More details have come out regarding the upcoming South Park RPG developed by Obsidian Entertainment, including its various homages to old-school RPG design. The game borrows from such varied sources as Mario titles and Final Fantasy.

A NeoGAF thread (via CVG) reveals some of the callbacks to RPGs. Combat will reward good timing with multiple hits or reduced damage, and if the player initiates combat they'll get the first attack, similar to the Paper Mario series. The game also borrows heavily from the Final Fantasy series, including a system similar to Materia from Final Fantasy 7 to augment weapons, and an undisclosed Summoning system.

The story will focus on the new kid (player) getting accustomed to the setting of South Park, and being swept up in a real adventure. At that point you'll be able to pick from one of five classes: Adventurer, Rogue, Paladin, Wizard, and a fifth class created by Cartman.

The game isn't due until late 2012, so we're sure to see more details hitting in the coming months. For more, make sure you check out next month's issue of Game Informer.