When South Park: The Fractured But Whole was announced at E3 2023, it had been easily one of the greatest surprises of the show. Rumors had long persisted that Matt Stone and Trey Parker had become disenchanted using the video game-making process after South Park: The Stick of Truth (the very first game they had directly worked on) spent too much time in development hell for guys who have been used to cranking out a brand new TV episode every six days. It left many wondering if Stick of Truth would be the before the 2 brilliant minds would ever directly be involved with a video game again. However, the temptation allow it another go-especially after Stick of Truth's overwhelmingly positive response from fans and critics alike, must've been too great. And it is but now, after calming down from laughing my butt off, that I can let you know we are all the greater on their behalf deciding to give making games another chance-because Fractured But Whole may actually surpass its predecessor in lots of ways.
The story takes place shortly after the events of the first game. Your character, The brand new Kid-aka Butthole, aka Douchebag-has been named king for his mighty acts of flatulence. However Cartman really wants to play superheroes, and says the fate of the town-and his get rich quick superhero movie franchise-is at stake with a rash of cat-nappings happening. So, inside a twisted turn of fate, New Kid is back at the bottom from the pecking order, having to work his way into everyone's good graces in order to have fun with them again. Begrudgingly, Cartman allows you to join his team “Coon and Friends,” so that as you fight crime alongside them, you begin to discover a plot much more sinister than missing cats-including discovering the true origins from the New Kid and also the reason his family came to South Park.
Fractured But Whole plays out like one super-long episode from the Tv show. The game starts off innocent enough, however it isn't long before events begin to escalate, sticking the boys in more improbable and ultimately insane situations. Fractured But Whole also takes its time, clocking in at around a 20-hour experience, easily double that of its predecessor. All the while, it pokes fun at everything it feels like from long-standing social issues like police brutality and pedophilia within the Catholic church, to less serious matters such as the game industry and game development-and obviously, super-hero movies and franchises. As usual, nothing is off the table for South Park, and if you like the humor of the series, then you will have a good idea what you're engaging in (and can likely love this particular much more than you might some episodes just because there is so much that's tackled here).
While taking its shots at a variety of subjects, Fractured But Whole also serves as a tribute towards the over 20 years of South Park television we've had. Whether its cameos by characters like Mr. Hanky or Towelie, to acknowledging more recent additions to the series' canon (like collecting Member Berries for experience points), your understanding as a fan might be tested with references to situations all across the South Park timeline. And as well crafted because the main story might be, the real enjoyment in the game for me personally came in many of the side quests, which really in the comedy much more. For example, one of these simple missions supplies you with to rescue Mosquito from Raisin girls, while another has you attempt to fix the broken hearts of Craig and Tweek following a lover's spat. With each subsequent mission (main or side), the only constant I found was which i couldn't stop laughing at the hilarity that ensues from each situation the sport throws at you.
From an aesthetic standpoint, Fractured But Whole delivers exactly what you realized from a South Park game. Similar to Stick of Truth, the sport looks like an actual episode from the show, with character and location designs ripped right from the series. Unlike Stick of Truth, though, there's a lot more nooks and crannies to find out, with more locations within South Park being fully developed. In addition, the world in the last game has expanded in parallel using the series, so locations like the ruins of SoDoSoPa from Season 19 can be explored for the first time.
Audio-wise, Matt and Trey provide the majority of the voices (just like in the Television show), reprising the roles you'd expect them to. Musically, everything is also obtained from the show, and whenever you walk into an outlet or shop, music from the show's history could be heard like muzak in an elevator. Go to Tweek Bros. coffee and “Gay Fish” may be playing, or visit the financial institution and “Jacking It in San Diego” might be piped within the speakers-it's one other way the sport pays tribute to everything South Park.
It's no surprise that a lot of Fractured But Whole really just follows the blueprint which was organized by Stick of Truth while upping the ante if you take a few more risks using its writing on and on bigger and in many scenarios (as you would expect from the sequel). Where Fractured But Whole really differentiates itself from the predecessor, though, is in the gameplay. While still an RPG, the fundamental turn-based system of the last game has been eschewed. Instead, it's been substituted for a combination of an active-time battle system with an order of attack, along with a grid-based tactical RPG system that brought to mind the early Mega Man Battle Network games or even a really truncated Fire Emblem. The New Kid and the team of three other South Park kids-the pool of which you'll be able to select from will grow to almost twelve by game's end-will have to take on everything from Old Individuals to Ninjas to Sixth Graders and more.
I found the grid system really increased the requirement to use strategy to overcome a lot of obstacles, but similar to the first game, I found most battles-at least on normal-to be relatively simple once you get used to the how to go about the machine. For example, it had been common early on for me to accidentally block the path of some of my fighters, since no two characters can end up occupying the same space. While you learn the abilities of each character and just how best to make use of the New Kid's super powers, these issues will fade, similar to one of the New Kid's farts within the wind.
As the sport progresses and you become more accustomed to combat, you won't just convey more characters to combine and match in your team, however the New Kid will learn additional powers as well. Some derive from what class you choose-such as being a Blaster like Cyclops in the X-Men or perhaps a Brutalist such as the Thing in the Fantastic Four-while others revolve around the New Kid's amazing arse. Finding the right mix of powers, and when to use your personal farting abilities, adds surprising depth to combat. You may also unlock a cornucopia of cheap knockoff hero and villain costumes to make your New Kid look exactly how you would like her or him to, going combined with the idea that you are able to truly make your own superhero to fight alongside the children of South Park with.
Farting isn't just an offensive tool, however-it's also important to exploring South Park. I'm type of chuckling to myself even while I write this when i realize how much Fractured But Whole really doubled down on your irritable bowels, only by passing gas are you able to aspire to fully unlock all of South Park's secrets. One of the ways this works is the fact that New Kid are capable of doing Fart-kour on the planet with Human Kite to reach high rooftops, or fart in Scott Malkinson's (Captain Diabetes) face to transmit him right into a diabetic rage which will get him to open up new paths by busting down certain walls and barriers on the planet. It adds another layer of depth to the gameplay by promoting exploration probably much more so than combat.
Sadly, there are a few stuff that stink with Fractured But Whole's gameplay. There's a loose leveling system where your character doesn't gain strength directly from leveling, but that higher levels permit you to equip more gear called Artifacts. Artifacts will boost various aspects of your character, including what type of attacks do more damage, your general health insurance and movement speed, or even extra health for the allies in battle. Once you reach a certain level, however, you won't have any more Artifact slots, and also the leveling system becomes sort of pointless during the last quarter of the game. The Artifact product is also somewhat arbitrary once you reach a certain level, with each new Artifact offering virtually no impact on any other Artifact you might have in your possession.
Fractured But Whole also includes a fair amount of glitches-mostly in combat, but additionally a few on the planet. There have been several instances where one character would be occupying multiple spots, like there were two Mrs. Cartman in Cartman's kitchen, and that i could speak with each one of these as if these were different NPCs. It wasn't game-breaking, however it did hurt my immersion. In combat, there's a worse glitch where a character's turn may not end in a timely manner. It was never so bad that I needed to restart a battle, but there have been many different occasions-particularly in boss battles-where my character would perform their action, after which I'd be waiting for several minutes before I possibly could take control of the next character. This seems like something which could be easily patched down the road, but was worrisome in the moment.
South Park: The Fractured But Whole is a truly hysterical game that combines truckloads of fan service by having an RPG experience more realized than its predecessor. There may be several technical hiccups along the way, but you'll be hard-pressed to find a more complete experience which makes you laugh the way in which this one does. If you value South Park, this game is a must play.
