It's weird. With Nintendo, I don't mind if there's no story. But for a lot of other games, even if I love the story, I feel weird thinking about them without their stories. Not sure if I'd play them, but I probably still would.Yeah I know what you mean.
*shrugs*
I think most companies have pretty good gameplay. I wouldn't put any to be "the best" though.
Like I love Mario Kart Wii, put hundreds of hours into it. But, I don't think I'd just say yep this is the best. I think Modnation Racers is pretty comparable.
I would say Nintendo probably has the best platformers. But aside from that a lot of companies do great gameplay.
My favourite melee combat is probably God of War now. My favourite ranged combat is probably Horizon.
Gameplay overall is BOTW without a shadow of a doubt. Second place to that are the Super Mario 3D games. I have no hesitation in saying Nintendo makes the best gameplay overall for me.