I agree that those that emote a lot are the best of the bunch as it gives them a personality, but at the same time that puts them in this weird halfway point. They have a definitive personality of their own, so you can't do all the self-insert roleplay, but they're not taking part in conversations, making them weaker characters than the surrounding cast.

I will add Bioshock guy to the 'good' list because of the way they built the game's narrative around your unquestioning obedience to instructions. In that instance it was critical that the player thought of everything they had done in the game as their own actions, not those of a character they were roleplaying as. That and Stanley of The Stanley Parable are probably two of the only exceptions to my rule.