VIDEO Oh my God, I killed Kenny! South Park: The Stick of Truth

Got some playtime in today. So far I'm not disappointed. It's a pretty neat game. Granted, it's more like a long and interactive South Park episode. I'm not quite sure I'd consider it a true RPG. Sure, it uses RPG elements, I suppose, it's as much a RPG as, say, Legend of Zelda games are. You're essentially scrolling over a map to complete various quests, and along the way you can enter people's homes and search their dressers/chests or break their vases/pottery for loot. And don't forget to search the bushes for more hidden treasure!

...Okay, so it's a lot like Legend of Zelda. Your protagonist, like Link, is also the strong silent type. So it's basically "What if child Link from Ocarina of Time somehow ended up in South Park?"

Anyway, it's a pretty fun game so far. Definitely has me hooked on seeing what happens next.

My main gripes:
-Turn based combat. Like Cartman says in the game, "yes, it's lame, but it's how we're doing it!" I despise turn-based combat mechanics. Luckily, Stick of Truth doesn't make it as horrible as some Japanese RPGs I've played. It's pretty straightforward and the attacks are pretty funny to watch. Some creative weapons, powers, and upgrades too, imo.

-Saving your game. The game has an auto-save feature but it also lets you save your game from the Start menu. Since I have kids, I'm usually interrupted quite often if I ever do get a chance to game, so needless to say I tried the Start menu save option a lot today. To my disappointment/slight frustration, when I returned to load the saved game, it had somehow saved my game before I'd completed any major events (battles, quests, etc). So I would have to redo entire events. I'm actually somewhat worried about returning to the game tomorrow because of this. I don't want to have to repeat events/quests every time I leave the game. But so far it seems as though relying on the auto-save is the way to go. The problem with this, however, is that the game doesn't seem to auto-save immediately after events/quests. The auto-save only kicks in if you venture onto another block of town (ie. after you travel to certain points on the map).

 

Okay, but you knew it was turn-based going in. Like, that's what the game was. It seems a bit disingenuous to complain about that core mechanic that wasn't hidden from you in any way, shape, or form.

 

I actually didn't know. I didn't read anything apart from that review (which described combat as "simple" iirc). But like I said, I'm enjoying the game.

 

Ah, fair enough.

 

I can't remember the last time I bought a game that I hadn't done extensive research on to ascertain whether I'd like it.

This game looks to be really faithful to South Park, but unfortunately I don't like South Park. Not my type of humour, so I doubt I'd enjoy the game. But that's a good thing IMO. It's not aimed at me, it's aimed at fans of the license. I like that as the years go on, we seem to be getting more and more strong licensed titles.

 

Like I said, it's pretty much a longer episode of the show. I'd imagine that you're right in the assumption that you wouldn't like it since you're not a fan. Or rather, you would probably just tire of it really quick.

 

Loving the game so far. I don't think I'm too far even after a couple days because I spent hours just exploring the town. The gameplay isn't anything special, but the perfect setting more than makes up for it. It feels just like South Park.

 

Eventually I wish to get this but I'll wait a bit for the price to drop.

 

I'm in the Alien ship right now. While it is a throwback to the first episode, I can't help but feel that it pales in comparison to the previous in-town areas.

 

I started playing this game last night, and my wife was watching me play. When I got to a bathroom, I tried the pooping minigame but failed horribly. My wife's eyes opened wide and she shouted "I want to poop!!!!!!" Funniest thing ever!

 

Just played the Unplanned Parenthood segment, complete with the Giant Nazi Zombie Fetus boss. I broke out laughing several times during this segment. Very funny, though giving Randy Marsh an abortion was surprisingly difficult/annoying for a game that's been pretty simple and straightforward thus far.

 

The Canada section was appropriately awesome and funny.

 

I just beat it last night. Really loved it but I'm not sure if I want to go back through it again, it also has an ending that just ends but that was expected from South Park. I really hope they make another game but I'm not sure how much different it could be.

 

By the time they finish a new game developed for the current generation, PS5 and Xbox 2(?) will already be dominant.

 

Game was pretty good, I mentioned on another site I can't think of another game that made me think 'Whoops, forgot to fart on the Prime Minister of Canada. Guess I won't worry about getting AIDS then.' Not bad gameplay either though it was very easy. I hardly used a healing item except against Al Gore and his Secret Service goons.