Like its predecessor, the release of The Fractured but Whole was subject to several delays. The game was initially set for release in December 2016 but it was postponed for nearly a year. It was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on October 17, 2017. The game received generally positive reviews, which praised the improvements and creativity of combat scenarios and faithfulness to the source material. Reviewers were divided over the story; some critics called it a humorous improvement, while others said it was less effective and relied too much on toilet humor. The game received post-release, supplemental story missions as downloadable content (DLC), and a Nintendo Switch version in 2018.
Gameplay
South Park: The Fractured but Whole is a role-playing video game that is viewed from a 2.5D, third-person perspective. The player controls the New Kid as they explore the fictional Colorado town of South Park, around which the player-character can be freely moved. A fast-travel system allows the character to be moved between unlocked travel points.
The game allows the player to select one of ten archetypal superhero player-characters; the nimble Speedster, the short-range, high damage Brutalist, the long range, moderate damage Blaster, the weather-based Elementalist, the offense-attracting Cyborg, the long-range, status effecting Psychic, the stealthy Assassin, the gadget-using Gadgeteer, the healing Plantmancer, and the high-damage, swift Martial Artist. At first only three choices are available (Blaster, Speedster, and Brutalist); the New Kid can eventually access all ten classes, freely matching powers from the available classes, for example, the player can use the Blaster's fire blasts, the Assassin's knives, and the Martial Artist's kicks. The player can assign four powers from the classes, three regular attacks and one ultimate attack. Ultimate attacks can only be used after filling the Ultimate bar, a pool of points shared between the New Kid and their allies that is increased by completing timed button presses during attacking and defending phases. Throughout the game, the player can select up to three allies from twelve characters to accompany them in battle, each possessing three powers and an ultimate attack.
The Fractured but Whole retains the turn-based combat of the previous game in the series, South Park: The Stick of Truth (2014). Instead of taking place on a static plane, battles are fought on a variable-size grid on which the player and enemies can move freely to create strategic advantages. The grid can contain environmental hazards such as exploding chemical barrels, and lava (red Lego bricks). The player selects attacks from a menu. Attacks can be augmented with contextual button presses for extra damage. Timed button presses during enemy attacks can recover some health after being hit and increase the Ultimate meter. Attacks offer effects including abilities with "knockback" damage, which can be used to forcibly move an opponent around the battlefield and inflict status effects such as poisoning, freezing, burning, and bleeding, which inflict damage over time.
Each attack affects a different area of the grid, requiring strategic positioning to hit enemies and avoid attacks. The attacker can increase damage by knocking targets into each other or into an ally. Healing items can be used in battle, requiring one turn per use. The player can collect artifacts and equipment to boost the player's Might, making them stronger in battle and offering benefits such as increased defense; more artifacts can be used as the player's level increases. The player-character has a DNA slot, allowing them to use strands of DNA to boost attributes called Brawn, Brains, Health, Spunk, and Move. The non-player character, PC Principal, can teach the player to recognize microaggressions, which allows the player a free in-battle attack against an enemy. Some characters, such as Jimbo and Ned, Classi, Gerald Broflovksi, and Moses, can be summoned during battle; Moses heals all allies while the others deliver powerful attacks.
The New Kid can manipulate time with their farts; this ability can be used in battle to skip an opponent's turn, pause time to move around the grid and inflict out-of-turn damage, or summon a past version of the New Kid to join the battle. The New Kid's farting power can also be used to reverse time, fix objects, and pause time to avoid obstacles or fast-moving targets. Some areas of the town are inaccessible until the player gains specific allies who can use the New Kid's farting power to overcome the obstacle: Captain Diabetes can be sent into a rage that allows him to move heavy objects; the Human Kite can fly the New Kid to otherwise unreachable heights; Toolshed's sandblaster can clear paths that are blocked by lava that cause the player to combust; and Professor Chaos can launch a hamster from the New Kid's rectum to reach and sabotage electrical panels.
The player can modify the New Kid's appearance, superpowers, gender, sexuality, race, and ethnicity at any time in the game. Gender choices include male, female, and trigender. Costume items can be collected, mixed together and recolored but have no influence on the New Kid's abilities. The New Kid's race selector is represented as a difficulty level slider, with lighter skin being easy and darker skin being harder. The slider does not affect combat but affects the amount of money the player can receive and the way some characters speak to the New Kid.
The game has three combat difficulty levels, which affect the power of enemies in relation to the player; "Casual" (weaker enemies), "Heroic" (normal enemies), and "Mastermind" (stronger enemies). A crafting system allows the player to use recovered or purchased resources such as duct tape, glue, sports drink bottles, and taco-related products to craft items such as healing burritos and quesadillas, costumes, and artifacts. The player is encouraged to explore the wider game world to defecate in toilets in a mini-game, find yaoi art depicting intimate moments between the characters Tweek and Craig, or take self-portraits with town residents to increase their followers on Coonstagram, an Instagram-like social media feed. The player must amass a certain number of social media followers to complete certain story missions. The character's cellphone serves as the game's main menu, containing items including the inventory, character profiles, and active quests.
