Publishers at this year's E3 seemed willing to take fewer risks than in previous years. As many have commented, this probably has something to do with the growing costs of developing and publishing games, although even the best of franchises do have to start somewhere.

Many of the titles -- not just adventures -- seemed to fall into safe categories, like sequels or at least games based on licenses. If you liked the originals, you can probably expect more of the same this year, with some corresponding incremental improvements. You may see this as a good or a bad thing, depending on what you thought of the originals.

I'm always a little leary of being too positive about any game in a preview or E3 wrap-up, since many promising games in past years have turned out to disappoint when they're finally released. If I had to pick a game to get excited about, though, Syberia would be the one. Keep an eye out for it, whenever it's available in your part of the world.