Finding the Balance

After spending significant time with Remedy’s latest supernatural title, Control Resonant, I have some reassuring news for PC gamers. While it’s tempting to push every setting to the limit, my testing on a capable (but not top-tier) rig—an RTX 5070 Ti paired with a Ryzen 7 7700X and 32 GB of DDR5 RAM—shows that you don't need to stress your hardware with 'Ultra' presets to enjoy a visually stunning experience.


Even at 1440p, the game runs incredibly smoothly without needing to rely on frame generation. While the Ultra presets, specifically full path tracing, will certainly give your graphics card a workout, the visual trade-off is often minimal during actual gameplay.


Ray Tracing and Performance Impacts

Ray tracing is undoubtedly the biggest performance consumer in Control Resonant. Testing at 1440p with Ultra graphics and DLSS set to 'Quality', the performance delta between settings is notable:

  • RT Off vs. RT Low: Roughly a 21 FPS difference.
  • RT Medium vs. RT High: Only about 5 FPS difference.
  • RT Ultra (Path Tracing): A significant drop in frame rates compared to the High preset.

While RT Ultra provides some incremental lighting improvements—such as more realistic lighting on specific ceiling surfaces—it is hard to spot these differences during fast-paced action. As noted during testing, «The RT Ultra preset provides a significant plummet in average frames—and looking at my image comparisons, I really don't think it's worth it.»


The Sweet Spot for Graphics

For those looking to balance performance and visual quality, I found that setting both the standard graphics and ray tracing to High offers the best compromise. At these settings, the game remains exceptionally responsive, the environment reacts beautifully to combat, and the lighting remains crisp and realistic.


If you are running on more modest hardware, do not despair. Even at the lowest settings with ray tracing disabled, the game retains a remarkable amount of detail. The art style of Control Resonant is strong enough that it holds up even when graphical presets are dialed back to their minimums.


Final Thoughts on Optimization

Ultimately, Control Resonant appears to be quite well-optimized. Whether you are aiming for maximum fidelity or trying to squeeze performance out of a mid-range card, the game manages to look great across the board. Don't feel pressured to force your system to run at maximum settings; the environmental reactivity and atmospheric design are the real stars of the show, and they shine regardless of your preset choice.