The Horizons of Imagination

Before you turn away from the horribly pretentious title of this article, let me assure out that it's actually pretty relevant. Today's topic is the width and depth of theme in fantasy games, and what better playground for the imagination than fantasy? Science-fiction is, ultimately, constrained by the bounds of physical plausibility although some writers like Iain M. Banks have pushed that concept to its limit. Horror is constrained by the ultimate need to scare or disturb the reader. No other genre of fiction ought to be able to match the near-limitless possibilities conjured up by the word "fantasy". And yet it's possibly the most staid, hackneyed and derivative of all the Ameritrash concepts. Why?