The South Park franchise has an eclectic history of genre choices, trying (and mostly failing) everything from FPS to kart racer. 2014's South Park: The Stick of Truth and its comic-book-themed follow-up redressed the balance with an excellent comedic spin on the old-school RPG. Now it takes another genre pivot, becoming the latest property to wade into a heaving pool of co-op roguelikes.
Developed by Question Games, this latest Colorado adventure keeps the narrative setup from the last two titles. The grown-ups have declared a snow day and school is out, so it’s time for the children to wage war on one another. Having previously had their fantasy and superhero role-playing ruined by "some asshole that got too OP", the kids choose a different format. The Grand Wizard King (Cartman) introduces a card-based system that favours random abilities and unpredictable player builds.
Rather than an extended quest to obtain a mythical item, this latest campaign is more a series of arena skirmishes.
Like previous entries, you play one of a seemingly endless supply of New Kids, enlisted to join the latest humans versus elves war. The Wizard King sends you out on missions to take territory outlined on his war map. Starting off with an objective as basic as "go kill Kyle", the story soon takes a turn into mystery as the kids try to figure out who is behind the snowstorm.
Snow Day swaps out old-school, turn-based fights in favour of free-flowing 3D brawling; it loses a lot of the novelty and invention in that transition. Big set-piece battles are now just damage sponges. Fighting Princess Kenny is still a fun time, but pales in comparison to that same encounter in Stick of Truth. Later stages also throw so many enemies at you that it becomes a slog.
Each run generally has a central task that serves to string together several action sequences. Up to four players work together to violently murder preschool-age role players on the way to a boss encounter. There are different objective types to break up the hack-'n'-slash, all of which are generally ludicrous. Retrieving a Taylor Swift CD for Jimbo so he can sell it for toilet paper is a particular highlight. As mentioned before, the combat is overly simplistic, but a card collection element attempts to add variety and depth.
You have a core arsenal of melee, ranged, and what could be called magical abilities (farting, cat urine, the usual). After each battle, Timmy offers a choice of randomly generated cards. These serve to buff equipped abilities, adding things like stat boosts or additional damage types. Only one card can be chosen each time, though they can be re-rolled and even have their rarity raised for a fee. Your builds are reset after each run, so there's plenty of room for experimentation.
Cards can also be upgraded with foil packs scattered around the levels. Ritual cards provided by Henrietta Biggle will nerf your existing power set for bonuses or ability recharges. Finally, at the beginning of each run, the Wizard King lets you draw one "bullshit card". These are devastating abilities with limited charges that can change the tide of any fight. Enemies also can, and frequently do, use bullshit tactics.
Outside of cards, the new kid can also upgrade their stats using dark matter gathered throughout levels. Increasing health and stamina, as well as augmenting the effectiveness of getting pissed off. That's right, abilities and spells aren't powered by mana here, you unleash them by getting angry and filling up the pissed-off meter. Keep attacking and this meter is topped up, powering your damage and healing utility.
A wealth of customisation and play styles emerge from these systems, but fights will almost always play out in a similar fashion. Waves can assume offence and defence roles, but most of the enemy types are susceptible to the "hit with weapon many times" strategy. Bosses have invulnerable phases that require some puzzling to get through, but the tactics are hardly Destiny raid-level.
The shift to 3D brings us further away from the aesthetic of the source material as well. Environments have some nice details but are mostly bland areas to contain fight sequences. Parker and Stone are on writing duties again, so it’s still a treat for fans, and genuinely funny throughout. It’s just a shame that, while it sounds like South Park, it no longer feels like it.
The lifespan of Snow Day will depend on how much entertainment you can mine from these levels alongside friends. Solo play is viable with decent bot AI, but the campaign doesn't offer much playing alone.
Conclusion
A sporadically fun co-op brawler, South Park: Snow Day is a step back for the franchise. Card collecting and gag-filled combat will keep fans entertained, but there are plenty of better ways to have good times with weapons.
Comments 36
Really wished they would just have made a rpg like the last two games. I knew this would be bad when they first revealed it.
Stick of Truth and Fractured but Whole were sooooo good. This was an immediate pass for me after the first reveal trailer. Glad the writing and voice performance is still top notch though. That's what sets them apart from a lot of licensed games is where Matt and Trey are so heavy handed in the game itself
A fractured but hole you could say...why would you omit the charm of 2D.
Hopefully they go back to the first two games style next. Reviews are very much 6/10
@Americansamurai1 This one is by THQ nordic rather than ubisoft, so i feared the worst when it was announced. Hopefully Ubisoft make a third RPG in the future and this doesnt harm the series
This is a well deserved 6 unlike another recent game.
@Rob_230 sadly i don't think Ubisoft has the right anymore and I think thq has a multi game contract
As long as they make the put a chick in reference it's a 10 from me.
Really surprised this turned out ok and managed a 6. Based on what they had shown, it looked like 4 or possibly worse.
Hot diggity dog 6 outta 10 is good enough for me to get some jokes from Matt and Trey! 🦸♂️
Last two South Park games were great. Whatever made them think people actually want this???
@Zenos You havent been watching then
this looked like a mobile game from the jump so no surprise it is not that good
Always seemed like a strange pivot after the last two games.
It’s upsetting to me that people are only referring to their modern 2 games.. I guess I’m old but I remember playing South Park on N64 when I was 10ish.. was hoping for another one like that.. not this card battling garbage like Midnight Suns 🤢
What a massive shame seeing this be a few steps back from the previous South Park games. They had such a great formula going and they toss it away.
@WolfyTn people only refer to those because the n64/ps1 ones usually aren't considered very good. They do have their enjoyers tho obviously. Especially the first one on n64.
Pre-ordered it ready for tomorrow. For £25 I'll give it a go.
Removed - trolling/baiting; user is banned
It didn't work back on the N64..... it still doesn't work now.
Sorry to say but South Park only works as a 2d RPG because those 2 games "the stick of truth" "Fractured But Whole" are the most authentic south park games I've ever played.
To me they never got boring and it always felt like it was one large episode and it work perfectly those games for a south park game are both 10/10 Matt and Trey should of known this and shouldn't of signed off on it.
The future of south park is only RPG.
All they had to do was extend the map or flushed it out alot more. I mean the map was perfect, they should of just added more interaction and more areas to go.
What I'm trying to get at is, they have the map just make a new story and it would of been great.
They couldn't have even pulled a Spider-Verse or Puss In Boots The Last Wish Wow What A Mouthful and just animated the 3D like it was 2D, like if they HAD to go 3D?
This isn't South Park, it's North Playground.
I wish they would have made a sequel to Let’s Go Tower Defense Play. We played the hell out of the first game on Xbox live back in 2009.
Never trust in a South Park game in 3D.
is this 6th gen or 9th gen?! we in the year of the sixes !
@AlienigenX have you never played south park 64??
I'll still buy it because it's South Park and I just know I'll enjoy it, if nothing else, for the writing.
@nomither6 unfortunately…. I did
I just had a look at gameplay. I think it might be something I'm into. So I'll give it a go.
Got this for £4.99 (used 5000 of my PS points) so no major loss if it's terrible. Still looking forward to playing it in a few hours.
@W0rl0ck it still can be a waste of the points, could have used it for an actual good game lol
@Skeletor85 I still have plenty of points to use so yeah not bothered.
I may try it on a heavy discount, but odds are I’ll skip this. Super disappointed still they did not build off of the past two games. Both were super entertaining and funny. They had a sure thing yet went in the other direction 😩🫤🫤🫤🥱
@SoulChimera looks like a 2 to me.
Thought this looked underwhelming as soon as the first trailer dropped, especially considering how much fun The Stick of Truth and The Fractured But Whole were. Here’s hoping we get another RPG in that fashion instead of this tepid dross. About as enticing as yellow snow ….
I’ve just played the tutorial and a little bit of the first mission and it seems decent enough so far. I can imagine it being quite fun with 3 other players. Tbh I think the 3D graphics aren’t as bad as people are making them out to be and most of the time it does look like the show. I need to play more to see how quickly repetition kicks in but so far so good.
Maybe this is another Suicide Squad where people are hating on it a lot more than they should because it’s not the sequel they wanted.
I like what I've played so far. Definitely not in the same league as the previous two games, but I think I'm going to enjoy playing through it with my brother. ⬆️
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