This is one of the rare instances where finishing the game leaves me with the same feeling as finishing a good book. There was so much to keep me interested in the story; the history of the town, the plaques, the various ghost stories, that every collectible seemed valuable. There was nothing I was gathering that was going to give me a preposterous Western-themed in-game costume or a new gun or some flashy-yet-useless ghost-power. They all just added layers to the story of the game. I completed all achievements not because I cared, just because I wanted to know more about everything.

The gameplay itself was not overly complicated, but it was rewarding. If you take the detective work from L.A. Noire and strip out the gimicky facial-tic rendering and the occasional schizophrenic-Cole freakouts, you have Ronan's basic mystery-solving kit. Look around, analyze details, put clues together. Throw in some of the more entertaining mechanics for stealth or getting around from The Novelist to help navigate a Salem layered with history, and I made it through the game in short order without ever getting bored.

More games should be like this. All the depth and thought that goes into a walking simulator to create a rich and fascinating game world. Enough gameplay to keep you engaged without shoehorning in reasons to use their Advanced Ducking-Behind-Dumpsters technology. A character covered with tattoos that don’t grant magical powers, only capture memories or tell stories (much like real ink), whose only weapons the entire game are lost during and just before the opening cut-scene. Enough story to make everything incredibly gratifying through to the end. I only wish I would have known earlier how good it was: I would have paid full price right when it came out instead of waiting for a sale, to help drive home the point of just how much I would love to play more games like this.