PlayStation.Blog

Official PlayStation Podcast Episode 548: September Selects

O’Dell Harmon Jr. (he/him) — Fri, 25 Sep 2026 17:20:35 +0000

Email us at PSPodcast@sony.com!

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Hey, everybody! We’re back this week to talk through September’s big releases and other recent titles we’re still playing.

Stuff We Talked About

Next week’s release highlights:
- Minecraft Dungeons II | PS5
- Toem 2 | PS5
- Way of the Hunter 2 | PS5
- End of Abyss | PS5
- Dynasty Warriors 3 Complete Edition Remastered | PS5
- Ghost of Yōtei Complete Edition | PS5
- Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve | PS5
Silent Hill: Townfall hands-on — Discover how the new claustrophobic perspective makes even mundane actions like checking emails and opening doors a terrifying experience, along with more inventive ways the latest entry in the franchise elevates gameplay. Experience it now for yourself.
Lisa DualSense collab — Lisa fans can pre-order the new Lisa Limited Edition DualSense on October 2. Designed with the help of the lady herself, this new controller will be a fun way to glam up your collection. Head to PlayStation Blog for the full details.
Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve Hands-on — Ahead of its October 2 launch, learn how the game uses first-person to tell a more intimate story full of compelling characters, giving players a reason to come out on top in every dogfight.

The Cast

Sid Shuman – Senior Director of Content Communications, SIE

Kristen Zitani – Senior Content Communications Specialist, SIE

Brett Elston – Manager, Content Communications, SIE

O’Dell Harmon Jr. – Content Communications Specialist, SIE

Thanks to Dormilón for our rad theme song and show music.

[Editor’s note: PSN game release dates are subject to change without notice. Game details are gathered from press releases from their individual publishers and/or ESRB rating descriptions.]

Share of the Week – Marvel’s Wolverine

Kristen Zitani (she/her) — Fri, 25 Sep 2026 16:00:47 +0000

Last week, we asked you to share ferocious moments from Marvel’s Wolverine using #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured. Here are this week’s highlights:

adambomb2mk shares Wolverine’s claws illuminated in the shadows

NickVPgamer shares a hairy and shirtless Wolverine

crisg_art shares Wolverine lunging past a fiery backdrop

RhodWulfLeon Wolverine taking on Omega Red

scionjay96 shares Jean ready to attack

lets_gaming.vp shares Wolverine crossing his claws to strike

Search #PSshare #PSBlog on Twitter or Instagram to see more entries to this week’s theme, or be inspired by other great games featuring Photo Mode. Want to be featured in the next Share of the Week?

THEME: Marvel’s Wolverine – Logan
SUBMIT BY: 11:59 PM PT on September 30, 2026

Next week, share heroic portraits of Logan in Marvel’s Wolverine using #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured.

How Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve uses first-person to tell a more personal story

Phil Hornshaw — Fri, 25 Sep 2026 14:00:34 +0000

The world of Strangereal, setting of the Ace Combat games, has developed a deep and storied history over the course of the series. But with Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve, developer Project Aces has changed its approach to storytelling to create a more intimate and emotional tale than it has in the past. That approach brings you a lot closer to the desperate attempts of the Federation of Central Usea’s battered navy to fight off the invading Sotoans, and the many characters fighting that war.

The biggest change is that, in Ace Combat 8, you play a fighter pilot silent protagonist who is, nevertheless, a major character throughout the story. The game opens with a cutscene in which you’re found floating in a life raft after a battle by the Endurance, one of the FCU’s last remaining aircraft carriers.

After you’re aboard, you’re sent up as navigator for fighter pilot Jan “Rex” Cope, whose job isn’t to engage in battles, but to serve as a propaganda tool. He’s known as the Wings of Theve, a legendary fight pilot ace named for the FCU’s capital, but you quickly find out that Cope isn’t the incredible ace he’s portrayed to be on social media. Instead, his instructions are to run from every fight, but when the two of you are shot down, Cope is killed in action.

But the Wings of Theve is too important to the struggling FCU to go out that way, so you inherit Cope’s call sign and secretly replace him. As the new Wings of Theve, you have a central role in the war effort, and your skills help bolster the propaganda — for better or worse.

First-person cutscenes put you in the story

Previous Ace Combat games have told their stories through detailed cutscenes, but in Ace Combat 8, those cutscenes are mostly presented from a first-person perspective, putting you in a room or on the deck with other characters. The story unfolds as if you’re living it both in and out of the cockpit, rather than having it narrated to you, and haptic feedback in the DualSense controller helps make those moments feel realistic and intense, especially in the heat of battle.

While your character Rex, as in past games, is silent, you occasionally get the chance to answer yes-or-no questions by pressing left or right on the DualSense’s D-Pad, and to interact during cutscenes by looking around with the right analog stick or responding to prompts at key moments by hitting Triangle or Square.

Through those minor interactions, you can do a bit to shape Rex as a person, and the other members of Joker Flight, your squadron, will respond to how you choose to lead them with your decisions.

Becoming part of the squadron

Ace Combat 8 puts a big emphasis on all its characters, especially the members of Joker Flight. You spend almost the whole game with them, whether it’s hanging out during cutscenes between missions that expand on the plot, sitting through briefings where they’ll chime in with comments or information, or listening to them over the radio while you’re taking down enemy aircraft.

That focus on characters makes the story of the FCU’s battle to repel Sotoa feel immediate, personal, and harrowing. You’re not just running a series of disjointed missions, you know the stories of the pilots who are being asked to risk their lives to complete them, and you know what’s at stake if you fail.

You also get a lot of chances to make small decisions that give the sense that you’re influencing your squadron’s perception of you. In one early mission, you encounter an allied group of pilots who are also a famous rock band — and a member of your squadron, Coster, is a big fan. When he asks if he can briefly leave your formation to help them, the choice is up to you, but Coster appreciates it if you let him lend his guns and missiles to protect his heroes. Little moments like this help create a bond between you and the rest of Joker Flight.

Those extra character moments also get you invested in your squad’s well-being. You can issue orders to them with the D-Pad, sending them out to engage targets on their own, calling them back in formation to attack your target, or asking them to cover you. Since your squad feels like a group of able pilots who you know personally, it helps push you to put their skills to use and to rely on them during the story, as well as to help them out when they get into trouble in the skies.

A war effort full of individuals

The radio is a huge part of Ace Combat 8’s storytelling. Throughout missions, you’ll communicate with your commanders and your squadmates via radio as they give you key information and comment about what’s happening.

But the radio, and the sound design that accompanies it, also do a great job of selling what it feels like to take part in missions. When a mission to retake FCU territory turns into an ambush by Sotoan forces, you hear the struggle and fear of your ground forces as they all yell into their radios at once, reporting their situations or begging for help from the Wings of Theve.

The radio also gives you chances to do a little to shape your story. If troops on the ground call for your aid and you respond, they acknowledge it — and often, those same characters might show up on later missions. The legend of the Wings of Theve affects more than just the number of likes on social media, and while the story doesn’t change based on your decisions, those small character moments with the people who fight alongside you make it feel like your contributions to the war effort are important ones.

Through its approach to its Story Mode, Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve pulls you into the struggle of the FCU in a way that’s deeply personal and often intense and emotional. You can fly the skies of Strangereal yourself when Ace Combat 8 takes off on October 2 on PlayStation 5.

Luma Island is coming to PS5

Bram Eisenhardt — Thu, 24 Sep 2026 13:00:40 +0000

We’re Feel Free Games, the team behind Luma Island, and we’re very excited to share that Luma Island is coming to PlayStation 5!

Luma Island launched on PC in November 2024, and since then more than 800,000 players have joined us on the island. Now we’re getting ready to welcome PlayStation players too.

Luma Island is designed to bring different kinds of players together, whether you’re an experienced gamer or new to games. Different difficulty modes and plenty of ways to play mean everyone can explore the island at their own pace.

In Luma Island, players start out with an old caravan and a rundown farm. From there, what you do is really up to you. You can build and decorate your farm, grow crops, raise animals, choose from eight professions, meet townsfolk and hatch Lumas, magical companions that join you on your journey.

But there’s a lot more to discover away from the farm.

Explorable environments on Luma Island include forests, mountains and thick jungles, along with caves full of resources, ancient temples with puzzles and traps, hidden treasure and plenty of secrets waiting to be uncovered. You can also make your way to Pirate Cove, with its own areas to explore and pirate-themed minigames and challenges.

Gameplay variety is an important part of the Luma Island experience. You can spend an evening working on your farm or fishing, then head out the next day to explore the island or venture into its many mysterious temples. There’s always something else to discover, and exploring one part of the island can lead you towards your next adventure.

You can do all of this by yourself, or play together with up to 4 players online. Build together, share resources, explore the island, or head out looking for your next challenge.

Luma Island will also support cross-platform play across PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC, so you can explore the island together, even when your friends are playing on another platform.

Players get to decide how relaxed or challenging they want their adventure to be. Luma Island has three difficulty modes: Cozy, Adventure and Hero. In Cozy Mode, there’s no combat unless you choose it, while Adventure and Hero add more challenge.

There are no stamina bars or inventory limits either, so you’re free to spend your time on whatever you feel like doing. If you want a relaxed evening tending your farm, decorating or fishing, you can do that. And when you’re ready for something more adventurous, you can grab your tools and see what else the island has waiting for you.

We’re really excited to finally bring Luma Island to PS5, and we hope PlayStation players will feel right at home on the island.

Luma Island is coming to PS5. You can wishlist it on PlayStation Store starting today.

Fading Echo makes a splash on PlayStation 5 today

Sylvain Sechi — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 15:00:40 +0000

Hi PlayStation players! This is Sylvain from Emeteria, a New Tales studio, the team behind Fading Echo, and we’re excited to share that our fast-paced elemental action-adventure RPG is launching today on PlayStation 5.

In Fading Echo, you play as One, a young Legend fighting to save Corel, a fractured world being consumed by a mysterious force known as the Paradox. To survive, you’ll experiment with One’s powers, manipulate the elements around you, and shift between realities to find new ways through combat, exploration, and puzzles.

So, let’s dive in!

Become water – then weaponize it

Water – or Æther, as it’s known in the world of Fading Echo – is at the heart of One’s abilities. She can manipulate it, use it against enemies, and even transform herself into a living blob of it.

One of our goals with Æther form was to make movement itself part of your toolbox. As a blob, you can build momentum, surf through pipes, squeeze through narrow cracks, and launch yourself across the environment. This can help you reach new areas and solve environmental puzzles, but it can be just as useful in combat. Get above an enemy, for example, and you can water-bomb them on the way down, making quite a splash. It’s as effective as it is fun.

And movement is only the first ripple.

One can also unleash waves of Æther and powerful charged blasts, drenching enemies and changing the state of the battlefield. But drenching an enemy is just the beginning: Æther reacts with elements such as lava, toxic waste, and even Paradox corruption, opening up all kinds of possibilities.

Drench an enemy before conducting energy through them. Solidify elements to change the battlefield. Or look to your surroundings and set off a chain reaction that turns the situation in your favor.

We designed these systems to reward experimentation rather than push you toward a single sequence of attacks. When you enter an encounter, we want you to look at the enemies, the environment, and the elements at your disposal and ask yourself: What happens if I try this?

Sometimes everything will flow according to plan. Sometimes you’ll find a solution we didn’t see coming.

There’s rarely just One answer.

Bend reality to find another way

Corel is no longer one stable world. The Paradox has fractured it into alternate realities, and One can shift between different versions of the same space – and even different versions of herself.

Reality shifting is another system we wanted players to use across exploration, puzzles, and combat rather than for one specific purpose.

A path blocked in one reality might be accessible in another. An element you need to solve a puzzle could exist on the other side of a shift. Sometimes, instead of looking for another route through the space in front of you, you’ll need to think about what that same space looks like in another reality.

Combat follows the same principle. Shifting can change the resources, hazards, and elements available around you, so the same encounter can play out differently depending on where you choose to fight.

For us, Æther, movement, elemental reactions, puzzles, and reality shifting are all parts of the same toolbox. We want you to learn how each system works, then start combining them and finding your own solutions.

Explore a world consumed by the Paradox

Of course, One has bigger problems than finding increasingly creative ways to deal with enemies.

Paradox Corruption is spreading across Corel, twisting reality and consuming what remains of the world. At its center is Maddock, the ruthless leader of the Paradox on Corel, who stands in the way of One’s attempt to save it.

Your journey will take you across floating islands and fractured realities as you search for a way to stop the corruption before there’s nothing left to save.

And while Fading Echo is a single-player adventure, One won’t make that journey entirely alone.

Across Corel, you’ll meet a small group of unlikely allies. Some stand beside One out of loyalty, others out of guilt, and some because they have nowhere else left to go. Each has their own relationship with this decaying world, and with One herself.

But One’s journey isn’t only about saving Corel. It’s also about discovering who she is, uncovering the mysteries of her past, and finding the answers she’ll need to save her future.

We’ve built Fading Echo around experimentation and giving you the freedom to find your own way through its world. If you’d like to get a first taste before jumping into the full adventure, a demo is also available today on PlayStation 5.

Now it’s time to dive in, PlayStation 5 players! Fading Echo is yours, and we can’t wait to see how you make your way through Corel.

(For Southeast Asia) Lisa x PlayStation arrives this October: First look at the DualSense wireless controller

Nancy Kim — Tue, 22 Sep 2026 01:03:04 +0000

Last year, we teamed up with Lisa for the first time on our global PS5 campaign. Today, we’re taking our collaboration a step further with an all-new DualSense wireless controller – Lisa Limited Edition designed with Lisa herself.

Lisa’s journey has taken her from her roots in Thailand to Korea and beyond, as she’s become a defining figure in global pop culture – from her dynamic stage presence to her bold approach to fashion. Hear from her directly on the collaboration:

“Gaming is something I do whenever I have time to relax, so getting to create this collection with PlayStation was very exciting. I had a lot of fun adding in little details that I knew my fans would notice, and I wanted the fans to have something they can connect with. I’ve always loved expressing myself through music and fashion, so this collaboration gave me a new way to be creative and show a different side of myself. I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I do.” – Lisa

Fans won’t have to look far to find Lisa in the details. From the very start, we worked closely together to incorporate elements that held personal meaning for her. Her iconic bangs and eyes take center stage on the DualSense wireless controller touch pad, joined by her signature stars and bold “LL” lettering, all set against a Chroma Pearl colorway – Lisa’s personal favorite.

In Southeast Asia, the DualSense wireless controller – Lisa Limited Edition will be available in highly limited quantities at participating retailers beginning on October 30 for a recommended retail price of SGD 115 / MYR 419 / IDR 1,549,000 / THB 2,890 / PHP 5,411 / VND 2,399,000. Pre-orders will begin on October 2, while supplies last.

Alongside the DualSense wireless controller – Lisa Limited Edition, fans can also look forward to the release of her new EP, Press Play, on October 23.

Come and Press Play!

Lisa x PlayStation arrives this October: First look at the DualSense wireless controller – Lisa Limited Edition and all-new merchandise

Nancy Kim — Mon, 21 Sep 2026 12:00:58 +0000

“Gaming is something I do whenever I have time to relax, so getting to create this collection with PlayStation was very exciting. I had a lot of fun adding in little details that I knew my fans would notice, and I wanted the fans to have something they can connect with. I’ve always loved expressing myself through music and fashion, so this collaboration gave me a new way to be creative and show a different side of myself. I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I do.” – Lisa

The DualSense wireless controller – Lisa Limited Edition will be available in highly limited quantities directly from PlayStation and at participating retailers globally beginning on October 30 for a recommended retail price of $84.99 USD / ¥12,480 (including tax) / €84.99 / £74.99. Pre-orders will begin on October 2 at 10am local time, while supplies last.

Lisa x PlayStation merchandise pictured above available on Lisa’s official Amazon store beginning October 23.

Lisa x PlayStation merchandise collection

Launching this October in the U.S., the Lisa x PlayStation collaboration goes beyond gaming with a collection of PlayStation merchandise featuring Lisa’s designs, including apparel, hats, tote bags, keychains, stickers, a DualSense controller carrying case, and more. The collection gives fans new ways to bring their love for PlayStation and Lisa into their everyday lifestyle.

The Lisa x PlayStation merchandise collection will include two unique assortments available in limited quantities in the U.S. Select merchandise will be available to pre-order directly from PlayStation on October 2 at 10am ET, and launch on October 30. Additional items will launch on October 23 on Lisa’s official Amazon store at amazon.com/lisa and in the Amazon Music app.

Alongside the DualSense wireless controller – Lisa Limited Edition and Lisa X PlayStation collection launching this October, fans can also look forward to the release of her new EP, Press Play, on October 23. We can’t wait to see how fans make the Lisa x PlayStation look their own when it launches.

Come and Press Play!

Buy direct from PlayStation purchase information

Starting at 10:00am ET on October 2, players in the US will be able to pre-order the DualSense wireless controller – Lisa Limited Edition and Lisa x PlayStation merchandise collection direct from PlayStation through direct.playstation.com in limited quantities, while supplies last.

Starting at 10:00am local time on October 2, players in the U.K., France, Germany, Austria, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg, players will be able to pre-order the DualSense wireless controller – Lisa Limited Edition direct from PlayStation through playstation.com/store/hardware in limited quantities, while supplies last.

Silent Hill: Townfall — 9 ways first-person changes the iconic horror formula

Phil Hornshaw — Mon, 21 Sep 2026 07:00:18 +0000

The Silent Hill franchise has evolved with its most recent entries, expanding into settings that go beyond the eponymous foggy American town. In Silent Hill: Townfall, it also taps into a new way to terrify players, shifting from a traditionally third-person perspective to first-person. The series has previously offered glimpses of first-person gameplay, including Silent Hill 4: The Room (PS2, 2004) and Silent Hill: The Short Message (PS5, 2024). However, Silent Hill: Townfall is the first time you’ll face all the horrors of a full Silent Hill experience through the eyes of its protagonist.

Here are nine ways Silent Hill: Downfall uses its first-person perspective to create a more intimate horror experience and amp up its scares.

A claustrophobic perspective

Silent Hill: Townfall puts you in the shoes, and viewpoint, of its protagonist character, Simon Ordell, which means you can’t see as much of the world around you as you might in a third-person Silent Hill game. You must be on your guard for threats coming from the side or behind you. The game also uses a 2.35:1 aspect ratio, making the screen wider at the sides but shorter vertically, creating a cinematic presentation — but one that also makes your vision feel realistically restricted. That change in presentation forces you to pay close attention to your surroundings and to listen for enemies you might not be able to see right away.

A CRTV to see through the fog

Characters in Silent Hill games often carry radios that can give them hints about when enemies are nearing them in the fog — when the radio emits static, danger is close. Townfall takes a more visual approach to this idea with its CRTV, a handheld device you can tune to different frequencies to see the positions of nearby enemies. L1 lets you hold the CRTV up in front of you as you move around, so you can see both what it displays and the world around you. The device also gives a helpful haptic pulse in your DualSense controller to let you know when a new enemy is near.

Melee combat

It’s a staple of Silent Hill games to battle twisted horrors using everyday objects like pieces of wood. But in Townfall, combat gets harrowing, as monsters throw themselves at your face and your only defense is to hold up a flimsy object to block them. You’ll need to react quickly to stop counterattacks and get some blows in if you want to stay alive.

Stealth for survival

Combat isn’t always an option in Townfall, and often you’ll have to sneak past enemies to survive. Ducking behind objects like fences, signs, and parked cars with Circle allows you to slip by many enemies unnoticed. You can also hold R1 and use the right analog stick to lean around corners or peek over the top of cover to see where enemies are so you can better avoid them — or scare yourself when you realize just how close they are.

Running and hiding

No matter how sneaky you are, sometimes, you just have to run for it. You can sometimes lose an enemy just by rounding a corner or ducking behind something, breaking their line of sight. You can also slip inside cabinets, closets, and lockers to hide, where you can watch them through a crack in the door or on the CRTV. But be careful: If an enemy sees you slip into a hiding place, they’ll chase you down and pull you out.

Aiming weapons with motion control

Motion control is one of Townfall’s useful features, which you can enable in its settings menu. This lets you tilt the DualSense controller to aim when using a firearm or throwing an object. Motion control makes it easier to dial in attacks on enemies with extra precision. But it also makes combat more frightening, since it’s tough to hold your controller perfectly still when your hands are shaking in fear.

Dividing your attention

The new first-person gameplay means you’re always worrying about what could be just out of view. When you open a door, you’ll need to quickly check what’s on the other side or risk stumbling into an enemy. Actions as innocuous as rifling through drawers or reading emails on a computer become eerie, since you’re vulnerable to monsters that may be shuffling around you. Even using your map (by hitting Triangle) causes you to hold it up in front of your face, robbing you of the ability to see what’s sneaking up on you.

Searching your environment for clues

Townfall’s first-person view makes puzzles more engaging but also more dangerous. With a more intimate perspective, you can search the environments around you for clues like notes left on desks or diagrams hidden in drawers. But that also means you often need to scour rooms and buildings for the information, and with creatures often stalking around in search of Simon, you’ll have to watch your back.

Getting a glimpse of Simon’s inner life

The first-person perspective isn’t all about scares. It also gives you a deeper look into Simon’s psyche at certain points. Rather than Simon speaking his thoughts aloud, you’ll sometimes see text appear over the screen to give you a sense of his inner monologue, bringing you a little closer to the character and giving you a sense of how he’s affected by what he’s seeing. For example, he might think “I feel sick…” when seeing something unsettling.

With Silent Hill’s first big foray into first-person, Townfall provides plenty of scares as you make your way through the frightening fog of St. Amelia. You can feel the fear for yourself when Silent Hill: Townfall launches on September 24 on PlayStation 5.

Share of the Week: Seasons

Kristen Zitani (she/her) — Fri, 18 Sep 2026 15:59:55 +0000

Last week, we asked you to celebrate the seasons using #PSshare #PSBlog. Here are this week’s highlights:

FlamingHobo666 shares a golden bird flying across a spring field in Ghost of Yōtei

gh_holy_mash shares fallen autumn leaves in Onimusha: Way of the Sword

raphxander_ shares the castle covered in winter snow in Hogwarts Legacy

RhodWulfLeon shares yellow flowers blooming in Horizon Forbidden West

John_Varela_R shares Lara ice-picking her way up a mountainside in Rise of the Tomb Raider

JDanny7_VP shares a summer evening on the water in Red Dead Redemption 2

THEME: Marvel’s Wolverine
SUBMIT BY: 11:59 PM PT on September 23, 2026

Next week, unleash ferocious shares from Marvel’s Wolverine using #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured.

Control Resonant: How Remedy is going bigger and weirder with its paranatural horror sequel on September 24

Corey Brotherson — Fri, 18 Sep 2026 13:00:08 +0000

Control was just the beginning. The paranatural realm established in Remedy Entertainment’s sci-fi action adventure thriller gets a full sequel in Control Resonant on PlayStation 5, which leaves the confines of the mysterious Oldest House and ventures into a world of terrifying entities, mind-bending cityscapes, and an unfairly incarcerated man with incredible abilities who just wants to find his sister.

I went hands-on with the full game ahead of its September 24 launch to discover how strange things really get in a warped and broken Manhattan. Spoiler: weird doesn’t even cover it, in the best possible way.

A story which resonates

Not familiar with Control? Never fear – Resonant has a handy recap trailer to get you up to speed, told from the perspective of the first game’s protagonist, Jesse. And given her younger brother is only just discovering this new, unfamiliar world, he’s the perfect vessel for any exposition you need to understand the game’s story.

Control Resonant keeps the surreal, horror tinged sci-fi tone of the first game, but amps it up with a powerful tale of people who fall through society’s cracks. This doesn’t refer to just Dylan, but also other characters who have been discarded or deemed unworthy. It’s an emotional theme reflected through Dylan’s relationship with Jesse, and his handler Zoe, but you’re given the chance to make your mark on Dylan’s shy personality by choosing some of his dialogue in specific conversations.

In fact, one of my favourite elements of Control Resonant’s tale are the optional mini-quests where Dylan can recreate a scene based on a memory or childhood thought using relevant objects in the environment. In one instance, through rescuing a couple of inanimate cats, I crafted a feline picnic area that Dylan drew, speaking to a part of his tragically lost childhood.

The reluctant hero

In contrast to the confident and determined Jesse, Dylan is shy and hesitant, in part due to spending years both in a coma and incarcerated by the FBC. But as a fascinating counterbalance, Dylan’s powers give him far more mobility than his older sister, which is appropriate given he has the larger environment of Manhattan to explore, full of wide streets, high rooftops, and even gravity distorted Inception-like areas where the city has folded in and on top of itself.

Holding down the X button elevates Dylan high enough to reach the summit of some of the city’s shorter buildings after a double jump, and a tap of the Circle-mapped dodge button lets him air dash. And by pressing Circle twice, Dylan can also dash so quickly he leaves an afterimage trail in his wake. That’s not to mention the unlockable traversal abilities gained via ‘Jesse Quests’, like the super handy Reach grappling hook.

All of which is essential when it comes to surviving encounters with the freakish Hiss entities that roam the city. But what makes Dylan relatable is that despite his vast power, he possesses a childlike awkwardness that grounds his interactions. Even when using his impressive abilities, he staggers, wobbles, and even clumsily topples over after long falls; a stark contrast to the typical 3-point stance ‘superhero landings’ we’re all used to.

Combat tailored to your style

When it comes to combat, Control Resonant doesn’t spare your mistakes. Much like its predecessor, aimlessly lurching into fights quickly results in a blood-red game over screen. Dylan’s paranatural abilities are far more melee slanted than Jesse’s, which means battles against the Hiss are often face-to-face (that’s when they actually possess a face), and require a lot of dodging, and quick, powerful and precise strikes.

While using a bus shelter, abandoned trucks and other parts of the Manhattan environment as cover is a big part of keeping Dylan alive, his offensive capabilities and combos are key. Control Resonant’s dense and versatile upgrade paths for the disarmingly charismatic protagonist are central to Dylan’s entire range of attacks.

The first and secondary forms of his shapeshifting Aberrant weapon can be enhanced with status effects including burn and infect, as well as perks such as better cooldowns and increased damage to combo finishers. Further to that, Dylan’s bonus Combat Ability can change up your tactics as well, whether it’s a shield, a barrage of projectiles, or an ally formed via ambient junk in the environment, each featuring some nice resistance on the Adaptive Triggers to give them a sense of physical weight.

Combat Abilities consume Power, which can be regained via melee attacks, so conflict is all about strategy, balance and using L3 as much as possible to activate chainable execution moves on stunned foes.

With a default of six total first and secondary Aberrant to choose from, there are dozens of loadout combinations to personalise Dylan with, which can be unlocked, changed and tested by visiting the mysterious Gap, a limbo-like hub accessible by holding down on the Directional buttons. Add that to the choices available in the multiple skill trees, and Control Resonant expands massively on the combat options of its precursor.

Missions for all types of player

Although the substantial and twisted Manhattan is yours to explore, Control Resonant isn’t quite an open world. True, it’s a shift from Jesse’s adventure through the office building confines of the FBC headquarters, , but the game smartly gives you digestible and focused sandboxes to explore, aided by a variety of mission objectives. These ranged from being combat driven, such as clearing an area of Hiss or investigating a missing person, to helping construct and fixing a machine, with Zoe’s radio chatter audible via the DualSense Controller’s speaker during relevant tasks.

Handily, the game also lets you prioritise your missions, so I not only had the choice to progress the main story, but also focus on searching for Jesse or engaging in side stories. There are even arcade cabinets to unlock in each zone, where you can reward Dylan’s skills via timed challenges.

The openness doesn’t reduce the horror and thriller elements that made the first game so memorable, either. There are plenty of disturbing and creepy moments that sometimes even heavily shudder the DualSense Controller – from hallucinatory jump scare visions and sudden booming announcements from The Board, to reality warping taxis and the ground-shaking arrival of misshapen enemies that had me thinking twice about my choices. Actually, while I’m on the subject…

The Resonants are deeply unsettling

Control is well known for its Brutalist inspired architecture and unforgettable art design, which carries over here, but things get delightfully weird with its Resonants, the often colossal and intimidating boss encounters. The first one was a giant porcelain doll’s face using taxis and girders to bludgeon Dylan, and things only became more unpredictable from there. Another confrontation surprised me entirely by not being a traditional boss fight at all. I won’t spoil it here, but you’ll know it when you see it.

A PS5 must-play

There’s so much to discover in Control Resonant that, like Dylan, your world will be constantly flipped and challenged, and you’ll enjoy every moment. Prepare to enter one of the most surreal adventures of 2026 when it hits PS5 on September 24.