Justin Harrison

Remakes are a tricky endeavor, creatively. At their best, they’ll see a dedicated creative team finding a new angle on a beloved piece of work, or introducing a beloved project to a new audience. Think of the crew at CAPCOM who built Resident Evil’s mostly belovedremakes, or Type-Moon’s stupendous Tsukihime -A piece of blue glass moon-. At their worst, they’ll fail to translate the success of the original work, or worse, end up as misconceived boondoggles.

Until Then, Polychroma Games’ 2024 coming-of-age/quantum physics and time-shenanigans-heavy science fiction adventure title was a damn fine game. Its protagonists were lovable and dimensional, with moments of grace and venality alike that consistently rang true. Its art was reliably striking. Its narrative skillfully combined coming-of-age and science fiction to push both in fun ways.

Dead as Disco is done. Once, they were an eclectic and wildly creative band fronted by big-hearted drummer Charlie Disco. Now Charlie is long dead, and his bandmates have all found themselves working for the omnipresent Harmony Corporation. They’re still making music, but not together, and not for themselves. Everything they do, every song they sing, every fan they win, is for Harmony’s sake. Charlie would have hated that, but there’s nothing he can do. He’s dead, after all.