Grim Fandango is, in my opinion, the appitimy of the point-and-click adventure game genre.
Grim Fandango is the tale of Manny Calavera, a travel agent for the afterlife, on his four year journey of the soul. Along the way, he'll meet an undeniably comical cast of characters that range from his corrupted, ill-tempered boss to a band of rebels out to change the world. The story is epic, taking at least 30 hours to complete; is subtly philosophical for people looking for it, and occurs in a world so deep, you'd swear this game could not have been made a decade ago.
As far as gameplay is concerned, this game is all about exploring your environment, solving puzzles, and talking to other wandering souls for clues to said puzzles. The puzzles can sometimes seem obscure to a point of frustration, but when you figure them out, you always have that moment where you feel smarter than when you started playing. The exploring part, however, can be sometimes aggrevating due to the 90's vintage tank-like control system; I guess I might just be too used to new fangled 360 degree movement ranges. Altogether though, it's pretty enjoyable from a gameplay perspective if you are patient enough to deal with the controls.
The graphics were state of the art for their time and hold up today in an "artistic" sense. The character models may be blocky, but they fit the characters they represent. The level design is detailed to a perfect level between lazy and over done. The animations are smooth and the cut scenes are more than a welcome break to watch.
The epic story is only topped by the game's sound system. For a game that came out a decade ago, this is definitely a lot better than what I hear in a lot of modern games. The music is hypnotic and changes style with every year to fit the new setting. One year it will be smooth, rythmic blues and another year it will be Mexican fiesta music, but it is always top noche. The acting from all the characters is superb, giving off just the right amount of drama and comedy that is needed, and the script just makes these voices that much better.
Overall, Grim Fandango is one of the best adventure games of our time and is definitely worth your time if you have the opportunity to pick it up.