Pre-order South Park: The Fractured but Whole

South Park: The Stick of Truth was far more fun than most people expected it to be. It took the trademark crude humor of the show and wrapped it in a compelling RPG that bounced from one absurd situation to another. At E3 2016, we had the opportunity to check out The Fractured but Whole. It's a continuation of The Stick of Truth, and while you're the same new kid, the gang has traded in fantasy for superheroes.

At the beginning of The Fractured but Whole, the new kid is still the King Douchebag from the previous game, but he's once again an outsider to the gang. After gaining access to the secret lair of the Coon Friends (Cartman's basement), the new kid must establish himself as one of the group and create his own superhero identity. Three classes are available at the outset, but the one chosen was a speedster hero, such as the Flash or Quicksilver. There will be a total of 12 classes in the game, and players can dual-class later if they want.

A tutorial and explanation of the game ensued, including showing off the new combat system. You can now position your character in a 2-D tile grid, so you can get them out of range of some attacks or generally position your characters for the best affect. This gives the combat a much more tactical flair, as you must protect your squishy backfield characters while letting them do damage from their protected position.

The tutorial also uncovered the new kid's tragic backstory and superhero origin. You see, the new kid awoke to the sounds of his mom in terrible danger (clearly not sex noises at all, really). Upon going into the hallway to save his mother, the new kid encounters two burglars that he had to dispatch using his superhero powers. A third then appeared from the bathroom, and the new kid similarly defeated him, but it was too late. The new kid opened the door to see the one thing that you cannot take back and cannot reverse: his dad having sex with his mom. Surely a more tragic hero backstory has never been penned.

When it comes to superhero franchises, Cartman had it all planned out from the sounds of it, with Netflix movie deals and TV shows for their characters. However, Timmy and some other heroes didn't like Cartman's leadership and left the Coon Friends to form their own superhero group called the Freedom Pals. The Coon Friends and the Freedom Pals are locked in a civil war, with Timmy's telepathic powers proving to be more than a match for Cartman's Coon claws. In the ensuing dustup, Cartman stole Timmy's phone, which had their lead: someone who works at Netflix.

The superhero theme runts rampant throughout the new game to great effect. From the UI design to the new combat, The Fractured but Whole is simultaneously comfortably the same as the previous game and yet significantly different. The title is coming out later this year on Dec. 6, and it'll be a long and difficult wait. There's something beautifully wrong with the development team behind the game, and I can't wait to see the final product.