Ample Parking Day or Night

I try to avoid doing reviews on here, because well, I just do. I'm more into word vomit and just detailing my experience with games. So this this isn't a review, or at least not an official one. 

I realize I'm a little late with this one, but I finally picked up South Park: The Stick of Truth, and already sunk 3-4 hours into it. The game is a collaboration between South Park's official studio and Obsidian Entertainment, company behind Knights of the Old Republic II and Fallout: New Vegas. I didn't actually know this going in, but when the company's splash art showed up before the game started I was pleasantly surprised.

I've loved South Park since I was pretty young and sneak-watched the first three seasons on DVD, which my parents had for some reason. Since then throughout middle school and high school, I enjoyed South Park probably more consistently than any other animated comedy. Even through the show's lows and lapses in quality, I always at least respected and admired the show's animation process and quick episode-making.

So when Stick of Truth came out, I was intrigued by it and always wanted to play it, but had enough games to worry about at that time.

So finally, almost 2 years later, I got the game (at a heavily reduced price) and the adventure started.

You start the game by making your character, a process almost a little too reminiscent of the custom South Park characters people used to make and use as their profile picture on Facebook. There are a lot of creative options though, and you do a pretty good job of capturing yourself, which is always really nice for a game. (See: my Dragon's Dogma Let's Play)

If you're a fan of the show, like myself and many people are, you'll almost feel like the entire game is one big inside joke. And it's awesome. All the major (and many minor) characters are represented, all with their respective voice actors. Speaking of which, the official South Park studio's heavy involvement in the game is amazing. The in-game graphics are completely indistinguishable from a South Park episode, and even the cutscenes flow together with the gameplay with the exact same animation.It honestly just looks really good. 

The jokes, like most South Park jokes, all land very effectively. The game breaks the 4th wall constantly in regards to the fact that it's actually a game. And the best part, your character's name becomes "Douchebag" regardless of what you actually put in.

South Park: The Stick of Truth is hilarious, crude, and charming in character, but also intuitive, well-constructed, and aesthetically pleasing in game design. I highly recommend this game, especially if you're a fan of the series. 

-SK