Nathan Drake's exploits may have come to a close in Uncharted 4 but the series continues on with The Lost Legacy, a smaller-scale adventure that looks and plays a lot like last year's excellent, beautiful blockbuster, but offers a brand new story and a refreshing change of perspective.

In contrast to the globe-spanning conspiracies and supernatural myth-hunting of earlier games, Lost Legacy takes place entirely in India. Players take control of fan favourite "collector of antiquities" Chloe Frazer, a bold and opportunistic thief returning to her father's homeland in search of the coveted Tusk of Ganesh.

Along for the journey is mercenary — and antagonist of the previous game — Nadine Ross, whose all-business approach to providing muscle makes a great contrast to Chloe's improvisational nature.

It's important to note that this is not a full-fat Uncharted sequel, but nor is it simply add-on content for Uncharted 4. Instead it sits somewhere in between, using the exact same nuts and bolts of the last game to take players on a new adventure.

The gunplay, traversal mechanics and overall style will be very familiar to series fans (and you really should have played the previous games to be able to fill in the blanks of the character's stories here), with more of the same cliff-climbing and rope-swinging, more of the same restrained storytelling, and more of the same fantastical ancient ruins.

But in the case of Uncharted — arguably the most polished cinematic action game series there is — more of the same is fine by me.

Between taking on foes with a satisfying mix of shooting and sneakery and spelunking through breathtaking Hoysala architecture, the excellent writing and performances developer Naughty Dog is known for keep the game from feeling too familiar.

This game may lack the lengthy, story-filled cut-scenes and large cast of Uncharted 4 — feeling more like the action-heavy second and third quarters of a standard Uncharted game — but the narrative is still the star. Chloe remains the endearing, wise-cracking pragmatist she always was, but we also get a much deeper look at her background and motivations as this more personal journey progresses.

The same is true to a lesser extent for Nadine, who is well characterised but more often then serves not serves as a foil for Chloe, with the pair's constant commentary, bickering and quips adding levity to even the most deadly of scenarios.

Purely in terms of optics, it's nice that the swashbuckling this time comes courtesy of two women — one Indian-Australian and one South African — after so much white American male action in the series' past.

It's even nicer though that Chloe isn't merely a stand-in for the absent Drake — although they do share a certain I-really-want-to-grab-a-beer-with-them appeal — but rather brings her own specific humour, values and troubles to the story to make something that feels fresh.

As noted, this is somewhat less true when it comes to the actual gameplay, which sticks very close to convention. Naughty Dog has clearly learned a thing or two from Uncharted 4 — annoying mechanics like pushing crates, sliding on mud and winching are downplayed while the climbing and rope-swinging is more complex and fun — but there's nothing impressively new about the combat or the cinematic set-pieces. Still, there are some interesting quirks.

An open-exploration segment in the middle of the game, where you drive a jeep around to access various puzzles, feels a bit more confident than a similar section in the last game. And speaking of puzzles, there are plenty of them here and they're some of the series' best.

Elsewhere Chloe has the ability to pick the locks on certain crates and access special hard-to-find weapons, but the locations of the crates usually means risking being spotted by the enemy to try your luck.

If you have issues with the pulp adventure style of previous Uncharted game's you won't find this one any different. You're still expected to care about the relationships and misfortunes of a small band of thieves even though they're callously murdering hundreds of people as they go. You're still expected to believe that cities lost for centuries and powerful hidden treasures exist in the world, just waiting for an adventurer who has the key, even though those cities are sitting under open sky.

I for one love the romantic Indian Jones sensibilities though, and it's as strong as ever here. Even when the action got a little too familiar, my affection for these two characters and their fractious journey together, as well as the beauty of ancient India and its treasures, made for an engrossing experience.

Uncharted: The Lost Legacy is out now for PlayStation 4.