The FIRST True Mixed Reality Game Is HERE! Demeter Quest 3 Gameplay

In this Demeter Quest 3 gameplay video I play the first chapter of Demeter: The Asklepios Chronicles, a puzzle platformer for Meta Quest built for mixed reality. Plenty of VR games have a mixed reality mode now, but most of them only give you a passthrough view. Demeter actually reacts to your room, and it’s out on the Meta Quest Store from today, 25 January 2024. Novelab, the studio behind it, sponsored this video. That pays for our time, not for my opinion.

How the game uses your room

I played in our living room, where we have the most space to walk around, with a couch, a coffee table and other furniture in the play area. The game starts by scanning the room, and you outline your furniture. From that, Demeter generates its levels procedurally, so the map is built on top of your own couch and table. It also means my levels look different from yours, because your room is laid out differently. I think that’s a fun idea.

There’s something magical about having a game world sitting on your furniture and being able to walk around it. You can lean in to look at something closely, step back, crouch or duck to see a platform from another angle. That’s exactly what mixed reality on the Meta Quest 3 is good at, with its color passthrough and depth sensor.

The story so far

You meet Atalante, a small character whose ship has crashed, in this case in my living room. It’s up to you to help her. She’s trying to find out where Echo is, and what’s going on with the world and its creatures, which have gone dark. To get the ship running again she needs shards and a great crystal.

I’m keeping it to that, because I only played the first chapter and I don’t want to spoil anything. What I saw made me curious. Novelab is no stranger to narrative XR experiences, and that storytelling experience shows here.

Demeter Quest 3 gameplay: platforming and puzzles

You control Atalante like a classic platformer, with the face buttons to jump and fight and the left trigger to dash. The puzzles are where your hands come in: in one map the game teaches you to touch crystals with your controllers, and later you get more powers to change the environment yourself.

A few things that help while playing:

• Press the left menu button to open the map if you get lost.
• Press Y for the Accessibility Mode, in case you need it.

What I like is how the game slowly gives you new abilities to help your little friend. Because you’re the one helping her through your own room, you build a more personal bond with her. At the end of the first chapter you gain even more control over the environment, and I’m excited to see where that goes in the rest of the game.

Price and playtime

Demeter costs $19.99 on the Meta Quest Store. It’s about three to four hours long, which is on the short side, but I think the price is fair for what you get, weighed against how new the idea is.

Is Demeter worth playing?

If you have a Quest 3 and want to see what mixed reality can really do, yes. Demeter is the first game I’ve played that builds its world around my room instead of just showing it in the background, and the mix of platforming, puzzles and story works. I’ve only scratched the surface with the first chapter, but I want to know where the story leads.