Saints Row: 2022 Reboot

[Zello]

1 hour ago, EkaSwede said:

But imagine my surprise when I decided to give SR2 a run (can't get SR1 to run on my PC ) and I was blown away. Crummy PC port aside, it was still fun and the story was engaging.

Pick up an Xbox. Series X|S, Xbox one, even a 360. Buy SR1 and SR2.

[Moth]

4 hours ago, Lock n' Stock said:

Those were one of the things that made the first two games really stand out, but for whatever reason they were completely abandoned in SR3 and haven't returned since

Cause they got lazier after Red Faction Guerrilla. It's why starting in SR3, you also had story missions being just f*cking side activities.

 

29 minutes ago, Bigglo145 said:

Yeah, i remember that kanye west-power trailer of saint row 3.

The trailer was f*cking great. Then came the game, and it felt nothing like the trailer. Almost as big of a bait and switch as the first Dead Island trailer. 

[happygrowls]

Santo Illeso is still a better than Steelport atleast, there's actual f*cking stuff to look at aside from the zombie island and the statue.

 

Hopefully the new areas added w DLC's are great too, would be nice for some environment changes (Stilwater DLC?)

[EkaSwede]

Well, seeing as we don't get to know much about the gangs, does the gang bosses at least provide good boss fights? I mean, sure SR3 was the start of th edecline but at least we had some boss fight even though they were a bit cringy (but a little bit fun, I guess) and Killbane was just a action cutscene you couldn't lose in the end. SR2 had some pretty tough boss fights as well

 

Given today's technology at least Saint's Row Reboot will provide some cool boss fights, right?

[Zello]

17 minutes ago, EkaSwede said:

Given today's technology at least Saint's Row Reboot will provide some cool boss fights, right?

Nope.

 

There are plenty of videos and reviews out. Go check them out to get a better picture of the game.

[happygrowls]

4 hours ago, EkaSwede said:

Well, seeing as we don't get to know much about the gangs, does the gang bosses at least provide good boss fights?

 

Given today's technology at least Saint's Row Reboot will provide some cool boss fights, right?

the collective for the idols are the only true boss fights in the game, but they are kinda annoyingly bullet spongey, hopefully DLC improves on the boss fights, tho i think the opening mission fight is great

[SodaDog]

My main gripe with the story is that there's almost no consequences of the main characters for being criminals. Sure the build-up to them making money over robbing places but there's no real conflict behind it.

 

They also don't explain the motives of the rival gangs enough, to the point of Los Panteros simply just flexing about in their muscle cars for the heck of it. There's even a mission that tries a bit hard to get the player to relate to Neenah where her beloved car gets destroyed but there's no mention or build-up prior to the mission.

 

The plot point of them paying off their student loans is instantly forgotten when they start up the criminal ventures nor they don't bring up not being able to get accepted into the colleges because well, they're now criminals at that point. We don't even get to see a mission of the rival gangs finding out the Saints' hideout or ventures and attacking them, which could have added so much more in terms of not just gameplay, but depth as well.

 

Saints Row 1 and 2 did a great job of explaining the consequences of being a criminal, from the speech Ben King gives to Playa in the former and the message Julius sends in the latter, and even to the point of it being exaggerated in The Third. To me, it just seemed like they didn't know where to go from this message, even if it's a complete reboot.

 

When the revelation trailer dropped last year, I was expecting the game to take a serious and darker turn in this whole "no way back" sort-of setting, going from "college hipsters" to full-on criminals but that is almost never explored at all. Sure there's a plot point of the Nahualli kidnapping the main character's "friends" but it doesn't get any more grittier than that and just ends all lovey-dovey.

 

If this game got a sequel, I want a darker turn in the form of a "The Saints have lost everything and the player has no choice but to get them all back and seek revenge" sort-of thing, making it a homage to the darker tone Saints Row 2 had.

Edited September 5 by SodaDog

[Ivan1997GTA]

31 minutes ago, SodaDog said:

The plot point of them paying off their student loans is instantly forgotten when they start up the criminal ventures nor they don't bring up not being able to get accepted into the colleges because well, they're now criminals at that point.

 

If this game got a sequel, I want a darker turn in the form of a "The Saints have lost everything and the player has no choice but to get them all back and seek revenge" sort-of thing, making it a homage to the darker tone Saints Row 2 had.

You know, it would be funny if in a theoretical sequel to the reboot, one of the criminal ventures that the Saints boss can open is a university, with blackjack and hookers.

[Spider-Vice]

My criticisms about the game don't even revolve around the story at all, this kind of goofy story definitely fits the franchise and you're tricking yourself if you think even games like SR2 took themselves too seriously with all the gangster stuff. Saints Row was always about the more goofy stories, and I think younger folk who are having money issues and become criminals fighting large corpos definitely fits the series. It's a game where you need to just lighten up, it's goofy by nature.

 

I'm instead more critical of some technical and design-related bits than anything else. It's a fun game, the story is fun thus far, but the game as a whole doesn't do much new in terms of gameplay or activities vs. previous games, visually it can be a bit questionable sometimes (although the lighting is very good IMO), some things like animations can be awkward, and I've found some relatively big bugs, but otherwise... it's a Saints Row game I guess. A SR game that could've been a lot better in aspects but it's still a fun SR game that I've enjoyed in the 2-3 hours I've played. The 6-8 reviews are fair, but all the crying about "wokeness" is just absolute hogwash. If you think it's cringe then why bother spending so much time talking about it? Move on to other games.

[REVENGE777]

15 hours ago, Spider-Vice said:

Saints Row was always about the more goofy stories

That is just simply not true. Not at all. They didn’t begin incorporating goofy OTT elements until the third game, 5 years after the original released. The first game was played pretty straight and aside from some side activities and Easter eggs, it wasn’t really goofy at all. Saints row two shot for more B-movie style action but it still wasn’t “goofy”. I’d even say saints row 2’s story had way darker elements than the first. It wasn’t “always goofy”, it became that way due to bringing people onboard the writing and development team that had no idea about any of the original vision or artistic merit the series had up until that point. It was all gas, no brakes all the way up until GOOH. And we all see how well that turned out.

[Creed Bratton]

Even SRTT wasn't as goofy as SR IV. But that was to its detriment. When Volition fully embraced their insanity with SR IV, I actually had fun. Gat Out of Hell was also fun for what it was. But this new game is just pathetic. It's not goofy as much as it's poorly written and poorly designed. I don't get the sense that they wanted to be goofy on purpose with this one. It genuinely seems like they're taking this trash seriously.

Edited September 6 by Creed Bratton

[Zello]

Saints Row 1 and 2 reminded me a lot of the Jerry Springer show and Maury

 

[D9fred95]

17 hours ago, Spider-Vice said:

you're tricking yourself if you think even games like SR2 took themselves too seriously with all the gangster stuff. Saints Row was always about the more goofy stories, and I think younger folk who are having money issues and become criminals fighting large corpos definitely fits the series.

The themes fit the series but the dialogue, characters and overall writing do not. I fail to remember any sequence in Saints Row 1 or 2 where Johnny Gat wanted to rob stores to buy something as insignificant as a $350 waffle maker. He'd rob stores because it's fun and he'd get to cause chaos, much to the frustration of the others. Pierce actually came up with plans that would give the Saints an advantage, not "I'm a businessman and my business sense tells us to rob a small store" like Eli does. Shaundi acted like a comedic relief with her stoner attitude but was still good at finding information through her boyfriends, whereas Neenah is supposedly the gang's wheelwoman but she drives her car like two or three times the whole game.

 

The characters in Saints Row 1 & 2 were goofy, but they were goofy in the same vein that San Andreas' characters were goofy. Larger than life personalities with an interesting side to them. The reboot's characters are like if a group of Twitter teens decided to start a gang, like on a whim. The game doesn't even explain why a gang was the first thing they thought of, I don't think. If Eli is such a good entrepreneur, why was a street gang the first thing he decided he and his friends should do? I get that they're low on money, but they start a gang like it's some after school club. The type of people who unironically post "1 like = 1 prayer" on their Twitter take control of a whole city in this game.

[sabitsuki]

1 minute ago, D9fred95 said:

The themes fit the series but the dialogue, characters and overall writing do not. I fail to remember any sequence in Saints Row 1 or 2 where Johnny Gat wanted to rob stores to buy something as insignificant as a $350 waffle maker. He'd rob stores because it's fun and he'd get to cause chaos, much to the frustration of the others. Pierce actually came up with plans that would give the Saints an advantage, not "I'm a businessman and my business sense tells us to rob a small store" like Eli does. Shaundi acted like a comedic relief with her stoner attitude but was still good at finding information through her boyfriends, whereas Neenah is supposedly the gang's wheelwoman but she drives her car like two or three times the whole game.

 

The characters in Saints Row 1 & 2 were goofy, but they were goofy in the same vein that San Andreas' characters were goofy. Larger than life personalities with an interesting side to them. The reboot's characters are like if a group of Twitter teens decided to start a gang, like on a whim. The game doesn't even explain why a gang was the first thing they thought of, I don't think. If Eli is such a good entrepreneur, why was a street gang the first thing he decided he and his friends should do? I get that they're low on money, but they start a gang like it's some after school club. The type of people who unironically post "1 like = 1 prayer" on their Twitter take control of a whole city in this game.

Youre asking too much from a group of bottom of the barrel fanfic writers man

[Lock n' Stock]

8 hours ago, REVENGE777 said:

That is just simply not true. Not at all. They didn’t begin incorporating goofy OTT elements until the third game, 5 years after the original released. The first game was played pretty straight and aside from some side activities and Easter eggs, it wasn’t really goofy at all. Saints row two shot for more B-movie style action but it still wasn’t “goofy”. I’d even say saints row 2’s story had way darker elements than the first. It wasn’t “always goofy”, it became that way due to bringing people onboard the writing and development team that had no idea about any of the original vision or artistic merit the series had up until that point. It was all gas, no brakes all the way up until GOOH. And we all see how well that turned out.

6 hours ago, D9fred95 said:

The themes fit the series but the dialogue, characters and overall writing do not. I fail to remember any sequence in Saints Row 1 or 2 where Johnny Gat wanted to rob stores to buy something as insignificant as a $350 waffle maker. He'd rob stores because it's fun and he'd get to cause chaos, much to the frustration of the others. Pierce actually came up with plans that would give the Saints an advantage, not "I'm a businessman and my business sense tells us to rob a small store" like Eli does. Shaundi acted like a comedic relief with her stoner attitude but was still good at finding information through her boyfriends, whereas Neenah is supposedly the gang's wheelwoman but she drives her car like two or three times the whole game.

 

The characters in Saints Row 1 & 2 were goofy, but they were goofy in the same vein that San Andreas' characters were goofy. Larger than life personalities with an interesting side to them. The reboot's characters are like if a group of Twitter teens decided to start a gang, like on a whim. The game doesn't even explain why a gang was the first thing they thought of, I don't think. If Eli is such a good entrepreneur, why was a street gang the first thing he decided he and his friends should do? I get that they're low on money, but they start a gang like it's some after school club. The type of people who unironically post "1 like = 1 prayer" on their Twitter take control of a whole city in this game.

This 100%. The world of Saints Row 1 and 2 was an over-the-top and exaggerated version of reality, sort of in a comic-book kind of fashion. At their heart however they were still gritty, hard-boiled crime-stories that felt grounded and consistent, something Volition just seemed to completely disregard post-SR2, instead opting for sh*t like giant dildos, zombies, computer simulations, aliens, or other general stupidity they were just throwing at the wall. It's like there was nobody around at the studio to really reign anybody or their terrible ideas in.

 

That said, I can at least see the direction SR3 and 4 were aiming for, to be as wacky, random and as crass as possible akin to an Adult Swim cartoon (SR3 even had a Swim-themed radio station). On the other hand, whoever this sh*te reboot is supposed to be aimed at is completely f*cking lost on me.

Edited September 6 by Lock n' Stock

[Jason]

4 minutes ago, Lock n' Stock said:

This 100%. The world of Saints Row 1 and 2 was very much over-the-top and exaggerated at times, but at their heart they were still gritty, hard-boiled crime-stories that felt grounded and consistent, something Volition just seemed to completely disregard post-SR2.

 

I've always said and argued the opposite, tbh. To me SR1-2 were silly and over the top but grounded and serious when they needed to be in key moments of the story. They didn't cross into the wackyness territory that began with SR3 and the high tech and stuff, but SR1-2 weren't grounded because of that, the character customisation, the car car customisation, the bright colourful gang uniforms, the over the top action, the side activities, none of it was wacky but it was all over the top and colourful.

 

That all being said, regardless of where you think the line was drawn in SR1-2 it doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things as in SR3 and beyond they threw it all away in favour of characters whose motivations and interests felt more like small character quirks pushed to be defining aspects of the character, and the new game seems like more of the same there. D9fred is bang on about how Gat was just a pyscho who was down for anything which on it's own isn't a great character trait but he was loyal to the boss (player) and would follow their orders, so it worked. Pierce was always trying to figure out new ways to make money for the gang and looking to prove him self, etc. They were larger than life characters who lived in a larger than life world but the core of the characters were something that felt could be real and relatable.

 

Peacemaker was used an as example of how making absurd characters work a while back and that and James Gunn's other work are probably the best examples of how to do what Volition have tried to do with SR3, 4 and 2022. Gunn's characters can be raging pyschos, manchilds, idiots, the full works, but at their core there's a real tangible story you can follow to understand them.

 

The basic idea of this being a group of young people who fall into a life of crime to make money and pay off debts is fine, and they can absolutely keep the jokes and sillyness cause that's part of SR, but the motivations need to be a little more sensible - say that early mission where you supposedly (not played the game, but I hear this is genuinely how it goes) where you go rob somewhere so shirtless man can get his waffle iron, replace that with a mission where you go rob somewhere to get some guns, or supplies, or anything tangible to start and lay the foundations of a criminal empire. You can crack jokes and be silly while you do that, but a simple change like that makes a massive difference.

[Ivan1997GTA]

14 hours ago, Jason said:

The basic idea of this being a group of young people who fall into a life of crime to make money and pay off debts is fine, and they can absolutely keep the jokes and sillyness cause that's part of SR, but the motivations need to be a little more sensible - say that early mission where you supposedly (not played the game, but I hear this is genuinely how it goes) where you go rob somewhere so shirtless man can get his waffle iron, replace that with a mission where you go rob somewhere to get some guns, or supplies, or anything tangible to start and lay the foundations of a criminal empire. You can crack jokes and be silly while you do that, but a simple change like that makes a massive difference.

I feel that this game is in need of a serious rewrite.

 

What if the Boss of the Saints actually worked for the Nahualli (or as I'm going to refer to them as, the Nahualli Cartel) instead of Marshall Defense Industries? The intro mission could've involved protecting Juan Nahualli (that's my name for Sr. Nahualli) from Marshall, an attempt that proves to be unsuccessful. Then, Juan, the Boss and a fellow Nahualli member end up in the Frontier, which is where the player would get to customize their character's appearance for the first time. The Boss and the fellow Nahualli member plan out a prison break (like the first mission of Saints Row 2), but leave Juan behind, as he's behind a heavily guarded cell. After breaking out of prison, the Boss and ex-Nahualli member decide to start their own gang without Juan watching over them, but the ex-Nahualli member feels that starting their own gang will soon bite them in the butt if Juan finds out about it. They soon come in contact with Eli, who works for the real estate king of Santo Ileso, John Blande. Eli gives them an apartment to lay low and pays rent. The Boss hires Eli as a third member of the crew, and thinks of hiring a few more. Luckily, Eli has connections with Kevin, a member of the Idols, and Neenah, a member of Los Panteros.

 

After getting to know Kevin and Neenah, the Boss hires them into their gang, and they pull their first job together - robbing the Payday Loan place so that they could purchase some guns. Later, Kevin and Eli are having a party with the Idols, only for Los Panteros and the Marshall to crash it. The Boss, Neenah and ex-Nahualli come to rescue Kevin and Eli. At this point, Neenah and Kevin betray their former gangs. Soon, they would take over a church near Old Town from Marshall, Eli double-crossing John Blande after some reluctance, and make it the church their new HQ, and the gang calls themselves the Saints. After the Boot Hill mission to recruit the Saints, the criminal venture stuff begins. After the Boss places two ventures in each of the gangs' territories, Los Panteros, the Idols and Marshall all storm the church and attempt to take the Saints down, but the Saints successfully fend them off. Then, it's back to business, with the Boss and ex-Nahualli member dealing with the Marshall (the latter character getting killed by Marshall and Eli takes over following their death), the Boss and Neenah dealing with Los Panteros, and the Boss and Kevin dealing with the Idols.

 

Spoiler

I think the stuff with Juan Nahualli breaking out of prison and the train robbery should be saved for last story arc. Once Sr. Nahualli is broken out of prison, he finds out that the Boss now formed a gang of their own, and considers it betrayal to the Nahualli Cartel. Though he agrees to work with the Boss, Neenah, Kevin and Eli on the train robbery, once that's done, Sr. Nahualli backstabs the Boss and kidnaps their allies. That would've made Nahualli's betrayal far more effective.

 

Edited September 7 by Ivan1997GTA

[Jason]

I haven't played the game as of yet so I can't really comment on the specifics of the writing and while the more civil impressions (the ones that aren't just "lol game is woke volition sucks they should all be fired") all seem to report it's not very good, but the biggest concern for me reading impressions from people here and on other forums is that the game just fails at the core aspect of Saints Row which is the feeling of building and running a gang. I mean, that's SR at it's core, the Saints are a gang, you start from nothing and build/rebuild your way back to the top. Taking over territories one by one (I'd say defending them too but those pop-up defend missions can a ball ache lol), seeing your gang members on the street interacting with you, being able to recruit some off the street, gang fights on the street, building up your gang through missions, etc. I don't know how much of that is here, I assume some of it, but it does sound like there's a lot of it that isn't here or is but isn't done very well.

[happygrowls]

Building your empire is kinda fun but loses its charm REAL quick w some of them (Waste Disposal and Planet Saints especially).

 

I don't know why your gang never appears on the street, I'm HOPING it's just a bug.

[Ivan1997GTA]

8 minutes ago, happygrowls said:

I don't know why your gang never appears on the street, I'm HOPING it's just a bug.

You have to complete everything within the district to make the Saints members spawn: threats, side jobs, collectibles, and buy one thing from the stores within them.

 

It's a really dumb mechanic, if you ask me. The Saints should start spawning once you completed the criminal venture for that district, not when you completed every single thing within it.

Edited September 6 by Ivan1997GTA

[universetwisters]

 

[Jezus Holy Christ]

I feel like if Cyberpunk 2077 wasn't in a relatively stable state now, the character creator could've bailed Volition out. It's the only thing that tempts me to try the game but with everything else done so poorly there's little reason to.

[Bigglo145]

4 hours ago, Jezus Holy Christ said:

I feel like if Cyberpunk 2077 wasn't in a relatively stable state now, the character creator could've bailed Volition out. It's the only thing that tempts me to try the game but with everything else done so poorly there's little reason to.

Yeah the character creation is good but the clothing options suck. 

[Slappy212]

Cyberpunk 2077 is the best Saints Row game we have right now. 

[EkaSwede]

Alright so I decided to follow @Zello 's advice and loko up some reviews. Given what I've heard there's not much to get spoiled on this game and now I'm quite angry.

 

So you're telling me some gang bosses (almost want to put that in quotation for the Marshal one) die in a cutscene where our character does nothing. No fight no nothing. Are you f*cking kidding me? I was going to to ask if any of the original members of these new "saints" would've died much like how Lin and Carlos died (I'll delve into Carlos later as that hit me pretty hard) but the only "tragic" moment is Neenah having her car tipped off a gorge. Big whoop. I suppose the car had sentimental values but DO WE EVER SEE THIS ATTACHMENT BEFORE THAT MISSION? If not then why should I care? Only thing I know of that dumb yellow car that is inferior to Niko's yellow cars is that she performed the quite possibly dumbest stunt ever that makes SR4 almost look grounded in comparison

 

Take Carlos. You have an attachment to him. He's the first guy you meet in SR2. He's a big fan of yours who got into a fight just to be able to talk to you. And then he helps you escape the prison along with filling you in what's been happening the last five years. As you progress through the Brotherhood mission you feel he's trying his best but the Boss keeps giving him crap (though the Boss gives everyone crap in general).

 When I played SR2 for the first time, I decided to get an identical chain like Carlos had, with the golden cross and everything to show my appreciation of him.

 

The next mission was Red Asphalt. Do I even need to say anything else?

 

I know it's silly, but I made it my little headcanon that the Boss took Carlos's golden chain necklace after mercy killing him and wore it as a tribute to him and that the Brotherhood had to pay hell for what they did to him.

 

SR Reboot be like "oh noes muh car"

 

EDIT: You know what? This is the last post I'll be posting in this topic because I don't want to give the reboot anymore of my valuable time. Volition is without a doubt THE most tonedeaf company out there. For all the crap we give Rockstar, at least the TRY to listen.

Edited September 8 by EkaSwede

[Ondr4H]

3 hours ago, EkaSwede said:

Alright so I decided to follow @Zello 's advice and loko up some reviews. Given what I've heard there's not much to get spoiled on this game and now I'm quite angry.

 

So you're telling me some gang bosses (almost want to put that in quotation for the Marshal one) die in a cutscene where our character does nothing. No fight no nothing. Are you f*cking kidding me? I was going to to ask if any of the original members of these new "saints" would've died much like how Lin and Carlos died (I'll delve into Carlos later as that hit me pretty hard) but the only "tragic" moment is Neenah having her car tipped off a gorge. Big whoop. I suppose the car had sentimental values but DO WE EVER SEE THIS ATTACHMENT BEFORE THAT MISSION? If not then why should I care? Only thing I know of that dumb yellow car that is inferior to Niko's yellow cars is that she performed the quite possibly dumbest stunt ever that makes SR4 almost look grounded in comparison

 

Take Carlos. You have an attachment to him. He's the first guy you meet in SR2. He's a big fan of yours who got into a fight just to be able to talk to you. And then he helps you escape the prison along with filling you in what's been happening the last five years. As you progress through the Brotherhood mission you feel he's trying his best but the Boss keeps giving him crap (though the Boss gives everyone crap in general).

 When I played SR2 for the first time, I decided to get an identical chain like Carlos had, with the golden cross and everything to show my appreciation of him.

 

The next mission was Red Asphalt. Do I even need to say anything else?

 

I know it's silly, but I made it my little headcanon that the Boss took Carlos's golden chain necklace after mercy killing him and wore it as a tribute to him and that the Brotherhood had to pay hell for what they did to him.

 

SR Reboot be like "oh noes muh car"

 

EDIT: You know what? This is the last post I'll be posting in this topic because I don't want to give the reboot anymore of my valuable time. Volition is without a doubt THE most tonedeaf company out there. For all the crap we give Rockstar, at least the TRY to listen.

Inferior to Nico yellow car...

 

Thats hilarious quote, I rolling on chair right now.

 

Its hilarious considering we talking about mostly POS taxi's and its comparing to prized car with family history. This is awesome joke .

 

You made my day, thanks!

 

 

Edited September 8 by Ondr4H

[sabitsuki]

17 hours ago, EkaSwede said:

For all the crap we give Rockstar, at least the TRY to listen.

Tell that to mr glitch resolved lol

 

If you threaten to derail the money train I think just about anyone would listen tbh

Edited September 9 by sabitsuki

[Jezus Holy Christ]

It finally hit me who the new gang truly remind me of.

 

Techies.

[Moth]

 

 

 

[Ondr4H]

6 hours ago, Moth said:

 

 

 

I read something interesting in YouTube discussion under this video.

 

It says, something like this "Why they blow big part of budget towards game designing. They had established lore and they scrapped everything for this."

 

Its true if I think about it. They get rid of lore of 5 games, to did this parody... I guess money is  no problem for volition.

Edited September 11 by Ondr4H