Playing A Game South Park: The Stick of Truth PC

As an RPG, South Park: The Stick of Truth could use work: some combat features are wildly unbalanced (like the Screwed debuff), inventory management is a chore, skills and perks don't feel very significant, and - while I love that it has real-time combat prompts, like Mario & Luigi and Paper Mario - the timing windows of those prompts are staggeringly inconsistent.

But it gets away with these flaws because, even when the game isn't "fair," it's (usually) easy to button-mash through.

And, more importantly, because Stick of Truth isn't really about refined role-playing mechanics -- it's about South Park. I'm not that upset by how awkward it is to control overworld abilities; I'm amused by the fact that those abilities use alien anal probes, and explosive farts.

At its best, when you can freely explore South Park and meet its wacky cast members, running their errands is like watching multiple self-directed episodes of the TV show. Stick of Truth's absurd quest objectives and flippant writing are exactly in line with what South Park fans know and love. (Not to mention its boatloads of fanservice references, from collectable Chinpokomon to a ManBearPig hunt.)

It's unfortunate that the game's back half has fewer opportunities for self-directed activity (favoring an on-rails series of story missions), and especially that a bunch of optional events and items are permanently missable. That puts a bit of a damper on post-game sidequesting.

Nevertheless, Stick of Truth is a fun and funny jaunt through South Park, and that it leaves me wanting more is hardly a bad thing. Especially since there is more.

Better than: Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, Penny Arcade's On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 3
Not as good as: Mass Effect 3, Shadowrun: Dragonfall - Director's Cut
But, uh, keep its release date (2014) in mind: because some of the game's "classic South Park" humor, like nonchalantly dropping the word "retard," hasn't aged especially well.

Rating: Good