3 has a decent point to it, but he's COMPLETELY using the wrong games. ff4 and 6, really? even Lufia II had a much larger story to tell in it than those just by virtue of your character actually growing up during the game. FE4 is another one that does that, only in that instance you play their children too, which have some variations (gameplay-wise) depending on their parents. you have to go forward a bit for some others, but Xenogears, Vagrant Story, Planescape all show this. going back again, Fallout 2 was open ended as you could get. Phantasy Star 4 pulled off a pretty unique event at the time that i won't spoil. these are games that STILL have some merits today for what they had, did, and many are still good today on their own merits. those are the games people talk about when they mean stories aren't what they used to be, when they look at the mainstream stuff today.
but the smaller stuff is still every bit as good (Radiant Historia, Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky and all its sequels, Nier, etc - every system has at least 1 amazing one), and some smaller series have grown into the mainstream. he's just using the wrong example to start with. 3's wrong for even being on the list in the first place - anyone who says that stories in rpgs aren't as good simply hasn't played the new ones.
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The future must protect the clone's past.
"Maybe it's a tentacle, molesting the planet itself. - Aschen Brodel.