Setting doesn't have to be terribly original for me. I tend to like games that are about something, rather than just being a belligerent set of events piled up one right after the other. Problem with my desired set up is these poor storywriters aren't designing 90 minute movies, but 30 hour games. Consequently, the fetch quest and the scavenger hunt scenarios rear their ugly heads. So our options are either:

A) Have a story that's generally about something, but since the game is so long and video game writers don't feel like putting forth their best effort, we sink into a conformed pattern of "go through earth dungeon, break earth seal, go through water dungeon, break water seal..." until we eventually get to the good part at the end. The plot in this case is short and sweet, but we've got to go through a lot of busywork to get to the good part. Or...

B) Have a story that's about many different things. This one is very hard to do. It is enough trouble designing stories that are about one general theme (even most novels are about one central plotline), so when they keep adding and adding to the conflict, the quality starts to decline. It's pretty much interesting the entire way through, but it isn't incredible.

I have favorites from both categories. Either way I love games with symbolism and morals. E.V.O. had a lot of symbolism. It was about one general theme. The conformed pattern in that game's case seemed to weave itself into the story instead of act as busywork. That is an example of a good game. Why can't more games be like that?