The South Park: Snow Day game is fun but a bit lame all the same

“ I’m starting a South Park game, just to calm my nerves “.

Available since March 26, 2024 on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and PC, South Park: Snow Day! immediately makes the credits of the animated series ring in our heads. Still broadcast today, South Park continues to surprise with its satirical and irreverent tone. A game like South Park: Snow Day!, which comes out in a rather surprising silence, is designed to prolong the pleasure. He has the heavy task of succeeding the games The Stick of Truth (2014) and The Annal of Destiny (2017), two RPGs that are as funny as they are amusing. Unfortunately, we are very far from the mark. For less than 30 euros, South Park: Snow Day! doesn’t even hide its derivative game nature.

Strong points

• Quite pretty
• Okay, it’s a bit funny
• It ends quickly

Weak points

• It ends quickly
• Lazy gameplay
• Could be even funnier with more mischief

Yes, there is a new South Park game

The first impression is pretty good with this South Park: Snow Day!. We are greeted by beautiful 3D graphics which pay homage to the very particular character of the series. We recognize the voices of our favorite heroes, whether in the original version or in the language of Molière (even though the old games had replaced them!). We also hear some strong profanities, a trademark of Cartman and his gang. In this new story, the kid is very happy to learn that a snowstorm is blocking the town of Colorado, the opportunity for him to play hooky from school and organize a giant role-playing game. A “stupid” story, which still lacks spice and remains quite wise about the mockery (fortunately there is the PQ which becomes the currency of the game, a nice homage to confinement).

Then, we start playing and we quickly understand that the few references to RPGs published by Ubisoft are only there for show. South Park: Snow Day! is even based on a twist which explains to us that the gameplay must change since we have become too powerful in previous titles. A bad excuse to give birth to a gameplay that is simplistic and too quickly uninteresting. We are content to string together tasteless arenas, with so little variation in the enemies to fight. The margin for progression is low, as are the possibilities of diversifying one’s approach (limited arsenal, whether in terms of weapons or powers).

To spice up the gameplay a little, South Park: Snow Day! incorporates a system of “stupid cards”, i.e. random bonuses/skills/improvements to which opponents also have access and which are reset to zero with each quest. Some effects are funny and make you smile, others prove so disabling that you will be tempted to restart the chapter (an inspiration taken from the rogue-like genre). In between, we will have made sure to spend fecal matter to improve our hero, whose appearance we will be able to personalize (without trolling on skin color this time). Yes a lot of things revolve around poop in South Park: Snow Day!but how can you blame South Park for that?

The contribution of the “stupid cards” is not negligible and makes it possible to give a semblance of depth to the very repetitive gameplay. However, it is not sufficiently developed to transform South Park: Snow Day! in which we go around in circles. A feeling reinforced by the fact that we operate in settings that are very similar, with little work on the architecture. The developers didn’t try to go very far. They also didn’t want to spread out immense content. South Park: Snow Day! consists of five short chapters, and the case can be completed in less than five hours, without wanting to go back. In short, you might as well binge-watch the twenty or so seasons available on Paramount+.

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