South Park RPG announced

Desides · Dec 1, 2011

And it’s developed by Obsidian.

Thanks to a collaboration with THQ and Obsidian, Parker and Stone are writing the script, performing the dialogue, and overseeing the development of South Park: The Game. Unlike the cash-in Acclaim titles from over a decade ago, this ambitious project is a full-scale RPG for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. As the new kid in South Park, it'll be up to you to make friends and defend the town from a wide range of threats. Be sure to check out our January issue for all the details, as well as an interview with Parker and Stone themselves.
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MikeHoncho · Dec 1, 2011

Jezzes Christ.

Desides · Dec 1, 2011

Can’t wait to unlock the V-chip skill for the Cartman class.

Paul 13 · Dec 1, 2011

Will they wait until the week before the games release date to write the story line of the game? :shifty:

pennphinfan · Dec 1, 2011

this is fantastic

Stitches · Dec 1, 2011

The game informer cover is pretty cool. Can't wait to read about it.

Frumundah Finnatic · Dec 2, 2011

Matt and Trey will be heavily involved, so this has a good chance of turning out awesome.

Desides · Dec 13, 2011

Got my Game Informer with the South Park cover story a while ago, but either didn’t have time or just forgot to post about it. Some excerpts from the article:

While specific pieces of dialogue and entire scenes are prone to change in a moment’s notice when the team is writing the show, the duo knows for sure what genre they want their game to fit into. Growing up with a fascination of single-player experiences like Ultima, Parker has always gravitated towards role-playing games. Leveraging his extensive knowledge, South Park: The Game is a turn-based RPG that serves as equal parts tribute and parody to the pillars of the genre.

Role-playing makes up the heart of the gameplay, but it’s also central to the story. As the game begins, the children of South Park are deeply involved in live-action role-playing, wandering through the town’s snowy parks, sidewalks, and tree houses wearing ramshackle armor made out of towels, duct tape, and tinfoil. They assume character classes, engage in quests, and keep rivalries between individuals and factions alive while rarely breaking character.

The central South Park cast of Cartman, Stan, Kyle, and Kenny are all involved, but instead of taking control of these familiar faces, gamers assume the role of a new character. “The big conceit is that there’s a new kid that’s moved to South Park and it’s hard to be a new kid in town,” Parker says. “It’s about working through the game to the point where you’re going from this little douchebag that no one cares about to standing there with the four boys at the bus stop. It’s about everything a kid has to go through to be socially accepted, and how critical that is to a kid’s life. Plot-wise we go a million places, but that’s really the theme of this game.”
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As the new kid on the block, your initial objective is the same as any newcomer — make friends. Considering how hostile South Park’s children (especially Cartman) can be to each other, this task is easier said than done. South Park Studios and Obsidian envision a story that begins with your character taking part in a neighborhood game and evolves until you’re embarking on a real adventure. Obsidian was unwilling to share details, but it promises a full quest with events progressing far past the LARPing of the early scenes.

Role-playing and fantasy are large components of the game, but you’re still playing as a fourth grader in the modern world. As such, your number of friends and current standing with various kid factions are tracked via a Facebook-like app on your character’s smartphone. On top of serving as a great vehicle for parodying the popular social networking site, the smartphone also functions as your primary game menu.

Eric Cartman makes his presence known early in the game, greeting your character in full wizard regalia. This is when you determine your character class, with Cartman giving standard options such as wizard, paladin, adventurer, and rogue. We can’t share details, but the unconventional fifth class is obviously one of Cartman’s own creations.
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Once players receive their initial quests, it’s time to explore Colorado’s sleepy mountain town. If you were to stumble into the room while someone was playing the game, nothing about the perspective would tip you off that it wasn’t an episode of the show. Characters walk with the same herky-jerky style, and the environments come directly from 15 years of South Park Digital Studios assets. All enemy encounters are visible on the map, and the player can choose to engage or ignore them.

Many elements of the combat system are reminiscent of Paper Mario and the Mario & Luigi games, with first strikes granted if the player initiates combat in the field; the players begin the fight on defense if the opposite occurs. Like the classic Final Fantasy encounters, battles are presented from a side view. Hitting the X button causes your character to swipe with a melee weapon, but well-timed successive inputs result in multiple hits. Timed inputs occur on defense as well, with players taking reduced damage if they block in the nick of time.

Obsidian doesn’t want the player to press a button and have to sit back to watch an animation play out, so they team is incorporating dynamic camera angles at certain times, such as when your character stuns an enemy with Ro Sham Bo (a kick to the crotch). The player also retains control over the characters in the party rather than being forced to watch lengthy attack animations.

Other RPG mainstays are present in the combat as well, such as critical hits, cash rewards, receiving experience after each victory, and consumables. In one demo, we saw a D-pad icon that featured soda as health potions and Tweak’s coffee as a haste-inducing item.

Early fighting demos were deemed too tame by Parker, who wanted more blood to drive home the idea that the kids of South Park are terrible to each other. Obsidian originally wanted to create impressive, shiny armor as potential outfit choices, but Parker turned it down with one of his frequent requests to “make it crappier.” He’s adamant that weapons and armor look as homemade as possible, so expect to see things like a football helmet/pushbroom combination representing a Spartan helmet, shoulder pads made out of noodle strainers, and oven mitt “gloves.”
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Weapons may be crude in South Park, but Obsidian is pushing for them to be more than just toys. Players have access to both melee and ranged weapons in most combat situations. As you progress, magic items like the lightning-powered Okama Gamesphere become available. In a system that Obsidian describes as similar to Final Fantasy VII’s materia, your weapons can be augmented to grant various abilities like fire, electricity, and poison. Whether these attacks are actually happening isn’t clear, but South Park has never been terribly concerned with explaining itself.

It wouldn’t be South Park if combat was restricted to playground-style wooden sword duels, so Obsidian also built a summon system. Neither Obsidian nor South Park Studios are willing to share specifics, but the series’ insane situations and colorful characters are a perfect mine to tap for interesting cameos. We can only imagine how the flow of combat will change if characters like Mr. Hankey, the Super Best Friends, Terrance & Phillip, Santa Claus, Cattatafish, Mecha Streisand, or the taco that defecates ice cream join the fray.”
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”[At first] we were like, ‘How about you go and find this cave and there’s this giant bat creature, and Ike can ride this bat creature, and it’s this huge boss! And you’re not fighting kids, you’re fighting orcs?,” explains project director Zane Lyon. “We did all that and showed it to Matt and Trey, and they were like, ‘This isn’t South Park. This is just a generic video game. [South Park] is about the kids and their interactions with each other. Bring in Mr. Kim, go to the City Wok, do things that the kids in South Park do. Cartman’s not sending you on a quest to defeat a giant bat creature, he’s sending you on a quest to get Kung Pao chicken.”
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Bruzer · Dec 14, 2011

5th class already announced i read its the Jew

Clipse · Dec 14, 2011

Brilliant, absolutely brilliant. And being developed by quality game developers.

pennphinfan · Dec 14, 2011

That description sounds great, very excited for that

Desides · Dec 14, 2011

Bruzer said:

5th class already announced i read its the Jew
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This is correct. Revealed yesterday in a follow-up Game Informer interview. Weird that they wouldn’t tell them for the article, but would talk about it afterward.

In the new game, the Jew class is described as being a hybrid between Monk and Paladin. Matt Maclean, lead designer, tells Game Informer the Jew will be "high risk, high reward" and strongest when closest to death.
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Paul 13 · Dec 14, 2011

Desides said:

This is correct. Revealed yesterday in a follow-up Game Informer interview. Weird that they wouldn’t tell them for the article, but would talk about it afterward.
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and I thought he was joking :lol: although the "high risk, high reward" is not plausible. Only minimal risk, acceptable return...

Desides · Dec 23, 2011

Looks like the South Park issue of GI is available online for free.

byroan · Jan 3, 2012

Some screenshots.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/330981/more-south-park-rpg-screens/

Desides · Feb 13, 2013

So no one's excited for this anymore?

None of you have souls. :lol:

Nappy Roots · Feb 13, 2013

I am. When's it coming out.

Desides · Feb 13, 2013

Nappy Roots said:

I am. When's it coming out.
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It was supposed to come out in a month or so, but that was before THQ sold off the rights as part of its bankruptcy.

It'll probably be delayed.

dolfan32323 · Feb 16, 2013

Yeah I am pumped for this. Looks like it will be a must play when it eventually releases. Love the SP games.

dolfan32323 · Jun 4, 2013

This game is never coming out, is it? :(

byroan · Jun 4, 2013

Looks like it's still in the works.

http://kotaku.com/hey-the-south-park-rpg-still-looks-really-good-511220396

dolfan32323 · Jun 4, 2013

byroan said:

Looks like it's still in the works.

http://kotaku.com/hey-the-south-park-rpg-still-looks-really-good-511220396
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Great news! Really looks like a gem.

Desides · Jun 4, 2013

dolfan32323 said:

Great news! Really looks like a gem.
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Agreed. This game looks indistinguishable from the TV show, and having Obsidian developing is only a good thing. Thankfully they don't have to deal with Gamebryo anymore...

Frumundah Finnatic · Jun 4, 2013

Awesome call backback to the first episode.

dolfan32323 · Jun 4, 2013

Desides said:

Agreed. This game looks indistinguishable from the TV show, and having Obsidian developing is only a good thing. Thankfully they don't have to deal with Gamebryo anymore...
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Took the words right from me. Really looks like you will be able to completely immerse yourself in the South Park World. You know Obsidian puts out quality products and I expect this to feel like an extension of the TV show as well.

Desides · Jun 4, 2013

The one drawback of Obsidian's involvement: they aren't working on Fallout 4.

Tone_E · Jun 5, 2013

I would prefer it if they based this RPG around the show super heroes like The Coon, and Dr. Chaos and friends, etc.

byroan · Jun 5, 2013

I hope there's double dew and diet double dew.

Phinz420 · Jun 5, 2013

Tone_E said:

I would prefer it if they based this RPG around the show super heroes like The Coon, and Dr. Chaos and friends, etc.
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As long as gingers and hippies are used as villains im happy!

Desides · Jun 5, 2013

Phinz420 said:

As long as gingers and hippies are used as villains im happy!
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I think they confirmed both in the initial reveal last year.

Desides · Jun 11, 2013

Release window confirmed: this Christmas.

Nappy Roots · Jun 11, 2013

I feel like ive been waiting on this for 5 years.

dolfan32323 · Jun 12, 2013

Desides said:

Release window confirmed: this Christmas.
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Yessssssssss

Frumundah Finnatic · Jun 12, 2013

byroan said:

I hope there's double dew and diet double dew.
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Dew the math.

Desides · Feb 1, 2014

Game is available now for preorder on Steam. Release date is March 4 on the PC, PS3, and 360.

Nappy Roots · Feb 1, 2014

WTF. After all this waiting time no ps4?!??

MikeHoncho · Feb 1, 2014

I just hope the graphics are better than Crysis.

Desides · Feb 1, 2014

Nappy Roots said:

WTF. After all this waiting time no ps4?!??
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At this point we should just be happy it's coming out at all.

Stitches · Feb 1, 2014

Desides said:

At this point we should just be happy it's coming out at all.
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This.

I'll pick it up at the next steam sale assuming I can get my PC to stop overheating.

Fin D · Feb 1, 2014

Stitches said:

This.

I'll pick it up at the next steam sale assuming I can get my PC to stop overheating.
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I'm not an IT guy or anything, but have you tried moving your computer away form open flames?

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Clipse mediocrity sucks

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