Sirth

 That is all.

No, seriously. The game is that good. There are the elements of a typical MMO in there, due to most of the changes being convenience pieces. But they do a lot.

Sick of having to find a quest hub then go back and return when finished? Nope, just ask a scout, he just reveals the AREAS to you, and that's all you need for completion.
Want to kill instead of gather? That's available instead.
Want to explore? They've got benefits to that.
Want some movement in your gameplay? Oh boy, I hope you know how to dodge.
Sick of farming a dungeon for a certain piece of armor? ... well, you may still need to farm the dungeon. Although you get a crap ton of experience for it, and you're not really fighting other people for loot. Also, no need to go traipsing around the world for quests. There are none.
Sick of missing content and finding yourself overly powerful for it when you want to do it? Though you're probably rarely at full power when you ARE in an area your level, they have a back scaling feature. Includes dungeons, so they're never easy at higher levels (and chances are, you may get teamed up with them, so dungeons are never old).
Wish something would -suddenly, cave troll. 
Sick of people gouging you for cash every month? No subscription. Pay up front, there you go.
Think no matter what, massive PvP battle over real territory would be awesome? They have that. At all levels.
Wish your end game was mostly finding the right build rather than finding the best gear? Pick your choice of Necromancer: Condition, Burst, Hybrid or Minion? For condition, do you prefer more power or criting for more conditions? Are you tanking (did I just suggest a CLOTH TANK?) with daggers for burst, or mid-range with axes?

It's not perfect, and if you're looking for a good single player game, this probably isn't it. Yes, the game still has issues. But I've been able to see past all this, and actually get back into MMOs. I just played WoW a bit before and got bored pretty quickly. This has gotten me through 2 max levels and I'm bringing up a third.

Still considering some other ones, like Neverwinter, Elder Scrolls, and hell the new FF14. We'll see what happens when I get bored.

 I mean like attempts to make some epic story.

Hear me out.

I'm making this post after reading clessaileron 's spiel about Tales of Graces. Mostly, his stuff about the story and characters being quite lackluster. As for me, Tales stories have just been not all that great after Phantasia. Yeah, I mean the original. Some random bits of goodness, others that come out as standing some test of time. Otherwise, very basic. But good gameplay.

Recently, despite some exceptions, I've found that games really emphasizing game play or atmosphere have been topping my lists. I mean Demon's Souls, Dragon's Dogma, Legend of Grimrock. Hell, even Skyrim's is background for the ongoing journey across the country. These games' stories just are not at the forefront. Or, in some ways, the gameplay overshadows the story, but some minor elements to discuss make people love the story they see anyway.

See my icon, Sif. He's apparently an epic character, and all you really see of him is a fight. That's it. Finding out the rest, you see an emotional story. Hell, watch the fight with him. Pay attention when his health is low. He's determined to fight you over something.

So another example of bad narrative?

Mass Effect 3. Yes, the bloody ending. It has caused massive shockwaves of discontent. Frankly, it IS a freaking great game. But here's an example when narrative fails, because they apparently messed with the ending. 
Skyrim maybe was an attempt at something groundbreaking in Elder Scrolls. But every comment I see seems to find it lackluster.
Better examples probably come from a majority of narrative intensive Japanese games. Tales, Star Ocean... 

Maybe I REALLY do not know what I'm talking about. But there is an idea that you need ME3 level narrative for a game somewhere. I've just recently seen failures, while the ones lacking are praised. I don't know, it's a random journal.
So do video games need to compete with movies and books on story, or should they just stick to being games, with some interesting ideas that can make you think?

Why is there no inquisitive mood to choose? Dammit, people.

Irony: Complain about Tales, where I dislike the music. Insert icon from game praised where same composer did the music.

Eh, all bullshit. Keywords: Deus Ex Human Revolution, and The Witcher 2. Good game play AND great narrative. I'm just saying.