THQ Nordic has released its best look yet at upcoming multiplayer game South Park: Snow Day in an official gameplay trailer, but some fans are a little put off by its 3D art style.
The one-minute trailer shows off the action-adventure role-playing game which, unlike South Park itself and the critically acclaimed Stick of Truth and Fractured But Whole games from Ubisoft, features a 3D art style instead of 2D. Fans haven't responded particularly well to this switch, with a Reddit post discussing the gameplay trailer full of criticism for Snow Day's graphics.
"I don’t think South Park’s art style translates well to 3D and the characters look really out of place in the high resolution snowy environment," said Pacmantis. "Yeah, the 3D reminds me of the old attempts to make a South Park game from the 90s and 2000s. It never translates well," replied MyCoolWhiteLies.
Plenty of other users agreed. "I don't know why they would go for 3D. They already nailed it a decade ago with Stick of Truth by just making it look indistinguishable from the show," said one. "This doesn't look good at all. Really jarring art style," said another. "South Park doesn't work well as a 3D game," said a third.
Comparisons to the Ubisoft games were also frequent. "The Stick of Truth was magic, like being dropped in a playable episode, and The Fractured But Whole was almost as good. This one seems like a severe regression," said likwitsnake. "I just want another turn based South Park RPG like Stick of Truth and Fractured But Whole, not this," added ImJustSaiyan.
X/Twitter users aren't responding particularly well either. "I'm sorry but 3D South Park just feels wrong, especially after the last couple of RPGs have been able to achieve true-to-the-show presentation," said @FizzVsTheWorld.
I'm sorry but 3D South Park just feels wrong... especially after the last couple of RPGs have been able to achieve true-to-the-show presentation...#FizzVsGaming https://t.co/LbSDaEhl8J
— Michael Scally 🏳️🌈 🐀 (SAME USERNAME ELSEWHERE) (@FizzVsTheWorld) November 22, 2023
Another user, @Truly_Defective, posted an image of the South Park cast crying alongside the caption: "Everyone who was alive to see South Park on the Nintendo 64 seeing 3D South Park graphics again."
Everyone who was alive to see South Park on the Nintendo 64, seeing 3D South Park graphics again: https://t.co/a8Dq4UU37w pic.twitter.com/o2jbPN1TSv
— Andy (@Truly_Defective) November 22, 2023
While there was some positive comments, and some fans who did like the art direction, a lot of users were also left confused by what the actual gameplay loop is.
Snow Day was announced in August 2023 as a co-op multiplayer game coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC next year. It focuses on Cartman and the crew as they celebrate not having school for the day due to inclement weather.
It's being developed by Question Games, the studio behind 2015 fantasy puzzle game The Magic Circle and 2019 first person horror The Blackout Club.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.