While everyone else was talking about wanting a computer with CD-ROM to play Myst, I was more intrigued by another title. The 7th Guest by Virgin Interactive. At this point, my only computer was a Color Computer II that I used to write chap books and short stories collections I sold at a local gas station. Playing something like The 7th Guest was far beyond my financial situation. That did not stop me from following previews, guides, interviews, and reviews of it though.
Now a VR version is in the works.
One of a few horror FMV games
At this point, 1993 to be exact, CD-ROM was still new. Sure, Sega and NEC had CD-ROM attachments for their respective consoles, and Nintendo announced one for the Super Nintendo (with The 7th Guest touted as coming to it exclusively by Gamepro and other publications). The problem is, limitations of the hardware. The Sega CD came the closest to a 7th Guest style game with Mansion of Hidden Souls, but that was unfortunately grainy to the point of unplayable.
The 7th Guest was coming to PC, the land of VGA video cards, 256 colors onscreen, higher resolution, etc. The early pics certainly showed off the amazing details and impressive dreariness the developers were going for.
As with most FMV games, you are not free to move wherever you want. You are held to a track system to move around (Mansion of Hidden Souls did this too). That was something that was not really conveyed in the pics in publications, and it was only really glossed over in the articles.
Still, the atmosphere was amazing.
The real kicker of this game was the use of Full Motion Video (FMV) actors and how they were placed in the game world. The only other game I can really compare to, that did it better, was Killing Time on 3DO (amazing how they were able to do it).
Be prepared though, the puzzles can be brutal at times and there was no real hand holding that I remember.
Bringing Full Motion Video into Virtual Reality
This is a full on remake of The 7th Guest, not an update like the 2019 25th Anniversary Edition we saw on released on Steam. That means new content as well as better graphics and such.
The question is, is it enough for fans to buy another version of the game?
According to PCGamer.com, this remake will feature many VR specific updates. One, 3D video, two “VR-powered optical illusions.”
One thing huge change here is that finally, you will be able to move around the mansion uninhibited, other than unlocking doors and passageways to new areas. No more on tracks movement. That has me incredibly intrigued as this sounds like it is the version I imagined in my mind when reading about The 7th Guest the first time.
“Volumetric Video” is being used to re-record actors portraying the ghosts that you encounter. PCGamer.com references ‘bullet time’ from the Matrix movie as the process is very similar. Actors are filmed with cameras all around them so everything can be combined in the game for a smooth look depending on where you are standing in relation to the ghost.
No more stilted, flat, FMV in this remake. I like that. I like that they are working to improve the game in meaningful ways for the VR update.
Fans can expect the classic story of the original game but with new puzzles and challenges. Again, I like how this sounds. Just prettier graphics are not enough, fans want more to enjoy and that is what it seems they will get with this VR update.
No word yet on price point but The 7th Guest will be available on Steam and the Meta store later in 2023.
For those with the hardware, it is almost time to re-enter the Stauf Mansion and solve its puzzles. If you can survive you will surely have an amazing campfire story to tell. If not, someone else may have a great story to tell about your afterlife.