Once Upon a Crime in the West is like going to Walmart and buying the Great Value version of Return of the Obra Dinn. Now that sounds like an insult, and to some extent it clearly is one, but Return of the Obra Dinn is an all-time great game. So even a cheaper version of that formula is quite a bit of fun.

There's a really pleasant creepiness to Once Upon a Crime in the West that makes it a joy to experience. It's colorful and flat and mildly upbeat despite the impending doom of the murder mystery that you know is coming. The camera is a clear riff off of the pocket watch from Obra Dinn, but it's a formula that's pleasing anyway. I enjoyed the characters and their voice actors, which is a really impressive high point for such a diamond-in-the-rough indie game. The writing is engaging and humorous and really quite clever with the Abbott and Costello style comedy of New New Town and Old New Town.

I was disappointed by how 'little' mystery there was to solve. And how easy it was to solve it. There wasn't much backtracking or guesswork or real detective work. It was all much too straightforward. But the story itself was still enjoyable enough to experience. And that's at least half of why you're playing this sort of thing.