The 7th Guest VR has just launched on Steam - and is greatly enhanced compared to the Quest version

[RuneSR2]

This is the launch trailer - and as written with a small white font in the video, this is not from the low-end Quest2/3-version (or PSVR2) being shown, but from the highest-end PCVR version - this is what you'll only get from Steam (but might arrive later in the Rift Store, who knows):

Get the game here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2456960/The_7th_Guest_VR/

The game seems just as great as I was hoping for. I'm using an RTX 3090, i9 10900K (10 cores/20 threads, 3.7-5.3Ghz), 32GB, Win10. You have access to these advanced settings in the PCVR version:

The lower end Quest and PSVR2 versions have none of these advanced settings

The game is a 24GB download (25GB installed), twice the size of the Quest version. The PCVR version is greatly enhanced with high-res textures, great lighting, highly detailed dynamic shadows and polygon levels are fine (the latter probably same as Quest). It's a dead world like Red Matter 2, and npcs are shown like movie characters - this works great, and also does not require tons of rendered polygons. 

As seen in the above 3 screenshots, the game uses 2D movie characters to tell the story, but this works great  

The game starts here though:

In the start of the game, you arrive by boat

Great performance even with some trees - as you walk toward the mansion

I have a feeling that something is not right - could I be ... dead?! 🤔 

Inside the mansion - there are puzzle in most rooms

Performance is great, but might also reveal the Quest origin. Using an insane Index res 400% (36 mill pixels combining both eyes) I get 80 fps in 80 Hz with maxed in-game settings - for 90 fps I need res 350%. That's inside the mansion using 4xMSAA - but you can just use 2xMSAA instead, looks the same with that res. In short - most should be able to play this game in high res. Devs say you need a RTX 2070 for the game, I would be surprised if this does not work with a GTX 1060 6GB (or at least 1070 8GB).

Here are examples of dynamic shadows in the game:

- and here are examples of the ultra-high-res textures in the game:

Some objects look really great:

To solve puzzles, you may need items and to use a special flash light:

Solved a small puzzle and got key to open the gate - quite a giant key 😉

  

Shining the ghost-ish light on the floor reveals how it once looked

Stauf has set up a few puzzles for you 😉

Polygon levels look nice though - the game does not look much like a usual low-poly Quest game:

Plates look round = have a sufficient level of polygons

Here are some examples of lighting:

Moonlight radiating through the windows and curtains

Light setting a nice atmosphere

There's animated fog around this lamp - but cannot truly be show in a 2D image

You can teleport, slide or both. Smooth and snap turning are available - controls are great.

I played the original 7th Guest a lot of years ago. This feels so much better. I've solved a few rooms, still have much to do. The game feels like an 8/10 rating for the PCVR version right now. It's a high-quality game.

Note that the game is almost too bright with the Index, consider reducing brightness to 70% for better blacks.

Btw, there are great water effects in the game too:

Droplets running down the glass 

[RuneSR2]

Btw, for those thinking the Quest 3 version of the game looks good - here's the chandelier in the Quest 3 version:

It looks extremely bad -  and devs had to severely reduce it and other models to get the game running on the low-end Quest 3 gpu (which uses a phone gpu, namely the Adreno 740 phone gpu inside the XR2 Gen2 SoC - same gpu as in the Samsung S23 phone).

This is the PCVR version in comparison:

Also the Quest 3 version has no dynamic shadows - like the PCVR version:

Dynamic shadows cast by the flowers are seen on the wall - such shadows are not in the Quest 3 version

See the dynamic shadow cast by the bike - no such thing in the Quest 3 version

Some models and surfaces greatly enhanced for PCVR:

Great to see that the devs did so much effort to enhance the PCVR version. If you have a PC and a Quest 2/3, get the PCVR version if you want the very best 7th Guest VR experience. 

 

[Shadowmask72]

We know how much Rune loves those dynamic shadows. I actually think you dream about them?

[RuneSR2]

Good to hear from you - it's been some time! Well, if the dynamic shadows are missing I might indeed dream about them and get the most lucid nightmares, lol. Dynamic shadows have been the norm in 2D PC games for more than 20 years, so it sticks out like a sore thumb and breaks immersion to me when being cut. Unless it's a vampire (or the invisible man? 🤔), I will expect any npc walking by a light source in a dimly lit environment to cast a shadow, lol. 

When processors are too weak to provide the experiences the devs try to make, dynamic shadows typically go first. For long no dynamic shadows has been the hallmark of games cut down to run on phone gpus - like the Quest games. 

Btw, having checked out several videos, PSVR2 seems to have the full models (same chandelier as the PCVR version) - but there are no dynamic shadows 😵 😱 

So yes, PSVR2 could turn into a nightmare for me - even worse, it may only be 60 fps with reprojections 😭

Having read more than 50+ comments in the PSVR SubReddit, it also seem the game does not support eye tracking or foveated rendering - some describe the game as slightly subsampled and blurry. Also the game is so bright that there are no deep oled blacks - also causing some PSVR2 owners to complain about the brightness. But it's the same for all versions, brightness is quite high - looks better reducing Index to 70% brightness. 

Still a great game, and with your RTX 4090 you can enjoy everything at max (including the rare and sacred shadows 🤓). Did you get the BigScreen Beyond, or what are you using these days?

[RuneSR2]

Note that devs have set the bar too high for the minimum requirements - you do not need a RTX 2070 or better. Here's one happy GTX 1060 owner using Link and Quest 2:

"Honestly, I'm running this on a 64-bit Windows 10, GeForce GTX 1060, i5-7500 3.4GHz, 16GB RAM, installed on a 250GB SSD, which is actually below the minimum specs in some areas, and then through the official Oculus Link cable to my Quest 2, and it runs more than well enough with all the in-game settings on full for me to enjoy it.

I can imagine it must be much better running on a native PCVR headset and will also be better on Quest 3 native too (which is also going to get a proper update to take advantage of the extra power over Quest 2 there soon).

The visuals, audio, and general atmosphere and stuff are all great imo, and no real bugs I've noticed. Other than a bit of fiddling with the hand interaction at times, none of which is a major issue, it's pretty great for what it is imo.

Only thing I wish they'd add is an option to have the map and torch physically down by your sides so you just grab them directly with the grip buttons to use them like anything else in the game, which would leave the index fingers free for general pointing and stop me pressing the wrong buttons constantly when I just want to use the torch or map. Just a quality of life improvement I'd like to see there really."

[RuneSR2]

Note that the game uses OpenXR, so when buying the game on Steam you get the same great performance as if bought in the Rift Store. My CV1 controllers were shown as Rift S controllers - but no big deal, lol:

Moonlight shining through the windows - screenshot taken while wearing the CV1

The game feels too bright for CV1 oled, clearly it was made for LCD hmds. Also even pushing CV1 ss 2.5 (27 mill pixels per frame combining both eyes) and 4xMSAA, there was a slight shimmering to edges, which you do not see using LCD. CV1 sound was a winner though - but it nearly always is. 

[RuneSR2]

A few more screenshots - I tried to get as close as possible to this character:

By using 3D (volumetric) videos of characters, their emotional expressions are much better than when using the usual npcs made by polygons 

As close as I could get - going closer then the character becomes invisible

When you've solved all puzzles in a room, the room returns to looking its best (tidy, no cobwebs etc):

Check out the nice lighting

The PCVR textures (Alyx class quality for some textures) continue to amaze - but PCVR does take up 30GB, while Quest is only 12GB:

[J40NYR]

That looks fantastic!! have you played through the game, how is it?

[RuneSR2]

The game reminds me a lot about the original, but better in every way - as you're now present for the very first time in the mansion. So far puzzles also seem similar, the first ones being fairly easy, but the level of difficulty soon increases. 7th Guest reminds me of Room VR, which is one of the highest-rated VR games  - but 7th Guest is much bigger, if I remember correctly spanning over 17 rooms.

The game is greatly designed for both mobile VR and PCVR. Due to the smaller rooms and npcs made using volumetric videos, you do not need much rendering power to create immersive environments, even if you can significantly crank up the graphics with a high-end rig. Like Red Matter 2, most should be happy for whatever version they chose for their preferred platform.

Quest 3 should get an enhanced version in 2 weeks, but no reason not to start enjoying the game today - I'm confident the puzzles will stay the same 😉

[RuneSR2]

Just did 2 more rooms - some puzzles are starting to get difficult - and when exposed to many puzzles, of course some may by chance just turn difficult, because you overlook something. 

A few more impressions:

Real actors provide great emotional expressions

Note her mirror image - a nice touch

This drinking game was ... fun-ish... 😉

Clearing the room 🙂 - After solving the drinking game

The ghost in the mirror...

Next chest - very high-res texture on the small box I'm holding

Some high-poly door handle - it's actually low-poly until you solve all puzzles 😉

Maybe a better title would be "The Janitor" instead of "The 7th Guest" - and I do enjoy cleaning up the rooms  🤗

Some more images - not spoiling much, but better safe than sorry 🙂

Spoiler

I guess it's normal to have at least one skeleton in the closet... 


Nice number of polygons


Fun with magic hats - this was so great, it increases my rating of the game from 8.5/10 to 9/10

Not exactly travel light... Note the nice wallpaper