I've noticed many reviews recently which have trumpeted the significance of storyline, and have implied -- if not outright explicated -- that story is, in essence, always a good thing. A little bit like graphics: better graphics is always a plus.

Frankly, this irks me, because I almost uniformly hate story-driven gaming; I have a strong dislike for traditional RPGs, and I find stories -- even better ones, as with Bioshock -- uniformly tedious and infantile in games. More specifically, I don't think an interactive medium is built for strong storytelling.

Does anyone else feel this way? Or have something to add? Does anyone here feel that storytelling is automatically a good thing, and if so, can you explain why?  

I feel quite the opposite, actually. While the stories being told in video games are certainly not to the caliber you would expect from a book or movie, the storyline for some games are just amazing. I will admit that I do not need story to enjoy a game. And if the story is a little dull, it doesn't ruin the game. But a good story is always a major plus.

 Hold on now, the question isn't "do you like stories in some games?" but rather "do you think that story is automatically a good thing?"

Again, a good analogy would be graphics: better graphics is always better. There isn't a point where better graphics becomes a bad thing (although what defines "better" certainly is subjective; it doesn't need to be higher polygon counts). 

For you, is a focused plot always and automatically a good thing? Is a game worth less to you if it doesn't have a story or has little emphasis on its story? 

I think it's a bit weird, games by their nature just aren't good story tellers in the traditional sense (see movies based on games and games based on movies). The best way to tell a story in a game is with atmosphere.

If you take a game like Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, what you have is something that would make for a great game story if it wasn't for the frickin story >:( The opening sequence when you're being walked into Butcher Bay by the guard (as the intro credits roll) you get the feeling of a how a story can be told brilliantly in a way that simply can't be done with movies or books.

Here's a clip of the intro video, you do have control over yourself to look around, but the guards are controlling where you walk (prisoner, obviously)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58vU8R0sPVU

The thing is there's no exposition, there's no cutscene. To me it stands as one of the most brilliant story telling elements in a game ever. You get a feeling immediately of the atmosphere and it stands as a nice demonstration of how a game can tell a story in a unique way. Granted the dialogue could use some work (not the voice acting, it's great in that game), but the method it is delivered gives a feeling of this prison and its inmates and guards just crushing you under its oppressive weight.

It's not like a movie or a book, from a the perspective of fully utilizing the medium eventually they'll come to the understanding that a game, by virtue of its interactive nature, is fundamentally different.

Books can have deep, rich stories and details because of the nature of it. Great movies are not ones based on books, they're ones that understand they're dealing with a primarily visual medium with audio as a supporting tool. Hence great movies tell their stories visually, letting music set the mood and express their purpose via its strengths rather than exposition. Star Wars, Glengarry Glen Ross (yes a play, I know), Lord of the Rings (yes a book, I know), Schindler's List, and pretty much any great movie you can think of are great because they understand the confines and strengths of the medium.

Games just aren't at the point of understanding yet that they're an interactive medium. Exposition generally feels cheesy (at least to me) for this reason. The original Half Life is great in that you get no cut scenes or exposition, the story is told right there as you're looking at it, and you have to piece it together or extract the information for yourself based on your observations and assessment of the situation.

As gaming becomes more and more popular I imagine this general approach will gain in popularity.

Edit: Lord of the Rings stands out as a rule against the norm, as does the Chronicles of Riddick game mostly because the both distance themselves from their parent medium. IE good because of what they are, not where they come from.  

I might be the opposite to most people. I think an epic, overbearing story detracts from the gaming experience. I want to just play, with the minimum of backstory. I do want games to have continued depth (not puzzle games) but the story should be the minimum to explain the situation. Games that have optional reading if you want more detail are better, for instance Metroid Prime had the scans you could spend hours reading but ultimately there was very little reason to be running around Tallon IV looking for random powerups. 

I think a lot of people, and I'm noticing this in myself, don't have the time nor want to sit down for a dedicated playing session. There are so many distractions in life that it's almost possible to really put yourself into a videogame's story, and thus the whole story aspect becomes pointless.

There are a lot of reasons people are liking RPGs less and less. One of the biggest reasons is the Anti-Japanese sentiment. Like other buzz phrases developed this generation, WRPG and JRPG have spread across chat rooms like a plague. The idea that American RPGs like Morrowind and Mass Effect are superior to Japanese RPGs such as Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest is just silly. Were it not for Japanese companies, most nerds would still be in their basement playing Dungeons and Dragons.

Between classes and hanging out with friends, I don't feel like I really have the time to devote to a several hour RPG run. That doesn't stop me from playing Jeanne D'Arc while my buds are giving each other high fives over Call of Duty 4.

There are far too many distractions that destroy games requiring dedication. I have to pee. I want a new game. My hot pocket is done cooking. I need to do some work. My friend wants to go to the movies. My rabbit just had diarrhea. And more.

Fighting games are the best of all worlds and it's probably the most underrated genre on Earth.

Ahhh see I'm REALLY big on cinemetography, I fall into a really small demographic that actually gets infuriated by the thought of there NOT being a story. I find video games to be a way of interacting with someone elses idea's, to me, it's like an interactive movie where YOU drive the plot forward. Of course certain games certainly don't "need" story's, but the only type I'd really forgive for that are puzzle games, which don't need that essence of emertion. Games should always be "fun" but I definately give more props to the game thats "Fun" AND has a good story. Its the unfortunate reason I left my liking of nintendo a while ago, Chrono Trigger captured my heart as an RPG, and I started seeing nintendo games as fun, yet shallow. I never really got the point :/

What I find irks me is that story has gone from something that would be nice to have to something that absolutely must take precedence. It's gotten to the point where gamers and journalists alike are absolutely massacring otherwise enjoyable games because they didn't like the story, or, heaven forbid, it didn't take precedence over everything else.

This is especially damning for me because RPGs are my favorite genre, and over the years what's considered a good RPG has changed and we've been getting more uninspired games. The draw to lengthy cinema and pretentious storylines in JRPGs kicked into full gear around FF7's time and now I hear the most important thing about an RPG is its story and that people would play shitty games if the story was good. I'm sorry, but I'm from an era where we actually play games. If the game plays like shit I could care less about its silly storyline. It's not fun and it's a waste of my time to drag myself through the "chore" of actually playing a crappy game for a few cutscenes.

Ironically just the opposite lands some games in a heap of trouble. Off the top of my head would be the example Grandia Xtreme. Now, Grandia has one of the best, most enjoyable battle systems I've experienced in an RPG. Grandia Xtreme was an experiment, a dungeon crawler that pushed story aside and focus mostly on gameplay and let the battle system flourish into what is arguably the best iteration of that combat system in the series to date. But GX is often the victim of attacks by critics and angry fanboys alike, described as "trash" because "there wasn't enough story." I'm sorry, what? You're angry because you had to get your kicks from a masterpiece of gameplay rather than whatever storyline you were expecting before you even picked the game up?

For me it depends on the game, but I almost never watch the intro movie...

I want the story to be told in small pieces in-game, I don't care for long FMV. And I want the cut-scenes (with the characters) to be real-time, not pre-recorded. If I get a helmet, I want the scene to show the helmet.

A good example of how I want it is Fable.

ChronotriggerJM,
Ahhh see I'm REALLY big on cinemetography, I fall into a really small demographic that actually gets infuriated by the thought of there NOT being a story. I find video games to be a way of interacting with someone elses idea's, to me, it's like an interactive movie where YOU drive the plot forward. Of course certain games certainly don't "need" story's, but the only type I'd really forgive for that are puzzle games, which don't need that essence of emertion. Games should always be "fun" but I definately give more props to the game thats "Fun" AND has a good story. Its the unfortunate reason I left my liking of nintendo a while ago, Chrono Trigger captured my heart as an RPG, and I started seeing nintendo games as fun, yet shallow. I never really got the point :/

==> +1 for you,
I completely agree.

I will just summarize my point with :

- multiplayer (online/offline) : dont need a story (racing game !)
- soloplayer game : truly need a story/strong character/deep world etc ...
it is why I don't like FF12 (bad story/bad design) or ICO (story not enought deep/detailed))