I would say he's got the right idea. The greatest game ever made imo was KotOR(back when BioWare still knew how to make good games) but what made the game so great were the characters and their conflicts a lot more than the setting. You could argue that the Star Wars universe was the setting but that doesn't really fly I think since we all saw how merely being in that universe is not even remotely close to enough to make something half decent. No, the locations were many and you were never in one place for too long....hell the locations weren't even connected beyond the goals and conflicts that the characters were facing. The game's only true focus were the characters and it delivered one of the most memorable stories ever made.
So yes, I'm all for focusing on one truly epic story driven by characters. I absolutely do not care for pointless NPCs that do nothing other than reinforce what we know about the world if this focus and development detracts from creating an amazing story with choices and consequences.