Il Duce wrote:
I haven't played Grim Fandango but I did like his story for Psychonauts.

And erm, all the buzz for Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross. Why did I ever miss out on those two?

But on a ratio, aren't there quite of number of immersive compelling books as opposed to good storylines in games, which I can barely count on the fingers on one of my hands?

"Chrono Cross" is terrible. Beautiful artwork and a great soundtrack, but convoluted gameplay and what is easily one of the WORST stories in any RPG I've ever played. Confusing nonsensical garbage, I don't even think the director knew what was going on.

I think in order to analyze the quality of stories in games, we need to reassess our criteria. There are different elements which make a good story in a game, just as the storytelling devices used in a book are going to differ than ones used in a film. Moreso, even, because games are interactive and have to take the player's freedom into account. In my view, a poorly plotted game is one in which the story moves from one event to the next as if the player is just going through linearly (as they would with a book). A well-plotted game is one where the player feels like they have a sense of freedom and therefore are impacting the story - no matter how juvenile the game's subject matter, any game that's able to create and maintain this kind of feeling is a successful one, on some degree.

I can't deny that most game plots are stupid (even by my revised standards), and probably a much higher ratio than with books. I suppose my point was that they don't HAVE to be stupid.