Compare CONTROL Resonant vs Mega Man X: Command Mission

Enemy behavior draws a sharp complaint for leaning on hectic pressure rather than convincing intelligence, making some fights feel artificially chaotic.

Nurse enemies can surrender and heal the party after their allies are defeated, creating a useful alternative to spending scarce healing reserves.

The best missions keep escalating into strange, memorable scenarios, giving the campaign a strong sense of surprise beyond standard combat objectives.

The familiar pattern of corridors, keys, encounters, and a boss becomes repetitive. Optional milestones and deployment errands provide limited relief from that structure.

The sequel keeps Control's uncanny blend of cosmic dread, bureaucratic absurdity, and offbeat humor alive across Manhattan. A minority feel the broader city setting dilutes some of the Oldest House's concentrated unease.

One assessment finds much of the electronic soundtrack poorly matched to the expected Mega Man X atmosphere, with the final dungeon a welcome exception.

Exploration is a major draw thanks to vertical movement, hidden routes, bespoke side stories, and dense environmental storytelling. Confusing entrances and map limitations occasionally turn discovery into circling the same blocks.

Repeated corridors, backtracking, confusing mazes, and frequent encounters make exploration a common weak point. Players looking for rich discovery may find ordinary item collecting too slight.

Zoe is the standout supporting character, with her radio banter and evolving bond with Dylan giving the journey warmth. Some sources find that relationship rushed or uneven, but the supporting cast is usually viewed positively.

The supporting allies frequently fade from the narrative after their introductions. Their limited contributions and absent concluding resolutions leave the new cast feeling underused.

Dialogue is uneven: the best exchanges give Dylan and Zoe warmth and personality, while snarky banter and some overt thematic writing can feel forced.

The dialogue draws a sharply negative assessment for clumsy writing that makes the dub harder to enjoy. Its awkwardness is compared unfavorably with older games.

Physics, destructible scenery, telekinesis, and gravity manipulation make the environment feel like part of the action rather than a static backdrop.

Having to dash through item crystals instead of simply opening them feels clumsy or unnecessarily odd to some players.

The writing is strongest when it balances human vulnerability, bureaucratic absurdity, and strange lore. Some dialogue and thematic beats are less elegant, but the overall character and world writing earns substantial praise.

Character interactions and a few twists work for some players, but plot logic and payoff are common weaknesses. The ending's revelations, rushed sacrifices, and neglected allies often feel underdeveloped or contradictory.

Dylan's growth from damaged FBC test subject to a more self-directed person lands strongly, and his evolving relationships give the story a clear emotional spine.

X's diplomacy and Zero's response to betrayal provide worthwhile moments for some players. Others find the cast thinly developed, with unresolved arcs and little growth after introductions.

Upgrade materials are criticized for being overcomplicated and awkwardly distributed, making some desired upgrades harder to complete than the rest of the progression system suggests they should be.

Weapon Energy creates meaningful choices between immediate attacks and stronger specials. Shared Sub Tanks divide opinion: some like the system, while others find healing too scarce and dependent on Cinnamon.

The postgame gives completion-minded players room to keep exploring, finish side stories, refine builds, and chase remaining discoveries after the main campaign.

Optional bosses and secret armor offer an enjoyable reason to return after the story. Full completion can demand substantial grinding, and the strongest rewards sometimes arrive after the hardest fights are already over.

Facial work is one of the visual weak spots, with some expressions looking stiff or strange compared with the quality of the environments and effects.

Moving lips are a welcome improvement over the static presentation criticized in X7. That added motion makes the cutscenes feel more animated.

One critic found repeated combat and progression interruptions strong enough to pull attention away from the world and story, reducing immersion despite the striking setting.

Exploring the Mega Man X world as an RPG makes the setting feel more immersive than some earlier series entries to one enthusiastic player.

Side stories, altered objects, puzzles, bosses, and strange one-off scenarios keep the world varied, though a layer of repeated activities and combat encounters can feel like busywork.

The colorful cast contrasts with repeated hallways, similar facilities, and recurring battle routines. Even players who like the combat often want more variety across the chapters.

Documents, recordings, side stories, and environmental details keep the FBC mythology rich, with the best optional material adding texture to Manhattan and the broader paranatural world.

Some appreciate the expanded storytelling and setting made possible by the RPG format. Others want much more detail about the world and its inhabitants to justify the longer adventure.

Dylan's guilt, childhood trauma, bond with Jesse, and search for redemption produce some of the game's most affecting scenes. Several critics describe moments that hit harder emotionally than they expected from a Control sequel.

Spider's role and loss can make betrayal and sacrifice land strongly. Other players feel the cast has too little development to earn those emotional moments.

Zone leveling, skill points, powers, and build choices often make exploration feel purposeful and Dylan's growth tangible. Criticism focuses on opaque power-level tracking, restrictive respecs, and progression that can become busywork.

Growing the party can broaden strategy, but losing a developed ally disrupts investment. Some feel the game stops introducing meaningful novelty too early, and ultimate rewards can arrive too late to use.

Even skeptical critics repeatedly call the game singular. Its collision of character-action combat, non-Euclidean Manhattan, paranormal comedy, and art-house spectacle gives it an identity few other open-world games resemble.

The unusual genre shift and absence of Sigma make the experience fresher within the franchise. Familiar RPG inspirations and recycled villain ideas keep it from feeling equally original within the wider genre.

Requiring physical fast-travel points can be inconvenient, but it also nudges players to stay in the world and stumble into side content rather than teleporting past it.

A trip to base can refill health and Sub Tanks, but returning requires replaying the route and its encounters. The lack of convenient travel between reached checkpoints makes preparation feel costly.

Traversal is one of the game's most consistently celebrated strengths. Double jumps, air dashes, hovering, grappling, and gravity shifting make moving through Manhattan fast, expressive, and frequently exhilarating.

Dashing helps offset slow running and makes basic traversal more efficient. Using it to break item crystals, along with unfamiliar bindings, can feel awkward.

Movement and combat animation generally look polished and energetic, with finishers and traversal selling Dylan's speed and force. A few rough character-animation moments keep it from being uniformly pristine.

Character animation earns praise for fluid movement and improvements over X7. Static cutscenes and long attack sequences still make the presentation feel limited or slow to some players.

The opening can be daunting because movement, builds, enemy pressure, and RPG systems arrive before the combat fully blossoms. Once more tools unlock, the learning curve becomes far more rewarding.

The controls and basic combat systems are approachable, including for players with limited RPG experience. One newcomer becomes more interested in the genre despite struggling with the game's rougher parts.

Most sources found the game highly enjoyable once its systems open up, especially when traversal, powers, and side quests click together. A few harsher takes found the repetitive combat too intrusive to sustain that fun.

Strong attacks, party strategy, and affection for the cast make this a fun diversion for many fans. Encounter fatigue and repetitive dungeons leave others bored or unwilling to replay.

The story is broadly praised for Dylan's redemption arc, surreal set pieces, and powerful character moments, but the central plot is less consistently loved. Some critics find the overarching tale, finale, or emotional transitions weaker than its best individual scenes.

Some enjoy a straightforward side story with twists and new interactions for X. Others find it shallow, logically weak, or unable to sustain an RPG-length campaign, particularly near the ending.

One critical take finds progression too dependent on repeating activities and combat to keep pace with enemy scaling, turning advancement into unwanted grind.

Several players finish the story without substantial extra leveling. Completionists face a much heavier grind, while frequent unwanted fights make progression feel repetitive even when additional levels are unnecessary.

Loot and world rewards can make exploration satisfying, especially when discoveries feed upgrades, but some reward placement and generic material boxes feel less thoughtfully integrated.

Generous inventory space and some worthwhile deployment rewards help item management. Weak maze rewards, awkward crystal pickups, lost equipment, and late-arriving ultimate weapons reduce the payoff elsewhere.

The game generally feels polished for its scale, but scattered technical hiccups, stuck enemies, audio cuts, and other small scuffs prevent it from feeling immaculate.

Clean interaction earns praise in one assessment, with only small shopping and translation issues. Another finds the presentation weakened by static cutscenes and poor voice work.

Upgrades provide plenty of specialization on paper, but restrictive respecs, material requirements, and number-focused improvements can make the system feel cumbersome or less transformative than expected.

Force Metals and secret armor can provide useful customization and strong late-game bonuses. Some players find advanced metals unnecessary, while others value the extra strategy and power they unlock.

The roster has memorable supernatural designs and multiple factions, but ordinary encounters can still feel repetitive. Reused archetypes and endless smaller enemies weaken the sense of variety over time.

The enemy lineup earns praise for varied, colorful designs. Repeated encounters with the same bats make even a modest change of opponent feel welcome.

Documents, recordings, hidden reports, and other collectibles make exploration feel worthwhile by feeding the world's mysteries rather than functioning as empty checklist filler.

Figures, artwork, music, and cosmetic unlocks give fans plenty of extras to pursue. Finding ordinary pickups is less involved, and some rewards add little to the core adventure.

Manhattan is packed with strange signage, abandoned interiors, warped streets, and small physical details that reinforce the setting, though some sewers, warehouses, and city blocks repeat too visibly.

Some appreciate the clean industrial look and its fit with the X universe. Many find the backgrounds plain, sterile, or less distinctive than the character models.

The strongest mechanical moments come from combining traversal, gravity shifts, powers, combat, and environmental ideas in ways that feel purpose-built for this world.

Hyper Mode, Final Strike, attack matchups, and penalty-free swapping provide satisfying tactical tools. Their execution attracts praise, though some consider finishers unnecessary and the broader systems too simple.

The warped Manhattan, Patterning effects, impossible architecture, and surreal set pieces are among the game's clearest triumphs. Its visual identity is repeatedly described as bold, gorgeous, and unlike almost anything else in the genre.

Colorful cel shading and X's redesigned armor attract frequent praise. A few players find some models awkward or the shading muddy, but the distinctive character designs are generally a strength.

Despite changing protagonist, setting, and combat style, the sequel usually retains Control's strange humor, paranormal logic, lore, and visual identity. A smaller group feels the open-world structure leaves too much of the original's magic behind.

The RPG systems retain familiar power-ups, Sub Tanks, visual identity, and some recognizable character traits. Losing action platforming and X's usual boss-power copying, alongside continuity questions, disappoints other fans.

The game is widely praised as a visual showcase, especially for lighting, surreal geometry, and dense effects. Lower-end modes can introduce softness, artifacting, or weaker lighting that undercuts that presentation.

Colorful characters and cel shading generally hold up well, with modern upscaling adding welcome sharpness. Bland backgrounds, muddy rendering, and stretched proportions temper the positive assessments.

Weapon forms offer different rhythms and build possibilities, but critics disagree on how meaningfully those choices change combat. Some forms feel expressive, while others seem like variations on the same basic loop.

Final Strike can feel satisfying but overpowered or wasteful against a nearly defeated single target. Weak specials, too few reliable multi-target attacks, and a disproportionately damaging enemy move draw separate complaints.

The sequel earns broad credit for refusing to repeat the original: its melee focus, warped open zones, gravity traversal, and structural experimentation feel unusually bold for a major sequel.

The shift to an RPG is widely appreciated as a bold experiment for the X series. Party systems, build choices, and active special attacks help make the change worthwhile even for players who see flaws.

Precision platforming becomes frustrating when gravity changes, tight trajectories, or awkward geometry demand more exact movement than the traversal system comfortably provides.

The occasional movement challenges feel dry rather than capturing the engaging action associated with Mega Man X.

Combat is responsive, aggressive, and capable of spectacular build-driven highs, but opinion splits sharply on its staying power. The strongest criticism targets repetitive strings, damage-spongy enemies, and a system that can feel shallower over a long campaign.

Energy management, free party swapping, transformations, and special attacks give combat its strongest appeal. Repeated encounters and slow or simplistic fights prevent everyone from finding it consistently engaging.

The roughly 25-to-40-plus-hour scale gives the world room to breathe, but the campaign can outlast the combat system's depth. Late repetition makes the length feel excessive for some players.

The main story is compact for an RPG, which some appreciate and others find too slight. Slow battles can make even that short campaign drag, while full completion adds much more time.

Reality warping, particles, reflections, shadows, and large combat effects create spectacular scenes, though the sheer visual noise can occasionally hurt clarity or expose platform-specific image issues.

Hyper Mode transformations look flashy and appealing. Their spectacle helps translate Mega Man X's power-up fantasy into the RPG format.

Pacing is a recurring weakness: the opening can be slow, progression sometimes stalls the story, and several late sections drag. Other sources find the game accelerates impressively once it opens up.

Frequent random encounters are the most persistent obstacle to smooth progress. Lengthy fights, slow animations, deployment waits, and backtracking can turn short routes into extended chores.

The default difficulty is one of the most disputed elements, especially in the opening hours and against tanky late bosses. Better builds and extensive Assist Mode settings help, but progression walls can still feel abrupt.

The campaign often starts too easily, but later bosses can abruptly become punishing. Experienced players sometimes find it manageable throughout, while newcomers report one-hit deaths and frustrating healing shortages.

The combat-exploration loop can be exciting once a build comes together, but repetition is a persistent concern. Several critics felt the same encounter rhythm and combo patterns wore thin well before the campaign ended.

Building powerful teams and landing big attacks can keep the loop satisfying. For many others, constant battles and repetitive dungeon tasks wear thin well before the ending.

Performance is generally smooth on stronger hardware and PS5 Pro, while base-console stress scenes and Steam Deck play can show dips or compromises. The overall picture is solid rather than flawless.

Players sensitive to smoothness favor the GameCube version's higher frame rate over the PS2 version's choppier presentation. That preference comes with the separate drawback of more frequent encounters on GameCube.

Inputs are consistently praised for immediacy: attacks, dodges, air movement, and cancels respond quickly enough to support the game's fast, aggressive action.

Unfamiliar dash and menu bindings can cause accidental menu openings. A player coming directly from other X games finds the layout particularly frustrating.

One source specifically criticizes loadout management for making important changes more cumbersome than they need to be during an action-heavy game.

Most assessments find the menus clear and easy to navigate. One player strongly dislikes the PS2 button layout and the distinction between backing up and closing a menu.

Dylan is deliberately awkward and damaged, and most sources warm to his vulnerability, guilt, and dry personality. A vocal minority strongly dislike his writing, voice, or demeanor and would rather have stayed with Jesse.

X's revised armor and diplomatic side make him appealing to some players. Another finds his personality too thin to make him an engaging lead.

The cast is usually praised for grounding the strange material, especially the supporting performances, but Dylan's delivery is unusually divisive and receives a few pointed complaints.

The dub divides opinion sharply: some find it earnest, improved, or enjoyably cheesy, while others call it flat or terrible. Individual voices and expectations of older RPG presentation strongly affect the response.

Side quests are a major strength, often delivering the funniest, strangest, and most memorable stories in the game. A smaller layer of repeated tasks and weaker rewards keeps the optional content from being uniformly excellent.

Deployment errands can yield useful items, but real-time waiting and careful scout management frustrate several players. The limited selection of other side activities offers little escape from the main dungeon routine.

Level design is a standout, from folding streets and gravity-shifted city blocks to stranger interior spaces that turn perspective itself into a traversal and puzzle mechanic.

Generic corridors, cloned rooms, and repetitive gimmicks are frequent complaints. Later mazes and backtracking can make the dungeons feel confusing or tedious rather than rewarding.

The FBC's bureaucracy, Manhattan's altered neighborhoods, scattered documents, and small survivor stories deepen the setting at nearly every turn. World-building remains one of the sequel's most dependable strengths.

The RPG format can make the Mega Man X setting feel richer and worth exploring. Thin NPCs, inconsistent continuity, and shallow characterization prevent everyone from finding that expansion convincing.

Progress and power-level information can be buried too deeply in menus, making it harder than necessary to understand whether upgrades are meaningfully changing Dylan's strength.

The menus and battle information are usually praised for getting the job done clearly. On the rerelease, one player particularly favors the original 4:3 presentation.

Puzzles can be clever and visually inventive, especially when gravity and perspective are involved, but they also produce some of the game's most confusing or progress-stalling moments.

The desert maze's resolution disappoints a player who expects an actual puzzle instead of finding a cutscene trigger. Constant battles make that navigation exercise feel even less worthwhile.

Hits, metal transformations, spatial ambience, and supernatural effects are repeatedly praised for giving combat and exploration weight. The audio mix helps sell both spectacle and unease.

Robot movement and combat effects generally complement the action, and surround presentation earns praise. Repeated enemy noises can become irritating when several of the same foes appear together.

Navigation is one of the most consistent pain points. The flat map, unclear entrances, multi-level spaces, and gravity-bent geometry can leave players lost even when the world itself is visually compelling.

The map is repeatedly criticized as unhelpful, especially around similar rooms and the desert. Players can lose their bearings and feel pushed toward external guides.

Routine world events and chore-like objectives can clash with urgent story beats, making some mission structure feel like open-world padding rather than purposeful adventure.

The survival maze's rewards and risk do not always align well. Other complaints concern unclear objectives and dungeons that feel weakly connected to their story situations or bosses.

Bosses are visually memorable but mechanically divisive. Some fights are inventive spectacles, while many others are criticized for huge health pools, limited move sets, and late-game battles that turn into endurance tests.

Large, distinctive bosses and some tactical matchups earn praise, especially fights that reward switching attack types. Recycled designs, punishing attrition, and the late boss rush draw criticism.

Build experimentation, postgame exploration, missed side content, Resonant cycles, and New Game Plus-style interest give enthusiastic players clear reasons to return after the credits.

Optional bosses and nostalgia give some players good reasons to revisit. Others feel one or two playthroughs are enough because the dungeons and encounter rate make repeating the campaign unappealing.

Positive value comments point to the substantial campaign, side content, replay potential, and localized pricing, making the package feel generous to players already invested in its style.

Discounted copies and the inexpensive rerelease make the game easier to recommend to interested fans. Its short, limited campaign leads other assessments to favor renting, and the initially announced premium subscription access draws criticism.

The Portuguese localization is received positively overall, including the dub, but the reviewed build had enough missing or inconsistent localized lines to keep it from being fully seamless.

The translation has small rough spots that slightly detract from an otherwise clean interface and interaction experience.

PS5 Pro receives especially strong praise for ray-traced reflections, shadows, reconstruction quality, and a cleaner presentation, while Steam Deck support is notably less convincing.

The PS2 bonus X8 demo and modern PlayStation recording tools are appreciated extras. Restricted platform availability around the rerelease announcement disappoints a fan hoping for broader access.

Technical performance is usually strong, particularly on high-end PC hardware and PS5 Pro, with ambitious effects running smoothly in many accounts. Some platforms and heavy scenes still show frame pacing, image-quality, or optimization compromises.

The modern PlayStation emulation earns positive performance assessments. Players still distinguish that technical smoothness from the game's inherently slow battle and traversal design.

Music and licensed tracks remain strong and often memorable, but some critics miss a single transcendent set piece on the level of Remedy's most iconic musical moments.

The electronic soundtrack suits the futuristic setting, with X's and Zero's themes earning particular praise. Other players find it generic or tiring when short tracks repeat through long play sessions.

Assist Mode is a major strength, with granular sliders and presets that can soften damage, dodge timing, resource pressure, and other difficulty spikes. It gives story-focused players unusually fine control over the experience.

Sky Room milestones unlock appealing extras, but many reward time spent or luck rather than skill. Completion can become a checklist of repetitive tasks.

Technical bugs are not portrayed as constant, but the glitches that do appear can be disruptive, including enemies getting stuck, traversal oddities, and occasional postgame or loading issues.

The camera and targeting can struggle when arenas get crowded or fights move vertically. Mis-targeted attacks and awkward framing around large or airborne enemies are recurring frustrations.

Distinct combat roles, appearances, and special inputs make party members feel different to use. Their personalities can still feel like familiar, shallow archetypes.

The new allies and returning hunters offer an appealing range of fighters, with Zero and Spider frequent favorites. Underused personalities, weaker members, and the loss of a developed ally complicate that appeal.

Retrying a failed battle is a welcome safety net. Returning to base from a save point is less convenient when replenishing the party means retracing the dungeon afterward.

Party members can fill useful situational roles, making switching worthwhile. Heavy reliance on Cinnamon for healing and complaints about weaker fighters limit practical team variety for some players.

The turn board and visible health information make battles easy to assess. Knowing who acts next helps players choose targets and organize team strategy.

Force Metal synthesis offers a large range of possible upgrades. Some find it useful or interesting, while others see little incentive to craft extensively or find completion overwhelming.

DualSense feedback is used effectively to reinforce powers and supernatural moments, adding tactile texture without being treated as a defining feature.

The strangest spaces still generate strong cosmic-horror unease, using impossible geometry, isolation, and paranormal imagery to make exploration feel unsettling.

The visible turn order and party status are among the most consistently praised interface features. They make it easier to plan attacks and judge who needs help.

Chief R's surprised response to being rescued provides an amusing character moment amid the serious rebellion story.

A short loading transition after battles or escapes still feels intrusive when fights are already frequent. The extra delay compounds an impatient player's frustration with slow progress.

Newcomers get helpful recap material and can follow the core story without exhaustive Remedyverse knowledge, though the early combat and build systems are not always explained as clearly as they could be.

The verdict ranges from a favorite Mega Man entry to a dull RPG worth avoiding. Its most receptive audience appreciates the combat and experiment while accepting limited depth and repetitive traversal.

Getting deployed scouts to the Hall of Fame requires careful assignment because available missions can be exhausted. That monitoring feels more distracting than rewarding to a completionist.

The PlayStation rerelease is praised for effective emulation and attractive upscaling. Rewind is useful, but the lack of a speed-up option disappoints a player tired of long battles.

The skill tree supports multiple builds and can be satisfying to optimize, yet several critics find its apparent depth overstated or its upgrades less transformative than the sprawling layout suggests.

Avoiding guard sensors is manageable but feels like an unnecessary detour to a player who would rather fight the guards directly.

Force Metals and subweapons give players room to experiment with builds and combat roles. Some enjoy that flexibility, while others find little incentive to move beyond basic equipment.

In-game figures, artwork, and music clips give collectors enjoyable rewards beyond equipment. The breadth of the unlocks is a particular draw for players who like filling a gallery.

Cinnamon's repeated analog-stick rotations are tiring enough to raise concerns about controller wear. Healing can feel like unnecessary physical effort rather than a quick tactical choice.

The zoned Manhattan is admired for feeling hand-crafted, vertical, and distinctly Remedy rather than like a generic checklist map. Still, some critics see bloat, repeated activities, or a loss of the first game's tighter spatial focus.

Character-specific inputs make special attacks feel active and distinctive, but their appeal varies. Marino's timing and Cinnamon's stick rotations can frustrate players, while lengthy sequences slow some fights.

The rerelease's color filters offer little appeal to a player who prefers the original palette. Keeping the game's intended colors is the favored approach in that assessment.