South Park: The Stick of Truth

You explore from a side-on view, speak to characters and collect equipment. Fights are turn-based, which means you choose an action when it is your turn instead of swinging continuously. The game also asks for timed button presses during attacks and blocks, so it is more interactive than just choosing a command from a menu. The gallery shows the contrast: a wide fantasy battle with costumed kids, Kyle's elf group, a room scene, and a crowd outside. The images come from the publisher's game listing and show the show's flat cutout style in playable spaces.

The New Kid can choose a class and recruit familiar South Park characters as allies. Exploration and dialogue are as important to the tone as combat. Do not mistake the cartoon look for a child-friendly rating, though: the show and game use crude jokes, strong language and mature material. In the United States and Canada, the ESRB rating is M (Mature 17+). That is a reason to check the rating before giving it to a younger player, even if its bright visual style resembles a children's cartoon.

Obsidian Entertainment developed the game in collaboration with South Park Digital Studios, and Ubisoft published it. Ubisoft lists the North American release as March 4, 2014. Windows PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 were the original platforms; PlayStation 4 and Xbox One releases arrived years later. This is the first Stick of Truth game, not its 2017 follow-up The Fractured but Whole.