Wearing our crown and crowned with the prestige of the royal function, we once again slipped into the skin of the "New Kid", this kid who had just arrived in South Park and whose control of his sphincters would certainly make the Petomane jealous. As you surely know, children often change their minds, and unfortunately for newcomers, the fashion for heroic-fantasy has given way to that of superheroes. Moreover, none of these little ingrates has deigned to warn us, which means that we will have to start our social ascent from scratch in the group of children from South Park. After the creation of our character (which boils down to his physique, skin color being the standard meter of difficulty), we therefore rediscover the basics of the game. With his plastic identical to an episode of the animated series, L' Annale du Destin looks good, especially since the Snowdrop engine (that of The Division) is perfectly calibrated, the game running at constant 60fps without the slightest oscillation. Normal you will say to me, but it seems that the optimization is there, since we did not have a single drop in framerate during our 20 hours spent wandering in the village. So that's the end of the Tolkien-like atmosphere, and it's now the superheroes that make children dream. The latter admit it, their quickdraws are ridiculous and their powers completely crazy, but with the right combination, the whole neighborhood hopes to be able to launch their franchise according to a well-rehearsed marketing plan (with films, series, direct-to-video , apps and more), which should make the dollars rain if all goes well. As in the Marvel or DC Comics productions which currently abound on the big screen, two clans were formed after differences due to the marketing strategy to be adopted. On the one hand, we will find Coon and Friend (CAF) which brings together Cartman, Kyle, Clyde, Jimmy and the new kid embodied by the player, while Timmy, Kenny, Stan and Tweek have split to create the Freedom Pals. Finally, Butters embodies the big bad in his role as Captain Chaos.
FULL OF SUPER-ZEROS
Of course, all this is only the starting point of an adventure full of twists and turns that we will be careful not to reveal to you here. We can nevertheless tell you that the story has gained in substance, with many characters and many more twists than in the first episode. In fact, it is at the gameplay level that The Fractured But Whole has evolved the most, by largely transforming the pre-existing plot which used very classic RPG elements. We do not change genre, but the gameplay has greatly gained in depth, and not only in terms of fighting. You have obviously seen it in our previews, the turn-based battles are renewed, but now transformed via a grid system on the ground which introduces movement. The clashes now have all the depth of a true Tactical-RPG thanks to arenas of variable sizes, and especially according to your teammates and your powers. Each character embodies a hero subject to a very specific class, which determines the possible moves (three classic moves and a special attack subject to a gauge), and which therefore makes the composition of your team critical.
Moreover, the battles do not always have the same objective. In a classic way, we will have to eliminate the enemies, but during certain confrontations, it will be necessary to eliminate only one opponent in particular, or to dodge an invincible boss, or to expel the opponents from the field. In short, a multitude of objectives which end up requiring a real science of combat, and a sacred preparation. If we found the battles of the Stick of Truth a little easy, some clashes in The Fractured But Whole are really difficult, especially since we can even make them even more difficult in the settings. In order not to confuse the player, there are many traditional elements including the system of effects on attacks. Some techniques will confer specific states (bleeding, burning, freezing, electricity), while others will affect the placement of characters on the battlefield. Punches can repel the enemy, while certain techniques allow you to swap places with him, or even teleport him. Similarly, each attack - whether offensive or defensive - now has its area of effect, which leaves the player the choice to focus on options that maximize damage at the expense of the area covered, or on the contrary , which impact half the pitch, but for a more measured individual result.
The clashes now have all the depth of a true Tactical-RPG thanks to arenas of variable sizes, and especially according to your teammates and your powers.
As we wrote above, these attacks depend on the type of hero your friends play. However, the new kid embodied by the player will have a small advantage. As the adventure unfolds, we will be able to mix classes, and obtain powers from up to four types of heroes. To keep a certain balance, we will always have three attacks + a special, but it will therefore be possible to shop by selecting from the options offered by the types of heroes we have chosen. This à la carte system is extremely flexible and allows an incredible number of combinations and tactical approaches, especially since in case of doubt, you can always go to the Coon's lair to change hero class, and thus recover the power that tempts us. At the level-up level, the game uses a system of artifacts that we will be able to equip in different slots provided for this purpose and which will boost our military capacities. These slots will of course be unlockable with the XP earned in combat, which means that it will sometimes be necessary to farm a little to avoid struggling later.
As for the artifacts, know that they are found by browsing the world of South Park hidden in the loot, or as a reward for successful quests. The other solution will be to craft these precious items, through the brand new creation system that we discover during a memorable lesson with Morgan Freeman in the role of the professor. So it's over with the comic and useless loot of the first episode, now the slightest object will be able to be used to make costumes for the look, specific materials for the mission, artefacts, or even consumables to get back on their feet. in battle. You can find precious deposits of materials, money (don't forget to stick a slap in the parking meters to recover small change) and items that can then be used either to create new things, either to sell or buy unique items from the countless merchants that dot the world of South Park.
"AND IT WORKS, AND IT WORKS, IT FEELS GOOD!"
Note in passing that the city has been slightly redesigned since the last episode, which now leaves much more room for exploration and discovery. Always relying on his devastating farts, the hero will be able to take advantage of many interactions that can be done solo (throwing firecrackers, kicking) or thanks to his friends (flying, lifting heavy loads, causing short circuits) to reach new areas of the city that were initially impossible to access. Besides, a wide variety of groups of the population are looking for trouble with us, whether it's the ninjas, the girls of the Grapes, the sixth or the troops of Dr. Chaos. We can also choose to flee, or to face these enemies, knowing that we will even have small advantages in the event of an offensive on our part. Many additional activities will require us to be an expert in QTE, like this challenge of the biggest turd which is offered to us each time we find a toilet. With a difficulty that oscillates between two and five stars, it will be necessary to make the controllers suffer to obtain the highest scores, and thus to grab a few more XP points. With this very RPG dimension which offers more freedom to the player, inevitably, the narration suffers a little, and The Annale of Destiny finally offers a rhythm a bit less sustained than its predecessor.
In fact, if most of the situations are still very well scripted with music with little onions, we no longer find any very daring striking scenes, like those which had been censored on the console in the previous opus. We understand better why the Annale du Destin is available in a single version, the publisher not having wanted to reproduce what we imagine to be a headache in terms of marketing. Another small disappointment, the French voices are not those of the official dubbers as you know, which will be odd for regulars of television broadcasts. Purists will be satisfied with the original version, knowing that we can also put everything in French, subtitles and menus included. We also regret that the satirical side of the series is left on the side even more than in The Stick of Truth, the creators betting the package on very bold scat humor. We would have loved to be able to meet Al Gore again, as well as other characters whose presence criticizes American society in a more subtle way than the fat Cartman.
