Welcome to our review of South Park: The Stick of Truth, I should say finally out on Nintendo Switch as it was highly anticipated by many.
From the creators of South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, comes an epic quest to become…cool.
Arm yourself with weapons of legend to defeat underpants gnomes, hippies, and other forces of evil. Discover the lost Stick of Truth and succeed in earning your place alongside Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny as their new friend. Fail, and you will forever be known as…a loser. Authentic South Park: Written and voiced by Trey Parker and Matt Stone. An Epic Quest: Earn your place alongside Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny. Friends with Benefits: Recruit classic South Park characters to your cause. Intense Combat: Arm yourself with magical weapons and mystical armor. Custom South Park: With, like, a billion character and item combinations.
As Stick of Truth is the first out of 2 games and we got the second one first, it is important to note that many of us did play the second one before the first, as did I, I previously reviewed the Fractured but whole and loved it. I actually finished it in around 17 hours.
Now I had the chance to play the original game (again), which I did try before on PlayStation 3, but never got into much. At that time, I had little free time due to my old job being a time-consuming wreck of a decision which left me barely any free time at all. Thankfully I got to spend more time with this one now and the portability aspect is what really stands out. For my review, I will not be discussing much more of the story but I decided to specifically describe the differences in the games for all of us that did play the second one first.
First, the big similarity, we are still in South Park obviously, the layout of the lands has not changed at first glance and this does make things a lot easier. I was tasked by Tweek to go to Kenny’s place and I just naturally found my way there. Quite handy to not lose time getting around, I often did not even decide to take the Timmy fast travel spots around town as I knew my way around.
Second, the fighting, there are big differences there and I personally enjoyed Fractured but whole more. Stick of Truth implies very similar RPG elements as in turn based attacking, but where you chose the attack in FBW and saw it play out, there is a more hands-on in SoT. When you see the action sparkle, you need to tap the button for extra damage. It will automatically make your character go and attack your selected enemy.
In FBW, there was also the strategic side of where to move, which was an added bonus to the entire game compared to Stick of Truth. I do think it is more enjoyable with the extra dimension though. A small point deduction for Stick of Truth there that I would not have known if I had not played the FBW first.
Third, a small mention of the storyline, as Fractured but Whole is all about superheroes, the Stick of Truth is more Dungeons and Dragons style. Obviously both gamescannott be about the same thing and while the main storyline advances more or less similarly, Stick of Truth is the original and well built. Go free up your friend in detention, beat the gingers to get a certain key, mongolians took over the City Wok, get stuff from Jimbo’s gun shop, …
Plenty of side quests will prolong the overal story and the average game will last between 10 and 15 hours. This is exactly where the portability of the Switch comes in handy. I will be returning home in a few days, 12 hour flight. Imagine having to put a gem like this down and only be able to resume after you get back? No such problem when you can play on Switch.
Despite the smaller screen size in handheld mode and the big amount of information on the menus, I did not have at one point any issues with it. A point I have frequently made in the past about tiny subtitles does stand, but I think I have gotten more used to those tiny subtitles… One funny mention, Kenny’s babbling is still inaudible but at least you can make certain stuff out, but the subtitles still show mumbling. I loved the attention of detail.
Finally, my experience with the game. I did enjoy Fractured but Whole a little more, the strategical side to it, tipped it in the equation. I still love every second I play though, South Park is a series I enjoy and with the latest TV season just starting out on TV, I watch it diligently every week. I even own the original 4 character toys that speak when you left them up. I can only say I am a fan of the series and as a fan, it is hard to really get a game that does not disappoint. Heck, several One piece games are just plain bad. I still buy them though. Stick of Truth is fun to play and I can not wait to one day play a third game, which will hopefully be made.
In conclusion, Stick of Truth is clearly the first game in the South Park RPG game series. It is fun to play on the go and I can not recommend it enough. Only downside on a personal note is the lack of a physical release, but I am already very happy I was able to play it on Switch regardless.
