Eerily Evocative Adventure/RPG Hybrid

In Daemonica, you take the role of Nicholas Fayrepoint, a sort of demon hunter-cum-private eye in a small town in a fantasy world that's subject to a curse. Your job, naturally, is to figure out what's going wrong, and set things right.

The game is in essence built as 3D RPG, with a simple point-and-click combat system, inventory, character advancement, and the like; but the gameplay is much more like a classic graphic adventure, with puzzles to be solved and characters from whom you must extract information. This is something of a happy hybrid, more free-form than a classic click-and-combine adventure but with much of the same feel--but those looking for the combat intensity of a Diablo are better off looking elsewhere.

Ghosts and Mysteries with Myst-like UI

The Delaware St. John series, of which this is the first chapter, has three great strengths: beautifully painted visuals, characters you come to care about--and stories that get creepier the deeper you get into the game. Fans of adventure games and gentle horror will find a lot to like here.

Del Returns

...In another mystery/horror graphic adventure featuring beautifully painted art, enjoyable badinage between the two main characters, and a story that's likely to evoke a shiver or three. While the game can be played without knowledge of the first, you may want to start with the first episode--though The Town with No Name is a little bigger and longer playing.

Adventure Games: Not Dead Yet!

Perhaps better known as the producer of massively multiplayer games like Anarchy Online and Conan, Funcom, which is based in Norway, began as a developer of beautiful adventure games like The Longest Journey, which fans of the genre will remember as one of the few good high-budget adventures of recent years. With Dreamfall, Funcom has, if anything, outdone themselves with a vast enthralling game set in the same universe as its predecessor, with gorgeous visuals and (thankfully and all too rarely) excellent voice acting.