At the outset of Uncharted 4, Nathan is no longer a treasure hunter. After three games’ worth of adventures, he’s settled into a quiet home life. He works as a salvager by day and spends his nights playing video games with his wife Elena (whose life has made a similar turn for the mundane, at least compared to years past). But when alone, Drake is still thinking about adventure, treasure, and all of those things that made his life so thrilling. His attic is filled with mementos from a life of globetrotting, and he keeps files in his work desk of future quests he has no plans to actually embark on. His boss keeps pestering him about a lucrative job in Malaysia, but Nathan turns it down. He’s done with that life.

That is, until, we meet Sam.

In a lot of ways, Sam is the crux of Uncharted 4. He’s Nathan’s brother (there is, surprisingly, a plausible explanation for why he was never seen throughout the first three games) who was believed to be dead, but is now back, and with a big idea. He wants to join forces with Nathan to find the lost, ancient city of Libertalia, a utopia for pirates believed to be hidden somewhere in Madagascar. It’s also rumored to be home to more than $400 million worth of pirate treasure.

You can see the "one last job" plot coming from a mile off. You know that Nathan will join Sam, and that he’ll set off on a continent-spanning journey. That doesn’t make it any less powerful when it happens. Sam’s story, richer than first hinted, tugs at the heart, and you really feel Nathan’s struggle when he makes the choice to leave home.

Uncharted 4’s story is a pretty typical pulp adventure. There are multiple sides racing to find the same treasure; Nathan and Sam are up against a literal army of mercenaries. There’s heartbreak, deception, and death-defying escapes. But through a combination of great writing and acting, as well as much more expressive characters thanks to the game’s enhanced graphics, the story transcends its formula. It’s the kind of tale where someone says a lame line like "the biggest pirate treasure of all time is within our grasp" and you get goosebumps. The downside is that, especially over the first few hours, the story elements are all but overwhelming, and you’ll spend almost as much time watching the game as playing it. Gradually, cut scenes give way to banter, little dialogues that play out over the gameplay.

Nathan is rarely alone in the game, usually joined by Sam and longtime treasure hunting partner Victor "Sully" Sullivan. And they talk — a lot. While you’re driving a 4x4 across a rickety bridge, or climbing a cliff, or venturing through booby-trapped tombs, the conversations become a constant hum in the background. Sometimes it’s just the brothers cracking jokes, other times it’s important character development. Occasionally the banter provides a hint; if you’re stuck for too long on a section, one of your buddies will subtly suggest a course of action. It all feels natural and dynamic. At one point I was driving a Jeep while Sam and Sully reminisced in the backseat. I stopped for a few minutes to investigate a strange-looking well, and when I got back in the car they picked up their conversation right from where they left off.