I'd say all games have to have some sort of interaction method, so "gameplay" is the heart of every games, even point and click adventures... or QTE fests like Heavy Rain...
However, story, ambiance, etc. can raise it further, a game with poor writing and/or acting like Castevania:SOTN or Thomb Raider 2013 can still be considered great, even if people find the story/acting laughably bad... I took two games I liked to different degrees, Castelvania:SOTN is one of my favourite games of all times! yet the story is cringe worty, however the ambiance is amazing!
I guess the answer is, there is no right answer, there are many different type of games, different type of gamers, different developpers and tastes change over time... so to each his own, I don't like heavy rain or the point and click adventures type games, but many people do... just accept it and let them have what they want, it's not as if it robbed others of their games...
