[II2II]

Somewhat related: I remember watching a segment on the Computer Chronicles in the mid to late 1990's where a developer was boasting about the puzzles in some sort of space themed shooter. He then proceeded to show an example. It involved toggling a switch in a control room to open a door in an adjacent room. Ever since then, I have taken claims about the sophistication of video games (may that be in puzzles or story telling) with a grain of salt since the standards are remarkably low. The only way to assess those claims is to play it yourself or, these days, to watch a walk-through.

Even then, I tend to gravitate towards open world games without stories since it is easier to imagine your own than dealing with expository interjections. The Long Dark is a good example of this. The developers are trying to make a narrative driven game with their Wintermute story mode, yet the reality is that survival mode is far more fun. Rather than dealing with criminals in an otherwise inexplicable desolate wasteland[1] while trying to find my ex (their story), I am trying to figure out what happened to the once sleepy community that I last visited in my childhood while trying to survive long enough to be rescued (my story).

(1) Technically, there is an explanation, but it is weak and not always consistent.