sav the bureau once and I'll
01:39:24
do it again she's director she's a girl
01:39:27
boss now who don't need no stupid space
01:39:29
triangle ordering her about let alone
01:39:31
bugy Joe so she mutters clapbacks and
01:39:33
conducts herself with authority I'm
01:39:35
getting pretty tired of being jerked
01:39:36
around the astral
01:39:38
plane if you're listening I want some
01:39:41
answers that's a good thing serves to
01:39:43
solidify Jesse's decision to take
01:39:45
control of her life and the bureau
01:39:47
serves to portray a struggle to settle
01:39:49
into such an intimidating role it's
01:39:51
funny too and pretty much the only
01:39:53
character thing that happens in
01:39:54
Foundation hey I'll take what I can get
01:39:56
but anyway now we have the second
01:39:58
ability you can break obstacles you can
01:40:01
access a few chests no different from
01:40:03
being able to make crystals for the same
01:40:04
purpose they're basically gassed up key
01:40:07
cards or at least that's what they
01:40:09
should be I want to talk about when
01:40:10
they're not sometimes Foundation expects
01:40:13
these abilities to mechanically uphold
01:40:15
large sections of content the question
01:40:17
is how how do you make shooting a thing
01:40:19
to make it break or spawning a preset
01:40:21
crystal in a preset location and an
01:40:23
interesting mechanic for puzzles
01:40:25
Foundation doesn't know a platform is in
01:40:27
the wrong place shoot the crystals
01:40:29
trapping it later there will be multiple
01:40:31
crystals and they will grow back if you
01:40:32
don't shoot them all quickly enough but
01:40:34
that doesn't mean find an intelligent
01:40:36
position or the optimal order so that
01:40:38
you are able to shoot them all quickly
01:40:39
enough the way it worked in God of War
01:40:41
it just means don't take a coffee break
01:40:43
halfway through the mag dump it's
01:40:45
interesting once not upwards of 10 times
01:40:48
not even when they change the context to
01:40:49
a box instead of a platform what further
01:40:52
characterizes these regions are large
01:40:54
periods of traversal big distances that
01:40:56
demand long levitations sometimes amidst
01:40:59
nothing astral emptiness it's a blank
01:41:01
space baby and I'm tired of this game
01:41:04
controls always struggled with
01:41:05
uninteresting puzzles but building
01:41:07
entire regions from them it is difficult
01:41:09
to perceive these parts of foundation is
01:41:10
anything but remedy playing for time
01:41:12
indeed Foundation is a contrast of
01:41:15
extremes it is controll at its very best
01:41:17
and at its very worst another contrast
01:41:20
the low quality of its powers with the
01:41:22
Brilliance of its aled items same deal
01:41:24
as ever optional content about
01:41:26
containing an SCP ones in the caves dark
01:41:29
caves that we must find our way through
01:41:31
with the light of a television show the
01:41:32
ID were watching that television show
01:41:34
and they do not appreciate the
01:41:35
interruption so it's a balance light the
01:41:38
way come the ID the darkness allows for
01:41:40
sudden pounce likee introduction of new
01:41:42
ID new angles to consider and cover
01:41:45
leading to an increasingly frantic
01:41:46
escape and horror it's effective somehow
01:41:50
more so than the actual flashlight
01:41:51
sections in the Allen wake de DLC and
01:41:54
it's placed well making Jesse vulnerable
01:41:56
at the height of her strength helps the
01:41:57
moment land the second altered item is
01:42:00
up far above a film camera that bends
01:42:02
the world to its creative purpose which
01:42:05
as it turns out is a carpenter BR music
01:42:07
video cheesy 80s action another another
01:42:09
well-placed contrast with the serious
01:42:11
tone of foundation and the musicless of
01:42:13
control this is The Game's second
01:42:15
ashtray Maze and the sequels never quite
01:42:18
as good here because it goes on for
01:42:19
eight whole minutes when it's made its
01:42:20
points several times over by minute 6
01:42:23
but but on the other hand it is cool as
01:42:24
[__] the track is cool as [__] and it
01:42:26
put a mile wide smile on my face it's
01:42:29
part of one of the better sections of
01:42:30
foundation our return to the upper
01:42:32
floors controls base game never designed
01:42:34
combat spaces to strongly emphasize
01:42:36
movement in Sidelines here we have an
01:42:38
arena that does with a rising stack of
01:42:40
cubicle cubicles where being or seeing
01:42:42
inside of one partially or fully
01:42:44
occludes your view of the others it's
01:42:46
one of controls more memorable fights
01:42:47
for that reason but it stands out most
01:42:50
strongly against the rest of foundation
01:42:52
it's red sand and white space we are
01:42:54
protected in these environments from the
01:42:56
dissonance of Jesse's directorship with
01:42:58
her destructive power Foundation is
01:43:00
precisely when this needed not to be a
01:43:02
problem and the foundation means it
01:43:03
isn't but there's another problem remedy
01:43:05
can't catch a break that these
01:43:07
environments are uniquely frail to the
01:43:09
pressure of repetition there's the
01:43:11
astral plane where generalized
01:43:12
destructibility is at a minimum all
01:43:14
those pretty red caves where it's only a
01:43:16
bit more than a minimum in both cases
01:43:19
the number of things that can be
01:43:20
launched is very low removing some depth
01:43:23
but mostly removing spectacle you're
01:43:25
always throwing the same kind of rock
01:43:27
watching the same kind of crumble now
01:43:29
novelty count as that for the first hour
01:43:31
less so by the fourth reality is remedy
01:43:34
have created a combat system where world
01:43:36
and character are inseparable in
01:43:38
artistic and mechanical terms where the
01:43:40
intimacy of w and character create the
01:43:42
game's best qualities break that
01:43:44
connection you lose more than a little
01:43:46
Foundation deepest problem is that it
01:43:48
lacks the mechanical substance to
01:43:50
sustain its length so it needed more
01:43:52
substance or it needed to be shorter
01:43:55
Foundation is an exaggeration of control
01:43:57
it is a 10 out of 10 and a five and it
01:44:00
ends at about a six Marshall is a his oh
01:44:03
no I'm sorry but Marshall is a cardboard
01:44:05
cutout Foundation makes her Central but
01:44:07
it doesn't bother with a kind of
01:44:08
humanization afforded to Langston so
01:44:10
there's no connection here we don't
01:44:12
share Jesse's rage looks good though
01:44:14
Marshall is a hiss sharpened with a
01:44:16
massive health bar so she's a decent
01:44:18
challenge at the very least it feels
01:44:20
good to beat her foundation ends on a
01:44:22
note of Discord between Jesse and the
01:44:23
board a setup no doubt for things to
01:44:26
come well [__] you
01:44:29
too oh I'll be sure to Jesse declares
01:44:33
her intent to be ready for the next
01:44:35
Crisis to lead the bureau toward its own
01:44:37
purpose not that of the board as our
01:44:39
perspective on their black form inverts
01:44:41
the pyramid pointing down a symbol of
01:44:43
conflict becomes a pyramid pointing up
01:44:46
an image of stability a satisfying end
01:44:49
this is what Foundation gives to control
01:44:51
a satisfying end this this is the whole
01:44:53
the new fourth act fills so yes
01:44:56
controllers changed in every meaningful
01:44:58
way it is a better game 5 years later
01:45:01
there's more worth loving it exists in a
01:45:03
richer context and yet I am reminded
01:45:06
that it did not need to change to be
01:45:07
worth returning to to be remembered to
01:45:09
be relevant even now I think I knew that
01:45:12
and perhaps you did too the moment we
01:45:14
first steep through those doors
01:45:16
controllers borrowed its way into my
01:45:18
mind an invasive resonance compelling me
01:45:20
to spread its signal I'm happy to play
01:45:22
the part love this game because it's
01:45:24
pretty because it has such style because
01:45:26
I loved being Jesse because it's fun
01:45:28
because there's nothing else quite like
01:45:30
it's destruction sandbox because
01:45:32
control's rendering of the immortal
01:45:34
fantasy it took to be its core is full
01:45:36
and new and meaningful control speaks
01:45:39
with sight and play if not the story it
01:45:41
guides you through it's a new nania and
01:45:43
it's beautiful and I mean that as wholly
01:45:46
as I possibly could and because I love
01:45:48
it forgiveness comes so easily to all
01:45:50
the things I don't like about it within
01:45:52
the body of a good game lies the spirit
01:45:54
of one of the best I've ever played I
01:45:56
know that I'll remember it being better
01:45:58
than it was but when I return I won't be
01:46:04
disappointed special thanks go out to El
01:46:07
Hudson Lex Williams Andre beltor holy
01:46:10
shift Dennis Williams combat wombat John
01:46:12
Lemley Dylan schaer Murphy waral the
01:46:15
last great Opium Den how long do I need
01:46:17
to make my username before why light
01:46:18
stop saying my name out loud Dan Walker
01:46:20
Shinu Caleb finore DJ Chino Chase Baker
01:46:23
G Series William vosa Joe Simmons I pay
01:46:26
my cam girl so why not you Arc tus Navy
01:46:29
husky save Mt the poet deluxo Calvin
01:46:32
black Dr pavl Carlos skiber John C Cory
01:46:36
Walter beak hiury Floyd dibbon
01:46:38
monochrome only Ethan sich Jack Connor
01:46:41
Fraser Milo W Ray kwell Joshua Carr
01:46:44
purple PP pits laab Joshua Lovejoy Veda
01:46:48
Cole bramlet essel and benl Logo papy
01:46:51
loss Thomas prudy white light best girl
01:46:53
Milo Adams creepers Tent Master kfka new
01:46:57
XC very professional dodo Douglas
01:46:59
totally straight up Anonymous yo Mark
01:47:01
Carter Nikita shosen dog best dog I
01:47:04
echolocate my husband using your voice
01:47:06
nebulous Rascal Ryan green showd bumble
01:47:09
Grumble double crumble bumhole Pummel
01:47:11
shovel puddle humble jumble first try
01:47:14
you thought you [__] had me but you
01:47:15
didn't tide more La Lockwood sharp got
01:47:19
burner
