A corollary to this, though, is that UI's that cater to a well-written script and deliver the user into a story, which they enjoy manifesting over and over again, is a successful one.

There is a lot of room for creative metaphor in computer UI, in my opinion - however, I do also agree with your contention that its up to the user. I'm quite sure these complicated interfaces are good for, at the very least, one single user.