The best thing about Control, and all of Remedy’s games really, is its story. No, it doesn’t make the least bit of sense, but that is okay. We come for the high-minded visual splendor and not logical answers.
Still, for those curious, we did come up with ten questions that make less sense than most of the mumbo jumbo in the game. As a fair warning this article, of course, contains spoilers, but nothing about the ending.
10 Why Is Jesse So Unfazed?
The game starts with Jesse wandering into the Federal Bureau of Control, a place she has been searching for since she was a kid. Inside she finds a dead body, a gun that bonds to her, and encounters hundreds of ferocious monsters. None of this, not a single thing, fazes Jesse. We get that she experienced something extraordinary in her hometown of Ordinary and that she has a bond with an entity known as Polaris, but even with that knowledge in mind, she should still show some emotion to what is going on.
9 Why Use Live Action?
This question can pertain to not just Control, but all of Remedy’s games. Using FMV, or live-action cutscenes in their games has been a standard since the early days of their careers. It is like a stamp to show this is a Remedy game and a game without it would be weird. That said it is still jarring to see in-game characters, like Jesse, be totally okay with watching messages like Dr. Darling’s with live actors.
8 Who Is Writing All These Documents?
This is another question that can pertain to a lot of games that leave voice recordings, or memos behind. In this case, finding files scattered around the bureau makes sense. What doesn’t make sense are videos that play only once when Jesse walks by as if on a trigger. Who set those up? On top of that Jesse is finding various forms of the enemy, the Hiss, while Emily Pope and the others stay behind in a safe zone. Yet Emily is able to write up data on her encounters in sort of a bestiary for her.
7 How Does The Hotel Work?
There is a hotel that connects to the bureau that warps players in-between realms with the flick of a light switch three times. Not only does this hotel change from area to area, but solving puzzles within also changes the layout of the bureau.
If this were a one-time thing we would buy it, but because this is the same place, we are befuddled. Later on, it is revealed that the hotel is actually Jesse’s mind, we think, which opens up a whole other can of worms.
6 What Happened To Trench?
It is never really revealed what truly happened to the former director, Zachariah Trench, before Jesse discovers him. We can assume that the corruption of the Hiss got to him, which made Trench commit suicide. Because he uses the sentient gun, the Service Weapon, his consciousness is still connected with it, which allows his voice to reach Jesse via the Hotline. That is one plausible explanation, but the thing we are really asking is this. What happened to his body? It is gone if one goes back to the office. Did he Matrix himself into the spiritual zone in both body and soul, or what?
5 Why Isn’t Jesse More Armed?
Jesse, for most of the game, has three main attacks. She can go up close and personal for a melee blast, which uses no psychic energy. She can use said energy to launch objects at enemies and she also can use the Service Weapon in many forms, which has unlimited ammo, but also needs to charge. These are all effective against the Hiss, but guess what else is? Normal bullets. The Rangers inside the bureau are armed to teeth and do just fine. How about throwing a few grenades our way is what we are asking?
4 Hiss Versus Mold
The Hiss is an interdimensional entity that can somehow both take over someone’s mind in order to use them as a puppet, but it can also morph them into monsters. That is not the only enemy within the bureau though. If one goes beneath the Research Sector, they will discover another entity known as the Mold. This thing also takes control of humans and transforms them more into fungal zombies. It kind of doesn’t make sense to include two similar enemy types like this in one game and for it also to appear unimportant to the main plot. They should have saved it for a sequel or something.
3 Why Doesn’t The Service Weapon Help?
When Jesse picks up the Service Weapon, another otherworldly entity speaks to her. This happens every time she acquires an Object of Power.
Our question is why doesn’t this thing talk to Jesse more and give her advice like Navi from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. We wouldn’t want nonstop hints, but an option would be nice and would make sense in the story.
2 Why Can’t Jesse Blast Through Doors?
This is one more example that can infuriate the mind when it comes to a lot of video games. If Jesse is so strongly gifted with psychic powers, why then can’t she blast through simple keycard locked doors? We get that these doors are locked for story purposes and to prevent people from going places they shouldn’t yet, but it also doesn’t make sense.
1 What’s Up With Ahti?
The biggest question in the whole game concerns the janitor, Ahti, the first person Jesse meets in the bureau. Not only is he impossible to understand with his thick Finnish accent, even with subtitles, but also his actual words are more like riddles than real sentences. How is he so knowledgeable about the bureau? Just what exactly is his deal? The truth is out there, probably, but we haven’t found it yet.