Thanks for watching! Man I keep forgetting to leave a pin comment as of late lol, check out my reviews for the first two saints games here: Saints Row : ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-DKtq4Sd8BaA.html Saints Row 2: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-OyqvCbmiQUg.html
You hit the nail on the head with mission variety. Beyond everything else, turning side activities into the main missions was the biggest misstep this series has done. And it continued in the recent reboot, too!
When I first tried SR3 I was so confused about what I was doing because I thought I was doing side activities to unlock story missions, but then I realized I was somehow progressing the story through the side activities. I felt like the game abandoned that anchor in SOME believability it had in SR2 and completely abandoned it for cartoonish gameplay and story.
Great Video! As someone who loves Saints Row 1 & 2, I thought the gameplay in SR 3 was a great improvement, I strongly disliked the story and the fact they killed off Gat for a lot of forgettable characters. In my opinion the story should've been about finding Dex, having him as the lead protagonist, and as an upgrade version of Fogle from SR 2.
Yeah and sr4 like sr3.because in sr3 story the saints became what julius said he never want the saints became lile that. The saints saints became what the vice kings became.
I remember buying SR3 on release and being so disappointed. Such a mids game, especially compared to its predecessors. It was the complete Flanderization of the franchise. If you started on 3, I can get liking it but for those who were with the series from the start it was a big step down in quality.
Hot take: the Adult Swim radio station should have included more tracks from MF Doom, especially aince he was so involved in production of a lot of their classic shows.
0:00 - Ooooof. If they thought Stilwater was an uninspired washed out metropolis (strong disagree with that, BTW) then they really really REALLY must have hated Steelport.
I have no idea how anyone could even say that. Stillwater in Saints Row 2 is an amazing open world map! It has SO much variety. Gaming journalism is a joke.
I'll somewhat agree on the washed out colours. The one thing I think Saints Row 1 had over 2 was the more vibrant colours, 2 just looked too grey and brown (but then every game in the late 00s went for that grey brown filter)
@@englishgiraffe2124 I love SR2 to death but I wholeheartedly agree. The visuals and washed out colors in SR2 just looks awful, hopefully once the PC patch comes out (which most likely never will) there will be some fantastic graphics mods that spruces up some of the visual eyesores in the vanilla version.
Steelport was bland but I think the rusty atmosphere is just so point, the trash and the yellow lighting really sells it as a place that has something to it. But that’s the new graphics doing the lifting, if it was Sr2 graphics it would be dogshit.
@fredster594 I don't think they're awful, man, just a product of their time, just as the fog screen was a result of the limited rendering power of oldie consoles like the N64 and PS1. It needs a remaster, but the gameplay, customization, and story itself is better than so many games of today can boast.
Fun fact: the devs didn't want to kill off Gat but were basically forced to by higher-ups who wanted them to shake up shit. Everything after it is less of a walk-back & more "we gotta bring him back immediately"
Why didn't they took Mafia 2 direction. Make him be kidnapped, force main character and Johnny to be separated. Also, they already got Aisha [REDACTED], don't make Gat get [REDACTED] too, right after that. You could EASILY convince Higher Ups by saying, we need at least keep one or two characters alive to keep the continuation of the SAINTS ROW gang, otherwise its just building an original gang from nothing and just give it the name of the previous gang. Not to mention, [REDACTED] EVERY character from previous gang will just confuse the new audience. Somebody needs to be Exposition device. And just use Gat for it. Literally every game does that. Instead closest thing we got to that in SR2 is Shaundi, a hippie collage student... Really f'ing weird.
I'm not upset that they killed off Gat, it's the way they do it that gets to me. They really did his character dirty with that death. He deserved a much better way to go, like sacrificing himself for the team to escape and really fucking them up before he goes down in a dramatic but badass way. Having him go down from being shot off screen was so undignified
That explains why the fourth game does that whole “no he’s not dead he’s actually being held captive by aliens because he’s the coolest most dangerous guy ever” thing.
Over the years I’ve started to prefer 4 over 3, but 1 & 2 are still my favourite. The amount of backstory given to long gone characters like maero and hearing interactions between different homies was cool.
Saints Row 3 was my first Saints Row game and I absolutely adored it. I have so many fond memories of my uncle and I going through co-op. Including a really funny dlc glitch that got us millions of dollars. Great times.
same but then I played saint rows 2 and understood why people missed the old saint rows vibe and gameplay and story of it. And it was definitely better than saint rows 3 tbh.
Same dude. Saints row 3 and four were my first two saints row games, i played them with a friend and made so many memories over those two. And i like them a ton because of it, despite the communities view on them.
Saints Row 2 is one of my favorite games of all time and I always go back to it! I remember when The Third came out and how disappointed I was. With that being said I hate on this game WAY too much. It legitimately has a lot of good qualities.
SR 3 was the second game of the series that I played and I really liked it. It wasn't a game that you had to think hard about and considering I played it near the university entry exams... yeah, could use the break.
I’ve always theorized that killing Gat was supposed to be the launching point for a series reboot to some degree. It always felt symbolic that hey we’re killing off the old saints row and going in a different direction
My overall attitude to SR 3 is a resounding "Oh no! Anyways....", mostly because 1. I don't give two comically powerful foam fists about the story 2. Without the goofier stuff, SR might've just been completely overshadowed, forgotten, and labeled as "GTA, Purple Edition"
Female Boss 1 from saints Row 2 retired from Voice acting between SR2 and SR3. Volition mentioned that in a twitch stream cuz they wanted her back along with Male Boss 2.
I think going into a unique direction was the worst decision they ever made I mean the series is dead now it would’ve had a better chance keeping the tone and gore
I'd argue it was a fracture instead of a shattering; the recent Saint's Row the Saint's Row (Reboot) is what shattered what was left of the fanbase. Solid video otherwise
Honestly, in my opinion, SR3 was good, but it missed the very things that made it great in the first 2 games. 1: You can't re-watch, let alone replay missions and cutscenes. 2: Crib customization was better in SR2 cus you could customize the inside. In SR3, crib customization is only on the outside. However, everything inside is the same. Plus, I feel they should've stuck to what they've done in Saints Row and Saints Row 2.
I wonder if the people in the comments at the beginning of the video used the last couple brain cells they have left to consider that maybe Saints Row wasn't trying too be Grand Theft Auto 2.0, but was instead trying to be it's own idea. I'm not one of their devs so I obviously can't say for sure that's what they went for, but from playing the games I can tell it's not GTA, and I really feel like it's not supposed to be
Tbh sr three was my first sr before two and I loved the wackiness and the power song by Kanye slapped at the time especially with the scene when u jump out of a helicopter favourite part
When I see the Saints Row plot completely laid out from the first game all the way to Gat out of hell is like reading a comic book series the first two games is like the first series the third game is like the side plot or dream that got made into a second series the fourth game and goh is like fanfic that the Creator enjoyed and turned into the third series
Saints Row 1 and 2 are the best in the franchise! 3, 4, and Gat out of hell RUINED what the first two games were about and took it in a different direction that made no sense. Instead if street gangs, we got aliens, demons, and over-the-top wacky zaniness. That's not what Saints Row was. The fans and the delevopers ruined this franchise for wanting it to be different from GTA. That's why it's DEAD.
Just a thing about how you pointed out health regeneration in SRTT, the first two games had auto health regen too, it just took longer to start and we had the snacks to help get it back faster In Saints Row 2, there even was an unlockable faster regen when you finish one of the Snatch activities
SR3 was my first Saints Row game, too - to be honest, it was my comfort game (as weird as that sounds) as it came out just as I had graduated high school and didn't know what I wanted to do with myself. I was also going through a lot of family issues and drama so the wackiness and comedy was a nice distraction from everything. SR1 and 2 I think edge out better when I got around to playing them. Steelport is good as far as grungy metropolis' go but Stilwater is a nearly a perfect map and so cosy and varied. One thing I do appreciate about 4 is that Volition did use the premise to throw in a shitload of fanservice and callouts to the older games. At least we got that.
I love your videos man! and btw, with the years playing SR, Shaundi's personality switch happens because she stoped smoking weed, i say, and it represents me a lot, cus i used to play SR high as hell and now i'm damn sober, so i understand it more now.
the real issue is that none of that is explained or even explored in the game. we never saw that journey of her recovery from drugs. and it's not helped by the fact that she was never shown to have an addiction bad enough to jeopardize the saints' operation. her sobering up is hardly a benefit since she stays mad for johnny dying the whole game and the only benefit she provides for the saints is a temporary residence at the start. but it's good that you sobered up bro
I'm really glad you played SRIII first, because I think that way you see the game by itself. It's a good game, not a great one, but still good value - if it's your introduction to the series. The biggest miss for me was Shaundi, not just losing Eliza Dushku as the actress but the complete lobotomizing of her personality has always been maximally perturbing to me. So I really like your theory that New Shaundi was originally written as a continuation of The Boss. I still think Gat biting it was an unintelligent choice (especially in the first 15min of the game), but I can justify that by saying that Gat was always destined for a sticky end, and you're right; it did establish The Syndicate as a new threat.
wow funny you open with a bunch of old reviews I remember the review for saints row 2 in game informer specfied how much fun you could have and multiple positive comparisons to GTA IV
The game has a lot of improvements to gameplay with the more creative weapons, more fluid controls on foot and in cars and it can be more enjoyable than 2 but then it took so many steps back for no real reason in removing content that always left me wishing the two games could have been combined in 4 but they just decided to kill the series so meh. Biggest L in removing mission replays. Though the underrated merit of this game is the freedom you have to cause carnage as it can throw an impressive amount of enemies at you to fight in street wars. It can be summed up as a stepping stone to a sequel that never happened. As for power, in game it builds up from the E3 trailer that was in the same location, which is probably one of the greatest game trailers of all time so it’s fan service.
@@dwmarch you’re entitled to your opinion bro but at the time I was a kid and a huge Kanye fan. I replayed that mission mad times and thought it was cool.
@@dwmarch I played without watching the trailer (but was "spoiled" by hearing about the song playing during the sequence from a podcast) and I thought it was great.
When you talked about having a ton of side activities used for missions, and with the mixed bag of slightly better graphics but duller city, downgraded character customization (with exception for the wacky stuff), issues with character personalities.. thinking back on it, this game was ahead of it's time. It was a Coronavirus Pandemic sequel almost a decade before that was a thing. You know, these games that took some extra time to make, due to difficulties with developing it because of distancing and working from home, while still being inferior to the previous entries, with few positive, and many negative changes. This was also my first Saints Row game, and I enjoyed it a bunch, got all territories, saved the homies in the end instead of going after Killbane. But then I got the second game, and barely played this one again, liking SR IV more than this one. It was also the game I was playing when my father passed away 12 years ago. I have a strong memory of playing it on my PC, when my dad had a heart attack while going to the bathroom, my family going to see what happened. My sister-in-law was a nurse, and tried doing CPR, but he didn't make it. An ambulance took him to the hospital, but I think he died right there in the bathroom, I remember seeing his hand go limp. Maybe that has also made me not want to play this again?
I think i am one of the few who likes 4 more than 3. I just found 3 boring and too rehashed. Yea 4 is very over the top and wacky, but I dont mind some ips switching things up on different games sometimes. Also the super powers were really fun.
Must suck to be you bro. Hopefully you appreciated the first two installments. I never played another one, I probably only put a few hours into SR3, then I gave the game to my brother. I was 15 when I tried to play it, played the first two between 12-14 Never even looked into another SR game after that. 3 ruined everything for me 😂
2:32 I went through all these phases at various points of my pre-teen and teenage years except for going vegan. 😂 Skater girl (to impress some long haired skater boy I thought was cute), then goth (lots of bad heavy eyeliner), then scene (different bad heavy eyeliner and clip in colored extensions, lots of cringe jewelry and cringe in general). Glad my parents let me go through all the phases and encouraged it, I feel pretty comfy with who I am today. Personal reflection aside - great video! I didn't hate Saints Row 3, and have some fond memories playing it. I enjoyed some of the ridiculousness however Saints Row 1 and 2 will always be the bees knees.
While i did enjoy the later games I personally choose to see the story of Saints Row after the second game as a dream; possibly induced by a drug related coma (maybe Shandi and Tobias tested some new stuff on the boss). To me it would explain why the boss and his crew act differently and why the boss is taking orders from their crew. The story could then be seen as them dealing with their fears of selling out, loosing friends, and loosing power. If the boss is in a coma then maybe there is a tv near by playing various shows that are working their way into the dream thus explaining the aliens, zombies, and wrestling and the further you get into the dreams the more unhinged they become. All of this could be used to reset the plot back to a slightly more serious time with a Dorthy waking up from Oz style plot device. All this to say.... GIVE ME A NEW SAINTS ROW 3! 😅
personally that would have made a lot of sense and the everything was just a massive fever dream of the boss while he was tripping some serious balls. An everything in the end was just one big fantasy.
I'm not sure if it's meant to be a reference or not, but the (TT)Rpg Shadowrun has a classification of character called a "Decker", which is... Basically just a hacker, honestly, and it's always seemed weird to me that the Deckers look like some cheesy low-budget Cyberpunk cosplay group. I'm not sure if that's meant to be a reference or something, but it's always stuck out to me.
I honestly prefer videos where you actually do mission-by-mission breakdown. The story narration/analysis is my favourite part of all your videos, especially for games that I havent played in a long time, like the saints row games, sleeping dogs, watch dogs etc. Shame you didnt do it for Saints Row 3.
Yeah i totally get why people won't like the Game I'm glad i play sr3, it is REALLY fun and makes me interested in the franchise and thanks to that i found sr2 and My God thats a GEM of a game!! But My love for sr3 is still there, hell i Even keep playing it Even this day I'm not blind like theres a lot of stuff i love in 2 that don't appear in 3 like repeat missions, customization, and ofc some aspects of the characters but overall it IS a fun game an it makes sense this game was ported The new direction the series took is... Debatable like it's not BAD but i think they can work ot better, i like the Gangster theme more but sr3 "theme" isnt that Bad i guess it need more cook It is still better than the reboot thats for sure, at least in the 3 and 4 they have violence, boobs jokes and all that fun stuff that makes the game feel like it is made for adults
The deal in the third is just a lazy changed up rehash of the deal with Maero from two. They package a lot of these things as throwbacks but- Hence the trio's slo mo walk in the third mirroring the one at the end of two.
SR3 was alright. I had a ton of fun with it and ultimately thats why i game. To have fun. Its not my favorite SR. Thats always going to be 2 but it was far from bad. 4 was just to much whacky and super powers trivialized and made many aspects of the game completely pointless. SR2023 well we just don't talk about that dumpster fire. We just ignore it as it burns silently in a dark alley in the slums.
Started with saints row 1 in 2006 Loved it, being a big San Andreas fan, it felt like my favourite part (the gang wars at the start) with next gen upgrades. 2 is the best I guess ( I prefer 1 just cuz) with the new features and the good story, wish we got closure with Dex but was grateful for the Julius mission. 3 was such a let down cuz I wanted the story to continue and the silliness was cranked to 11- I guess 4 was true 11 but at the time that's how it felt.
Great vid Fuzzy, I played Saint's Row from demo disc to GOH and imo, each game grew with the times but saints row 2 was a labor of love and it shows but SR4 was on the opposite spectrum, like the Devs last chance to give us fan service/fiction before the OG devs left
The best voices in the entire franchise have been: -British Male voice -Latina female voice -Russian female voice I absolutely hated that the Russian female voice didn't return for SR4
Saints row 2 literally better than every gta other than gta v. And saints row 2 is better than gta5 in certain ways like way more customization. Another thing thats awesome about sr2 is that you can create your own playable character instead of being stuck with a character that the game wants you to play. The gold in sr2 is way better than the gold in gta5.
My first SR was 2 and I enjoyed 3 and really liked some things it did, but it would've been better as a spin-off. Things I liked that SR3 did: The Upgrade System - I'm just a fan of RPG mechanics especially in games in a modern setting. The graphic style - Absolutely love how 3 looks. The choices that have gameplay related consequences - A neat idea, though I think the choices should've been way more drastic in both what you lose and what you gain.
Same for me but add the ability to crush vehicles into pancakes with tanks and monster trucks, instead of just blowing up like 3D GTAs. First game i played that had that.
you only critique the most irrelevant things in the game, like "the drug traficing activitie its now called traficing" or talk for 5 minutes about the song that plays during a mission, saints row the third has many fails and you still talk shit about the things that no one cares
i started the franchise with this game too, and i've got to say, when i played the 2nd game, Shaundi, just came out of left field. Now my cannon is split 2 ways: 1. in the 3rd game she takes nothing, hence, this is her normal behaviour and the reason why she is such a "crack" head in the 2nd game. So she can be more chill and not want to burn the world. 2. She took so much substance from 2nd to 3rd game, with the Saints becoming celebrities and all that, to the point she became a psichopath.
Been a longtime subscriber of him and I agree with everything he said here expect using Power for the Syndicate party mission, it's one of the most iconic moments in gaming imo
I like all of the first 4 games for different reasons. 2 is packed with detail and content that i always enjoy coming back to it. I admit I just think 3 is funny, and 4 is so wild and stupid that i sometimes cont decide if i like it more then 2 sometimes
Every part of this video details all of my feelings towards this game. I loved SR 1&2. When I first played SR 3 I had mixed emotions about it. I hated what they did to Johnny Gat and Shaundi. But I ended up enjoying the game for what it was by the end. On the other hand, when I first played SR 4, I absolutely hated what I was playing so much so that I put the controller down for months. I finally gave the game another shot when I sat down and played it for what it was and not what I wanted it to be. And it one of the most mind numbingly fun times I've had playing a video game. I entered the world of SR 4 and I had a blast. The soundtrack was also great in my opinion and added to the gameplay. Although, I will say that all of the Saints games have great tracks. Can't confirm the reboot though. I refuse to play it 😂 As I said about the Punisher Warzone before, it's not a great movie but it's not a bad watch. I would love a True Crime: New York video! I have fond memories of that game.
Sad to say SR3 was my first real SR. I knew about SR but I thought it was those shitty GTA clones. My buddy left me borrow SR3 a few months after it came out. I absolutely loved it. It was the whack fun stuff I was missing that GTA 4 didn’t have. It’s the reason I played SR2 and is one of my favorite games. Sadly SR3 really is a one trick pony. Once you beat it in 4 hours you’re bored. There’s nothing to do and no incentives. That was a shame to me
Ah saints row the third this was also my first saints row game I first played it around when GameFly was still new and my dad ordered it and I loved it, and yeah I agree playing it now feels way different now but still has it fun moments.It’s certainly WAYYYYYY better than the recent “Reboot” lol
The divided fanbase could've been avoided if The Third was a spin-off instead. Volition coulda gave us a wacky spin-off series alongside the more balanced Saints Row games.
is that a walking dead reference at 39:00 ? Or did S1 not come out yet? cause that tank scene really looks like episode 1 of TWD. I don’t remember if that happened in the comics, i dont think there was a tank.
SR3 was my first Saints Row game too, since I only got into SR2 after idolNinja released "Gentlemen of the Row" mod, and the game was good for a PC player. However, after playing through SR2 + 3 + 4 during first months of lockdown, I realized that Three is actually my least favorite because despite the antics your character comes up, it's the 2 and the 4 who are actually fun with their over-the-top gameplay.
You should've played the Remaster. It's the only reason why I ever go back in play the Third now cause I just love the style and looks of it something really aesthetically pleasing about it. Find it weird how no one even brings it up here on the video lol
35:18 the moment with power as you take over the penthouse I didn’t mind because a lot of the game was advertised with that song and growing up I always associated it with the game, but even as a kid I found the I need a hero scene to be cheesy and too silly. The only game devs who I now trust with music in a game scene is Remedy tho, they could make a playable musical and I would be all for it with how the ashtray maze in control was or even the champion of light in Alan wake 2. God tier music moments
I hate Third, I love Saints Row 1&2 because where GTA focused on the characters Saints Row focused more on making you feel like a gangster by having you set up rackets and engage in illegal activities. Yes they were wacky and fun to play but you could as see a gang engaging in those types of things to gain money and turf. The main story was never as "Serious" as GTA but it was real, people died, drama happens, characters change and you as a player like the crew you build up and have fun taking down the rival crews. Third said "we don't like being compared to GTA so we are going to go to the extreme and alienate fans of 1 and 2 while also hammering in the first nail in the coffin of our franchise". They turned everything into a joke and it got boring so freaking fast, I to this day have never beaten the Third or Fourth game. Then there is the Remake that instead of learning from the Greats that is Saints Row 1 and 2 they learned from Third and Fourth and went even more out of left field were they just make everything and everyone so freaking annoying while thinking that they are funny and everyone is laughing with them
As somebody who has played every saints row on release, I never hated 3. It was fun. Yeah it was very different from 1 and 2. But it still had some fun to it.
