Common game industry wisdom suggests that players want fantasy settings. Games are entirely escapist, and players want a game world that is markedly different from their own. They want apocalypses, orcs and elves, or space marines, and anything less isn't excited. However, games like the Persona series, Gone Home, and Night in the Woods demonstrate that contemporary settings are more emotionally resonant for players because the characters’ struggles in these settings are relatable.
The Persona series has always been distinctive for its contemporary setting because of the setting's novelty—particularly in RPGs and particularly at the time of release for Persona and Persona 2 on the PlayStation—and, more significantly, because the setting facilitates nuaced characters. Throughout all six of the main Persona series entries, the games present characters who struggle with body image, gender, sex, grief, guilt, and shame. Because these characters exist in a world very similar to our own, their conflicts mirror conflicts that players might have in their own lives. The contemporary setting of the Persona series facilitates the creation of characters that players identify with.
Just like the Persona series, Gone Home and Night in the Woods use their contemporary settings to tell relatable stories.
In fact, Night in the Woods manages to have incredibly relatable characters despite those characters being anthropomorphic animals. The story of Night in the Woods is firmly placed in the real world; it’s a story about millennial disillusionment, the state of the working class, and hopelessness. These themes moved players, and Night in the Woods became massively popular because of it. The game was also able to create the two characters that most closely resemble me in any media I've experienced because of the game's insistence on a contemporary setting and that setting's specificity.
I want to see more games with contemporary settings, because I want more engaging characters and intimate stories. I want games to explore real issues that are relevant in our modern world. I want more characters that I identify with.