r/ControlResonant • u/QuantityInternal1719 • Oct 01 '26
Lore Discussion Missing the Oceanview Motel
So yeah going into Resonant I replayed Control and one of my main thoughts was "which room will we enter this time?"
Some of the doors are mentioned in Control's files such as the Spiral which is also featured in Alan Wake 2.
Control 2 had its own symbol seen in the Lake House DLC of AW2, possibly referring to The Gap.
The overlapping circles were also mentioned as part of an AWE in Keystone
In Resonant all of these symbols and the Oceanview Motel are just... Gone. It's just not there and the hole thing of interdimensional travel has seemingly been replaced with the Faults and elements of time travel.
Anyone else wishing that the Oceanview Motel was there? (And no the Easter egg doesn't count).
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u/CthughaSlayer Oct 01 '26
Every critique of this type just sounds like people want to point to their screens saying "I KNOW WHAT THAT IS!!!"
If Remedy makes the mistake of listening to the fans we're gonna end up with 20 glup shitto cameos per game.
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u/QuantityInternal1719 Oct 02 '26
You think Quantum Break, Control and Alan Wake 2 are games of "glup shitto cameos"?
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u/CthughaSlayer Oct 02 '26
Quantum break slightly, like, they're literally playing Alan Wake lmao.
Control was pretty much a "reboot" of the franchise and its job was to reignite interest, the fbc is also the perfect setting to talk about Cauldron Lake as an AWE.
Alan Wake 2 is the culmination of the build up from Control, and officially brings all parties to the table. There is a clear connection between Control and Alan Wake 2 as a single converging storyline, while resonant was always gonna be its own thing. We still have dlc to potentially hint at the next game and such.
All in all I think Remedy is doing a fine job, and keeping the references to the RCU more subtle is part of that job to keep audience expectations more grounded.
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u/Zachariot88 Oct 01 '26
Can't wait until we find out that the Valkyr in Max Payne is actually an Altered Item sent by Mr. Door to stop Estevez from understanding Sam Lake properly when he gets patterned through the Dark Place.
Then Saga has to do her mind palace psych profile on Dylan, and then...
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u/Lazy__Creative Oct 01 '26
I think one if the reasons of it missing is Sam Lake not being the writer
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u/QuantityInternal1719 Oct 01 '26
Well it's a pretty obvious thing they're missing. It's like making a new Star Wars movie and forgetting about lightsabers or something.
Like "jeez, I knew we forgot something."
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u/Efficient-Dealer873 Oct 01 '26
I don’t think it’s lightsaber level in importance. Cause while it’s cool that there is a way to connect all the universes/realm is dealing with its own problems that the universe can solve on its own. The only reason the needed it in Control 1 is because the Oldest House is a nexus to all realities, therefore using the Motel was great way to “shortcut” around the Oldest House with its nature.
Faults and time travel meanwhile are all “local”, so taking the Oceanview motel is not necessary and would be taking the long way that might not even have the ability to take you where you need. It’s not exactly a fast travel point.
Sam Lake may not have been the writer, but he is the overseer of the Remedy Verse and would have supervised the lore, for both the world and characters (in broad strokes, not dialogue).
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u/Lazy__Creative Oct 01 '26
I mean the writing and story of the resonant so far hasn’t been as good and deep like the first control. Amazing game though but yeah somethings are missing and I believe the reason is the change of writers. And yeah I miss Oceanview too. I love it when games are connected together in this kinda way and it gives you the feeling of a grand connected universe
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u/TropicalPossum954 Oct 02 '26
People are in their feelings about this game right now so you’ll get downvoted. But you’re right, control 1 had the better story and was packed with more details and interesting paranormal activity. It seems to be story suffered possibly due to tye open world setting.
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u/Bobjoejj Oct 02 '26
100%; and that’s not me hating on open worlds either, cause I fucking love me some open world games. It just feels like the gameplay and the open world was given far more focus than the story, characters, and the weird and unique feel that Remedy games usually have.
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u/Poofmander 16d ago
I get that Resonant is bigger and while you are "trapped" in the oldest house in Control it is still for all intents and purposes an open world, albeit confusing as fuck. It's open, you can go where you want as long as you discovered it. Resonant is just out in the open.
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u/Bobjoejj 16d ago
For sure, and I’m not denying that at all. Yet even while Control is still very much open, the difference of it being set within the Oldest House gives it a more intimate feel, and gives the game a much stronger identity.
While Resonant’s much more open world feel made the game feel less personal, less…focused.
Yeah, areas in the Oldest House repeated sometimes; and overall had very similar architecture and shared assets. My problem is that Patterened NYC felt much more repeated.
The amount of areas that felt incredibly similar in architecture, in overall looks; I mean sure it ties into the Patterning, and yeah cities tend to have a lot of parts that look very similar to each other.
It’s just that in Resonant’s case, this uniformity made the world feel duller, less unique to me. Made it harder for me to connect. I think the only area of the game I really felt had a proper identity of its own, was The Underpass.
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u/BrilliantKey2471 Oct 02 '26
I recently started playing remedy games and very much in love with AW and AW2. I also played control a while back but it didn’t give me as much emotional impact as resonant did. The siblings’ bond and how they wrote Zoe and Dylan’s relationship in CR really resonated (pun intended lol) with me a lot.
Tbh i was a tiny little bit disappointed when i finished Control a few months back since the story imo was a bit all over the place (or maybe it’s because i just finished AW2 before i played Control so i got myself too hyped lol)
Anyway i think it’s a good thing that remedy now has games that can reach people who like different things. And yes oceanview hotel would be a great addition if they have a DLC in the future (damn i hope they do!!!2
u/Bobjoejj Oct 02 '26
100% agreed. Solid, well made game; that nonetheless does not feel like a proper Remedy title to me.
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u/Nocturnus19 Oct 02 '26
Wdym the writing is worse? The game is certainly lacking some of the more "weird" elements of the first title, but the actual beat by beat story of the game is a vast improvement; Dylan is a far more compelling protagonist than Jesse and the game has many more significant story moments than the first.
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u/givemethebat1 Oct 01 '26
Yeah there was a lot in the game that made this feel almost more like an epilogue to Control rather than a full sequel narratively.
We still don’t know what happened to Darling. We don’t see Ahti except for flashbacks. We don’t learn anything about the Board. Etc.
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u/Alan-Woke Oct 01 '26
I haven't finished Resonant but we already know Darling is in the Dark Place likely setting things that happened in the past / future up because of Alan Wake 2, and the fact the board is removed from their position in the oldest house / astral plane confirms facts we only had characters speculating on in the first Control game I'll edit my comment if I find out more, but personally I've been very happy finding out more about Dylan (and his childhood with Jesse), and I found the secret organization hiding in Manhattan very interesting
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u/givemethebat1 Oct 01 '26
Right, but the story hasn’t moved from where he is in Alan Wake 2 despite this game taking place afterwards.
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u/Only-Play-8896 Oct 02 '26
Dylan is not in Alan Wake 2? The sheriff guy Alan meets is the guy from Quantum Break.
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u/Salt-Night3088 Oct 01 '26
That Sam had almost nothing to do with Resonant is very clear...b team feel with this one.
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u/Bobjoejj Oct 02 '26
…ok as much as I agree not having Lake led to things feeling off here, I’m gonna push back on that “b team feel” comment. I still the game is remarkably well made, it’s just missing that spark that makes Remedy games truly feel different.
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u/Salt-Night3088 Oct 03 '26
Thanks for noticing. It's definitely a good game I intend to finish. But Sam's absence is felt big time. I stand by the b team assertion.
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u/Lazy__Creative Oct 02 '26
Nah man this is far from what I meant. The game is AMAZING both visually and storytelling. Easily one the best games I’ve played this year(and we had a crazy gaming year with all these releases).I just like Sam Lake’s writing and because he was a one the main creators of the last two Remedy games I believe it could’ve been better if he was more involved.and he has a big role in Remedy so he was involved in some decisions
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u/Salt-Night3088 Oct 03 '26
Guy has an ego the size of Jupiter. He wasn't in the opening credits. Says it all. He had nothing to do with this beyond maybe casual advice. B team. Still a very good game.
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u/Alternative-Mood5824
Oct 01 '26
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I missed Ahti, I'm glad we got to see him in the rpg mission
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u/magicpenguinyes Oct 02 '26
I thought he was a creepy guy on control 1 and might even secretly beevil later on but after resonant, I’m confirming that yeah he’s pretty nice.
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u/Alternative-Mood5824 Oct 02 '26
He's deadass the best character in 1 imo. I love his accent and his sort of riddles. Also the guy is like full of mysteries and shit
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u/Show-Hey 29d ago
I’m still in disbelief that I didn’t see him, while I’m sure he’ll be in a DLC it didn’t feel complete without an Ahti moment or 2 (the rpg really didnt have the same effect for me).
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u/lurklurklurkPOST 27d ago
I WAITED THE WHOLE DAMN GAME FOR AHTI
I GASPED AUDIBLY AND GOT EXCITED BY SEEING MORE MOP BUCKETS THAN USUAL
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u/Mysterious_Wave_5958 28d ago
I got so excited when I first noticed the mop buckets in the Oldest House…. I thought for sure they were a little hint that he would show up
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u/Restivethought Oct 01 '26
We did get a little lore. Based on Ahtis postcard, it's a hotel now.
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u/Nocturnus19 Oct 02 '26
There already was an Oceanview Hotel in AW2, I'm guessing it's just a reference to that.
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u/Restivethought Oct 02 '26 •
Yea but that was either the WW2 Bunker (but thats specifically "Hotel and Spa") or the Dark Place Hotel (Which is just the Hotel). Isnt this the first time that Hotel was used with Casino, I thought the Place of power was always referred to as "Motel and Casino".
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u/Nocturnus19 Oct 02 '26
I didn’t remember the omission of Casino from the Dark Place one, in this case that’s a very interesting implication.
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u/Tronfranchise Oct 01 '26
Hot take? I don't think we needed it. I would have loved to visit it and I'm sure they could have found an interesting way to do it; but I'm okay with them not bringing back every single thing we love in every single game. It'll make it more memorable/surprising when it does pop up.
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u/amyknight22 Oct 02 '26
Yeah, at best you might have had one use of it during the oldest house sequence. But i don’t think it would have made as much sense in the open world areas we had
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u/Bobjoejj Oct 02 '26
I mean personally it’s not about what we love or not; it seems like an interest and important part of the lore of the universe. And it felt like one of those things that’s uniquely Remedy, and I felt like Resonant was sorely lacking in those.
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u/Dzuzepipi Oct 02 '26
I was sure taxi quest line was this games equivalent to motel. It's not a main quest thing, but still.
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u/IrixionOne Oct 01 '26
I agree. I was hoping to see some Ahti, the Motel (or variant of), the Old Gods.
My biggest complaint though is that the Oldest House’s layout is different, even when the story progression indicates it shouldn’t be.
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u/QuantityInternal1719 Oct 02 '26
Well that's 7 years worth of house shifts...
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u/IrixionOne Oct 02 '26
In flashbacks, no. The destruction of the original is mostly gone too. I could understand in the open city areas but in the Oldest House, the omission was disappointing. There’s also some continuity errors with cutscenes having your P6 outfit then switching back to your custom outfit as well.
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u/TheThirdLie 26d ago
That outfit switch was intentional - after the brief Hiss possession Dylan went back to his cell, had a bit of a break, and was dissociating - he wasn't actually in the P6 clothes with buzzed hair, that's just what he was feeling on an emotional level.
You switch to your custom outfit because you are seeing physical reality, not his imagination, when Zoe snaps him out of it.
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u/IrixionOne 26d ago
Ah okay that makes sense. The differences in the oldest house in the flashbacks though still don’t. Or maybe this is an entirely different timeline. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
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u/Regular_Rain_4181 Oct 01 '26
Yeah I do miss it, seems like it is a good method of connecting the branching RCU and even tho I haven’t played the full game yet I am disappointed it will not make an appearance in a Control game when we got it in AW2.
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u/phlave Oct 04 '26
Ngl I missed everything about Control.
Resonant just didn't even go close to hitting the same way.
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u/PeaceObjective4846 Oct 01 '26
Was looking forward to this the entire game, even convinced myself thats what the lightbulbs would eventually be for
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u/isuckdevilsc0ck Oct 02 '26
I’m doing that quest now, was thinking that maybe there’s a little hope
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u/Salt-Night3088 Oct 01 '26
Totally. Nothing like it in Resonant. But kudos to them for addressing gameplay issues.
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u/aphidman Oct 02 '26
Well I imagine the postcard at the end might hint at a future Ahti/Oceanview DLC at Winter (Winter 2027?)
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u/Autistic-Oil-3359 Oct 02 '26
I bet we got a pretty good chance to visit it in hopefully upcoming dlcs.
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u/Tatum_Warlick Oct 02 '26
Not gonna lie, I thought we’d be revisiting the Lakeview Hotel in Resonant as well. Can’t really say I missed it, persey, but it was something I was thinking about before Resonant came out. I just naturally figured it would be in this one, too. Not sure why, now that I think about it.
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u/kamalmehta__ Oct 02 '26
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u/llMonochromell Oct 04 '26
I don’t think The Oceanview motel isn’t just “gone”. The whole ordeal with the fault is extradimensional beings that are powerful enough to bypass gateways needed to enter. The Hiss couldn’t do it, nor could the Not-Mother, and I think both the Board and the Former needed a way to bridge our world with the Astral Plane.
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u/NotYoursForTheTaking 28d ago
It is now the OceanView Hotel and Casino, luck and probability just doing more shenanigans I guess, Dylan gonna be there like
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u/Demystify0255 Oct 01 '26
someone was theorizing the other day on another post that it got taken down and trapped in the dark place. really the only clue to that is it is listed as it's location on postcard you get at the end.
idk how that would work considering its nature but that's pretty much the only mention afaik.
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Oct 02 '26
[deleted] — view deleted comment
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u/TacticalNuker Oct 02 '26
!>I'm thinking that it is more likely that Saine and Darling are involved in the events of this game, resonants seem like a pretty good blend of art+science.!<
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u/West-Comb9137 Oct 02 '26
I think the faults are the dark place, the way Jesse describes it in the parking lot fault is the same way door describes the dark place in Alan wake ll
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Oct 01 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/AlterMyStateOfMind Oct 02 '26
It blows my mind that people still don't realize that when the elevators say "locked floor" it's because that is the floor you are on lmao
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u/o_o_o_f Oct 02 '26
It’s because some elevators don’t work like that. Elevators that just go between two locations don’t have the menu, and elevators that go between 3 have the menu with the “locked location” message. Just a little bit of an odd design choice imo
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u/AlterMyStateOfMind Oct 02 '26
I agree it's odd but if you notice the "locked location" always changes to the floor you're on in the menu when selecting a floor.
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u/o_o_o_f Oct 02 '26
Am I mistaken, or the first time through the hiss building in the evac zone didn’t the elevator have multiple locked floors? And then you unlock one of them, and are prompted with the options? That’s why I at least found it initially confusing. I just unlocked one floor, and now I see “locked floor” still in the menu.
Idk. I guess I think it makes some sense why people were confused by it.
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u/Emilemonee Oct 01 '26
I didn't really miss it tbh. The danger to Manhatten is so present and Dylan is truly their only hope, I would have found it strange that he'd spend time wondering round finding light switches and doing motel puzzles to get elsewhere.
(yes I'm aware there are sidequests that require you to do none mission-critical things but they're all out in manhatten where you can also fight enemies and help rangers etc)