And you sound more like an old school videogamer than an 'hardcore' one, in the past, videogames exist simply to have fun, no story, no plot, just shooting some duck out of the sky to gain point. but now videogames end up being more and more complex, allowing author to create a world that he could not express in book, television, theatre, film, etc. in another word - videogames is another medium.
Bioshock is a good example, they managed to merge the storyline beautifully without hindrance the fun of the first person shoot em up genres.
What about Zelda?