As a child, I had a small obsession with The 7th Guest. I played through the game multiple times, working out what puzzles I could on my own and getting hints or using the official strategy guide to overcome any challenges that were just a bit too much for a nine-year-old to handle. I had the intro scene and a creepy in-game poem memorized by heart. Also, I read the heck out of that guide book—it included the original script, which was a bit different to the one that made it in the game and it really improved the lore having it. Seeing this game was now available in VR, I was excited to hop back into it and enjoy the world in 3D glory.

As I loaded up the game in my headset, ready to re-immerse myself in that world, I ended up with a great surprise. In my excitement, I hadn't done my research and I didn't realize that the game would be a full-on remake. It isn't the exact same game over again in a new format by any means, it is a completely new retelling with new actors, new puzzles, and new mechanics thrown in. The introduction has a completely different opening scene, with the story of Stauf's history now told via scatterings of pictures you can find here and there throughout the house.

Immersing in the Story

For anyone new to the 7th Guest, the basic plot involves the master of the house inviting six people over to stay and giving them some warped games and puzzles to play with in a sort of competition as he slowly reveals his intentions. The game takes place far after these events, with the player wandering a haunted house, watching glimpses of the past unfold as spectral reenactments around you. Solving the puzzles which the guests once solved opens new locations to visit and new ghostly scenes to view. As each guest has taken a room at the manor, they each have their own rooms with appropriately themed puzzles, and solving each room gives more backstory to the characters and their motivations.

As with the original, the story is made to be more like a campy B-movie rather than a straight thriller. It's meant to be an atmospheric adventure in exploration rather than something to actively frighten people. With your in-game hands taking the form of ethereal skeleton hands (also a nod to the original game and its ghostly cursors), you end up becoming sort of a ghost detective, exploring each scene as a part of the environment rather than as someone threatened by it. This makes it a good game for anyone who enjoys puzzles even if they can't do overly scary since its spookiness is mainly atmospheric and environmental—it's under your control rather than something you need to anticipate with tension.

The New Form of the 7th Guest

Major changes from the original (in addition to the freedom of exploration VR provides) include a brief tutorial with Tad (a character from the original) now taking on the form of a butterfly spirit to guide you through the basics as well as a new "spirit lantern" that can be used to shine some light on the house as you explore, taking it from its current dilapidated state to reveal the house of old as well as some clues and spooky paintings. You no longer mutter to yourself and the house is now located on an island approached by rowing across water rather than being up a windy road with a deadly drop-off.

The starting room with its grand staircase maintains its layout to feel familiar, but the details have been changed with the front doors being redesigned and the general color scheme and decor feeling a lot more realistic and detailed. The layout of the second floor has been changed around entirely, giving returning players something new to explore. Rather than being surprised by sudden ghastly appearances as you wander (though there are some brief apparitions), you trigger the ghostly memory scenes by moving to a designated spot when the scene becomes available—a method that works very well for VR since it means you'll initiate the scene from a decent viewpoint, though you can still move around freely and get up close and personal with the ghosts once the scene has been triggered.

As a fan of the original, I did miss having the original actors (especially Stauf and Hamilton), but the new actors did a great job and it was a lot of fun to be able to wander around the ghosts as they interacted with each other, viewing each scene from whatever angle I wished. There were some major plot points that didn't come through as clearly in this version, but I felt it was okay for this game to be it's own thing—I can always replay the original if I want.

I only wish that the game allowed exploration to continue past the ending; once you reach the point of no return, your save will only load into the final puzzle area, leaving you without the ability to explore further.

VR and Puzzles

The 7th Guest VR features entirely new puzzles with all those from the original game having been changed out (with one exception, which is also slightly altered). The new puzzles have been crafted to be more hands-on, making some of the best use of a VR environment that I've seen so far, with excellent spatial interactions (though my experience is limited mostly to other VR puzzle games). Puzzle difficulty has been reduced from the original (not necessarily a bad thing seeing as one of the original became near impossible when played on a modern machine) but for me, each felt at an appropriate level for the fact that you're manipulating objects in a 3D environment in order to solve them. Hardcore puzzle-solvers will likely find the game to be on the easy side, but those who struggle won't need to worry because there's also a system available for skipping a puzzle if it's too difficult or just not very fun.

Since VR can be temperamental, one of the main things to worry about is how easy it is to navigate its interface. I find a certain degree of wonkiness to be unavoidable with VR games, but in all, navigation and item handling were very smooth for me. I played through the Quest 3 and I was impressed with how responsive object manipulation was. I did have an occasional issue with loading in at the wrong height, but I was able to correct it without much issue. There was also one puzzle which required a decent amount of speed to solve, which can be frustrating for players who move slowly, but other than those two issues, I found everything to be a delight to interact with. Dropped objects respawn to their original location, so there wasn't any worry about losing something important. As far as puzzles go, the only disappointment for me was that the final puzzle is a bit out of place and doesn't make use of the VR experience at all, but I was still able to enjoy it despite that.

This game has more recently been released again in a non-VR version as a "7th Guest Remake," so it's also now available to those without headsets. I haven't had the chance to play that version myself yet, but I've read that the main complaints involve things that work very well in VR not transitioning well to a flat screen. Since I found this to be an excellent VR experience, I would encourage players to experience the VR version if possible.
In general, I think that players who enjoy escape rooms and a haunted house atmosphere would find this an enjoyable experience, regardless of whether they played the original.

Quick Reference

The 7th Guest VR is a spooky atmospheric puzzle game and a remake of the original 7th Guest game.
Best played in a quiet place to make the most of the atmosphere and with regular breaks after major puzzles to give your head and headset a chance to recharge.

Strengths:
• Great spooky "haunted manor" atmosphere.
• 3D puzzles that make good use of the VR environment.
• Keeps true to the spirit of the original.
• Puzzles can be skipped if you are stuck.

Weaknesses:
• Not a huge amount of replay value (once you've solved the puzzles, you've solved them).
• You can't explore the house after completing the game.
• One particular puzzle requires a bit of agility on the part of the player.
• The final puzzle feels somewhat out of place in comparison to the rest of the game.