Yakuza 7 and five other amazing RPGs that take place in modern-day

#2. South Park: The Stick of Truth

Welcome to the quiet mountain town of South Park, where the kids are playing make-believe Lord of the Rings, or are they? It’s actually kind of up in the air just what is kids playing make-believe and what is not in South Park: The Stick of Truth and what is not – but the game deals with that fact and how meta it can get in truly great fashion.

A tremendous send-up but also love letter to fantasy tropes and RPGs, if you have a sense of humor about your favorite genre being ripped to shreds, South Park: The Stick of Truth does a wonderfully merciless job while also providing a pretty fun adventure with a solid combat system. If you aren’t really a fan of the show due to the rather crass humor, that is certainly present and an issue, but I hadn’t been a fan of the show for years when this came out and still really enjoyed it.

I specifically picked Stick of Truth and not the more recent Fractured But Whole because while I think the latter actually offers a more robust combat system, it floundered a little bit trying to match the comedic highs of the former (and is literally one big fart joke). Neither is a bad choice but if you want a game that is an RPG that takes place in modern-day while relentlessly mocking RPG tropes then South Park: The Stick of Truth is the way to go.