[Intrepid Homoludens]

Aw CRAP!! This is soooo true:

Again, for me it's rarely story per se, but the unique moments of gameplay storytelling. I loved the beginning of Beyond Good and Evil and how they defined Jade's character. You meet her by seeing her environment. She's living under an alien dictatorship, and she's built her home into a makeshift orphanage. As you walk around her house you see why she's a hero, how much the kids love her and why her life is important. By the time any real gameplay happens, you want to protect her, you want to help her succeed.

And the whole thing is done with almost no actual dialogue.

And...

...a good story is like icing--it just enhances the experience (Half-Life, as an obvious example, and just about any RPG you ever want to play). It provides context for the fun, gives you a reason to keep going, can piss you off and inspire you at the right points, and it can hit all the emotional points that adrenaline-stress-based gameplay elements can't.