Our Verdict
South Park: Snow Day is an enjoyable experience that offers something a bit different from previous entries, Stick of Truth and Fractured but Whole, through a hack ‘n slash-tyle combat, card-based powers system, and the ability to go on a hilarious adventure with your pals.
I love South Park, and any time there’s a new Southpark game afoot, my interest is instantly piqued, so it’s unsurprising that I jumped at the chance to give Snow Day a try. I know exactly what I’m in for with a South Park. Well, I usually do, but Snow Day offers up a couple of surprises that I absolutely love.
As you can probably guess, a huge snowstorm overtakes the small Colorado town of South Park, leading to the kids participating in an epic make-believe adventure as they celebrate school being canceled (ah, I remember snow days). Yes, this means you can get up to all kinds of shenanigans with Stan, Cartman, Kenny, and Kyle, but as is the case with Stick of Truth and Fractured but Whole, you get to create and play as your own character known as The New Kid.
Snow Day, once again, has you and the kids of South Park on opposing teams as a war breaks out between the humans and the elves. At least you have the Grand Wizard to guide you (yes, Cartman’s persona from Stick of Truth makes a comeback). However, things are a bit different here, with the game offering mechanics unlike those of the previous two entries.
If you’ve played the previous South Park games, you’re likely aware of what you can expect when it comes to combat and gear. You get access to a range of melee and ranged weapons, opening up different attacks for you to use, as well as a range of abilities for you to take advantage of. However, in Snow Day, the abilities come to you through cards, which you can unlock and equip as you play through the game – the very first one you get is ‘fart escape,’ which probably tells you everything you need to know. The game is full of the quintessential South Park humor.
You can have multiple cards equipped at once, and you need to choose carefully, as some are for healing, others are for combat, and the odd card might even help you with traversal (yes, that’s what fart escape can do). Of course, you can’t just use your abilities any time you want. To quote Jimmy, you need to be “pissed off,” not a problem, bud; this is my calling in life. To get pissed off, you need to either take some serious damage from the enemy – that certainly does annoy me – or dish some pain yourself.
There is a bar on the screen that indicates just how pissed off you are, and when the bar is low, you’d best draw your weapons and go to town by beating the holy hell out of some enemies. Then, as if getting pissed off, equipping cards, and taking part in some hack ‘n slash-style combat isn’t enough, you also get to use ‘bullshit cards,’ which is perhaps one of my favorite things about the game – yes, that’s because it becomes acceptable for me to say bullshit in this review. Only leaders can play these cards, and they can cause all sorts of issues, often increasing the attack power and health of your foes, though the same goes for you, depending on which card you choose to take into battle.
When you begin a chapter/ encounter, you get to pick which bullshit card you want to put forward, as does your foe. These cards only have a set number of uses, unlike your usual powers, so you need to be wise about when you choose to use them. It’s an interesting mechanic that I enjoy making full use of while in combat.
Speaking of which, instead of turn-based battles, you get to freely move your character, button-mashing attacks in a hack ‘n slash style that brings me absolute joy. In addition to the standard attacks you can do with melee and ranged weapons, you can use your equipped cards. As the game progresses, standard gear and powers can only get you so far, which is why it’s vital to visit none other than Jimmy to acquire upgrades and new powers (and a quick visit to the armory for new weapons).
Perhaps the most enticing thing to me about Snow Day (besides the fact that it’s a South Park game) is that it features multiplayer, a first for the series of videogames, and it’s honestly refreshing to see. When playing through both Stick of Truth and Fractured but Whole, I’d constantly tell myself, “this would be so much fun with friends, it should really have multiplayer.” Well, someone obviously heard me because South Park: Snow Day is a multiplayer game.
You and up to three other people can complete the game together, though, for those who prefer to fly solo, you can play Snow Day alone, as the game gives you three bot buddies to even the playing field when you enter a fight. However, the help disappears when the battle is over, meaning you need to traverse the levels alone, just like the lone wolf you are.
The way in which multiplayer works is simple. You go to the war table and select which chapter/ battle you want to take part in, and this is where you can set up multiplayer. You can host people in your game or answer the call to back up another player. Admittedly, my time with testing out the matchmaking and multiplayer was shorter than I’d like, but when I have been able to connect (there’s a lack of players until the game releases), it’s worked perfectly. I intend to test this mechanic further when the game is out and update this review accordingly.
As for the game’s performance, I have no issues to report on Nintendo Switch – not a single bug in sight in both docked and handheld mode. As I said, my limited time with the multiplayer indicates that connectivity is fine, but I’ll dive in when there are more players to give this further testing.
Overall, I have to say that Snow Day is a great time for any South Park fan. The new mechanics offer something different from the previous games, the characters are as hilarious as ever, and the whole thing provides a certain level of charm that’s sure to leave you smiling. This is a great game to enjoy with your pals. I certainly can’t wait to get back to the fight.
If South Park isn’t the franchise for you, check out our Resident Evil games, Sonic games, and Tomb Raider games lists to see what else you can play.