Thursday, March 6, 2014

South Park: The Stick of Truth / Walkthru Part 1 / Back Story Intro

South Park: The Stick of Truth
Walkthru / Part 1 / FMV Game Intro

After creating your character, the game will begin. The first scene is an FMV of you and your parents moving into a home in South Park. It's just a quick little scene that will give some basic back story to your character.

You are a silent hero in this game [like Crono, Ness & Ryu], so your parents will do all the talking. Like all silent RPG heroes, you have a mysterious past, and this opening scene will reveal a few ambiguous clues to that past.You can find the full dialogue below, with the corresponding scenes.

After the FMV, it will finally be time to play the game. Your character will be in his room, texting on his smartphone, waiting for your to take action. See the final image here, at the bottom.





 Dad: Well I think that's everything 
 Mom: We did it hun, we're really moved in.
 Dad: It's a new beginning for us. Things are finally going to be good.

 Mom: Do you really think it will be better for... him?

 Dad: They won't look for him here, we just need to make sure 
he doesn't attract any attention. Come on, let's see how he's doing.


Mom: Sweetie, hun, you all dressed? 

 Dad: Hey champ, how do you like your new room? 
I know it's a big change for all of us, but son, do you
remember why we moved this quiet little mountain town?


Dad: He doesn't remember!
Mom: He doesn't remember it all!
Dad: That's good, that's good he doesn't remember.

Mom: Uhh, sweetie, we want you to have lots fun
here, why don't you go out and make some friends
Dad: Right, get outside and play, son, like...  like normal kids.
Mom: We got some money for you on the kitchen 
counter, sweetie. Just, be back before it gets dark.

 Dad: Yeahhhhh, we love you too!!!

Finally! Time to play.

South Park: The Stick of Truth / Guide & Walkthru TOC

South Park: The Stick of Truth
Guide & Walkthru

Guide:
Part 1 - Opening Thoughts
Part 2 - Using A Game Controller
Part 3 - Keyboard Shortcuts


Walkthrough:
Part A - Opening Studio Credits
Part B - FMV Back Story
Part C - Create Your Character
Part 1 - Opening Scene
Part 2 - Your First Quest: To Find A Friend
Part 3 - Wizard Cartman / Battle Tutorial

South Park: The Stick of Truth / Walkthru Part C / Create Your Character

South Park: The Stick of Truth
Walkthru Part C / Create Your Character

Although The Stick of Truth tries to capture the nostalgia of pre-millennium RPG's, it also retains many of the modern expectations of the genre, as well. Allowing the player to participate in character design is an example of TSoT competing with contemporary RPG's... while simultaneously poking fun at them.

Immediately following Cartman's narration of the opening FMV,
the character design page will appear. Here you will create you character.

The character design options include:
skin tone, hair style, outfit, makeup, & eye-wear.























South Park: The Stick of Truth / Walkthru Part A / Opening Studio Credits

South Park: The Stick of Truth
Walkthru Part A / Opening Studio Credits
These opening credits will play every time you start the game, unless you just keep it running in the background. If you exit the game, then you will see these credits the next time you play.

I really like the South Park Studios logo, that's why I wanted to post these.
They are placed in order of appearance. Following the studio logos,
you will be presented with the Start / Continue / New Game screen.















South Park: The Stick of Truth / Walkthru Part B / Back Story Intro

South Park: The Stick of Truth
Walkthru Part B / FMV Back Story

This is the opening FMV Scene, the back story to the game, 
so you'll only see this FMV when starting a new game



 Start Screen / New Game Screen


After selecting NEW GAME, a FMV will begin to play 
that will explain the back story for The Stick of Truth.
The narration is presented here with accompanying screens.
Cartman, of course, is the narrator.




"Deep in the lands of Zaron, the humans of Kupa Keep struggle to stay alive ..."


"... as they are attacked by the wicked Drow Elves of Larnion"


"Darkness falls as the humans beg their king to save them..."


 "... a noble king known only as the Grand Wizard."


 "For a 1000 years the battle has been waged..."


  "...with only the bravery of the Grand Wizard to protect his human followers."


 "But even though the Wizard King is so undeniably cool..."



 "The Drow elf armies continue their attacks."


 "They seek the humans most treasured relic, the Stick of Truth."


"But the tides of war soon change ..."


 "... as the news of a new kid spreads throughout the land."


"In order to save the humans ..."


"... the Grand Wizard must get to the new kid ..."


"... before the Drow elves can manipulate his mind to 
take the sacred relic from human hands."


 "For, whomever controls the stick, controls the universe."



 When the FMV ends, the character selection scene will appear,
where you select hair, clothes, skin color etc... for your character.

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

XTH Post #001 / Time To Play!!!


SNES 16-bit Joy
Most of the games I play are 16bit RPG's from the 90's. It was the sole inspiration for even opening this account. As a kid, and then young adult, I rarely had the money [or even time] to play all the video games that my friends were playing. I did play a few, and I REALLY wanted to play more games, but it was just not possible.

Thanks to the marvels of console emulation, I've been able to play some of those games more recently. I still don't get much time to play, but I do get some. I had never completed an RPG until recently, unless Zelda counts: I completed the original Zelda [NES] countless times, and the only Zelda release for the SNES, A Link To The Past, was the only SNES game I can remember completing back in the 90's.


Chrono Trigger
One game I remember playing, and absolutely loving was Chrono Trigger. I could never finish it because I had to rent it from the movie rental shop in our town. But I did play deep into the game. I can even remember where I left off, that was in 1995.
 

I've since beat Chrono trigger twice [2011 & 2013] And I have it on my PSP [the old Playstation 1 ROM] my NDS version, and the emulated version on my Android tablet [with a wireless usb controller YO!] However, both times I finished this game on my PC with an SNES emulator, because you just cant beat 16bit on a nice LCD TV screen.


South Park: The Stick of Truth.
So, what better way to enjoy blogging about 16bit RPG's bliss than by talking about a fully HD video game that is being released here in 2014... tomorrow to be specific... 19 years since Chrono Trigger. The Stick of Truth releases here tomorrow.


It's a modern RPG, but in some regards, it contains many of the elements that I enjoy in old RPG's. Some of these include 2D gameplay, silent hero with a mysterious past, complex but not cumbersome gameplay, and the combat system. Don't worry, the game is fully modern and also contains some gameplay found in other modern RPG's, Oblivion/SkyRim comes to mind.


Tentative Plan
Initially, I thought the first game I would probably cover would be Chrono Trigger, or Earthbound, or FFV, or Breath of Fire, but the South Park RPG is not only relevant to my interest, and infinitely more relevant to modern gaming... it's also a game that's as timely as it gets... it releases tomorrow. It's been anticipated by the gaming world for almost 2 years.

I have played about an hour of TSoT, and so far, it's been very enjoyable. It's funny and entertaining, and has me interested to play more. If I haven't lost interest by now, that's a very good sign for the game. So, I've decided on covering The Stick of Truth first, and then decide later which game will be next. Time to play!

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

SP The Stick of Truth / Guide Part 1 / Opening Thoughts

South Park: The Stick of Truth
Guide Part 1 / Opening Thoughts

This has been a long awaited game indeed. Considering the quality of everything created by Matt & Trey, I had very high expectations for this game. It's been clear for a few years now, that they had tight control of how this game would be created. And I have to say, this game exceeds my expectations. TSoT is truly a fun game, and more importantly, it's a legitimate RPG [and RPG parody].

It's packed full with obscenities, parodies, South Park self references, and little nuances that made the game both new and nostalgic at the same time. One that comes to mind, after winning a battle, when pilfering through the pockets of your victims, the sound effect is reminiscent of the Elder Scrolls games. It's little things like that that can take a "good" game, and make it great. As predicted, the parodies abound... as do the obscenities... and they don't hold back here AT ALL.

It's funny, and despite South Park's well documented reputation for disgusting, offensive, and vulgar humor, the dialogues will still often be unpredictable & surprising. It goes leaps and bounds beyond the TV show in these areas, so just to be clear... It's not for kids [AT ALL]. It will make the SP Movie seem rated-G in comparison.

Within the first hour of the playing, I've seen crack pipes, bongs, at least 4 different kinds of dildos [The Milkman, The Jackrabbit, Black Thunder, & Purple Passion], sex dolls, condoms, jars of semen, Cherokee hair tampons, poo, 2 sets of pubes, and most shockingly... DMV literature. And most of it is collectable items now in my inventory... so yeah...

I'm playing the PC version which requires the use of a keyboard. I don't enjoy using keyboards as a game controller, and decided to use my PS2 controller instead. If you want to use a game controller, just download JoyToKey, and you are good to go. Some mouse clicks can be emulated with JoyToKey as well, but some will still require the occasional use of the mouse, which fits in seamlessly with a wireless mouse. Check out the Game Controller section for help on programming JoyToKey and a game controller.