Control Resonant: Orientation Walkthrough (Wake Up Opening Quest)

The opening quest, Orientation, is the first playable stretch of the Wake Up story arc in Control Resonant. You control Dylan Faden, designated Prime Candidate 6 (P6), who wakes inside a containment cell in the Oldest House with the Aberrant weapon embedded in his chest. The mission takes you out of the Bureau, through a warped Manhattan, and into a boss fight against The Artist before your first return to the Federal Bureau of Control.

Quick answer: Pull the Aberrant free, escape the Oldest House, reach Zoe, complete the TV ritual to unlock Double Jump, Elevate and Rush, then defeat The Artist to finish Orientation.

Waking up and freeing the Aberrant

Orientation opens with Dylan waking in the Astral realm, speaking to The Board through scrambled dialogue, then reawakening in his containment cell with the weapon still lodged in his torso. Before you can move freely, you set up the weapon and remove it.

When prompted to choose your Aberrant form, pick one of the three primary options. Strike is a fast blade with a 30% critical chance, Glaive is a wide crowd-control swing, and Cleave rewards back attacks. Strike is the balanced starting choice.

Pull the Aberrant out of Dylan’s chest when the interaction appears. This earns the Assigned to Accept trophy and activates the quest with the objective “Leave the Oldest House.”

Removing weapon — Dylan removes the Aberrant, triggering the Assigned to Accept trophy. Shown at 03:35 in WoW Quests’s video. Image: Remedy Entertainment

Escaping the Oldest House

The route out runs through alarm-lit corridors under lockdown. Collectibles are optional but line the path, and a control console is the one required stop before combat begins.

Grab the collectibles on the way if you want the lore. The coffee table holds “A Photo Of Dylan And Jesse” and “Notes On The Ordinary AWE Case File,” while nearby offices contain a “Medical Report,” “A Memo On Dylan Faden,” and a “Containment Guard Note.”

Use the control console at the lockdown terminal to lift the lockdown. This opens the path forward.

Open the chest at the containment guard post for Aberrant Silvers and Source before moving on.

Take the elevator and clear the first Hiss guards once The Board authorizes weapon use. Use Primary Melee Strike combos, then push through the executive corridors and ride the main elevator to the Thomas Street Exit onto the Manhattan street.

Reaching Zoe across warped Manhattan

Outside, the city is hazy and littered with suspended bodies and abandoned FBC vehicles. A field radio broadcasts an emergency distress call from Agent Zoe de Vera, and the objective updates to “Meet Zoe at the Hotel Building.”

Objective update — The quest points you to the hotel as bodies hang over the intersection. Shown at 12:21 in WoW Quests’s video. Image: Remedy Entertainment

Fight through the street Hiss. A tutorial explains that Large Health Elements dropped by enemies restore a fixed amount of health and cannot be picked up while your health is full.

Clear the Arena encounter. Barriers only drop when the final wave of Heavy enemies is defeated, and Drones keep respawning while any Heavy enemy is alive. Build the Falter meter and press Square to trigger an Execution when an enemy is faltered.

Choose a secondary Aberrant form when The Board offers Drill, Crush or Extend. Crush is a slow, high-damage blunt attack that knocks enemies down and can be charged for more damage.

Work along the alleys and rooftops toward Zoe, climbing fences and crossing over a bus roof and fire escapes. You meet the armed FBC agent at the edge of a dimensional rift, and she orders you to prove yourself, updating the objective to “Investigate the Alley.”

Street alley combat — Alley fights gate the elevated scaffolding path forward. Shown at 17:21 in WoW Quests’s video. Image: Remedy Entertainment

Completing the Patterning ritual

After a vision of Jesse on a rooftop, the objective becomes “Search for Jesse” and pulls you into an Astral space of floating golden-grass terrain. Here you interact with retro TV sets to unlock Dylan’s three movement abilities. The objective shifts to “Complete the Ritual.”

Dimension shift — Interacting with the first TV expands the Astral space and starts the ritual. Shown at 22:50 in WoW Quests’s video. Image: Remedy Entertainment

Activate each ritual node in turn to receive the traversal powers you need for the rest of the quest.

Double Jump: press jump, then jump again mid-air.
Elevate: press and hold jump to levitate upward, release to drop.
Rush: hold the dodge button while running for a sustained sprint.

Finish the final bedroom-themed TV station beside the Christmas tree to trigger a childhood flashback of Jesse and young Dylan. You then return to the rooftops with the objective “Find a Vantage Point,” which becomes “Reach the Source of the Patterning.”

Use Double Jump and Elevate to cross the wide street gaps and clear the Hiss Lurkers on the roofs. A large geometric pulse, the Patterning itself, dissolves Hiss forces in the square below as you approach the museum plaza with its ring sculptures.

Patterning event — The Patterning reshapes Manhattan as you head toward its source. Shown at 30:49 in WoW Quests’s video. Image: Remedy Entertainment

Defeating The Artist

Reaching the plaza raises a giant stone head from the pavement and sets the objective “Defeat the Artist.” This is the boss fight that ends Orientation.

Dodge the boss’s rock shockwaves and flying debris while landing melee strikes on its cracked face.

When the arena shifts and floating debris platforms appear, use them to reach and strike the exposed weak spots lit by the golden light beams.

Climb the boss’s face during the finisher and impale the glowing eye socket with the Aberrant. The head collapses into the floor, awarding the Artistic Liberation trophy and completing Orientation.

Choosing a combat ability in The Gap

After the boss, Dylan enters The Gap to pick a combat ability from Barrage, Volatile Anomaly and Shield. Shield absorbs damage equal to your Power meter and can be used for a Shield Bash; completing its tutorial against Astral targets earns the Parautilitarian trophy.

The Gap also introduces the Reset and Exchange mechanic, the Arena for testing loadouts, Artifact Formation at the forge, the talent tree (Dominance, Perfect Dodge, Sanctioned Retaliation, Back Stab Recovery), and weapon upgrades. Upgrading the Strike form with Dodge Strike, Sharp Recovery and Precise Agility unlocks the Astral Construction trophy. Your ability choice is not final, so you can swap Shield for Volatile Anomaly here.

Returning to the FBC and starting Welcome to Manhattan

After returning to the city, an alert identifies Dylan as a Class 1 paranatural entity, and Zoe points her gun at him. Pick the dialogue responses that show you intend to help. She then agrees to escort you to FBC headquarters, as long as you go willingly.

At Central Executive, technicians secure a Mobile Containment Device (MCD) around Dylan’s collar. Head of Research and Acting Co-Director Emily Pope explains Jesse’s disappearance, the expanding Patterning, Black Rock injectors, and the uncategorized Resonant Entities in Manhattan. She adds a resonance meter to your MCD and sends you to the West Incursion Zone, with Zoe serving as your handler.

Orientation has ended when the quest log displays “Quest Completed: Orientation” and adds Welcome to Manhattan as the next mission in the Contain the Crisis arc. This transition begins the main game and gives you your first free assignment in the city.