Game Review: South Park - The Stick of Truth

South Park is one of those shows which has stood the test of time. Airing in 1997, the American sitcom has run now for 25 years and is still going to this day. One of the reasons I believe the show is able to continue is due to how it keeps itself relevant by constantly making fun of all the current events and topics impacting society. It’s a comedy which while simplistic in its set up chooses to take jabs at anyone and anything with its trademark style of humour with no limit on how far it will take the joke. That style of humour may not work for some and I can appreciate that, but I’ve always found myself to be an enjoyer of the show whenever I found myself watching it.  In light of the show’s consistent appeal, it makes sense then that it would eventually translate into other mediums such as video games. South Park is no stranger to video games since its inception either, as it’s had a run of entries which have arguably been nothing all that compelling or attractive to play. That all changed however when South Park: The Stick of Truth came out. 

Developed by Obsidian Entertainment and published by Ubisoft, South Park: The Stick of Truth is a fully realised South Park story expressed through the lens of a traditional turn-based RPG experience.  It was originally released on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC back in 2014 but then later re-distributed along with its sequel The Fractured But Whole in 2018 for Xbox One and PlayStation 4. 

The narrative follows a new kid who moves to South Park with his parents due to mysterious reasons. Encouraged to go out and play by his parents, the new kid ends up falling into the midst of a high fantasy game being played by the show’s titular kids. A war is raging between the humans of Kupa Keep (Consisting of Cartman, Butters, Kenny and a few others) and the Elves from the Elven Kingdom (Consisting of Kyle, Stan, Jimmy and a few others) over the fabled Stick of Truth. The rules of this engagement are whoever controls the stick, controls the known universe, so as you can expect the humans and elves fight for it serves as the central crux of this narrative. That is not to say the stakes don’t escalate from there however. As you progress through the story you will come to face dangers far more deadly when aliens, the US government, Nazi zombies and gnomes all begin turning up threatening to destroy South Park and you find yourself at the heart of it all. 

The story to South Park: The Stick of Truth is easily it’s most compelling element. I think it’s comedic potential is fully realised all throughout the game’s many plot beats. The reason behind this is probably down to a lot of the South Park writing team working on the story for the game during its development. I understand Trey Parker and Matt Stone were heavily involved as they wanted to make a fully realised South Park game which emulated the tone of the show to the best of their ability. That effort wasn’t wasted either, because I honestly can’t count the number of times I laughed at this game’s jokes from beginning to end. I think it’s the sign of a brilliant game when you can keep me consistently engaged with the story, especially from a comedic perspective. I think what made the story’s humour work for me was just how much it escalated. It doesn’t take the game all that long to put you at the heart of all the bizarre and ludicrous situations the show is known so well for. It plays like a season of South Park in many respects with one overarching plot thread built up of a multitude of running gags and sub-plots. It’s a fantastic narrative in nearly every respect and I think the writing team should be proud of keeping the story and its humour consistently going right up to the end. 

From a gameplay perspective the comedy doesn’t end either. I like the choice to utilise a traditional turn-based RPG mechanic for its combat. You and your fellow squad mate titled a buddy will face off against a multitude of enemies in the game. The range of these enemies is only limited by the writing team’s ability to put you in the most bizarre scenarios and that ability is uncompromised.  You’ll start out fighting bullies and rival kids but eventually you’ll come to fight against Nazi zombies, Mongolian war lords, aliens and Canadian Direwolves. These enemies all have their own distinct patterns and abilities which you will be expected to overcome. While I enjoyed the combat in this game for how much variety it has conceptually, with abilities and gear; I can’t help but feel it misses a little bit of it’s potential. Don’t get me wrong, I think the combat is really solid but it lacks the complexity to really challenge you I feel. Even on the game’s hardest difficulty the combat is too easy and simplistic for its own good. Fights don’t often feel like a challenge to overcome most of the time because of how easy it is to abuse the power dynamic in this game and become OP. Maybe they wanted to keep the combat accessible for fans of the show who weren’t experienced gamers? I think this is a missed opportunity however as the blueprint for a compelling combat system is already there, I just wish Obsidian were more confident in trusting the audience to learn and enjoy it.  Despite the missed opportunity for added complexity though I feel the charm of the combat isn’t lost. There’s enough variety here in class design, gear and abilities to keep you compelled to mix it up consistently to see how many jokes the team managed to cram in there. 

Besides combat you will also be able to fully explore South Park and its neighbouring Canadian territory to your hearts content. There’s a nice level of immersion here as nearly all the backdrops and characters from the show inhabit the environments to some degree. As with most games, there will be obstacles you can’t overcome until you unlock the ability to do so later in the game which adds a nice layer of replayability and further reinforces exploration. It’s nice to see this world treat with a lot of heart and respect from a fan perspective because you don’t have to go far until you come across something new and surprising to make you laugh.  That level of variety helps you get truly immersed in the game’s set up and keep coming back for more as well.

South Park: The Stick of Truth is a fantastic game which I think any self-respecting South Park fan needs to put aside the time to play. It’s aim to deliver an uncompromised experience (Despite Europe’s best attempts) is fully realised in this title. You will come for the trade mark humour and you will get all of that in spades, but there’s a far deeper level of value layered within its narrative, combat and wider exploration that is impossible to ignore. Obsidian Entertainment shows time and time again they are the craftsman of consistent RPG experiences and South Park couldn’t have been in any safer hands when they were making this game.