Control Resonant: Kotaku on The Dancer and a boss fight with a second phase on 6 October 2026

Zwiezen says he loved the original Control and that he is enjoying Control Resonant a lot so far. In his description, The Dancer initially seems straightforward, but the boss then enters a second phase that is faster and more aggressive.

The article uses that fight to underline the idea that well-designed boss battles can still leave a strong impression. In the material provided, The Dancer is described at least as a boss with two phases, but not as a fight whose total number of phases has been definitively confirmed.

What happened

On 6 October 2026, Kotaku published a Zack Zwiezen article about Control Resonant and boss fights. The headline says the piece reminded him why boss fights can be good. The publication is linked to the URL kotaku.com/control-resonant-reminded-me-why-boss-fights-can-be-good-actually-2000741021.

Zwiezen uses a fight against The Dancer as a concrete example. According to his description, the boss first appears relatively simple, but then a second phase follows in which the pace picks up and the attack patterns become more aggressive. The supplied facts say that the second phase is faster and more aggressive than the first, and that the boss initially seemed easy before a second form appeared.

The writer also refers to the original Control and says he loved that game. In the same piece, he says he is finding Control Resonant very strong so far. The fact report also notes that he describes the game as a recently released open-world action game from Remedy, although it adds that the exact title may be styled differently in official materials.

According to the supplied facts, the article also makes a broader point: well-designed boss fights can be great experiences. That is the writer's editorial judgment rather than a measurable property of the game. The verifiable core remains that Kotaku published a piece on 6 October 2026 in which The Dancer is cited as an example of a boss with at least two phases.

Background

The article centers on Zack Zwiezen's personal observation about boss design in a Remedy game. The name Control Resonant is used in the Kotaku piece for the game he is writing about. The fact report explicitly says this may be a stylized or non-final title, so caution is needed when treating the name as an official product title.

The key point of the piece is that The Dancer initially seems less threatening, but becomes clearly harder in the second phase. Kotaku uses that fight as a springboard for broader praise of well-designed boss battles. The supplied facts confirm that the boss has at least two phases, but do not confirm that there are no additional phases. It is therefore accurate to say that a second phase definitely exists, without locking down the total number of phases.

Zwiezen ties that observation to his own experience with the game. He says he loved the original Control and that he is finding Control Resonant very strong so far. That places the boss fight not as a standalone moment, but as part of a broader impression of Remedy's recent release.

The available information does not include additional external context, extra source references, or confirmed embedded media that add further facts. As a result, the factual basis of this article remains limited to the publication date, the author, the named game, the boss The Dancer, and the description of a phase change in that fight.

Sources

• Kotaku, "Control Resonant Reminded Me Why Boss Fights Can Be Good, Actually," 6 October 2026.