Video Game Review - South Park: The Fractured But Whole

As most of you may have noticed, I've been mostly doing reviews of new releases when really I should be reviewing Halloween things like anything in the horror genre and what have you. But looking at this game, it can actually be considered a Halloween game because it has kids dressed up in costumes which is something lots of kids do at Halloween anyway so in a way, this can count as both a new release and something that's Halloween related. So a while ago, I reviewed the Stick of Truth and felt that it was faithful to the show in terms of graphics and gameplay as well as its controversial themes and so forth. So here we have a sequel which Ubisoft held full responsibility for rather than partially like the first game where it was being fully developed by THQ before they went bankrupt and Ubisoft took over while also acquiring the rights to the South Park video games. Last time it was a fantasy RPG and this time its a superhero RPG. So let's see if its the new Civil War or the new turd sandwich:

Set after The Stick of Truth with the season 21 episode "Franchise Prequel" serving as a tie in, the New Kid and the kids of South Park continue their quest to protect Koopa Keep from the forces of evil. But when the Grand Wizard Cartman (reprised by Trey Parker, one of the two creators of the show) instead appears as the Coon giving a warning of future events, his team are tasked with preventing these events from happening. The New Kid hears of this and joins Coon and Friends as one of their new heroes. So like with Stick of Truth, the game gives the player a fully explorable South Park with some old and new characters from both the show and the first game appearing. Battles have been upgraded to more of an arena battle with the New Kid and up to 3 other heroes each having their own unique powers which kind of works well. Side Quests are back and better than ever with Jimmy (also reprised by Parker) taking up the mantle of fast travel as his superhero persona Fastpass and most of the stuff being seen in the game comes from the last few seasons such as Yaoi from season 19, the Memberberries from season 20 and even an appearance from PC Principal (again reprised by Parker).

Lots of things to like here and still manages to be a good game. Is it better than Stick of Truth? Probably more on par with it than better. But with upgraded battles, more superhero themes and a spoof of Instagram, this again just goes to show that with the right people involved, you can make a game that stays faithful and true to its source material while also being at the standard of other big titles as well. Lots of fun to be had here as long as you don't mind the controversial themes that South Park is known for. 9/10