I’m not necessarily talking about moment-to-moment gameplay or mechanics (though I could see some interesting points being made about, for example, RTS gameplay or RPG character building influence how you approached “strategy” in your own life).
What I’m trying to get at are the games you felt really had something to say.
For example, while I’m by no means the biggest fan (only ever played 2 and V), playing MGS V recently (and catching up on the background a bit) has created this sense in me, and I wondered where else one might have experienced that from vidya
I personally think Shadow of the Colossus is the single best argument for video games as a legitimate art form. Ironically, the near-complete absence of such games from the marketplace is probably the best argument against games as art.
Strangely enough, I rarely play narrative-driven games at this point in my life. I find virtually all video game writing to be insufferably terrible, and this includes almost every game that is widely considered “well-written”.
Well written games are extremely rare, even before the modern dearth of them.
How many games are there out there that can really claim to be on the same level as something like Planescape Torment?
Barely any. Cannot even think of one in recent memory.
90% of “well written games” are Reddit-tier cringe garbage.
Other than that nitpick, I 100% agree with you. I liked Eternal Darkness' story. I like the timeless themes in the Zelda series (prior to BotW at least). Early Square games were simple but decent. The Resident Evil stories were fun B-movie schlock. Pretty much every other story in every other game that I've played is something that I tolerate, not something that I enjoy.
Just give me, "there's something evil coming out of the teleporters" or "the princess has been kidnapped" and I'm on it. Anything more is unnecessary distraction.