Game Review: South Park - The Fractured but Whole

Hello Enthusiasts,

Back in 1997, a new animated show premiered to the world. Its animations were crude, its characters had few redeemable traits, and it was purposely offensive in its writing. This show was South Park, and while it has certainly grown since its early years, it still holds on to a number of these concepts. It has gained such a following over the years that it has had its own movie and a couple of video games. Today I will be focusing on the newest of these games (outside of the mobile game), South Park: The Fractured but Whole. Now, of course, there will be some Spoilers Below, as well as some potentially Offensive Content, so you have been warned.

So this game picks up right at the end of the previous game, South Park: The Stick of Truth. You play as the "New Kid", who will never be named, in the final battle in the medieval setting. In the same spirit as the last game, your character has incredibly powerful farts, and this game will only further this narrative from where the previous game left it. This power is used in this starting battle to gain the upper-hand in obtaining the Stick of Truth. However, before the stick can be obtained, Cartman interrupts the game as his super hero alter-ego, The Coon. He lets everyone know that they're changing games, and now it's time to play super heroes. Your character is eventually recruited into the Coon and Friends group, and you are able to select your starting class. Your starting goal is to get followers on Coonstagram in order to promote the Coon and Friends franchise so they can start getting movies and Netflix shows. It sounds normal enough, but anyone familiar with South Park can guess that the story will spiral well out of any kind of normalcy. The story explores a rivalry with the other group of heroes and Professor Chaos, as well as a conspiracy involving a cult that's causing all kinds of trouble in the small town. It's a crazy tale that is stuffed with hilarious dialogue and some disturbing visuals, which can be expected from a franchise like South Park. You can also expect call-backs to previous South Park episodes, all of which fit well within the story.

In terms of gameplay, this game is pretty simple, but fun. The fighting is turn-based, and you can control multiple characters. The battles are set-up on a grid, with attacks impacting specific tiles on the grid. There are different status effects that can be caused, such as burning or disgusted, though some enemies are immune to certain things. Attacks will vary from character to character, and each available class has different attacks. Apart from the regular attacks, your character is also able to use farts that can manipulate time itself, which can be used to skip turns or reverse damage. There are several items and assisting characters that can be used to help clear out a crazy battlefield. Outside of battle, the game allows you to roam free, collect items and talk to the citizens of South Park. As you unlock new farts and friends, you're able to access more areas throughout South Park that were previously inaccessible. Both in and out of combat, there is a lot more to the gameplay than it initially lets on.

While the game is very enjoyable, there are some things that feel like they could have been done better. In the previous game, you were able to both use an item and attack in the same turn, which could allow your character to heal and attack in the same turn. This was changed for this title, so using an item now is that character's whole turn. Being able to do both didn't make the game easy, but it did prevent you from ending up in a loop of having to heal or remove a status effect every turn while being attacked. Outside of that, there are also some repeated story beats from the previous game that lose their shock value if you've played both. One example of this is your "backstory" that Cartman gives you about the origin of your powers, which stems from seeing your dad have sex with your mom. This would have been a lot funnier if there wasn't a wildly explicit scene of your parents having sex in The Stick of Truth. While none of this destroys this game or anything, it does take away from the game enough to be noticeable.

Small complaints aside, this is a great game for fans of South Park and those who know what they're getting into. If you're easily offended, you should probably avoid this game (as well as South Park as a whole), but it's otherwise a great time. You're not going to find a terribly difficult game here, but it is wildly funny and enjoyable.

I give South Park: The Fractured but Whole a 7.5 out of 10.

Sincerely,

The Bored Enthusiast