South Park: The Fractured But Whole Reviews

South Park: The Fractured But Whole is a good fit on Switch, though some noticeable technical issues highlight the sacrifices made in order to get it on the hybrid system. That said, what’s here is a great South Park adventure — one fans of the show should certainly check out if they haven’t already.

In 2014, Ubisoft released what would go on to be considered one of the greatest licensed video games in South Park: The Stick of Truth. With the assistance of the South Park creators, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the developers at Obsidian Entertainment proved they understood the source material and built a classic, faithful game. Most fans of the franchise could agree Stick of Truth was rude, crude, but everything we wanted from a South Park game. They had struck gold.

The longer South Park: The Fractured But Whole went on, the less I laughed. Exploring the mountain town, however, is a delight, and the battles are a marked improvement on the original's combat.

Many stories would come across as sophomoric and repulsive for featuring a minigame that involves using multiple toilets in a quiet mountain town. That actually could apply to a South Park game too, but at least it's in keeping with the source material.

The Fractured But Whole is a solidly good RPG game that incorporates the South Park attitude with a lot less “in-your-face” crudeness than The Stick of Truth. It has a better fighting setup, an easier-to- digest storyline, and is still laugh out loud funny at times. What else do you need from a South Park game?

May it be the likes of Shadow of the Colossus or Metal Gear Solid, if it’s quite there but not enough to push the boundaries, it’s still an awesome game.

South Park: The Fractured but Whole captures the very best of South Park. The creators have woven irreverent and offensive humor seamlessly into an outrageous and entertaining RPG adventure. By making the leap to the Switch, the Coon and Friends can now be played on the go, but at the cost of slower load times. Even so, this is a raunchy superhero epic no fan should miss.

South Park: The Fractured But Whole is an excellent RPG with a South Park skin. If you love the crass fourth graders and their adventures as much as I do, then chances are you're going to have a great time. If you're more of a tangential fan, you'll probably still find a lot to love. But if South Park isn't your bag of tea, then the gameplay alone may not make this one worth your time.

The sound is as accurate as the visuals, with guitar twangs and light tunes that are straight out of the show. The character voices, almost entirely provided by series creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker, are flawless. Every character sounds exactly as they should; whether it’s Butters’s adorable innocence or Cartman’s dickery, the defining characteristics of the show’s iconic cast of characters is on full display.

South Park: The Fractured But Whole is an excellent sequel and the funniest game this year, but it’s simply not as good as The Stick Of Truth. Even ignoring how unique the first game was at the time, the storyline was more epic, the locations more varied, the jokes jaw-dislocatingly good in that game. This one is great, always funny and usually pretty disturbing in that South Park way, but the superhero storyline kind of peaks with Professor Chaos and that’s not even halfway through the g...

When people think of South Park most assume it’s a show about seeing who can be offended the fastest and the worst. However, as the years have progressed, creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have honed the series to be more of a comedic and satiric commentary on todays’ social subjects. Their latest game The Fractured But Whole is a combination of both with a return to their classic storytelling, appearing to have fun with the South Park franchise and its themes, but also using their plat...

South Park: The Fractured but Whole is cleverly written with solid, accessible gameplay that could easily pass for the next South Park movie.

Given the mire that mankind currently finds itself in, we should probably applaud Trey Parker and Matt Stone's scattershot, omnilateral approach to satire in South Park: The Fractured But Whole, a game which mercilessly skewers all facets of modern life. Regardless of which side of the political spectrum you align with, your religious beliefs, your ethnicity, or your gender, there's probably something here that's going to poke fun at you.

South Park: The Fractured But Whole is a case of one step forward, two steps back. From a gameplay perspective, it’s infinitely better than it was in the previous outing, but as a piece of entertainment, The Fractured But Whole simply doesn't measure up to The Stick of Truth. There's no censorship this time, which is good, but it almost feels like the whole thing got self-censored somewhere along the way.

Rival superhero franchises go to war.

South Park: The Fractured but Whole is technically a better game than its predecessor with more engaging battles and character creation, but the story is oddly paced towards the end, and while it is a fun ride I don’t think it quite matches the plot of The Stick of Truth. It’s not without issue, but fans of South Park will enjoy this as much as the first.

The guy selling tickets at the movie theater flippantly asks every time you see him “Aren’t superheroes kinda played out?” As it turns out, not quite yet. Not as far as South Park is concerned, at least.

All in all, South Park: The Fractured But Whole is a fantastic game. While there are some minor flaws, I couldn't put my controller down. Aside from being one of my personal favorite games of this year, it also holds a special place in my heart as one of the best Ubisoft games I have ever played. If you are a fan of the TV series, as well as The Stick of Truth, I highly recommend purchasing this game; it is well worth your time, and it is worth every penny of its purchase price.

Defecation appreciation.

South Park: The Fractured But Whole is South Park at its best backed up by gameplay that would stand on its own in any other game.

As Thin Lizzy once said, the boys are back in town!  After far too many delays it’s time for another adventure in the not-so-quiet mountain town of South Park! Developed by Ubisoft San Francisco, South Park: The Fractured But Whole continues the story of the New Kid from The Stick of Truth. After an opening monologue of a dire future from The Coon, the hero travels back in time in typical South Park fashion to enlist the aid of his fellow heroes from the past… which means the kids immediately stop playing their fantasy epic in the search for the Stick of Truth and shift gears to be superheroes.

All in all, it's fair to say that South Park: The Fractured but Whole stands as a great follow-up to The Stick of Truth, and a game that fans of the TV show are bound to appreciate. It may have been a long time coming, but The Fractured but Whole is certainly worth the wait, particularly for those who want to have a bit of light-hearted fun with their RPG gameplay.

In a way, I wish I could give this game two separate scores. One for South Park fans and one for those who don't like or aren't familiar with the series. Besides very minor issues, The Fractured But Whole's main problem is its reliance on familiarity with material outside the game. All the excellent cameos, self-references and a lot of plot points are dependent on players having at least a passing familiarity with the TV show. However, if you like South Park and video games (or just South Park), The Fractured But Whole is a must-have title, and improves on The Stick of Truth in every way.

South Park: The Fractured But Whole doesn't remake the wheel that The Stick of Truth crafted so well. The first game made for a near perfect South Park experience, with bare bones RPG elements to make it all work. This sequel does mostly the same, only tinkering with a few things, making for a different but just as enjoyable final product.

Since it began airing in 1997, South Park has challenged what a television show should be. It killed a recurring character every episode during its early years, and had a series retrospective clip show episode in the middle of its second season. Series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone looked at the animated television medium and said, “We’re going to do something different.” For 2015’s The Stick of Truth, they took a similar approach, poking fun at video game tropes all while showing a clear appreciation for the medium. Parker and Stone continue with this idea in The Fractured but Whole, a sequel that parodies video games while telling a new story and making smart modifications to improve the overall experience.

You will find yourself laughing quite a bit at every ridiculous encounter you’ll come across, and those worried that this game may not live up to what came before it should rest easy. This is a trip into the mountains well worth taking, even if you missed out on its predecessor.

Can games be art? It’s an age-old question that still is yet to be definitively answered. A Fractured but Whole doesn’t so much answer this question as it poses a new one – can games be fart?

South Park: The Fractured But Whole is another epic-length episode of the humor that’s kept fans of the show laughing for 20 years. The Marvel vs DC parody delivers regular laugh-out-loud moments with only a few faltering gags, and the combat soon evolves into something much more complex and interesting than The Stick of Truth’s simple system. Navigation and repetition of some of its simple puzzle mechanics drag a little, but it’s otherwise an excellent South Park game that’s also a strong RPG.