Platform Played On: PC
Rating: 9/10
Verdict: If you're a fan of South Park, then this is for you. I can't imagine people who don't like South Park getting the same amount of enjoyment because it relies fairly heavily on the South Park charm.
When the television show South Park first came out, I was a teenager and I would stay up until midnight to watch it. I would laugh at things like aliens probing people, and I would watch the show for years to come. Out of the blue, I stopped watching for whatever reason. A couple years back I got back into it again and it's amazing to me that it's just as hilarious as before. This story is important because I'm important... or something. In all seriousness it's important because you pretty much have to be a South Park fan to really enjoy this I would imagine, though honestly that should have gone without saying.
South Park and The Stick of Truth is about the children of South Park and their epic role-playing game. They literally dress up as humans or elves, and they battle each other for the Stick of Truth -- an object that pretty much makes you the ruler of everything. You play as Douchebag (the game lets you put in a name but you are never called it), and I was going to say "what starts as an innocent child's game" but then I realized what game I was talking about -- the game starts offensive, but with a simplistic story, and in true South Park fashion gets more and more absurd as it goes on.
If you've come to this game it's probably because you're a fan of the series. So with that said, the story here is the main reason to play. Watching how everything unfolds, from humble beginnings as kids just playing, to a giant Taco Bell, is a treat. There was so much care and attention put into the story that every detail is spot-on, and you may spend a couple hours just wandering around seeing everything that the town has to offer, like I did. When you do the story, you meet the large cast of South Park characters and a lot of the time it's hilarious and incredible. It's been said a million times but it does sincerely feel like you're just playing an episode -- or even a season or two -- of South Park. I would imagine this ends up being the funniest game of the year.
It's a good thing that the game is so damn charming, because the actual gameplay is more RPG-lite than RPG. Some people have said that this should have been expected because South Park is simple, which is a point I don't agree with. South Park, for all its farts and crude humour, is actually an intelligent show. It deserves a more complex, but not needlessly so, role-playing experience, much like the elaborate game that the kids play themselves.
It's not that the game is bad, because it really isn't. A lot of the time in battle you have to time your attacks to make them efficient, which means it's not just a mindless game. There is a certain strategic element to the combat, since people have armor and shields that you have to break. There is also the status effects, and I haven't seen an RPG that makes use of these things as heavily as South Park does in quite a while. The characters all have unique abilities in combat and this makes it interesting to switch back and forth between them to see what works best. The abilities, and also the animations, are a blast to watch because they're so different and South Parkian. The game also allows you to use an item each turn and it doesn't take a turn. It's a fun combat system, but there aren't really a lot of abilities to choose from so you end up using the same tactics a lot of the time. Hence an RPG-lite in that regard, because most battles end up being the same thing after a certain point.
It's a little thing but I played with a mouse and keyboard and the game would be better with a controller due to the button mashing and whatnot. I had no major issues but it's worth mentioning in order to get a smoother experience.
I also find the leveling system to leave a little to be desired, but again, it's not that bad. Gamespot made a huge deal out of how simplistic the game is, and while it's a tad simplistic, it's not as bad as Kevin said. You gain Facebook friends and when you gain so many you get a Perk point, which allows you to upgrade yourself in various ways, such as revival potions (ha) now healing people to full-life. There are a decent amount of choices, and it gives you a reason to do side-quests and meet people... something I don't want to do in real life!
You also gain an Ability point every level. The Fighter class had, I believe, five different abilities though I really only used two. That might be more me than a general consensus though. Anyway, you just level up which every ability you want. It's nothing groundbreaking, but it's still something to do every level. Again, RPG-lite, because leveling up never really felt as good as it should have. It's decent, though.
A lot of people are going to complain about the length of the game, and it took me between ten and fifteen hours. I have no problem with this, and I don't expect games to offer me reasons to come back. It's appreciated, but I remember the days when "replay value" meant "play the same game over and over because you loved it." I understand that coming from the old-school conditioned me to be this way and current, or newer, gamers may not feel the same. I tend to prefer a game that gives me a shorter (though I don't deem ten hours as short) but amazing campaign over a long, dull one.
But it's true... there's not a lot of reason to come back to the game unless you just want to play it again. There are different character classes, but I don't think that's enough. The character classes are mostly generic types -- Fighter, Thief, Mage -- but Jew is an interesting one and definitely at home in South Park.
Equipment isn't as complex as some RPGs in ways, but the customization is a lot of fun. You can really only equip a helmet, armor and gloves in terms of armor, but you can constantly change your hair, face paint and facial hair. You can dye your equipment at any time. All of this means that it's fun to change yourself around once in a while. You can also put patches on your armor, which gives them various bonuses of your choosing.
The weapons consist of a ranged weapon and a melee. They both have their bonuses, and for the most part that is self-explanatory. Sometimes you need to switch to your ranged weapon if someone is in the back or defending against melee attacks, and sometimes up close and personal is the best route. Like the armor, you can modify them and make them more dangerous.
The game also doesn't offer a huge, Elder Scrolls world to explore. Don't go in thinking it will, because it doesn't. Okay? I don't even care about that, but some people seem to think that every RPG has to be Skyrim. It's not linear, but most of the game is spent in South Park (outside of a few moments... one of which being an extremely memorable trip to Canada).
Speaking of Skyrim, I love the music. There's actually a song that plays a lot throughout the game that very much sounds like one of the epic songs from that game. The soundtrack is great all-around, but that's to be expected because South Park has always had entertaining music. Hell, the South Park movie is one of the better Musicals... a contentious point that would piss off a lot of serious Musical fans I would imagine.
If the game was a little deeper this easily would have gotten an 9.5 because ultimately, I wanted to keep playing it. When I wasn't playing, I would think about it and be a little critical of it... but then I'd realize I just wanted to go back. It's that South Park charm, and seeing all the references and jokes makes it a game that is hard to put down.
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