The article argues that Control Resonant loses a crucial source of fear by moving away from the Oldest House, the first game’s most compelling “character”. Although the sequel’s broader Manhattan setting and new paranormal threat are not inherently problematic, they weaken the unsettling horror created by exploring a building that constantly defied reality and human expectations.

The Oldest House was a hidden, living “place of power” with shifting corridors, interdimensional doors and impossible spaces, making ordinary architecture feel profoundly alien. Drawing comparisons with The Haunting of Hill House and House of Leaves, the article says Control’s strongest terror came from confronting an incomprehensible place, whereas Resonant relies more on distorted streets, shifting buildings and monsters across Manhattan.