The problem with snipping tidbits out of a post and responding to them, also known as cherry picking, is that you remove context
No, cherry picking has nothing to do with it. It gets very lengthy to quote everyone entirely. Your original post is readily available for all to see (assuming anyone but you or I are reading each other’s responses at this point, which is increasingly unlikely).
you close out your comment here asking about which games are on par with books. I have not only already answered that question, but I gave several game series in support of what I said.
You said “compelling.” That does not mean ‘equal.’ So, to be clear, the original BG story, or the ff7 story, is the equal of LotR?
Story telling isn't stronger just because it's in a book. You can achieve all of the same elements that make a book good in any medium, if you're a good enough story teller.
A book provides hundreds, if not thousands of more dialogue for a character than what is found in a video game. In a book, you readily see the world through the character’s eyes, and in a lot of cases, extensively know their thoughts. Video game characters are so much more limited in these ways, not just in the scope, but the depth as well. They are hopelessly shallow in comparison.
