Every Remedy Game Has an 'Absolute Evil' at Its Core, Control Resonant Composer Says

Asked about his approach to the wider Remedy-verse score and musical landscape, Alanko said there is always the absolute evil lurking, along with a psychological dimension. He said it affects instruments and instrumentation, as well as the overtone series, the sequence of pitches that sound above a main base note. The evil, he said, “has a gravity” and bends and separates overtones from one another.

“Its nature is very prominent, and there is a psychological aspect to it all: when you hear something familiar to be slightly off, it triggers your lizard brain into action, and with some preparation, we’re able to have a very suitable fight-or-flight reaction to introduce some action as a spice,” Alanko told TechRadar Gaming. He described the process of affecting people and pushing them into action without telling them what to do as “very, very interesting.”

Alanko said he and Remedy rely on players’ understanding of subtext and context clues to find meaning in what they experience. “Remedy is not a dictating entity; we don’t do walking simulators, and we don’t hold hands; we believe in intelligence and the ability to think and deduce something from the facts given,” he said. “Same applies to music: a set of hints and a basic feeling may be introduced, but it ends there.”

He compared the approach to a mentalist who lets the audience perform the magic, and dismissed “really awful marketplace magicians.” “Remedy is not that. We believe in a thinking, investigating, curious human being,” he said.

The approach applies across Remedy’s games, including Control, Alan Wake and Quantum Break. Alanko said the studio does not want to repeat itself, but players will find commonalities in each series. “Every new IP adds to the recipe, more or less, and though we don’t exactly want to repeat ourselves, there must be something in common and something familiar to the scores and the soundtracks, and that’s something you can’t really create overnight,” he said.

He said the work improves with time. Remedy introduced orchestra to its sonic identity with Alan Wake, using it directly and as a slightly mangled version of itself. There was also a softly played grand piano, with compression and reverb, he said. Quantum Break brought more industrial and electronic flavours, and Control brought musique concrète. Alanko called those elements “A Remedy Sonic Bermuda Triangle,” adding that much raw material originates from acoustic sources and that there is very little “just synths” material, although he loves his arsenal.

In the same interview, Alanko suggested studios should value music more if they care about their games, and avoid AI at all costs.

Editor's Summary

Petri Alanko, composer for Control Resonant, says every Remedy Entertainment game has an “absolute evil” at its core that shapes the music through instrumentation, overtones and psychological cues. He says Remedy trusts players to deduce meaning from subtext rather than being told what to feel. Alanko also traces the studio’s sonic evolution through Alan Wake, Quantum Break and Control, and argues studios should value music more and avoid AI.