South Park: The Fractured but Whole is the above in a nutshell. Everyone is a target, such is the way of the wealthy centrist. Creators Parker and Stone, both self-professed libertarians, made their marks latching onto whatever the problem of the week was and mocking it from all angles. Wrestling pivoted back around to being family-friendly, while South Park found more of a political bent as time went on.
We all moved on eventually, as the internet took over and content previously considered cool and edgy became as common as anything else. This was also the time of the wrestling boom, when media realized how much money it could make catering to the demographic of young men who thought boobs, beer, and bad words were the highest form of entertainment. Everyone at the time danced around South Park like monkeys, waving sticks, bones, and Emmy awards around as American culture found its next evolutionary step. Moral battles were still actively fought on cable TV at the time, and a cartoon about swearing and farting children was like a monolith. When South Park started in 1997, it was all about the shock humor. The whole thing feels dated, as if everyone involved is stuck in the late nineties and desperately tossing darts at a board, trying to insist they’re still cool and edgy all these years later. It also doubles-down on the uglier side of South Park, moving away from the goofy characters and surreal situations to what feels like an unending stream of failed satire and racism. It’s a direct sequel, this time opting to play with superhero stuff. Obsidian is out, with Ubisoft handling the game in-house. Now, we have South Park: The Fractured but Whole. Obsidian, as developer, ensured its simple RPG trappings were solid and had depth, while its story about a neighborhood of kids playing a massive game of fantasy pretend, underneath all the South Park-isms, was actually kind of endearing.
It even seemed to impress those who weren’t fans in some ways. It was a hit, somehow being the first game adaptation of South Park since its 1997 debut to capture the look and feel of the source material. A few years ago, South Park: The Stick of Truth rose from the smoldering ashes of THQ, revived by Ubisoft.
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