When The 7th Guest was first released in 1993, it arrived at a fascinating moment for both gaming and technology. The game was a technical achievement, being one of the earliest to utilize the then-new CD-ROM format, which was still considered state-of-the-art even though it had been around for nearly ten years. This new storage method gave The 7th Guest much more space than games of the time, which typically used floppy disks. The developers used this extra space to create detailed, pre-rendered environments and cinematic cutscenes with real actors, instead of the computer graphics commonly used then.
While quite dated by the standards of even just a few years later, The 7th Guest was still considered by many to be one of the benchmarks to hit when developing an FMV-based point-and-click adventure game, if not for its gameplay and puzzle design then at least for its visual flair, presentation, and storytelling.
Twenty years later, in 2023, a virtual reality remake of The 7th Guest was released. This new version features improved puzzles, a detailed 3D recreation of the mansion, and a fresh cast of actors. Given that VR gaming isn’t for everyone, it was expected that the game would eventually be available on standard platforms, and now it is – you can play it on PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch.
In the modern gaming industry, where point-and-click adventure games have largely disappeared, and horror has split off from the genre entirely, becoming its own thing thanks to a variety of releases ranging from Resident Evil to Silent Hill. Keeping this in mind, The 7th Guest feels quite anachronistic; it still has the original’s spooky atmosphere and dark storyline. However, if you’re expecting to be scared, this isn’t quite the game for you. Rather, The 7th Guest Remake is more focused on making you flex your mental prowess over its several puzzles, which can be tackled at your preferred pace, since there aren’t really any time constraints or grotesque creatures chasing you down.
One of the highlights of The 7th Guest Remake is its puzzles, which are a significant improvement over those in the original game.
The story of The 7th Guest Remake revolves around the mansion of Henry Stauf. While not too many details are revealed in the beginning, the basic plot outline is that, at one point in the past, Stauf invited six guests to spend a night at his mansion at Harley-on-Hudson in New York, and to solve a variety of puzzles that would lead them to discovering his deepest, darkest secrets. However, none of the guests were able to make it too far, with many of them experiencing strange, supernatural events during their stay. You, as the unnamed protagonist, have taken it upon yourself to make your way through the mansion’s various rooms in your efforts to discover just what happened to the original guests, and what Stauf’s secrets might be.
The good news is that the 7th Guest Remake keeps the spirit of the original alive with live-action video cutscenes featuring real actors. The performances are fantastic across the board – from the financially troubled couple, Edward and Elinor Knox, to the actress Martine Burden. Each actor delivers a great mix of subtle emotion and delightfully over-the-top acting, making every encounter with these characters’ memories thoroughly enjoyable.
The 7th Guest Remake follows a fairly straightforward path. You’ll only be able to access a limited number of rooms in the mansion at any time, and each room contains its own puzzles. Solving these puzzles unlocks new areas. Importantly, the puzzles are mostly independent – you won’t need to worry about items or clues from other rooms, as everything you need is contained within the current one.
When it comes to the actual puzzle-solving gameplay, things are once again quite simple, and there isn’t even an inventory screen like you would find in the Monkey Island series, for example. You only have a lantern that lets you look at things in the past, and a second hand that can hold things while you figure out what to do next. The puzzles themselves are also largely focused on logical thinking, sometimes asking you to handle simple mathematics like addition, and other times making you come up with clever solutions to a mini game, for example. The puzzles in The 7th Guest Remake are some of the best things about the game, especially when compared to the original, since the 1993 classic was well-known for its “logic”-based puzzles being absolutely illogical.
“Thankfully, The 7th Guest Remake also retains much of the charm of the original by featuring FMV cutscenes that feature live-action performances by real actors.”
The puzzles in The 7th Guest Remake reveal that the game was initially designed for virtual reality. Many puzzles involve physically manipulating objects, suggesting they were meant to be interacted with using hand movements in VR. Unfortunately, controlling these same objects with controller sticks doesn’t feel as natural. This was particularly noticeable in Hamilton Temple’s room, which heavily featured magical top hats used for teleportation. In the original VR concept, you would physically reach into a top hat to retrieve an item, but in the standard game, you just press a button to pick it up. This simplification diminishes the puzzles’ original charm and uniqueness.
The game’s original virtual reality origins are also noticeable in how you move. While walking and running generally feel good, there are no animations for crouching – the view simply drops to a lower angle. However, this is a small issue overall, as it mostly impacts how the game looks rather than how you play.
Overall, The 7th Guest Remake is a really captivating game. It starts a little slowly, taking time to introduce the characters and explain how the puzzles work. But once you get into it, it’s easy to lose track of time as you clear each room of puzzles and then tell yourself you’ll just peek at the next one. Before you realize it, you’ve spent hours thoroughly searching for every last puzzle piece. It’s not scary, but The 7th Guest Remake is still a great way to spend a cozy evening.
This game was reviewed on PlayStation 5.
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2026-06-11 20:12