South Park has been one of my favorite shows for years. I have seen every episode multiple times and I continue to go back for more. The Stick of Truth came out in 2014 and I played it the day it came out. I have since bought the game on four different platforms, most recently the Nintendo Switch which is where I captured for this review.

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This is an old game so I’m going to talk about some spoilers, especially since we covered this game on Game Bites with spoilers, so this is your final SPOILER WARNING.

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Let’s start with the story. In my opinion, the story is perfect for you if you are a newcomer to the series or a series veteran, it’s just perfectly crafted. The story will reuse a lot of ideas that were already explored in the episodes, so if you’re new to the series its all new to you, and if you have seen the show its fun to be not only reminded of different plot points but to see what tweaks and changes they make to it.

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The way the game looks and is presented to you it’s almost impossible to tell the game and the show apart. The presentation is spectacular.

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I said there will be spoilers so skip this paragraph if you do not want to hear about any of the crazy things that happen. This game goes some places you are not ready for and to play this on the most family friendly console, a Nintendo Switch, oftentimes it just felt wrong. The town gets taken over by Nazi Zombies and somehow that’s the tamest of the absurdities you will fight. You will fight a giant aborted Nazi Zombie fetus in the abortion clinic, you will fight the underpants gnomes on your parent’s bed while they are having sex, the list goes on. Also while you are fighting the gnomes be ready to dodge your dad’s private parts as they come swinging towards you.

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The story moments again are what make the game shine to me. The only aspect of this game that stops it from being a perfect game is the combat. The combat is fun but is extremely basic. It’s a turn based RPG and it’s an active RPG so when your not attacking you will have some button prompts on defense to keep yourself engaged in the battle.

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The reason the combat falls short for me is it never evolves into anything more. It’s the same combat from the tutorial to the final boss with nothing to keep it intriguing. The combat is also inconsistent and not balanced all that well. You will go against a group of people and destroy them before they even have a chance to attack you and then struggle with the next group you encounter.

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If they found a way to make the combat evolve with you as you progress through the game this would be a perfect game.

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Verdict

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South Park The Stick of Truth blends a turn based RPG with one of the funniest cartoons of all time. The story and the humor really shine where the combat falls a little short. Even with my problems with the combat, this is still one of my favorite RPG games of all time. I have now bought and played it on 5 platforms and if they keep releasing it, ill probably keep buying it.n

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Final Score

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-9/10

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