Control needed more cutscenes. Half the story was prolonged Mass Effect-style conversations, in which the same few canned animations repeated over and over as the camera went back and forth: shot, reverse shot, shot, reverse shot. The two characters just stood there in the most unnatural way possible. It was not an RPG and the dialogue choices were inconsequential, so it would have been better to present the conversations as cutscenes in which the camerawork and the actions of the characters could be more dynamic and varied. Maybe Jesse Faden walks over to the wall and leans back or sits down to stretch her legs after being on her feet for hours. Maybe she grabs or slaps the woman. Maybe she accepts a cigarette when she's anxious about something. Why would the player say no to an optional mission? Even if you really think those dialogue choices are necessary, the conversation does not need to be in the Mass Effect style. Pause the cutscene until the player makes their choice. The comic book panels in Max Payne 1 and 2 were far more cinematic as well.
Also too many journals. Yeah, that's what we want in an action game. To constantly stop and read. I generally find book amounts of journals and audio logs to be a lazy, unrealistic way to tell a story. I do not read them, for the most part. Posting this Witcher 3 note because I find it funny and it's such a good example of the problem. I think it was on or beside a dead body. Had time to write all this to no one as bandits were out to kill. For what?
Exactly like that running gag with the audio logs in South Park: The Stick of Truth.
Control had so much talking and so many journals, yet I got very little out of the vague too-deep-for-you story.