Official Description

From the perilous battlefields of the fourth-grade playground, a young hero will rise, destined to be South Park’s savior. From the creators of South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, comes an epic quest to become… cool. Introducing South Park™: The Stick of Truth™.

For a thousand years, the battle has been waged. The sole reason humans and elves are locked in a never ending war: The Stick of Truth. But the tides of war are soon to change as word of a new kid spreads throughout the land, his coming foretold by the stars. As the moving vans of prophecy drive away, your adventure begins.

Arm yourself with weapons of legend to defeat crab people, underpants gnomes, hippies, and other forces of evil. Discover the lost Stick of Truth and earn your place at the side of Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny as their new friend. Succeed, and you shall be South Park’s savior, cementing your social status in South Park Elementary. Fail, and you will forever be known as… a loser.

Story

Since the ancient times, the human barbarians of the Kingdom of Kupa Keep (KKK) and their leader, the brave and awesome Grand Wizard King, have waged war with the Drow Elves for possession of the Stick of Truth, an artifact seeped in legend that is foretold to give they who possess it total control of the universe.

As foretold by Caldwell Banker, the New Kid in town has moved to town with their parents to get away from their dark and dangerous past. To keep their mind away from their problems, the New Kid's parents send them out to make some new friends. After defending their neighbor Paladin Butters the Merciful from a child dressed as an elf, the New Kid becomes friendly with him and they establish a friendship. Butters takes the New Kid to meet the Grand Wizard King Cartman, who dubs them "Douchebag" and asks them to select one of four character classes, purchase a weapon, and... beat up Clyde. Upon his defeat, Cartman introduces Douchebag to the Stick of Truth, currently under his possession, and tasks Clyde with protecting it when elves show up, lead by Chris Donnely, to steal it back.

While Douchebag manages to help repel the elves, Clyde reports that they have nonetheless made off with the stick, and is banished from space and time, while the Grand Wizard tasks Douchebag with seeking out his top warriors - Tweek Tweak, Tolkien Black and Craig Tucker. After retrieving a coffee delivery from some meth heads in a garage and defeating a Security Guard, Douchebag secures Tweek and Tolkien, but discovers Craig is in detention with Mr. Mackey and will require an elaborate rescue. After defeating a number of Ginger Hall Monitors, Craig and the other children in detention are freed and the game can safely resume, and he Grand Wizard announces the stick is being kept at the Inn of the Giggling Donkey.

After an attack on the Inn goes haywire, the Grand Wizard King is injured and Princess Kenny is taken away to be "raped" by her captors, and Douchebag is forced to rescue her as well as to confront The Bard, a level-10 elf with musical powers and a penchant for comedy. When the Bard is defeated, Douchebag gains control of the stick back for the Wizard King's kingdom, and the stick is returned to its place for the night, as the kids get some rest.

After being bid to sleep by their mother, Douchebag is awaoken by a blue light and the presence of Visitors, who abduct them and affix them with an anal probe that Douchebag manages to break free of, unlike other town residents. Randy Marsh, after insisting alien probing is preferable to city traffic, befriends Douchebag and provides directions to escape the ship, but their escape attempt results in Douchebag killing the pilots and crashing the entire ship into the South Park Mall, releasing a green chemical. The government covers up the crash site and insists a new Taco Bell is being built instead, and kills those who question their narrative.

The next morning, Cartman shows Douchebag the news and warn them that the elves have stolen the Stick overnight, against the rules of the game, and insist for revenge that they recruit the Goth Kids, who have a long series of complicated tests involving purchasing Goth clothing and dancing like them. The elves summon Douchebag to their kingdom during these quests, however, and the High Jew Elf King and his loyal men insist the Stick is actually being hidden by Cartman, who is the one really cheating. They ask Douchebag to prove their loyalty by taking down rival banners throughout town, and to bring them the Goth Kids instead.

While trying to win over the Goths, however, Douchebag must hold a #FuckTheConformists sign while meeting with the PTA, and is only narrowly saved by their friendship with Randy, who coerces them for details on the new Taco Bell and takes them to the community center bathroom to instruct them in the ways of the 'Sneaky Squeaker', a dangerous new kind of fart, testing it out on Mr. Mackey. Douchebag then uses this power to get past the guards to infiltrate the "construction site", discovering the green chemical is leaking into the swers to create Nazi Zombies, and that the government will destroy the town to keep it from spreading. Douchebag steals a tape of this conversation as they leave.

After defeating more Nazi Zombies, Douchebag brings the tape back to the PTA where the adults discover the town is going to be destroyed for themselves, but instead believe is has to do with making a larger Taco Bell, missing the discussion of aliens or zombies. The PTA takes a photo with Douchebag that is sufficient to win the Goth Kids' loyalty, and Douchebag must choose whether to bring them to the Humans or the Elves, before the two sides reach an assault on the school overnight to find the Stick of Truth, said to be in the Fourth Grade Classroom. Chosen with remaining loyal to their faction, or changing, Douchebag is forced to fight the leader of one group or the other.

Narrowly surviving due to their superior anal control, Douchebag is present as the Goths find a 'Check my locker' note under a desk, and the note is traced to Clyde, and both teams discover that it is Clyde, now The Lord of Darkness who has stolen the Stick and is raising an army of darkness to destroy the Earth, and he strips both kingdoms of their power i nthe process. The boys find out Clyde's slaves have constructed an entire fortress for the battle, surrounded by Craig Tucker, Vampire Kids, Girl Bullies, and nazi zombies, but are sent to bed before the climactic showdown can commence.

As Douchebag returns home, they are confronted by Underpants Gnomes intending to steal their undwwear, but the Gnome Warlock is tasked with shrinking Douchebag to make it easier to defeat them. Douchebag pursues them into their parents' bedroom, where their parents discuss the New Kid's "gift" that the government wants, and then have sex to ease their tension. Douchebag and the Gnome Warlock face off underneath the parents' intercourse, with the Warlock confessing he was only stealing underwear to save his kingdom from the goo, and handing the player the size-changing powder, only for the father's scrotum and mother's large breasts to crush both of them.

Douchebag wakes up unscathed and a Gnome offers peace if they can help collect underpants, while the High Jew Elf King calls together a meeting of both factions to join forces to stop Clyde and his Nazi Zombies, suggesting an alliance with the Pirates, Captain Stoley and the Federation, and the Girls for the final battle. While neither side sees eye to eye, the Grand Wizard King eventually agrees for both sides to pool their resources, and they decide to send Douchebag to court the Girls, as they have an uncanny ability to make friends.

With assistance from their friendship with Annie Knitts, Douchebag meets with the girls, lead by Wendy Testaburger, who task them with researching a rumor that a girl has recieved an abortion. They give Douchebag a makeover and send them out under the guise of being Bebe Stevens' boyfriend to see if Monica Ryland will flirt with them, only for Douchebag to be forced to fight with her boyfriend, Jake instead. Now sent to infiltrate the Unplanned Parenthood abortion clinic personally to check the records, Douchebag discovers Randy Marsh there to also research records, and must pretend to give them an abortion before the clinic is invaded by Nazi Zombie Fetuses, including a gigantic one from Khloe Kardashian, before finally retrieving the document.

As it turns out, the documents are in French, so Douchebag is forced to make a trip to Canada using a fake passport, stopping by Photo Dojo where a pedophilie has beaten up the real clerk, and must be defeated. Douchebag then cross the border to Canada and is tasked by the Prince of Canada to kill a number of his political rivals, including the Bishop of Banff, so you can eventually free the Minister of Montreal... but ultimately, the girls already figure out on their own that Heidi Turner is the "two-faced bitch" they were looking for, covering up her mother's own abortion, but the girls agree to be recruited anyway.

A devastating attack on Clyde's Fortress, including a battle with Craig Tucker, eventually leads to the revelation from Randy Marsh that the government has placed a "snuke" nuclear device inside Mr. Slave's anus to detonate and destroy South Park. Douchebag uses the gnome dust to take themselves and a buddy inside Mr. Slave's anus, battling a surprising number of opponents, including bacteria, SWAT officers, and the Ghostly Sparrow Prince, in order to disarm the snuke via an abortion. Once the town seems saved, Douchebag can proceed to Clyde's throne room for the final battle.

Clyde refuses to hand over the Stick and instead uses the green chemical goo to awaken the dearly-departed Nazi Zombie Chef, who slowly begins to snap away from his trance in the process of fighting Douchebag, before his corpse is destroyed by Clyde via fire in retaliation for not obeyind him. Cartman finally kicks Clyde out of the game once and for all, and retrieves the Stick, only for the Big Bad Government Guy to appear, revealing he has been tracking Douchebag, real name Dovahkiin, and seeking his ability to make Facebook friends for the government, before stealing the Stick of Truth, believing it has real power, and offering Douchebag to join him.

While Douchebag refuses to yield, Princess Kenny betrays her friends and kingdom to join him, and drinks the chemical goo to become a powerful Nazi Zombie. Standing with Cartman, Stan, Kyle, Butters and Jimmy, the player is forced to watch each friend become forced out of battle until Cartman concludes that Kenny is indifensible unless Douchebag breaks the "Gentleman's Oath" and farts on another man's balls. Douchebag manages to perfect the fart on Kenny, causing a flash that 'resets' the town, curing everyone. As the town is rebuilt around them, the boys decide to get rid of the stick for good and avoid the trouble it caused. Wondering what to play next, they seek the long-silent Douchebag's opinion, and they declare "Screw you guys, I'm going home" to the others and leaves, causing Cartman to reflect ironically that they were a dick anyway.

Story mode concludes, and the player is free to explore the town as they wish, and continue any remaining side quests, while Kenny dismisses her behavior as a result of "PMS" and Stan declares the adventure in the gang's "top ten".

Character Classes

When meeting the Grand Wizard King for the first time, the player is allowed to select between each of the four following classes, each with their own preset abilities that can be upgraded during progression through the game.

Early versions of the game included additional classes that did not make the final cut, such as Paladin. (see 'Behind the Scenes' below)

Fighter

As a Fighter you will be the ultimate warrior, able to carry heavy bad ass weapons and the strongest armors in Kuppa Keep. You will start your journey by destroying enemies' balls with "Roshambo", which also allows you to stun your opponents!

These guys like to equip themselves with the coolest armor and weapons, focusing on wearing down their opponents by sheer strength in battle.

Abilities

• Assault & Battery
• Roshambo
• Bull Rush
• Horn of Irritation
• Ground Stomp

Mage

Ever dreamed of controlling the dark forces of sorcery? By becoming the mage you'll master powerful spells like the "Dragon's Breath", allowing you to destroy huge amounts of enemies by showering them with a firecracker's fiery sparks.

They're not the strongest class in the game by default, but their unique attacks inflict status effects that can have a devastating effect, as well as area effects.

Abilities

• Dragon's Breath
• Dust of Dreams
• Lightning Volt
• Funnel of Frost
• Pyre Ball

Thief

You move in the shadows and are able to throw deadly and unpredictable attacks. People may call you a weakling, until they receive one of your "Backstabs", after which they'll be most certainly dead...!

Status effects are a key tool for thieves, utilizing effects like 'grossed out', 'stunned', 'bleeding', and 'fire' to gradually bring their opponents down to the brink.

Abilities

• Back Stab
• Mug
• Execute
• Stink Bombs
• Death of a Thousand Cuts

Jew

You are not afraid to cast the first stone with your secret martial arts. You perform circumcisions with precision and won't shy from summoning a mix of pestilence, fiery hail, flying insects, or a rain of frogs to send your opponent back to their maker.

The Jew class is described in early reports as a cross between a Monk and a Paladin, with a "high risk, high reward" strategy that made them strongest when closest to death. The game also included a special achievement for interacting with Jesus while playing as this class. (Despite his warning, yes, Cartman will still add you on social media!)

Abilities

• Sling of David
• Jew-Jitsu
• Circum-Scythe
• Whirling Doom
• Plagues of Egypt

Gameplay Mechanics

While most role-playing adventures would ask you to be a brave warrior heading through villages and dungeons in medieval-style gear to hunt out trolls, orcs, goblins, dragons, or whatever, this is the same old South Park no matter what the boys pretend it is - you're a fourth grader with some money and a smart phone running around in dorky LARP gear, and your resume of missions and quests will reflect this initial lack of badassery. Go bail people out of detention, or beat up Clyde again. (Over time, you'll gain some actual power.)

The New Kid's smartphone is basically your menu, with a social media app to see what your friends are up to, a maps app to remind you where the hell you are in town, an inventory area to look at everything you've collected, as well as a task list to see all of your ongoing quests. This is also where you can upgrade weapons, change your costume, or assess the value of all of the junk you've picked up.

Combat System

The combat system in Stick of Truth was designed to be simple enough for the novice South Park fan or complex enough for longtime fans of role-playing games - naturally, it harkens back to the fairly standard turn-based attack system. Select an ability, then a target, and execute. Keep an eye on your and your opponent's health bars, and if something goes wrong, you can always refill by using power-ups like cheesy poofs, burritos, bottled water and soda. Button inputs for attacks, when handled well, can result in combos or stronger attacks. Potential weapons and armor include football helmets, rolling pins, wooden swords, used tampons, golf clubs, ninja stars, shovels, baseball bats, and snowballs.

The game has a number of unique status effects as well - enemies that are injured are 'Bleeding' or if they cannot attack, 'Stunned'. Using your own feces as a weapon, or similar attacks, can make them 'Grossed Out', and some weapons can even light enemies on 'fire'. These status effects can make enemies more vulnerable to further attacks. Adding 'strap-ons' to your weapons can give them a much stronger chance of afflicting your opponents with such effects.

Players typically control their player character and one buddy, allowing both characters the chance to mount at least one attack on opponents, as well as to help each other out with refills or using abilities. The player can also summon certain characters, like Mr. Slave or Tuong Lu Kim to help out in battle against non-bosses. These summonables can be surprisingly potent help.

In addition to the standard health bars, the player has a 'mana' bar, using power points (or 'PP') to assess their ability to use the 'magic' they are naturally attuned to expelling from their ass. The player is taught four powerful 'spells' over the course of the game that can augment existing attacks, or are powerful on their own.

Dragonshout

Cup-a-Spell

Sneaky Squeaker

Nagasaki

Collectibles and Items

Throughout the game, the player can collect items from fallen enemies or backpacks or drawers, as well as buy items from merchants, with a variety of collectibles available.

• Cash - your parents won't let you leave home without some money to help you get by. Spend it wisely before you go looking into investing at the bank.
• Weapons and Armor - these are mostly bought from merchants, but sometimes can be found while looking around town.
• Junk Items - Throughout town, you'll find a variety of items that might be worth something but can't otherwise be used or equipped. Bring them to a merchant to laugh at the description and make some quick cash.
• Chinpokomon Toys - The fad's long over, but you can still find several Chinpokomon toys throughout town, including some that were never featured in their debut episode. There's a reward if you collect them all... happy hunting!
• Mens' Underwear - Well hey, if you think there's a profit in it, then go for it.
• Poop - Hey man, whatever you're into. We won't judge.

Factions

The main characters are divided into two rival kingdoms, locked in competition and battle over the most precious relic in existence, the Stick of Truth. The player initially is friendly to the Kingdom of Kupa Keep, or the Humans, but is latet asked to choose between them and the Drow-Elves, although eventually both of these teams converge against the Lord of Darkness and his forces of evil.

Humans of Zaron

These noble human barbarians, reconciled together under the Kingdom of Kupa Keep banner behind the Cartman Residence, are lead by the Grand Wizard King, a noble, brave and morbidly obese leader who teaches all newcomers to the realms the tricks of the trade, and charges them exorbant membership fees. They all worship the beauty of the brave Princess Kenny, and seek control of the Stick of Truth from the elves. Their merchant changes throughout the game, between Clyde Donovan, Feldspar the Thief, and Ranger Scott Malkinson.

The Drow Elves

The Elven Forest behind the Broflovski Residence is the home forest for this brave troupe of elves, who have fought for centuries to gain control of the Stick of Truth, under the leadership of their wise king. They also have control of the local Inn of the Giggling Donkey. Their chosen merchant is Jason.

The Goth Kids

One of your most important and difficult tasks in the game is to recruit the Goth Kids - you're going to need cigarettes, black clothes, and wicked Goth dance moves. You'll be given the choice which kingdom to bring them to, but their support is cruicial to progressing.

PTA

In order to gain the support of the Goth Kids, you'll have to win over the PTA as well, lead by Randy Marsh among other familiar adult characters. Work with them to discover what the hell is going on with the new Taco Bell, and you might just be in luck. Mr. Mackey is their treasurer and also acts as a merchant, as well as directing tasks and holding detentions.

The Pleases and Sparkles Club (The Girls)

On the third ingame day, your mission to recruit the Girls to join the cause, as they aren't playing the same game as the boys. After a series of complicated tasks in order to gain their allegience, largely by uncovering which girl is the true "two-faced bitch", you gain their support, and they prove powerful warriors. Their leader is Wendy Testaburger and their merchant is Red.

The Lord of Darkness

After he is tormented and forced to leave his native kingdom, Clyde becomes the Lord of Darkness and raises an army to defend his tower of evil from the other kids and control the Stick of Truth. He also blames you for getting him kicked out, so be prepared for his revenge.

Miscellaneous

The following characters can become the player's allies, and are participating in the role-playing game, but are not affiliated with any of the main factions in gameplay. Timmy offers his 'fast travel' services without discriminating!

Memorable Quotes

• "Don't ask why Kenny wanted to be a chick, that's just how he seems to be rolling right now." - the Grand Wizard King

Main Characters (Buddies)

There are seven 'playable' characters in the game - the player is always essentially the 'New Kid', but the player can also direct one chosen companion at a time, particularly in battle, and each of these kids has a special ability.

Douchebag

The New Kid: You're the new kid in town. You can customize your appearance, but you can't fix your nose. You have a complicated history you're trying to put behind you, so you don't talk much. You're more of a do-er than a thinker. No offense.

The Grand Wizard King

Eric Cartman: Noble and mighty, the Wizard King commands all humans of Zaron! He has harnessed the power of farts and will lay waste to any enemy who crosses him. Such is the power of a Wizard and King. Cartman is the Grand Wizard of the Kingdom of Kupa Keep and a master of the arcane and the profane. Cartman wields tremendous magical power—his ass and mouth are both capable of devastating spells.

Special Abilities:

• Burning Cloud - Cartman ignites his flatulence, with explosive results.
• Flame Strike - Cartman sprays the first two foes in a row with fire. Targets start burning if done perfectly.
• Magic Missile - Hits the target with a powerful magic missile.
• Curse - Cartman activates his v-chip and curses up a storm of electricity against a single target.

The High Jew Elf King

Kyle Brofolvski: For a thousand years, the Jew Elf has battled bravely against the Wizard King's human army. This leader of the Drow Elves has many strengths, but perhaps most menacing is his ability to kick the baby.

Special Abilities:

• Rally - Kyle can strengthen melee and ability-related moves.
• Summon Elemental - Kyle kicks the baby fiercely against a single chosen target.
• Windstorm -
• Rain of Arrows - the Elf King bravely leads his eleven warriors in raining arrows upon your enemies, and if you press the right button at the right time, they succeed! Fail and... your enemy'll still take some hits.

The Warrior

Stan Marsh: Born of the humans but raised by the elves, Ranger Stan Marshwalker is a brave and strong warrior of the Elven army. Along with his companion Sparky, this warrior serves as the right-hand man to the Elf King, and holds great power in his magical sword summons.

Special Abilities:

• Marked for Death - Stan can help decreased the defense of a chosen enemy.
• Discus of Might - Stan throws a powerful discus towards one enemy and randomly hits another, a particularly useful ability against larger opposing parties.
• Whirlwind Slash - Stan uses his sword to slash at multiple enemies, primarily a main chosen target.
• The Way of the Sword - A much more powerful sword attack that can target one opponent.

Princess Kenny

Kenny McCormick: The fairest maiden in all of the kingdom. This breathtaking and lovely Princess is the pride of the human faction, with her unmatched ability to charm men. Don't ask why Kenny wanted to be a chick, it's just how he seems to be rolling right now...

Special Abilities:

• Immortality - Don't waste your revive potions; Kenny'll be back in two turns like nothing happened, with full health!
• Charm - Kenny uses cuteness to weaken your opponents' attack abilities.
• Royal Kiss - Giving your enemies a smooch from the fairest maiden in the land grosses them out for some reason, and can knock them out of play.
• Furry Friends - Kenny commands an army of dangerous rats, like any good forest maiden.
• Unicorn Stampede - Kenny rides a unicorn into battle, and if the player is successful, the unicorn will deal considerable damage to a row of opponents... fail, and Kenny is killed again. Oops.

The Paladin

Leopold "Butters" Stotch: As Court Paladin, it's his job to deliver the Wizard Kings' justice... and his mail. A noble and fair member of the Human faction, this Paladin also has the power to heal.

Special Abilities:

• Natural Born Victim - Butters is about twice as likely to be attacked by opponents than you at any given time.
• Healing Touch - With a friendly pat on the back, Butters can make even the grumpiest douchebag smile and feel better... then return to fighting zombies.
• Hammer of Justice - A basic attack that can piss of most enemies and stop them from using abilities.
• Hammer of Storms - A stronger attack against the closest enemy.
• Professor Chaos - Butters transforms into Professor Chaos, which an anime-inspired look, and a spinning wheel selects one of many advanced abilities, including a shield and other strong attacks.

The Bard

Jimmy Valmer: Lord of Song, King of Comedy, and Knower of the Forbidden Note! The Bard is an essential member of the elven army, using the power of music to enchant and destroy his enemies.

Special Abilities

• Power Chord - automatically restores the PP of yourself and Jimmy.
• Song of Buffness - Jimmy plays a song that increases damage dealt and decreased recieved damage.
• Lullabye - Depending on how well you hit the notes with him, this song can put some enemies to sleep for a while.
• Brown Note - Jimmy's most powerful ability, playing the notorious Brown Note that makes people crap their pants, dealing a lot of damage and lowering defense.

Characters

Summonables

• Some of the town's friendly faces are happy to provide the player assistance in their quest to save the town, although they don't generally do shit against the more dangerous bosses.

Opponents and Bosses

• Watch out for these guys. They're not so nice, especially in combat.

Merchants

• The following characters appear in town at their businessplaces and offer the player items for purchase, such as power-ups, and can award them side quests in exchange for their friendship.
  • In addition to those listed here, Jason, Red, and Mr. Mackey act as merchants for their respective factions as well, along with multiple characters in Cartman's backyard. Tuong Lu Kim also acts as a merchant at his shop.
  • Of these characters, only the Homeless Merchant cannot be added as a friend.

Friends and Allies

• In your travels, you can encounter and befriend one-hundred and twenty South Park characters, including several of those mentioned above, as well as the character debuts, and those below. Many require tasks to be done in order to win their friendship, and a small few are locked into story mode tasks, so be wary!

Additional Characters and Cameos

• The following characters make an appearance in the game in cut scenes or even load screens, but cannot be added a a friend in the game's social media component, nor take part in a boss battle.
  • Nurse Fran as well as Enchorito Mark and Wife, with a different appearance, were originally slated to be friend-able via social media, as they have friend icons in the game's files.

Easter Eggs

• The following characters appear only on the load screen between levels, as easter eggs.

Character Debuts

• The following characters made their first South Park appearance in the game.
  • Monica Ryland and Chris Donnely made a few cameo appearances in Season 17 shortly before the game's release, but both were designed for the game.

Cut Content

• The following characters were intended for inclusion in the game at some point, but did not see the final release at retail. Many retain a character icon or audio in the completed game's files.

Locations

The Town of South Park

For the first time ever the entire town of South Park has been mapped out! Ever wonder where the school is? How Close do Stan and Kyle live to each other. Now you know!!

• The below locations are visited in story mode only and cannot be revisited after completing it, although the Inn of the Giggling Donkey can be revisited later in the same day, before it is repaired.
  • It may be relevant to note that the game's files referring to the Inn of the Giggling Donkey primarily as Chris Donnely's residence, although the final game suggests it is actually Jimmy Valmer's home, though it bares little resemblance to the Valmer Residence outside part of his bedroom arrangement.

Quests

Day One (Main Quests)

New Kid in Town

Call the Banners

Hot Coffee

Gate Crasher

Detention Sentence

The Bard

It's Late

Alien Abduction

Day Two (Main Quests)

Gain New Allies

Recruit the Goth Kids

Nonconformist

PTA Problems

Attack the School

Go Back Home

Defeat the Underpants Gnomes

Day Three (Main Quests)

Forging Alliances

Recruit the Girls

Pose as Bebe's Boyfriend

Unplanned Parenthood

Heading North

O Canada

Beat Up Clyde

Betrayal From Within

Side Quests

The Homeless Problem

Manbearpig

Big Game Hunting with Jimbo

Hide 'n' Seek

Find Jesus

Flower for a Princess

Dropping the Kids Off

Magical Songs

The She-Ogre

Mr. Slave's Package

Mongolian Beef

Phase 1

Nazi Zombie Bounty

Rat's in the cellar

Defeat Manbearpig

Unfriend Al Gore

The Timmy Express

Restoring the Balance

Wasted Cache

Vulcan Around

Behind the Scenes

Development on South Park: The Game as it was initially known, began roughtly when Trey and Matt began setting up South Park Digital Studios and began production on South Park: Let's Go Tower Defense Play for the Xbox Live Arcade system. As big fans of role-playing games, such as Earthbound and Fallout: New Vegas, Matt and Trey directly contacted Obsidian Entertainment, who developed the latter, to discuss their desire to collaborate. Matt and Trey funded early development themselves, hoping a working demo of the game could be created before they had to seek out a distributor, fearful of possible censorship in a licensing deal. Matt and Trey were eager to retain creative control in hopes of avoiding a repeat of the poorly recieved Acclaim Entertainment game released in the nineties.

A number of tests were created to prove the show's construction paper art style could be mimicked, with South Park Digital Studios animating a piece intended to resemble an idea of how gameplay would work, while Obsidian Entertainment created a suite of the South Park gas station and a simple interactive build of the Marsh Residence, including Randy Marsh playing Guitar Hero in his underwear and a customizable avatar. Matt and Trey were impressed, and convinced they could create a game that made fans feel like they were playing within the show. Trey soon began writing the game's script, and estimated the original script was around five hundred pages long and heavily based on the video game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim which had been released in 2011.

The game was designed on the Dungeon Siege III engine, which was heavily modified from its original form to display the intended graphics, and while Obsidian was granted access to the show's library of Maya assets (everything from Season Five onwards) all of these elements had to be re-created via Flash for the game's own engine, or reverse engineered entirely, such was walking sequences. To accomodate Matt and Trey's famous re-writes, a system was designed early on to allow mouth animations to be generated live ingame as lines are spoken. Detailed designs for armor and fantasy elements were rejected in hopes of looking "crappier", as if built by the children themselves.

First announced in December 2011 in Game Informer as South Park: The Game, which suggested a radically different vision. Satan and the in-universe fictional Manbearpig figure prominently into the depicted characters, many of them boasting very different costumes to the final release, including Princess Kenny without her hood. Five classes are mentioned - Paladin, Wizard, Rogue, Adventurer and Jew, and references are made to a mission against the Ginger Kids to rescue Cartman's doll Polly Prissy Pants and a mission to obtain City Wok food. The boys appeared in screenshots to be part of the same team, which looks different from either Kingdom hub in the final game. References are also included to a large, winged monster boss, the return of Paris Hilton and a "vag blast", 'Christmas Town', a village that Mr. Hankey calls home, and a 'de-militarized zone' shared by Gnomes and Crab People.

Matt and Trey discussed at some point in development a security system, questioning how the main character would enter locked homes, which lead to the development of the episode "Insecurity" in Season Sixteen, which dealt with home security systems. A variety of additional audio files related to Officer Barbrady seem to suggest a possible connected boss fight with him. The season finale "Obama Wins!" also introduced a joke where Morgan Freeman explains convoluted things in order to gain a freckle, a joke that would be repeated at the climax of South Park: The Stick of Truth, though whether it was invented for the show or the game, we don't know yet.

The game's initial development partner and distributor was intended to be THQ, which had hoped to release the game in late 2012, but suffered from a variety of financial problems, and after delaying South Park: The Stick of Truth, as it was titled in May 2012, THQ eventually collapsed, and its assets were ordered to be re-sold to other companies. Obsidian and South Park Digital Studios were not informed in advance that the games' distribution rights would be auctioned, and tried to oppose the decision legally, particularly as the distributions rights were intended to be exclusive, but these were still seen as legally transferable. The distribution for South Park: The Stick of Truth eventually sold to Ubisoft for $3.2 million dollars.

The E3 2012 Trailer contains many of the same design elements as the final game, ultimately depicts completely different scenes and suggests a slightly different storyline. The town is destroyed after an apocalyptic event involving Underpants Gnomes, Vampire Kids, Crab People, and Hippies with the four main boys seeking out the New Kid's help to undo the damage and save the town, with an enormous Clyde Donovan destroying City Hall as the trailer's final tease, alongside footage of Woodland Critters as a summonable, and battles with Vampire Kids, Crab People, Ginger Kids and Stupid Spoiled Whores. Almost none of these elements appear in the final game.

During the initial promotion with THQ, it was also suggested that the game would support Microsoft Kinect in a variety of ways, including interacting directly with characters, as well as exclusive downloadable content for Xbox users, such as a Coon and Friends-themed superhero pack featuring a superhero outfit, weapon, and a special attack featuring Mysterion, as well as a similar pack based on the episode "Good Times With Weapons", featuring Balrog. The superhero and ninja/samurai outfits would later be bundled with a spaceman costume as the pre-order bonus "Super Samurai Spaceman Pack", awarding each a buff - superhero for the start of battle, samurai on defeating an enemy, and spaceman for defense. Three story-based campaign missions were also mentioned.

Originally set for release during Season Seventeen in late 2013, the game was pushed back six months to its eventual final release date in March 2014, and had to be significantly retooled as a result, as Ubisoft found that many of Trey and Matt's original ideas were too complex. Matt and Trey admitted in later interviews that creating the game was much more complex than they had ever intended.

The final only includes one direct references to Season Seventeen - a poster advertising Corey Lanskin's Minecraft service. Jimbo's Guns actually retains it's original appearance in the final game, rather than the re-design from that season. Matt and Trey, however, built three episodes, the "Black Friday" trilogy around the upcoming game as well as Game of Thrones, which lead into the game by introducing the boys' fantasy role-playing game, with many of them in their game outfits (save Paladin Kyle) and through the boys' plot around next generation video game consoles, gradually introducing game elements such as Princess Kenny's claim to noble blood. The story arc conclud with the Grand Wizard King suggesting the boys don't need video games and could just play with "a stick", before seguing in a promotion for Stick of Truth, which Paladin Butters the Merciful advises players not to pre-order. (The season ended with the unrelated "The Hobbit".)

A collector's edition was also made available for pre-order, called the "Grand Wizard Edition" featuring the game itself, a map of the South Park kingdom (distinct from that in the final game) a six-inch Grand Wizard King Cartman figure from Kidorobot, and four unique costumes in the 'Ultimate Fellowship Pack' - the Necromancer Sorcerer with increased fire damage, the 'Rogue Assassin' with extra gold, the 'Ranger Elf' with higher weapon damage, and the 'Holy Defender' to increase defense during battle.

Despite jokes about the game's delays even within the show itself, it was completed by February 12th, 2014, and was finally released two weeks later on March 4th, 2014, although PewDePie began releasing video play throughs from an advance copy a few days before, revealing the opening scenes as well as the mission to retrieve Tweek Tweak, and the revelation that his family's coffee may contain methamphetimine. This playthrough, and those like it, came to become the inspiration for the next season's episodes "#REHASH" and #HappyHolograms, which featured PewDePie as a guest star, and these reactions were an important factor in gauging criticism to address for future projects, including a sequel!

While the game was initially released for the Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3, and the PC via Steam, a re-mastered version for the Microsoft Xbox One and Sony PlayStation 4 (or for PC) will be included completely free with the release of the upcoming sequel "South Park: The Fractured but Whole".

Pop Culture References

• During gameplay, the player is referred to as "Dragonborn." This is a direct reference to the player character of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, who is known as the Last Dragonborn.
• The game's use of Nazi Zombies, which it refers to as "so overplayed" in dialogue, is based on the Call of Duty game franchise, which has employed them as a recurring element in multiplayer.
• When Terrance and Phillip show up to teach the player the Nagasaki spell, they both appear dressed as Morpheus from the film The Matrix.

Bonus Factoids

Pointless Observations

• Despite being killed off in "201", it appears that Tom Cruise, or someone else, may be present in Stan's closet after all this time...
• The cutscenes include female elven warriors, but they do not appear in gameplay in any form, and the boys' attitude in later scenes suggests their groups are supposed to be all-male.
  • This is furthered by the fact the player cannot select a gender, playing as a male, and has to befriend the Girls on the third day of gameplay in order to progress, although in the next game, the player may choose a gender, retconning this game.
• Allie Nelson appears differently between gameplay, cutscenes, and her friend icon.

External Links

• Game Informer Cover Story for 'South Park: The Game'