14 DAY TRIAL // I had great fun playing South Park: The Stick of Truth and I appreciate that this is one of a small number of video games based on other properties that is successful when translated to the medium, but, as I progressed with the story, I realized that this was not actually a role-playing game.
Obsidian, the team that created the title, is best known for its work on this genre, creating classics like Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords and now working on the fantasy-based Pillars of Eternity.
So I expected them to use the core elements of the role-playing space to bring the world of South Park to players, which The Stick of truth superficially does.
I had combat that’s based on turns, although there’s a constant need for the player to actually push buttons in order to block and attack, it has a character progression system, and there’s loot to gather and use in order to improve attack and defense values.
The main character is sort of a blank slate, and that gives the player plenty of room to project his own personality as the game progresses and more of South Park is available to interact with.
Unfortunately, there’s no actual choice to be found in The Stick of Truth and, even if Obsidian tries to create some situations that seem to change the course of the narrative, there’s never any reason to wonder about playing and doing something different.
Despite the open structure of South Park, this is an entirely linear experience, and the player is more of a passive spectator, even if he is the one actually doing the hard work of winning battles.
And make no mistake, it’s very satisfying, especially for fans of the show, to sit back during cutscenes and see the perfectly replicated world of the shows delivering one of the craziest stories it has ever created, complete with appearances from a variety of favorite characters and disasters.
But I constantly felt that I lacked any freedom and that I was only included in the world of South Park for a little while, just enough to see what the kids and their companions were doing, but not enough to actually influence their destinies in any way.
Role playing is about more than mechanics, it’s about agency, and while delivering a great experience The Stick of Truth failed to make me feel the main hero of its story.