You have a choice of two storylines to follow, Tad or Dr Richmond, and each have their own puzzles and route through the old house. The games in the same full motion video style, but now you can move around and look at things from all angles and the quality is way better because it's been 25 years. Tbh, I preferred the old way because this sort of first-person view gives me motion sickness, but I got used to it, and it definitely made the game creepier. Jump scares are now possible, for a start. The actors were a little stilted in the sane roles, but got into it more when the madness started. I like that, plotwise, they really built on what was already there, and filled in some of the questions left from the first game - most notably, the role of the woman in white.
I've played through as Dr Richmond, and I'm liking the game a lot. The puzzles in the older games were too difficult for me, so I tended to look them up rather than get frustrated, but these are easier, not least because the rules and goals are better explained. I also like that the game has achievements, to make sure you find everything, and that the map changes to show which rooms are locked or unlocked, and which have uncompleted puzzles or key items to be found. You can also zoom around the mansion on the map like in The 11th Hour. Also, I really like that you can window this game! You couldn't with the second one. The first one could be windowed by pressing alt+enter.
As well as the puzzles, there are golden memory coins and backers names to find in the mansion, though the map doesn't signal when you've missed those. I found some of them, but the coins are especially tricky. You can pick up ten as Tad and ten as Dr Richmond and, in my first playthrough, I found one. Luckily, the coins aren't really missable - you can go back and pick them up right before the end scene, which is a place I saved anyway because that's also where the decision is made which determines which ending you receive. It would have been nice if there'd been some hints to where the coins are, maybe a trail of cryptic crossword clues like the second game. I did miss a name in an area you can't return to, but the two areas you can't return to are close to the beginning of the game, so I'll probably just restart to nab that one. Both characters have three locations, so I'd recommend making one save as soon as you enter each, and then saving while Dr Richmond is collecting the eyes and as soon as Tad unlocks the Temple Room. From there, you can go back and pick up anything you missed. That last Dr save will let you unlock both endings without too much backtracking, while Tad can save after the Doll Room puzzle for the same effect.
It took me two days to play through all of this - once as the Dr and once as Tad, saving and backtracking sometimes to get every coin and VIP name. Frustratingly, I now have every achievement except "Master of the Dolls", for viewing the secret ending. Apparently, you need to complete every puzzle in the game without using any hints and view all five endings. I've got all five endings on seperate saves - since the game will let you save after the end - and I thought I'd only used hints on the first two puzzles in the doctor's run, but I redid those when searching for the VIP names, so apparently not. I'm going to try a speedrun through both routes tomorrow, see if that works.
Edit: My speedrun through both routes took just over 3 hours, and it did successfully unlock the 'extras' button for the bonus ending! It's over to the lower left of the menu screen, and now I'm haunted by the idea that I might have unlocked it earlier and just not noticed it.
It turns out there is also a novelisation of The 7th Guest, which I am now halfway through since it was £1.99 on Kindle. I'm enjoying it so far. It basically gives you more backstory on each of the guests and Stauf, and then describes the events at the mansion. The puzzles are referenced, for example, the first thing the guests do is eat the cake, but they're not described in depth and it's just solved by one of the guests since it's not a puzzle book.
I did try making the Stauf mansion in the Sims, but it turned out to be impossible since that mansion defies the laws of time and space. I did know that, but I was hoping to build a big shell around it, to take account of the difference between the first and second floor, and so I could make the outside look right and add the secret rooms and passages in the massive gaps. Unfortunately, it didn't work. I think it might be possible to do it by changing the second floor corridor and where the rooms come of it, but keeping the rooms themselves the same, but maybe not.
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