I think storytelling is cultural, i.e., you appreciate it the way you learned to hear it.

My kids are fully in the "cinematic age" and don't get much into the 2 dimensional squashed characters. I get books, with no graphics, no interaction and no soundtrack. My younger sister is a movie / TV kind of gal, she needs the soundtrack and the graphics. You who are younger than us both enjoyed the 2D game storytelling. I'm not saying you, my sister or my kids don't read books, I'm just saying how people have preferences for the way they hear stories: interactive, graphics / sound....

Just in this small sample, were we are all in the same basic culture, i.e. western modern world and we already have slightly different ways we prefer our stories told. I imagine that even centuries ago, there were people who preferred plays or opera to books, while in some places story telling got even sacred, i.e. to native americans and Christianity.

My point is, storytelling is a basic human endeavor and is evolving as we speak, just like all else in our society