Remedy avoided ‘yellow paint’ guides on purpose, Control Resonant director says

Following Insomniac’s Marvel’s Wolverine, guidelines in games became a major debate in the gaming community. Control Resonant’s director, Mikael Kasurinen, explained that Remedy deliberately avoids giving gamers guidelines on where to go and that figuring things out on their own is a far better experience. 

Game developers are not strangers to guiding players through levels with a notorious “yellow paint” or trail. However, Remedy took a different approach with Control Resonant by using the environment itself to guide players, making exploration more enjoyable and rewarding.

According to Dexerto, Kasurinen said during an interview, “It’s so important that the players feel like they’re the ones figuring it out.”

He added that giving players a sense of choice is better than simply following in-game instructions. Kasurinen did acknowledge that some players can initially find traversing Control Resonant’s world difficult, which “can alienate a lot of people really quickly,” making it a risky decision.

Kasurinen added, “They can’t be outsiders who just kind of look at stuff. They have to be there, participating in the work of figuring out what to do, that we’re not going to tell them necessarily directly.”

Despite all that, he believes that this is the right choice for Control Resonant because it will help the game “stand the test of time.”

“It’s not something that you kind of go through, you did what you were told, and you’re done. It feels like, no, I made some choices in this game.”

Social media praised Remedy’s choice:

“I’m so happy Remedy continues to keep on believing in themselves, delivering incredible stories and imaginative games for a long time. The Remedy lore universe is super deep and if you’ve never heard of how their games are interconnected, please do yourself a favorite and read about it!!”

“Exactly what I love about this. While solving puzzles and figuring things out, the character doesn’t spell everything out or give you obvious hints about what you’re supposed to do. It feels so much better than games that constantly hold your hand and tell you exactly what to do. That kind of hand-holding is honestly irritating.”

“A game that trusts you to find the door by yourself. bold move in 2026.”

Insomniac’s Marvel’s Wolverine: A victim of guidelines in a linear game

Insomniac’s Marvel Wolverine recently stirred debate in the gaming community after players criticised several aspects of the story-driven action PS5 exclusive. Players said that the game was very easy no matter the difficulty, citing quick-time and driving events where the title ends up playing itself.

Moreover, being a linear game, the addition of several guidelines, including yellow paint and blue smoke, did not sit right with many people.