In an era where animated comedies are now plentiful, the fact that South Park has endured as long as it has speaks to both its ubiquitous nature and its resonance with fans.
That it's only had a couple of videogames in its run is interesting, and speaks to how inherently difficult it is transport something like South Park into an interactive setting. With The Stick Of Truth, the game was neatly folded into the world and allowed for role-playing elements to give players a sense of presence in South Park. With The Fractured But Whole, it's much the same thing - you play a New Kid who becomes a superhero to help Coon (Cartman) and Friends (Kite Man / Kyle, Super Craig / Craig, and Jimmy / Fastpass) defeat the evil Professor Chaos (Butters). In the midst of all this, there's a plot involving a real-life crime boss who's attempting to run drugs through South Park, all while you and the Coon And Friends are trying to track down a cat.
Like the story itself, The Fractured But Whole plays it like an actual story arc in South Park and the game seamlessly blends exploration and action in with cutscenes. It's really this faithfulness that makes the game so exciting. The writing throughout is equal to the show, and it seems pretty clear that Trey Parker and Matt Stone were uniquely involved in the story and in-game dialogue. In fact, the game's humour is almost put forward more than actual gameplay. The turn-based fight sequences are paced so that the dialogue from each characters comes through, and some set ups are almost as a means to get a joke in rather than it serving a purpose. One fight sees you pushing you and your team through a sleazy dressing room and as a gigantic stripper named Spontaneous Bootay. Another sees you trying to fight Red Wine Drunk Randy Marsh, complete with pants around and his ankles and asking if this is America.
If there's a complaint to be made against the game, it's that there's a certain lack of originality to it. Aside from a few additions, the game plays pretty much the same as The Stick Of Truth, and the fighting system becomes relatively easy to crack after a while - even with the grid on movement system. The crafting system is straightforward, however the class system is nicely updated and varied enough for the gameplay to change drastically with whatever choice you make.
Overall, the experience of playing The Fractured But Whole is reasonably enjoyable and isn't all that taxing on either your time or your brain. The humour is on par with South Park and has all the warped and twisted gags you'd expect from it. By no means is the game easily accessible to anyone who doesn't watch or enjoy South Park, but so what? South Park has such a loyal and varied fanbase that you can't really expect every game based on it to gently ease people in.
