While that’s part of it, I think the divide we’re talking about here starts even earlier. “Railroad v sandbox” is about the plot of the story. This is also about the characters, pre-plot: whether you get to make your own from scratch, or whether the GM gives your wholly or largely pre-made ones with the plot-relevant aspects outside your control.
For a tabletop campaign, I greatly prefer sandbox and player-made characters – because tabletop gaming has an improvisational freedom and scope that computer games probably won’t have until I’m 90 years old and the AI is good enough. And a good GM will be able to work in roller coaster moments even in a sandbox. Playing through more restricted scenarios feels a bit like a waste of the medium.
But given that computer games even at their most interactive are still more akin to novels or movies, I think there’s a lot more room for authors to decide to tell specific stories and let you inside the mind and actions of the character, rather than letting you choose the personality, preferences, etc. of the character.
As is the desire for meaning and connection, which frequently throughout life comes into tension with the freedom urge.
In this case, some players/readers will be happy to trade total personality-shaping freedom for a character that feels more integrated into “real” relationships, culture, and history.