My biggest beef with Midnight Manor was the mixture of gameplay styles present, which really threw the game off for me. But as with everything else, Big Time has pushed forward and done what needed to be done to make for an incredible game.

As with the first title, TWNN is a first-person node-based game, with a fairly standard navigation scheme. On each static screen you'll be presented with a set of arrows pointing to the available directions that can be chosen, as well as an Exit and Reverse button. But this time around, screens are much less similar from location to location, and therefore much easier to navigate than in the original. However, as with the first game, there are some pseudo-action scenes where a wrong turn can mean an end to Delaware, so it's a good idea to pay attention to your surroundings.

Puzzles in Town With No Name range from key finding to logic puzzles to some light code-breaking. But where the first game suffered from some incredibly easy puzzles and some logic issues as well, for the most part TWNN avoids those problems with a host of head scratching puzzles to be solved. While there are still a few things that I'm confused about, such as why I can't reach into a toilet to pull out a key instead of looking all over a theatre to find something to fish it out with, and why I'm still knocking down doors after complaining that they're locked for the past hour, they are head and shoulders above the previous volume.

And if you happen to get stumped along the way, VIC is back. This was one of the features that I really liked last time, and I was glad to see it make a return. During the game you'll come across areas where you'll need to make recordings of spirits or take photos of objects for Kelly and Simon to analyze. You can also contact Kelly for some subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) hints about how to solve a puzzle or where to go next. Of course in some cases you'll have to go it on your own, and I will admit to getting stuck a few times. The puzzles have definitely gone up a notch this round, and you will end up retracing your steps trying to find that one little thing that you missed. I would still like to see VIC used to solve a few more puzzles, and maybe leave it a little more vague about when to use it, but this is still a great feature to have, and one that I wish more games would pick up on.

One of the biggest issues that I went around and around with the first time was the presence of action sequences in an otherwise traditional adventure game. And while I haven't changed my mind about their place in this style of game, the few present here were much better integrated and didn't bother me as much. You'll still have times where you have to escape from certain death via node-based chase sequences, but because of the emotional investment in Delaware due to the better story this time around, there was a level of tension that I felt was missing before.

When beginning this game, I was really hoping it would be able to fulfill the potential the first game couldn't quite manage to maintain. Thankfully, I've been pleasantly surprised, as the developers have gone above and beyond what I expected to see from them in every aspect. The game is longer, the puzzles are harder, and the story is just getting better as it goes along. Most gamers can expect to spend roughly a combined total of five to six hours on the two chapters (compared to the three hours of the original) which still isn't long, but it's a blast every step of the way.

The Town With No Name won't be for everyone. I know that some people are dead set against static node-based games, and aren't going to touch this no matter how good it is. It's also a modest independent production, so of course it doesn't come with all the bells and whistles of games with larger budgets. It's a fairly short game for the price, too, which may cause some to question its value. But for those simply looking for a quality adventure, I can easily recommend TWNN. At the very least, see for yourself by downloading the demo from the official website, where you can also order the game. You won't be disappointed.

This is a series that is getting better each time, and that's pretty exciting considering that we're still just scratching the surface of Delaware's story at this point. And if Big Time Games can make this big a jump in just one installment, then I can't wait to see what they come up with next.