Hidden Memories of The Gardens Between Review (Meta Quest & PCVR)

After The Gardens Between charmed players with its charming puzzles and heartfelt story, Hidden Memories steps in with a fresh twist, this time in full VR. It's not just the same game with a headset on. The whole experience has been rebuilt to make players feel like they're inside these moments, not just watching them from a distance. The core idea is still there; you can nudge time forward or pull it back to change what happens.

The VR shift changes everything. In The Gardens Between, players watched the characters navigate each island. In Hidden Memories, you're right there with them. Players can lean closer to see the small details, glance around to catch something they might have missed, or pull back for that big, strategic view of the whole puzzle. It's a whole new adventure. That said, let's jump right into the Hidden Memories of The Gardens Between review.

Back to the Islands

The first game told the story of Arina and Frendt as they travelled through strange islands built from their childhood memories. This new version starts years later. Frendt is older now, packing up a home. While going through boxes, he finds Arina's old diary. The moment he opens it, those forgotten moments come alive again.

Now, that's when you step in. Each page of the diary is like a doorway to an island. These islands are floating, dreamlike places filled with objects from their past. They include treehouses, toys, lamps, and garden tools turned into puzzles.

In the original game, you saw all of this from a fixed camera view. In VR, you're inside it. That means players can lean closer to see small details, turn objects in their hands, and watch the world change as they move time forward or backward. Of course, it's the same core idea, but the feeling is entirely different when you're standing right there.

More Memories

One of the best parts about Hidden Memories is that it's not just a remake. It's a much bigger version of the story. The developers have added new islands, extended the old ones, and hidden more details in every corner, and that's a good thing.

Surprisingly, some of the original puzzles return, but they've been reworked for VR. Others are brand new, showing moments we never saw before. These new memories fill in gaps in Arina and Frendt's friendship. Some are light and fun. Others are quiet, even sad. Together, they make the whole journey feel better and deeper.

Because there's more content, the pacing feels different, too. Players are not rushing from one puzzle to the next. Instead, you're slowly uncovering their lives, piece by piece. It's the kind of VR game where you stop to look around because you want to see every little thing.

Time in Your Hands

Let's talk about VR for a second, because it's the biggest game-changer here. In The Gardens Between, you manipulated time with a button press. In Hidden Memories, players move time with their hands. Imagine standing on a floating island, stretching your hand forward, and watching the entire world rotate like a living diorama.

However, it's not just the time you're handling; many puzzles now require physically interacting with objects. You might pick up a childhood toy, rotate it to see a hidden symbol, or physically pass it between Arina and Frendt to solve a challenge.

There's something powerful about grabbing these objects in VR. In a typical adventure game, a diary entry might flash text on your screen. Here, you might open the diary yourself, feeling the turn of the page, and see Arina's sketches come to life around you. That's where the emotional connection clicks; you're not just watching their friendship unfold; you're participating in it.

Ultimately, this makes solving puzzles feel more personal. You're not just telling the game what to do; you're physically making it happen. It's not fast-paced or stressful. It's smooth, calm, and satisfying. You can take as long as you want, trying things until they click into place.

The Diary

One of the most unique parts of Hidden Memories is Arina's illustrated diary. It's not just a menu item or background decoration; it’s something players can open, flip through, and explore at their own pace between islands. Each page feels personal. Some are simple sketches: a treehouse in pencil, a rainy afternoon, or a quick doodle of Arina and Frendt laughing together. Others are far more immersive. Sometimes, turning a page drops the player right into that moment, surrounded by floating objects and the memory itself.

The diary serves more than one purpose. It isn't there simply to look nice; it fills in the emotional gaps between puzzles. While the islands show actions and events, the diary shows feelings and smaller moments that might otherwise be missed. Players begin to see how the two friends grew closer, drifted apart, and faced challenges over the years.

Charming Puzzles

The puzzles in Hidden Memories are approachable for beginners yet still engaging enough for more experienced players. They're built around the central time-control mechanic, meaning every challenge comes down to figuring out what happens when the clock is moved forward or backward. Sometimes, moving time forward will clear a path. Other times, reversing it will undo an obstacle.

The early levels ease players into the system, making sure the basics are understood before things get trickier. As this VR game goes on, new mechanics are added that keep the experience fresh. These could involve multiple moving parts, events that trigger only in certain time states, or environmental changes that need to be planned for.

While the difficulty never becomes overwhelming, there’s enough of a step-up between stages to give a sense of progress. Players looking for mind-bending puzzles might find it too easy, but for most, it strikes a good balance between challenge and relaxation. Ultimately, the design encourages exploration and experimentation, which fits the slower pace perfectly.

Hidden Side Game

One of the standout parts of Hidden Memories is its hidden object mini-game. In this mode, players must search each map for well-placed items that aren't immediately obvious. These objects are cleverly tucked away, making for a fun distraction from the main puzzle-solving.

What makes this feature interesting is how it ties back into the time mechanic. Sometimes, finding an item means moving time to the right point so it becomes visible or accessible. This keeps it from feeling like a simple “search the picture” game. It also encourages players to pay closer attention to small details in the environment.

The only downside is that the game doesn't explain the mini-game rules right away. For some players, this means replaying early levels to collect the missed items. While it's a minor inconvenience, it could be fixed easily with a short tutorial message at the start. Even with that minor hiccup, the hidden object mode is a highlight. For completionists, it's another reason to explore every corner of the game's world.

Performance Issues

While Hidden Memories looks pleasant at first glance, the visual quality is one of the game's weakest points. This is noticeable especially for players using newer VR hardware. In trailers, the environments appear sharp and detailed. However, in the actual headset, the graphics are noticeably scaled down.

On the Quest 3, the game runs at a lower resolution, lacks some of the shading seen in promotional footage, and even has missing background details. Compared side-by-side with the trailer, the difference is noticeable. For some, it's a disappointment to see such a gap between the advertised visuals and the final product.

The likely reason is that the game was designed with the older Quest 2 in mind, and no specific enhancements were made for the newer headset. While the Meta Quest 3′s color passthrough feature makes the mixed reality effects look nice, the rest of the graphics feel closer to Quest 1-era quality. For a device that's been on the market for almost two years, it's frustrating to see so few games take full advantage of its capabilities. This kind of visual downgrade can diminish the gameplay experience for players who watched the trailer expecting the same level of detail.

Verdict

Hidden Memories of The Gardens Between is more than just “the VR version” of a good game. It's a bigger, better, and more immersive journey. It lets players not just watch but take part in Arina and Frendt's story. Additionally, from the way you move time with your hands to the new diary moments that reveal more about their friendship, everything feels designed to pull you in. It's gentle, it's beautiful, and it's the kind of experience we've been missing in VR. 

Of course, for $19.99, it's not the longest game; you can finish it in about five to seven hours, but the time you spend in it will feel worth it. For players who enjoyed the first game, they'll love the even more extensive content here. If you're new, this is a great way to experience it for the first time.