- Tested on Xbox One S, via the physical edition of Xbox 360.
- Game bought the year of its original release.
- About 15 hours in total.
- Almost 100% achieved, with the exception of a single collectible missing.
- Article guaranteed without disclosure.
If you could choose to gather a franchise talking to you especially with one of your favorite developers, then what would be the unlikely alliance that would give you? About me, a Dragon Ball RPG way entrusted to a massive and competent box like Square Enix, or a The Thing At Atlus... But we can always dream! Nevertheless, even though this combo would have made a lot of salivation fifteen years ago, it seems to me that I would have been perfectly incapable of imagining something as lunar as an Obsidian Entertainment, father of exceptionals. Star Wars KOTOR 2 and Fallout New Vegas, at the controls of an RPG South Park. That's what we had in 2014 on PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. South Park: The Stick of Truth, true miraculous having escaped the resounding collapse of THQ by being recovered in extremis by Ubisoft, is actually born. Thank God!
Stick of Joy
A great maker walking in the footsteps of BioWare and Bethesda, Obsidian Entertainment managed, quite quickly, to acquire an unbeatable status of the Western RPG. Besides the two great games I quoted in introduction, we know this American studio for several classics such as Neverwinter Nights 2 and its extensions, or Pillars of Eternity and its sequel. Although its record is not impeccable, the studio rivals ideas and goodwill, if only by expanding its home franchises in the hope of filling fans, as with the recent Avowed (read our critical). So obviously, when at the beginning of the 2010s we are announced thatObsidian is actively playing a game South Park, we are many to die of impatience to discover more. Many children of the 1990s experienced this television series early enough to make them lasting, and her irreverent tone, as well as her rude characters, were able to make a place within popular culture, alongside, for example, Malcolm. So the prospect of experiencing a real interactive adventure in this universe, with such a particular humour, had something exciting. We had some games. South Park in the past, but nothing as ambitious. And above all, nothing as faithful, at first sight, to the original material: the first images speak of themselves.
And indeed, not only is the game visually faithful, but it is also in writing. We find the creators of the TV show at the controls of the script and dialogues, with the entire casting... American. The French duplicators will not be asked for this opus, which fortunately will be quite successful (nearly a million and a half copies in the world) so that the mistake will not be made afterwards. An error that probably prevented a lot of players from enjoying South Park: The Stick of Truth at its fair value, even to get into it calmly. Because in good RPG, the title turns out to be very verbose, and balances a rather crazy amount of references to episodes of the series, both distant and more recent, at the time of its release. Not only do the characters speak fast enough, but in addition the translation in the form of subtitles is not ideal, sometimes having difficulty sticking with the rhythm of dialogues, and easily adapting certain gags. I have to admit that at the time of his release, I had missed a lot of comics, simply because I had not understood them, or because the translation did not honor them. Back on the game almost twelve years later, with a much more full bag of English language, I was able to take a nice revenge on the title, and by the same to do my abs!
Because you have to say what is, South Park: The Stick of Truth is absolutely all we could expect, and even much more. We really feel like we're getting into an episode of the series, with its absolutely absurd drawer intrigues, leading to burning social issues and free peaks thrown at celebrities who didn't ask for anything. Sensitive souls abstain (finally, as usual with South Park In short), the title speaks of abortion and sodomy, with some very graphic scenes, as well as alien and Nazi zombies. A large gap that allows it not only to brew wide at the humorous level, but also to remain fresh all the way along, even during all its attached content that does not detract. On graphic scenes, however, note that Europe has not been spared by some censorship. Several passages were simply cut, replaced by fixed planes with the starry flag explaining what it misses via a small text, all on background of elevator music. A way of doing that has its charm, and that can rip out a few laughter, it is true, but that has something to disappoint in knowing next to what we are passing. When you know how puritan the US is, seeing that Europe, claiming to be the land of freedom of expression, has had gags removed in such a unrealistic game, has something absurd, even ridiculous.
But nothing absurd enough to prevent the appreciation of this game that realizes virtually one without fault, and this on all aspects. Writing, therefore, is absolutely unattackable. If that's right, South Park that you come here to look for, and if you have a good command of English, then you cannot be disappointed. Everything is a pretext for gag, from the main story to the smallest little bazaar recovered at the end of a fight, through the different abilities of our schoolchildren or the enemies themselves. Visually, it's not beautiful. But at the same time, an adaptation of South Park could not decently change drastically from visual aspect. Some have been disconcerted by recent 3D graphics Snow Day, and it doesn't take long to think about why: it has nothing to do with the TV show. In this, and as I said earlier, South Park: The Stick of Truth is an extremely faithful adaptation, which reproduces the sets of the series to perfection, as well as the characters. This kind of collages a little gross, which gives the vague impression of a plastic art work done by a deficient kid, is all DNA from the franchise of Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Add to this the whole soundtrack already known from fans of the series, as well as the doublers, as said earlier, and it would be completely like an interactive episode. What, to some extent, The Stick of Truth is, since it is definitely worth more for everything that revolves around his story and his characters than for everything else.
The Chocolate Mystery
And yet, everything else does not detract, although in essence one remains before a fairly classic RPG in its proposal. South Park: The Stick of Truth offers us the rather pleasant opportunity to walk in a faithfully reproduced South Park, which one believes, with the houses of many protagonists and a good amount of shops into which one can enter. The title has the good taste to encourage exploration by spreading a lot of babioles in its environment, sometimes not obvious to find, and by offering us several powers, through adventure, that allow us to unlock some passages. If we are not at the level of Castlevania or Metroid, it must be recognized that this way of doing does offer much of its salt to the annexed content, when it is not particularly screened. The Stick of Truth offers a good amount of subsidiary quests, among which two thirds are very well written (finally as in an episode of the series), while the rest is more filling for those who like to sand their games in depth. Again, it is quite relevant, especially since it is always the opportunity to discover a small reference, sometimes subtle sometimes more explicit, to an event or a past character. For fans of the first hour, it is truly blessed bread. Especially as exploration tastes good not to overburden too many fights.
These do not arrive randomly, as in the first Final Fantasy, but instead offering the possibility to avoid our opponents (or to afflict them with a malus), Dragon Quest XI, are all the more digestible. A fortiori in so far as, apart from the few « dungeons », they are very well distributed on the map. We can spend several tens of minutes without fighting, which is quite rare, in the genre, to be emphasized. These fights take place in turn, and you benefit from the presence of an ally, embodied by one of the main characters of the TV show. As said earlier, we remain on something very classic. South Park: The Stick of Truth has its own affinity system, as well as resistance, and you will have to deal with your different abilities to get out of it. The abilities that depend on your class, chosen at the beginning of the game from a list of four: warrior, mage, thief and... Jewish, of course! Few things to say at this level, if it is that we are moving rather slowly, and that the rise in power results as much in an evolution of our life bars and power points, as in the accession to new levels for our abilities, that we permanently unlock with the help of points of competence. Nothing very complicated, everything is accessible to the less experienced players, which can be seen as a quality, for those concerned, as a defect, for the biggest players. However, the latter will be more able to appreciate QTE mechanics, Super Mario RPG (read our critical), allowing as much to attack as to counter adverse blows.
Our character, who can be mounted from any room via a not well-stocked publisher (but who can be customized in play via a prank of items to be found in the sets) is also entrusted with a divine power, that of the fart. After a small sequence of tutorials a little lame, but especially after having made us swear to never, under any pretext, fart on the balls of another man, Cartman offers us the possibility of absolutely unscrewing when we wish. This makes small comrades laugh, of course (and you with, if like me you are still a kid behind your wrinkles), to explode elements of decors when a flame is naked, and can also be used in combat. On this subject, little reproach, the mana bar, corresponding to the possibilities of farts during the confrontations, is the only one not to recharge automatically as soon as the terrace our opponents. So yes, it's for the right cause, since the powers of the prout are very powerful, but having to constantly use items to benefit from it to something quite irritating. All the more so since the inventory is quite mediocre, and certainly represents the biggest flaw in the game: the objects are simply aligned in a long (very long) list, and whenever one wants to take care of himself or recover power points, for example, one has to look for a long time, which is not fun, you know.
Although there is not much to blame for in the title, in the background, some defects are still to be emphasized. Starting with a few bugs that have never been fixed: I found myself twice blocked by an element of the set (twice on a scale elsewhere), which forced me to recharge my part. Fortunately, if it is possible to save manually, the title also automatically does so whenever you change the area. It's hard not to see this as a failed confession about the bug mentioned earlier. South Park: The Stick of Truth is not long, which I personally see as a quality. Count about fifteen hours to make a complete tour, and five less if you only practice the main story. However, this does not prevent it from suffering from a few small lengths, but above all from repeatedly going back and forth frankly not much fun, certainly feeling easy filling. It was the time when life was glorified, and moreover the critics are quite eloquent on the subject. Too bad, because in fact, he didn't need that, because his adventure is extremely dense, and above all memorable. Finally, it can be blamed for a social network interface which lacks a lot of ergonomics, as well as a challenge which would have gained to be a bit more raised in the mode of median difficulty.
South Park: The Stick of Truth is, at the time of its release, the crystallization of all the wet dreams of franchise lovers. And good news, since the game features a visual style that is extremely close to the series, it is still as valuable today. He will certainly be forgiven less for his little wanderings, especially his inventory and his unethical interface, but they are ultimately only grains of sand that do not stop the pleasure of discovery. So of course, the title won't talk to those who don't know South Park. But if you follow the show, even recently, and his humor talks to you, then you have no reason to miss this excellent RPG. Especially as it doesn't cost much more, and remains retrocompatible on Xbox.
For
- Extremely visually faithful...
- ... but especially writing level
- Really memorable sequences
- Rather short but intense
- Classic and solid RPG
Against
- Some bugs
- Low ergonomic interface
- Dispensable return trips
- European censorship
Warrior, wise, thief and... Jewish of course". I think there's only South Park to afford such freedom of tone. The last season is not so bad but I still regret the age of lightness and where politics was slipping a little more "subtly" into the lives of young college students. You remind me (again) that I have to do. I'll put it on my list. I had missed it at the time, the principle of censorship had seriously drunken me.