South Park: The Stick of Truth has finally made its long-awaited release, and it was well-worth the release. Not only is it the greatest South Park video game of all time, but it’s one of the best RPGs to date.

South Park: The Stick of Truth is a 2014 turn-based, action RPG game, it is developed by Obsidian Entertainment & published by Ubisoft. It is available on PC, Playstation 3, and Xbox 360.

Use the power of the fart.

I’ve been a South Park fan for as long as I can remember and I’ve seen every episode that’s aired on TV. So when South Park: The Stick of Truth first got announced and shown off I was absolutely amazed at how awesome it looked. Of course given the fact that it’s a licensed game alongside of South Park’s video game track record, I had some obvious reservations. However it was soon announced that Matt Stone and Trey Parker would be completely involved in The Stick of Truth; a first in South Park’s long video game history. Thus, my faith in this new title was subsequently restored. After almost a year of hiatus and push backs, Obsidian and Ubisoft pulled through with their promise and it was well worth the wait. Further proving that push backs aren’t a curse, but a blessing in disguise.

There’s Lord of the Rings and Skyrim references a plenty here.

THE GOOD: The first thing you notice about South Park: The Stick of Truth is that it looks exactly like an interactive episode of South Park. Matt and Trey poured their hearts and souls into this game and it’s easily seen within a few minutes of play time. While the TV series has been hit or miss at this point in time, The Stick of Truth may have revitalized what may have been Matt and Trey’s overall passion for the South Park franchise, especially after the series finale scare “You’re Getting Old” gave fans a few years ago. The Stick of Truth while providing that usual South Park vision of comedy still makes for an incredibly funny game. From the Chinpokomon chime, to to the jokes about Cartman’s mom being a slut (which hasn’t been featured in the series for some time now), all of the classic South Park comedy that fans grew up on is here in this game.

The Visitors make their return in South Park: The Stick of Truth.

The cameos and references of the entire franchise are pretty much used here, Professor Chaos, Goth kids, Vamp kids, The Coon, pretty much all of it is used in this game, the dedication to fan service is absolutely incredible. Combat is your standard turn-based RPG, you take a turn to attack and wait out your enemy’s attack afterwards. You can use either a basic attack, power attack, or a magic attack. You can use items known as consumables in order to heal yourself, your pp, or do other tasks to give you an advantage over your enemies. Difficulty was surprisingly satisfying, early parts of the game had less challenging enemies, but much later parts contained enemies who were true threats. So the difficulty never felt one-sided which is how it should be in any RPG. Voice acting was pretty top notch work as well, but this is expected considering Matt and Trey voice damn near every character in South Park.

So much chaos in The Stick of Truth.

The amount of weaponry and armor in South Park: The Stick of Truth is extremely vast. There’s armor and weaponry to give each class an advantage or two, or three in combat. You can buy or find more advanced weapons and armor as you make your way throughout the game. You can modify your equipment for upgrades such as elemental damage and more. As you level up from experience gained after each battle you unlock perks that give you permanent advantages in battle, as well as the ability to upgraded your power attacks from level 1 to level 4. Although the game is only about 12-15 hours long there’s plenty of exploration with this world, and if you avoid the story a bit you’ll find something new every time you travel through South Park.

Clyde the Overlord.

THE BAD: If you’re not into turn-based games then this might not be the one for you. The run time is pretty annoying, only about 12-15 hours of play time, and this is a game that you just don’t want to put down. Every class is also basically the same as the other, with very few noticeable differences. There was also a shortage on side quest seemingly, which left a bit of a hole once the main story was completed.  More allies on the battle field would have been nice as well.

The combat of South Park: The Stick of Truth.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: South Park: The Stick of Truth is an absolutely fantastic RPG, turn-based or not. The fantastic story and gameplay gave gamers and South Park fans alike the game they’ve been waiting for almost a year to get their hands on. The wait was well worth it, as the push backs provided us with a final product for many to enjoy, unless of course you’re not a fan of obscene comedy. Combat and the visuals of The Stick of Truth is grand work done by Obsidian, and the collaboration with South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker made for one of the best RPG experiences I’ve ever had. However, with every great game comes a few problems. The run time of 12-15 hours made me a bit annoyed, as I played and beat the game within an entire day’s worth of play, and this is something that you just don’t want to end. There wasn’t very much to go on as far as differences in the classes, and I wish there would have been side quests available post-story. More allies on your side of the battle field would have been a nice addition as well. Still with the few problems that South Park: The Stick of Truth has, it’s more than deserving the title “game of the year contender”, and even more so for “best licensed game in recent memory.