South Park: The Fractured But Whole Demo Is Raunchy, Lewd, And Amusing

South Park: The Fractured But Whole has seen several delays, but it’s finally coming this October. This follow up to 2014’s The Stick of Truth parodies Marvel, where the kids form a superhero group called Coon and Friends that rivals with another group, the Freedom Pals. At E3 2017, Ubisoft showed off more gameplay, and I was able to get my hands on a rather raunchy part of the game.

The demo I played takes place in a strip club. Protagonist the New Kid and Captain Diabetes (also known as Scott Malkinson), sneak into a strip club through a window. The two are in search of a dancer with a crude tattoo, who will help lead them to their next goal. Trying to speak to the stripper, however, becomes an adventure of its own. You begin by having to converse with the different dancers, in search for the right one. As you do so, you can explore the club at your leisure. A lot of amusing interactions occur simply by talking to customers, and you can also get interesting reactions by farting or throwing firecrackers.

The jokes are lewd and often involve toilet humor, but it feels right at home in the South Park universe. You can create explosions by mixing farts and firecrackers, and crude collectibles can be found in creative ways, such as making a condom fall from the ceiling. Most dancers and customers treat you with disdain, as if they have no time for your childish nonsense, but that’s what makes creating havoc that much more fun. 

At one point, you try to squeeze information out of two men, but to find out the answers to your questions, you have to entice them with a lapdance first. But this isn’t any kind of lapdance; this one plays out like a minigame, where you time your moves correctly to give your unfortunate victim a fart-fueled lapdance. You manage to interrogate them to find out the name of the dancer you’re looking for, but this also forces you to engage in combat with them.

The combat system is more in-depth this time around, leaving behind The Stick of Truth’s more simplified approach. I really enjoyed The Stick of Truth’s turn-based system, which was reminiscent of Paper Mario. Although I felt the combat system was on-point in the first game, the reinvented system is refreshing and more involved. While still turn-based, you now move around on a grid. During combat, there is a fair bit of movement that happens across the board. Some attacks can push a foe backward, others can cause status effects. Each character in your party has different skill sets, such as Captain Diabetes acting as a tank who can deal a lot of damage. Your attacks have various effects and ranges, which requires tactical thinking and trying to predict what the enemy will do in response to your moves. It’s a short fight which only gives a glimpse at how combat works, but from our previous sessions with the game, we have felt that some characters can be overpowered.

Afterwards, you must search around for ingredients to make a gin and tonic. This isn’t just your average gin and tonic, however: it has some “special” ingredients, such as rat poop. The demo ends following giving the drink to the DJ. 

South Park: The Fractured But Whole is outrageous, comical, and ridiculous. The combat system is more involved this time around, and just how well it plays in the full game remains to be seen, but we enjoyed seeing more of what ludicrous adventures our favorite wannabe superheroes get up to. For more on The Fractured But Whole, click the banner below to check out exclusive features, videos, interviews and more.