What's wrong with the Saints Row reboot again?

Queen HawlSera@lemm.ee to Gaming@beehaw.org – 50 points –

I got it expecting to hate it, but as I kept playing, I found myself legitimately enjoying it. Not begrudgingly enjoying it, not enjoying it outside of one or two small details, but actually being engaged in the story and gameplay. Which leads me to wondering why people had a problem with this game in the first place again?

25

It's a shell of a game, it looks like an early prototype that was rushed out the door. And that's probably exactly what it is, it's an attempt at a quick cash grab using an old popular IP. If you enjoy it, that's fine, but let's not keep collectively lowering our acceptable standards.

I do miss being able to rob stores and kill clerks....

Oh things that make me sound like a horrible person out of context..

Disclaimer: I also had a lot of fun with this game but I got it for free with a graphics card.

Part of it was getting rid of the old beloved characters. Shaundi, Pierce, etc. were well loved among fans and sorely missed when the game out. People found the new characters boring and generic, but I don't know if that criticism survived past the release stage.

It also released with quite a few game breaking bugs which had to be ironed out. Par for the course with big budget games these days, frankly.

As a fan of SR3 and SR4, I missed the zaniness of those entries, but that wasn't a common feeling among fans of SR2.

A lot of people hated it for how "woke" it apparently was by having... people of color in it? Commentary about racism and feminism or something? I don't know, it's been a while since I played so I can't recall any instances in particular of it being "woke" enough to offend people who care about that. As a woke SJW myself, I felt it was pretty good on that front without being overbearing.

For what it is worth. It is implied that this takes place in the Agents of Mayhem timline as you find the 3rd Street Saints symbol in an abandoned church, Johnny Gat is mentioned in the description of one of the weapons as being a famous person, and you can buy an Agents of Mayhem T Shirt.

So the old characters not being present is explained.

I remember that being a complaint as well so that seems to me to just be blindly trying to dislike things just to dislike them

I haven't played the new one, but I'm also a heretic who enjoyed Agents of Mayhem quite a lot. I've almost 100%'d it.

I also played SR:4 and Gat Outta Hell. Loved 4, never quite finished Gat Outta Hell.

My main gripe with the new Saints Row? It was a FortniteLauncher™ exclusive. I won't buy it until it's on a deep deep sale on Steam. I chose Linux, and they support my choice. Exclusives aren't good for an open market, and I hate what Epic has done so brazenly to young audiences with predatory monetization, intentionally addictive systems, and dark patterns.

It's "free" on PS+ right now. I would wager that's how OP is playing it.

Makes sense. Only consoles I have are the switch, and the best console (because it's not a console), the Steam Deck.

Agents Of Mayham is a great game, sadly I think what killed it was its horrible optimization

Haven't played that one yet, but I went into Cyberpunk 2077 with extremely low expectations based on what people online said. Ended up one of my favorite games I've ever played.

Outside of bugs, the content of CP2077 from launch to the launch of the edge runners anime was minimal..it was functionally the same game still.

People who generally hate didnt play the game.

Did you play the original? Most complaints I saw seemed to focus on that comparison. Itself in a vacuum, it sounded like it was fine.

I did... but Saints Row didn't really become what it was known for (being this wild crazy parody of GTA) until The Third and this is in line with that.

Actually I like the overall story better than GTAV

A lot of people would argue the second saints row is a masterpiece. Iand saints row is definitely never been about the story

A lot of reviews and comments (in general, not here) went with a very surface level "critique" about the game without diving into what failed compared to previous titles.

For me personally, the new game missed a lot of what made the previous games special writing wise - characters are barely that, story is way more contrived and bland. Gameplay and activities are nowhere near what we had before as well. It's just a weaker game with a nicer coat of paint.

I know that might be a tough sell, but I feel like this video by Tehsnakerer gives a really good look into what went wrong while avoiding (and even calling out) some of the most common complaints. It's a good watch but it's also 2.5h long and not everyone has time or interest in that. If that's the case I might write a short summary when I have some time.

That said I already had some problems with SR3 and 4, doesn't mean I'm going to try and force people to hate them. If you had fun with the new one that's the important part.

Love that vid and Tehsnakerer. Big ups for a solid recommendation.

It's OK but nothing spectacular. The further you get into it, the more repetitive the missions get though.

People mostly didn't like the story I think. Personally it was my favorite game since the 2nd one due to the day night cycle and the expansive world.