Hate to continue this thread, but I have to say something.
Grim Fandango is a great piece of gaming art to me, literally made my cry at some point.
It's not the graphical eye candy or main plot, but how much they invest in those characters.
When you care about characters they build up, you give the creators your heart for them to toy with.
To me, they put souls into those characters, that's what makes me like it so much after so many years.

To this day, there yet to have another game that gives me the same emotional impact.
I guess most game didn't spend time building their characters, or the story is not engaging enough where they leave a lot things out for intention to get a sequel deal.