Turn-Based Role-Playing Video Game Review: South Park - The Stick of Truth

South Park: The Stick of Truth is a role-playing video game based on the famous foul-mouthed children from the long running Comedy Central satire comedy animated series South Park. Early South Park games were created without direct input from the creators of the animated series, Matt Stone and Trey Parker. This game was created early in the era where this was corrected, in an attempt to create games that were more than a simple cash grab.

The Stick of Truth was created by Obsidian Entertainment, the studio known for the Star Wars RPG Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords. This game is the first to feature the New Kid, which serves as the silent protagonist. The game has a fairly robust character creation system, or at least as robust as possible for a character design that was originally created through construction paper cut-outs. In this game gender can not be chosen, so the character is always referred to in the masculine. However, many costume pieces can be collected that let you wear female clothing. 

The female roleplay actually also extends to Kenny, who plays a princess. This aspect of the game is one of the best parts. Many of my favorite South Park episodes are those where the kids of South Park Elementary actually act like children. It always provides a humorous juxtaposition where the kids use their imagination to roleplay fantasy characters in situations that are very real. That is the case here, as the town is eventually taken over by zombies, but the kids take this in stride as they fight them off in their cosplay outfits.

The children of South Park play as fantasy characters in a feud between humans, led by the wizard king Cartman, and the elves, who are led by the high elf Kyle. Cartman's faction includes the thief Craig, the cleric Token, the shopkeep Clyde, Princess Kenny, the paladin Butters, and the barbarian warrior Tweek. Kyle's faction includes the ranger Stan and Jimmy the bard. The New Kid helps both factions, eventually gaining the six playable allies Butters, Cartman, Jimmy, Kenny, Kyle, and Stan.

Unlike the early Acclaim titles, Stick of Truth stays close to the look of the show, with cutscenes that are indistinguishable from the show. The voice actors from the show are also used here, including Matt and Trey themselves. This further helps to make it feel like South Park. One cutscene created for this game actually made it into the show proper in the season seventeen episode "A Song of Ass and Fire". The playable part of the game also retains the look of the series, as the New Kid walks through familiar locations which closely match those from the show.

Like the show itself, there are some controversial moments. One in particular was censored in Germany, which led to a fun joke in itself where the moment is written out in text while a statue of David facepalms in the background. Those who do live in Germany don't have to worry much at this point, as there are fan-made mods that can be used to restore the cut content.

The game serves as a celebration of all of South Park, as characters from the madcap early days show up in the game or as friends that can be collected as friends on Facebook alongside characters from the later satire era of the show. There are a lot of fun moments with these characters that are a real treat for those who are long time fans of the show, however the comedy writing is so good in this game that fans who are only aware of the later part, or those who are only aware of its early years should still get some laughs from the game.

South Park: The Stick of Truth is a fun roleplaying game that is a fun role-playing game created by developers from a company that knows how to create fun RPGs. It is also a game that successfully recreates the look and feel of South Park, complete with the voice actors from the show. Its writing is wonderful, with great jokes that draw from the early era. This is one licensed game that fires on all cylinders, and should entertain fans of any era of the show.

Final Verdict:

4½ out of 5

Fighting Game Review: Darkstalkers - The Night Warriors

The Halloween season is upon us again, and with it comes my infrequent tradition of reviewing monster-themed games. The game to begin the festivities is Capcom's classic arcade monster fighter, Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors, also known as Vampire: The Night Warriors in Japan.

Darkstalkers has ten playable characters, all of whom make up an eclectic cast of monsters. The series mascot is Morrigan, a succubus who has since become a fan favorite. Joining her as the only other female in the game, is Felicia the cat girl. The first of the male characters is the vampire Demitri Maximoff, the intended protagonist of the series. Other male monsters include the British werewolf karate master Jon Talbain aka Gallon, the German creature Victor von Gerdenheim who is made up of reanimated body parts in the vein of Frankenstein's monster, the zombie rock-and-roller Lord Rapper aka Zabel Zarock, the mummified pharoah Anakaris aka Anakarisu, the samurai ghost Bishamon, the merman Rikuo aka Aulbath, and the Canadian yeti Sasquatch.

The graphics are right up there with the seminal Capcom fighter, Street Fighter II. That's not a surprise, as the art was created by the man who created the art from that game, Akira "Akiman" Yasuda. The monster theme allowed for some fun character designs. The female characters are sexy, as is usual from fighting games, especially those in the early 1990s. While they are sadly not as popular as the likes of Chun-Li, Sonya Blade, or Sarah Bryant, their skimpy costumes have become iconic. This is especially true of Morrigan, who has become the face of Darkstalkers over the years. The male characters allowed Akiman to stretch out his imagination, as they all have the monster flare of Street Fighter II's resident green-skinned feral wildman, Blanka.

The monster archetypes also allow for some fun stages. They include a classic London nighttime cityscape, a vampire throne room draped in blood red, a mad scientist's lab, a medieval castle above a creepy cave, a sasquatch village, a green-tinted graveyard, a Brazilian jungle, a town draped in winter accoutrements, a Japanese cyberpunk city, a mummy's tomb, a robot factory, and an alien planet. 

The music also takes advantage of the iconic QSound available found in games that run on the Capcom Play System 2 boardset. They are all fun tracks, which play around with the varied characters and landscapes. The sound is the standard found in Capcom's 1990s fighters, with various grunts and occasional voice clips.

Darkstalkers: The Night Warriors remains a B-tier Capcom fighter, as it never reached the heights of its sister series, Street Fighter. This reputation is underserved however, as Darkstalkers is made up of fantastic monster characters in a fun art style playing on the weirdness of the premise, fantastic music and sound that is right up there with the best of Capcom's well-regarded 1990s output.

Final Verdict:
5 out of 5