At E3 2016, the creators talk about ‘The Fractured But Whole.’
We thought thats how you do it, recalls Parker.
Unfortunately, the result was an overpixelated calamity.
Credit: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
We got really mad, says Stone, We said, Were never going to do that again.'
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: I really enjoyedthe lastSouth Parkgame,The Stick of Truth.
TREY PARKER: I can tell you the best answer, and its 80 percent true.
Matt and I talked a lot about what we were going to do next.
Weve learned: We doSouth Park, and well do one other thing.
Between having kids and all that, if we want any quality control, we cant dabble.
We know weve gotta be completely involved.
Ubisoft said, Lets make another one.
We were like, No, no.
We should make a movie.
And we started talking: If we did a game, what would it be?
We have all this superhero sh.
It could be the next day.
If we did it, what would it be?
What would we call it?
We came up with the titleThe Fractured But Whole.
And we were like: Thats such a sweet title, dude.
Weve gotta make this game.
For nothing else than that we could walk around E3 and seeThe Fractured But Wholein huge flashing letters.
Millions of dollars inThe Fractured But Whole.
How does it compare doing the work on a game like this versus a season ofSouth Park?
PARKER:Its harder.
Whether its a show or this, its the same thing.
Its super fun at first when youre just slinging sh.
Now were in the not-so-fun part.
MATT STONE:The show still is the center.
Weve got to create the characters there.
It still is where we have the most control.
you’re able to tackle dicey, edgy material, easier than in a video game.
The interactivity changes the morality.
Is that a different creative outlet?
All these young kids, going I love that video game!
I think theres a show, too?
STONE: What do they think this thing is?
PARKER: It ends up having this Monty Python effect, What the f are they talking about?
Which makes it funnier!
How has the gameplay changed in the new game?
STONE: The thing that needed to be updated was the combat.
It was pretty simple turn-based on the last game.
So theres a whole new combat system thats gonna be pretty fun.
Theres a lot of ways to use it, instead of just two-on-two facing each other.
It still looks like youre in an episode ofSouth Park.
Sometimes you dont need a whole lot of technical stuff.
It can just be a menu joke.
When you die, it should be funny.
When you get hurt, it should be funny.
WhenThe Coonfirst aired in 2009, we thought we were at Peak Superhero.
It turns out we werent even close.
PARKER: That first Coon was really just kind of making fun of Batman.
We didnt know what we were in store for.
STONE: It gives the boys fodder to fight for their franchise, which is so ridiculous.
But it is two levels going on in the game.
The main level is: Youre a kid inSouth Park.
Theyre playing Superheroes, so we can have fun with all that stuff.
This is not the superhero experience.
People are playing it going, I want thatEarthboundfeel.
Youre saying that theres a fear of making it too much of a professional superhero-video game experience?
PARKER: We need to dial it back.
Its just like the show.
Youve got to figure out the overall tone.
Were you comic book fans when you were kids?
PARKER: Were fans.
We go to the superhero movies.
On the one hand, it is funny to take the piss out.
Great writers that wrote this stuff.
Thats why its so successful, I think.
Theres this backlog of amazing stories that are finally able to be told.
What I really like is some superhero stuff is starting to feel likerealstuff.
And some of the Marvel stuff, you might tell they stay away from anything too edgy or political.
Weve had this issue.
In other video games, you could choose to be black, you could choose to be a girl.
In our game, were finally gonna do that.
it’s possible for you to be a girl.
Very 2016 of us.
Superhero franchises have that luxury: We have a very open casting policy, women superheroes, black superheroes.
Doing all this inclusive stuff which is great!
Buttheydont have to deal with racism and sexism.
Theyre dealing with these fantastical ideas.
But theres not really racism.
I just dont know how much racism there is on Hoth.
[The Girls] were a faction in the fantasy world.
And then someones like, What if you want tobea girl?
Narratively, it didnt work.
Wed have to sh can the whole game.
So we just left it the way it was.
This time, we obviously wanted to add that.
But the boys are little boys, because its really a story about little boys running around.
So they dont care about [your character being a girl]?
They always seemed to care about it in the show.
Are they dumb about it, and they dont know?
So youre in hiding?
Or do theytotallycare about that, andtotallytreat you differently?
So we ended up doing those things differently for different characters.
It actually turned out to be quite a bit more work.
Im also playingThe Division Im not just saying that because its Ubisoft.
But the game doesnt treat you that differently.
The guys still shoot you.
The game doesnt really react that much differently.
Thats cool for that kind of game.
But now theyre going to treat you different.
I tend to play as a female character, if thats an option.
Stone:I do that too, now.
We figuredeveryones gonna pick it.
Youre saying a lot of people came to this seriesthroughthe last game.
Are video games a major part of your vision ofSouth Park?
PARKER:Its not something we can ignore.
Were gamers, and gaming is such a big part ofSouth Park.
Thats why we treat this seriously.
We treat this like a movie.
We could havedonea movie, instead of this, but we chose to do it as a game instead.
The Fractured But Wholewill come out right after the end ofSouth Parkeason 20.
Not many creators work on a project for over two decades.
But you both still seem really motivated by your work onSouth Park.
PARKER: its such an open-world.
Its still such a sandbox.
What we did last season was just so different.
It felt so fresh and new.
Its one of the best times I ever had doing the show.
STONE: To follow storylines through?
We couldnt do that when we started.
We were from a different era of TV, when you had to do the sitcom-style reset every week.
We dont have to do that anymore.
PARKER: It is nice to realize you dont have to tie up everything.
Between the new storytelling style and the video games, is this the start of a new phase?
A few years ago, with Youre Getting Old, people thought that was the end ofSouth Park.
PARKER:We kind of did too, for a little bit.
STONE:I think well probably do semi-serialization for the rest of it.
Cats out of the bag.
We cant go back.
If its the right thing for the end of the story, we let some things hang.
This might be where things are going.
STONE:I think in 20 years, 10 years, people will be playing more.
That convergence of entertainment, whether its VR or a more immersive thing.
You watch young people, and the way they engage with something sh, maybe thatisthe future ofSouth Park.
South ParkVR in 2018?
STONE:Youll take yourSouth Parkpill.
