Some of that just isn't true though. I can't remember the last single player game I really cared about the story, I mostly skip it. Gameplay is solid in _many_ games these days, or a huge variety of types.
For example, Elden Ring, the story is not a lot more than: there's an Elden Ring you should go explore the world and find, have fun. It's pretty far from a book in game form.
This is probably the best time to be a gamer there's ever been, the only real blemish being that GPUs are ridiculously priced right now.
I've been playing Elden Ring too, and while it's quite tedious, it's interesting enough that I might be able to grind through it (it's huge in terms of hours).
I can even ignore, and did miss whole areas on my first play through. I did end up finishing my first play through in 80 hours.
I then decided to wait for the DLC to begin my second play through.
Is there more to it other than the fact that as one gets older, one has higher expectations? I keep wondering about it...
Actually, most Japanese games aren’t like that at the moment. There’s a move away from turn based JRPGs to having more action.