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South Park: The Fractured But Whole Review – Culture of Gaming

South Park: The Fractured But Whole has been released. Is it a classic in the making? Or is it doomed to wallow in mediocrity?

South Park has become one of those shows that have always been there, like The Simpsons or WWE Raw. When it first came out, the expectation was that controversy would drag it into cancellation sooner rather than later. A mixture of being genuinely funny, a willingness to push boundaries without doing it for the sake of controversy, and a network that was willing to fight for it has led to South Park becoming a multimedia juggernaut. It is now entering its twentieth year when most people didn’t think it would last one.

South Park is no stranger to the video game industry. In its early years, the show was licensed to several games for the original PlayStation and Nintendo 64; a time when everything was being licensed even if it was not a good idea. In 2014, South Park: The Stick of Truth was released, beating the expectation of terrible licensed games; becoming a critical and commercial success. It was inevitable that a sequel would be released. South Park: The Fractured But Whole, after a nearly year-long delay, has been released. Is it a classic in the making? Or doomed to wallow in mediocrity?

South Park Graphics

Story: South Park Absurdity

South Park: The Fractured But Whole begins where the last game ended, with all of the children in South Park deeply embroiled in a fantasy war to decide the fate of the Stick of Truth. Into the mix, and in one of the funniest introductions I’ve seen, steps the New Kid; the playable character who can be customized using a surprisingly deep character creation menu. As he leads his troops into battle, Cartman, dressed in his superhero attire, swings by to tell the kids that they’re playing superheroes now. This leads to a genre shift from the original fantasy setting.

A cat has been found missing, and Cartman and friends have decided to look for it since the $100 reward would be great at getting their superhero franchise off the ground. A close inspection of the headquarters reveals a great gag involving the characters and their movies split into 3 phases like a well known Disney owned cinematic universe. The humor in this game is great, making the playthrough feel like an extended episode of the show.

The search for the missing cat around the town of South Park eventually pulls the kids into another town-ending catastrophe that only they can stop even though they don’t really know what they are involved in. Each story beat is more and more absurd, sprinting past the line of good taste with the first playable moment. There were times when I felt the game went too far in certain situations, so be warned. South Park: The Fractured But Whole is not for the weak at heart, but for those that stick through to the end of the game will feel the feeling of having just rode an awesome roller coaster.

Graphics: Aww man, The Animation is All Crappy!

South Park: The Fractured But Whole Review

Anyone who has seen South Park will know why this category is so hard to judge. South Park has never and will never be considered “good looking.” That awkward, low quality look is part of the charm. The game is animated in the same style leading to the game looking like a slightly crisper version of the recent seasons. The town and the houses have been presented here in an open world where the player can enter any building, sometimes after completing a puzzle.

The combat is where the game really looks awesome. Almost every move, both hero and enemy, has an abundance of particle effects that causes each battle to be visually interesting.  It’s not a bad looking game, everything is crisp and clear and runs at a mostly steady frame rate.

The Graphics in South Park: The Fractured But Whole would make a good episode of the TV show.

Technical: Using a Dump Truck To Fill in a Pothole

I say mostly stable frame rate because there are random moments of heavily noticeable slowdown. There is no rhyme or reason for it; there is never anything that looks too graphics-intensive. This is disappointing because South Park TFBW should, by any standards be able to run on current generation hardware with plenty of resources to spare.

The further I got into the game past the half-way point, the the stranger the glitches became. I had one freeze that forced me to reset my game after testing if buttons worked. In battles, several animations seemed to take a second longer than they should, in one case the last enemy failed to enter the death animation for a couple seconds, making me nervous that the game had frozen again.

Gameplay: Tactical South Park Action 

South Park: The Fractured But Whole fits comfortably in the tactical turn-based RPG genre. Each battle takes place inside a grid where combatants move and attack within specific AoEs. This leads to the typical tanks and glass cannon strategies being the most effective, although usually the grid is a little too big, allowing for enemies to move into range of said cannons for an attack is a little too easily.

The leveling system doesn’t boost stats like a typical RPG, but opens slots for artifacts–little trinkets that increase stats and have other effects. These artifacts add a layer of depth to the progression with decisions like “Should I swap this artifact that gives me a bonus to party health for this one that will increase my overall might at the cost of that health boost.” Unfortunately, by the end game I had been pretty much playing with the same set of artifacts for several hours.

I played for twenty-one hours from start to finish, and by the end, the story was the only thing that was pulling me through. Roughly 75% of the way, I realized that the combat had become a slog through the same scenario over and over again. I reduced the difficulty to finish quickly and skipped battles when I could.

Combat South Park

The Combat is Tactical and Beautiful to Behold

Conclusion: Gonna Have Ourselves a Time

South Park: The Fractured But Whole is a seriously good time. The humor is spot on and everything fits soundly into the world and style of the show it is based on. The final half of the game felt rushed, with several graphical glitches and one game-crashing bug. This added to some frame rate issues and leaves the player feeling that South Park: TFBW has been badly optimized, leading to a final product that feels rushed even with a yearlong delay from the original date promised.

by Jonathan Thornburg

Summary

Is South Park: The Fractured But Whole worth your time? Yes, if you have a strong stomach and want a good time. Despite the hits against the final product, I would wholeheartedly recommend at least one play through.

Overall
85%
85%

Pros

  • A Story That Fits in With the Show
  • Excellent Tactical Combat
  • The World is Well Designed
  • Excellent Sense of Humor

Cons

  • Some Strange Graphical Glitches in the Last Half
  • Combat is not Varied Enough to Justify the Length
  • Random Frame Rate Drops
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