[Lichtso]

> I honestly cant't think of any good examples where game mechanics and stories interacted in a way that gave you significant agency while still being fun. I'd love to be given contra-examples though.

Rimworld and The Sims. Both are procedural story writers.

> I felt railroaded into comically absurd black/white choices

I agree: All these AAA titles essentially are movies where you get tons of "agency" in choices which are irrelevant to the story, but the main plot is hard scripted into a few predetermined paths.

Until we have full generative AI as game engine the only alternative remains the procedural approach mentioned in the beginning.

[EdwardDiego]

Dwarf Fortress (like the classic Boatmurder) also. The Paradox games, especially Crusader Kings led to some great story writing if you read AARs.