Tony-Man and the Stick of Truth

So, it's time for the long awaited review of South Park: The Stick of Truth, but before I do, I do want to caveat a few things, as I normally do.

I've been an on-and-off fan of South Park.  I haven't seen every episode, and in fact, out of all of my friends, I've probably seen the least amount of episodes.  I do plan to rectify this, after playing and beating this game but as of now, I've probably only seen maybe 30 episodes of South Park, if even that many.

[Warning:  The following review contains minor spoilers.  Do not read ahead if you are playing this game, and/or plan to play, if you don't want to be spoiled.]

So what makes this game so awesome in my opinion?  The fact that it is a South Park Game, fashioned after older JRPGs is one thing.  But the fact that Trey Parker and Matt Stone had direct creative license in order to make the game look and feel as authentic to the South Park mythology as possible really blows me away.  It's like you are almost in a South Park Episode in many ways.

So, you play as a new kid, a silent protagonist known as the New Kid.  The arrival of the New Kid, sets off a prophecy in a LARP game similar to Dungeons and Dragons.  Almost as soon as the game starts, you help Butters "the Merciful" against a Drow Elf kid, and from there the adventure begins.  You are then introduced to the Grand Wizard Cartman, who tells you that the Humans of Kupa Keep, have in possession, the Stick of Truth, and that whoever controls the stick controls the universe.  The Drow Elves attack the humans of Kupa Keep, and they steal the Stick of Truth, and it is up to the New Kid, also known as Douchebag to return it.  And from there your destiny awaits you.

The battle system is pretty easy to learn, the tutorial fights are pretty entertaining, and learning magic is hilarious.  There is great humor in this game, and it's pretty much everything you expect from a South Park entity.  But the game play is rather smooth, and I find it to be a very legitimate RPG.  You get to fight alongside your favorite characters, like Cartman, Kyle, Stan, Kenny, Butters, and Jimmy.  There are a lot of references to old South Park episodes, The South Park Movie, and even a couple of references to Baseketball and Team America, if you know where to look for them.  I mean, there is a lot of nostalgia when you play this game, especially if your a South Park aficionado.  Even Chef makes an appearance, but you'll have to know where to go in order to find him.

This game is awesome; however, if there was one complaint that I have (and let's face it as a reviewer, I'm always going to have at least one complaint,) it's that the game is a little on the short side.  And while yes, there are like 20 different side quests you can go on... the main quest line feels a little short.  Don't get me wrong, the game is awesome.  It's one of the best games I've played in some time, it just feels a little short to me.  I don't expect a whole Final Fantasy 50 hour game or anything like that, maybe I'm just spoiled by games like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy that offers at least 20 hours of game time.  Still, if you decide you want to be a 100% completionist, this game has a lot of side stuff to do, and will keep you entertained.  I'm personally working on my second play through and I'm about 50% complete with everything (not including achievements for the XBox 360 version).

I frickin' love this game.  On a scale of one to Super Mega Awesome, I'm willing to give this game a Super Awesome.  It is that good, in my opinion.

Well, until next time, I have no idea what I'm going to review next, but it'll be a good one.