Amnesia was creepy, but I wouldn't call it excellent. Psychonauts is the 3D game that really shines in this pack. It's extremely memorable and utterly original. Fun fact: the Metacritic user score for Psychonauts is 9.4 compared to Amnesia's 8.8.
Amnesia wants to use its interlocking game systems to make you feel afraid: You stay sane longer in the light. You have a limited amount of lamp oil with which to create light. Monsters make you insane (and kill you). Monsters can see you better in the light. Monsters make you go insane more quickly if you look directly at them (in the style of Lovecraft, gazing on things you should not see rend your mind).
The end result of this is a pretty wonderful set of rule balancing where, upon seeing a monster, the player immediately douses their lamp and hides in a dark corner staring at the wall, slowly going insane from a horror they cannot look at, knowing that looking at it will make them go truly mad, and turning on light for comfort will bring them a swift death.
It helps that on the art side, the visuals and audio are all built around creating and enhancing the mood, of course, but it's rare that there are a bunch of interlocking systems which can shape your behavior in a way that's that harmonious with an expected emotional output, a mood, tone, etc.
The game is rough around the edges and definitely created by a small team, but what it achieves is pretty rare.
That was actually Penumbra: Overture
I mean, look at Mass Effect 3 or Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.
Older games like Psychonauts and Amnesia tend to have more accurate user ratings.
There is a lot to complain about. But it's not surprising considering the founders work elsewhere, especially at Runic Games. Torchlight 2 is also very colorful and cartoony, but it's not pretending to be something it's not (a grim, gothic game). TL2 is playful and doesn't treat itself very seriously.
My favorite action RPG game is Nox, though. This video does a good job explaining it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4NU3u9sSjE But I feel obligated to add a few highlights - no random loot (!!!!!!!!) - no hit chance. You hit if you aim well and enemy is in range. - no dodge chance. You dodge if you move out of the way. - no shield block chance. You block if you raise your shield in time (and in correct direction :-) - no random levels, but levels very well done and non-linear unlike Diablo 3. Also, some chapters are unique to one of 3 classes. - very unimportant resists: very few arbitrary decisions "You can't use weapon/spell X against monster Y". - as a result, combat is so fun that multiplayer had modes like Capture the Flag, Deathmatch, and Team Deathmatch, where everyone was always on the same level. - huge variety and creativity in Conjurer and Wizard classes.
See the pattern ? It was a highly skill-based game. It's a tragedy that it was labeled as a Diablo 2 clone, because it had fundamental differences. Nox can be purchased very cheaply today.