I just rented Psi Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy, and there are "evil garden gnomes" hidden in the game. Each one unlocks a "secret mission". The thing is, they aren't really missions at all, but more like showcases of the physics engine and control systems. One is a game of pool with invisible balls, where you have to use the "Aura Vision" skill to spot the balls, and then use pyrokinesis to blow up fuel barrels in an attempt to pocket them all. Cute little games like that contribute to replay value, and offer an opportunity to gain proficiency.

My favorite so far is called "bottomless pit", and is an obstacle course for "TK Surfing", the technique of standing on something and levitating it telekinetically, to fly. Fun stuff.

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Original post by Tom I liked collecting photos in Beyond Good & Evil. Giving the main character a camera was a clever innovation. (I remember Metal Gear Solid 2 also had a camera, but I despise the MGS series.)

I second BG&E. Very cool.

I like collectibles to be big, shiny and epilepsy-inducing. In RPGs I like to be able to combine objects intuitively: corn + torch = popcorn :)

I'm also a fan of redundancy (to an extent). It seems unrealistic to me that there is only one key to every door. I remember in System Shock, there were two of exactly the same keycard in the same place - I liked that.