The scariest thing about Until Dawn’s remake is how unnecessary it is

In 1998, Gus Van Sant remade the iconic horror film Psycho nearly shot-for-shot. While it’s still a solid film because of how well-made the original is, the reception for it was mostly mixed-to-negative because it didn’t do enough to justify its existence. The critics’ consensus on Rotten Tomatoes reads: “Van Sant’s pointless remake neither improves nor illuminates Hitchcock’s original.”

That’s exactly how I feel about Ballistic Moon’s Until Dawn remake for PlayStation 5 and PC.

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Originally released for PS4 in 2015, Until Dawn is still one of the best narrative adventure games around. Its branching choices feel meaningful and make the player feel like they’re in control of a teen slasher narrative. It’s all backed up by a suite of amazing performances. All of that’s still true in the remake, but it changes the cinematography, color grading, soundtrack, and gameplay in ways that feel different rather than better.

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Feeling blue

Until Dawn follows a group of friends tormented by a masked killer and grotesque creatures as they reunite in a remote cabin one year after two of their friends go missing after a prank. It’s not the most original horror narrative out there, but it works as a backdrop for a choose-your-own-adventure movie experience. The original Until Dawn came out when narrative adventure games like it were still the new hotness; it launched during peak Telltale and around the same time as Life is Strange. Nearly a decade later, the genre isn’t as thriving as it once was, but I recommend checking Until Dawn out if you’ve never played it before.

Until Dawn — Gameplay Trailer | PS5 Games

There’s still something novel about being put in charge of the events of a horror movie that still works nine years later. Actors like Hayden Panettiere, Rami Malek, and