South Park: The Stick of Truth is a new game from Obsidian Entertainment and South Park Digital Studios. Based upon the television show South Park, the premise is to bring you into the cartoon like you’ve never been before. Unfortunately, games based upon existing intellectual property is almost a definite sign that the game will be average at best. Obsidian Entertainment, on the other hand, has been the exception in these cases. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II was fantastic but rushed. Fallout: New Vegas was amazing. Both of these titles were based on existing games though, the framework was already largely set. One of Obsidian’s original titles Alpha Protocol, showed great promise but had quite a few problems. Now this brings us to South Park, an existing property but no existing game framework which to build upon and improve. Can they take that expertise and make an original game based upon South Park?

You start the game as the New Kid. You have moved to South Park and you’re a complete stranger to all the residents. As the new kid in town, your first objective is to go outside and meet some kids to play with. After not too long, you’re recruited by Cartman to join the Human’s side in a war against Elves. He tells you of the war and the Stick of Truth. The story of this conflict is weaved throughout the game quite well as other events happen in the town. I personally don’t watch South Park but I thought the story is quite well done and you’ll never guess what will come next. There is obviously a lot of fan service throughout but even as a newcomer, you won’t feel lost. The entire game is hilarious and well crafted.

Upon starting your quest, you get to handcraft your character. There is a decent amount of options to make any South Park character you desire to play. The game is a turn-based role-playing game but don’t expect a deep strategic experience. It much more light-hearted. Battles comprise you and one other character from your party dueling with one or many other foes. Since it is turn-based, each character obviously gets a turn. Each turn you can use an item or a special power and attack. The issue early on, before you’ve learned all that you can do, you cannot forfeit your turn. Even if the enemy is in a stance that will hurt, you must attack. Fortunately you learn new skills and powers at a decent rate and you’ll always be able to choose something that can counter their stance. Attacks come in the form of a melee attack, ranged attack, or special powers. All attacks require timed button presses. The basic attacks are quite simple, having you press a button only once or a couple times. The special powers get a bit more complicated but manageable. The ones that require repetitive mashing of a button tend to get exhausting though, making you choose just not to use those skills. Battles and finishing quests earn you experience points that go toward leveling up. Money earned and found within the game can be used to purchase new equipment and items. Earning friends allows you to gain new perks, which are passive skills. Once you get all the basic attacks, the game works quite fluidly.

Overall the options give a decent amount of depth while remaining simplistic enough to be accessible. Once you get a grasp at all the options at your deposal and how best to use them, the game can become a bit easy though. It feels almost that this was a choice to make the gameplay a vessel for the excellent story. The most frustrating part will unfortunately be the tutorials, as they can sometimes poorly communicate what exactly needs to be done.

If you’ve ever watched the show, you’ll know what to expect from the graphics. They mimic the show quite well. The game accurately brings the world to life in an open-world design. You can walk up and down streets. Go inside of houses and shops. Locations you’re familiar with on the show are represented well. The only thing that one will notice out of place is a slight jitter as the background pans in certain locations. Other than that, it really replicates the show quite well. One thing to note before jumping in though, is there is quite a few spots with nudity.

Just like the graphics, the sound design is basically identical to the show. There are of course some background music for when you are traveling around the world and basic downtime but overall, everything you expect to be here, is here. The voices for all of the characters are well done. The sound effects for all of the wacky weapons feel like they belong. The music is fantastic and fun. Everything just gels together to make a very cohesive experience. It’s quite clear the show’s creators helped craft the game. Nothing feels out of place. It is simply marvelous.

South Park: the Stick of Truth turns out to be a fantastic game. While the tutorials can be quite frustrating, the package as a whole is amazing. Even to me, someone who doesn’t watch South Park, I was able to play and enjoy almost everything. The jokes were hilarious and the story is well crafted. It felt and looked like a South Park movie. The turn-based combat works quite well but once you get a handle on the systems, the game becomes a bit easy. Despite this, the RPG system is an excellent vessel for additional laughs. From the beginning until the end, this game is a fantastic experience. Obsidian continues to show how to handle intellectual property. If you’re a fan of South Park, this is a must-buy. If you’re not a fan but enjoy great humor? Buy. This is a great game.

Gameplay

Graphics

Sound

Overall