Getting through the retro narrative shifts in Control Resonant can feel like hitting a brick wall when the genre suddenly flips on you. If you are struggling to piece together Dylan’s fractured memories, this complete control resonant rebuild walkthrough will get you through the system lockups and turn-based combat of Ordinary without breaking your stride.
This segment of the game completely caught me off guard by transforming from a tense sci-fi investigation into a nostalgic, top-down 2D RPG. It is incredibly easy to get turned around in the retro streets or waste your turns during the surprise battles if you do not understand the attack targeting mechanics.
Before tackling these memories, make sure you are ready for a sudden shift in control schemes and some light puzzle-solving. Keep your eyes peeled for glowing interactive objects, as they are your ticket to reconstructing the broken timeline.
[ SIGNAL LOST ]
“…DYLAN…”
Several overlapping voices echo and repeat across multiple garbled channels.
[ PATTERN DETECTED ]
“—reached the—”
[ STATIC ]
[ PATTERNED SPEECH ]
“Zoe, I’m…”
[ CONNECTION TERMINATED ]
[ SYSTEM SHUTDOWN ]
Just like that, everything cuts out and the screen fades to pitch black.
The view shifts to a dark command terminal, with the heavy clatter of mechanical keystrokes breaking the silence.
H
Press right on your controls to force the virtual keys to keep typing.
H E L L O _ W O R L D
As soon as that final letter lands, the system completely freezes up on you.
[ INPUT ERROR ]
The letter D starts moving on its own.
It drifts up, down, left, and right across the terminal interface.
Then, the entire terminal layout shifts in an instant.
[ SYSTEM SHIFTING ]
A new message flashes directly in the center:
WAKE UP DYLAN
With the name Dylan highlighted in bold red, the screen morphs into a classic, retro snake game. You are in control of the letter D, and your task is to maneuver around and collect the rest of the letters in order.
Grab the letters in this exact sequence: Y in the top-right corner, L in the top-left, A in the bottom-right, and finally N in the bottom-left.
Each letter will latch onto your growing tail as you grab it, spelling out the full name character by character.
[ SPELLING COMPLETE: D-Y-L-A-N ]
[ PERSPECTIVE SHIFTING… ]
When the screen fades back up, the environment is unrecognizable.
The familiar 3D corridors are completely gone, replaced by a 2D world rendered in old-school retro graphics.
The scene gradually opens on a childhood memory from Ordinary, Maine, back when Jesse and Dylan were just kids.
[ MEMORY FRAGMENT DETECTED ]
For the very first time, you get to experience the infamous events of Ordinary through Dylan’s perspective.
[ ORDINARY, MAINE ]
Day 1 Morning
Dylan is fast asleep when Jesse wakes him up with a plan. She wants to skip school because she spotted something highly unusual down at the local dump.
First, get Dylan out of bed and make sure to grab his backpack. Once you have it, go downstairs. Jesse will be waiting right by the bedroom doorway to guide you.
Downstairs, their father Harry Faden is already drinking heavily after losing his job. Your best bet is to sneak right past him to the front door. You can try interacting with him, but he is in a terrible mood and will just lash out.
Step outside and begin heading toward the Ordinary Landfill, which sits in the far northeastern corner of the map. You are free to wander the streets and chat with the locals along the way to pick up some flavor text.
Jesse suggests grabbing some snacks before heading into the dump. She will head ahead, and you need to meet her at the General Store, which is located two streets to the north.
As you approach the storefront, a group of bullies corners Dylan, triggering a sudden transition into a turn-based combat encounter where you must fight to defend yourself.
Understanding the combat loop is important because you will face several of these encounters throughout this retro sequence.
Pay close attention to the icons floating above the enemies’ heads, which indicate exactly who they plan to target. If multiple bullies line up their sights on the same character, that person is going to take heavy damage unless you react.
On your turn, you can select Attack, Defend, or use an Ability. Note that abilities are tied to the AB meter located right under your health bar.
Make sure to choose Defend if a character is targeted by more than one enemy in a single round. Otherwise, unleash your Ability as soon as it is charged, as it hits multiple targets for massive damage and builds up quickly.
As a helpful bonus, knocking out an enemy during battle will instantly restore a small portion of your active character’s health.
Keep these fundamental combat rules in mind, as they will keep you alive during all the turn-based fights in this area.
Do not panic during this initial confrontation: you are scripted to lose this first fight. Once you go down, Jesse will jump in to defend her brother, kicking off a proper battle against the bullies.
Now you must actually win the fight. Use Jesse’s multi-target Ability to wear down the group quickly, but do not forget to use Defend if the bullies focus their attacks on her.
Once the bullies run off, Jesse comforts Dylan and tells him to go inside the General Store to gather their snacks.
While inside, search the shelves to pick up the Donut and Potato Chips, then grab a Soda from the back refrigerator.
Talk to the cashier at the front counter to finalize your purchase, then exit back outside. Your next destination is the Ordinary Landfill, which you will find in the top-right corner of the town map.
Head north once you enter the landfill gates. You will need to defeat a pack of hostile rats blocking the path. Clear them out, and continue to the center of the landfill where Jesse will reveal her big discovery.
The discovery is an old slide projector. Despite not being connected to any power source, it works perfectly, and Jesse is convinced there is something highly supernatural about it.
Search the surrounding landfill to locate the missing slides. There are five slides to collect here: find two on the left side, two on the right side, and one tucked away near the northern edge.
Once you have all five in your possession, return to the projector. Jesse will have you choose one to insert. When Dylan slides it in, a shimmering portal opens right in front of you.
Step inside the portal to find yourself exploring a luxurious, pristine house. True to the lore, each slide serves as a direct gateway to the dimension pictured on it.
Look around the house as much as you like, then head back through the portal to return to the dump, where an excited Jesse is eager to test the next slide.
The second slide transports you into a dense, quiet forest. As you wander around, Dylan will suddenly drift off to sleep, waking up just as the sun begins to rise.
Leave the forest dimension and load up the third slide, which opens up a dark, ominous temple that looks like a church. Head to the far top-left corner to spot a bizarre figure lurking in the darkness, which scares the kids back to reality.
Insert the final slide to enter a bizarre, alien space. This is where Jesse first senses a powerful entity she names Polaris, marking the historic first encounter between the Faden siblings and the Hedron.
With all the slides explored, the kids decide it is time to head home before it gets too dark. You can choose to either walk back on foot or use the convenient fast travel option.
Back at the house, your father is passed out cold on the living room sofa. Sneak quietly upstairs. Before going to bed, you have the optional choice to leave the Donut in your mother’s bedroom.
The scene shifts to a memory of Dylan’s time locked away in the Prime Candidate Program inside the Oldest House.
Walk over to Dr. Casper Darling and speak with him. He is attempting to reconstruct the exact conditions of the night you uncovered the slide projector in Ordinary.
Darling will request that you pick up the slides in the exact chronological order from that night. Do not stress about the sequence, as the game allows you to simply collect all the slides scattered around the lab in any order.
Before wrapping things up, you can find the janitor Ahti standing on the left side of the room for a quick chat. Once done, return to the projector, talk to Darling, and watch the memory dissolve.
In the next room, you will see four distinct tables. Search them to find a glowing, flashing object on one of them. Interact with it to help Dylan piece his memories back together, transforming the item into a Slide Shard.
You will need three more of these fragments to fully restore the slide. Dylan will narrate the events leading into the next memory, which centers around the day the projector mysteriously vanished.
[ 1 of 4 Shards Collected ]
Day 14
The story picks up on another day in Ordinary. The siblings are on a mission to track down the missing projector. Exit your house and make your way to the Sled Hill on the far eastern side of town.
Take your time talking to the townsfolk along your route. You will start noticing several unsettling events, such as Marcus frantically searching for his lost dog, Bogus.
To make matters worse, rumors of a horrific crime at the local school are circulating, and their close friend Neil has been missing for several days. Cindy is terrified because her parents dismiss her fears, while Neil’s mother is visibly distraught.
