Revisiting the original Saints Row

So I recently got a 360 again, and I figured since I finally had the opportunity for the first time in what seems like 10 years to replay and revisit the original world of Stilwater that I should pick up the first Saints Row. I wanted to really get down and see where the series started all over again, as I remember actually really loving the first game, I realize many people consider the series to have really kicked off with part 2, but I wanted to see what it was about 1 that seemed special or different from the others.

So say the least though, the original Saints Row can be described as one major thing, ambitious. The city feels dense, the graphics have held up shockingly well, the lack of air travel makes the sky scrapers feel looming and claustrophobic, and the amount of interiors readily available to visit filled with tiny details is impressive. There are things in this game that never quite got fleshed out, at least not that I recall every being fleshed out. I was baffled when I was reminded that once upon a time we had stores that actually ran on day night cycles and you could break into them and rob their safe in the night and drop it off at a pawn shop to be fenced.

The game of course has aged. The controls are less than fluid at times, driving can be a little touchy, and the overall look of the game almost feels comic bookish with how vibrant the colors are. In fact if you omit SR2 from your mind, you can almost see a direct line from SR1 to SR3 in terms of visual style. There's a distinct lack of cloudy filters and colored hazes to make the city feel more polluted. Everything is fairly crisp with its details. I'd say the area its aged the worst is probably the animations, as your character will run with a handgun like he's about to shoot himself, and he's got a jump animation reminiscent of Luigi's mid air run.

Saints Row 2 is a fantastic game we all remember. I think its time we also try revisiting Saints Row 1 if you have the opportunity, there's a lot there that I don't feel was touched on at all in the sequels, and to say the least its one of the most ambitious open world crime games to somehow grow into a much less grounded series that would culminate in fighting alien invaders.
 
I always enjoyed seeing the sunrise and sunsets in the first game. I went as far as to create a texture pack for Saints Row 2 to make Stilwater look almost as it did in the first game, weather, time of day, everything lol.
 
The weather was incredible in Saints Row 1. Better than any of the subsequent games. It's the only one that had real lightning. I loved those storms!
And, yes, the sunsets were beautiful. I loved just standing there and watching the sun set over the water.

Even though the graphics are dated now, little details like that made me love the game and the open world.
 
People talk about Saints Row 3 and 4's story being over the top and it being a breath of fresh air,
but it was like that from the start. To recap: Not five minutes and you almost became a gang related John Doe.
Only to get saved by a dude stuck in the 70's and a guy who's totally not a cop. Got beat up outside a church, so you can
rep some purple flags. Take down rival gangs in brutal fashion, and take back an entire city. Oh! but your not done there!
Apparently killing high ranking gang members wasn't enough for your psychopath of an avatar, so assassinating key government
officials was enough to quench your character's bloodlust before getting a savage performance review by your former boss, in order
to cover up a deep conspiracy that's been going around since Julius ran with the VKs, and only brought to life in the second game, but
still left some loose ends. It's so sad that reviewers called this game a GTA clone, because with it's off the wall humor lies a commentary
and satire about what's going on in society rather it be shady corporate warfare, or forcing the lower class out of their homes and
making them go to places like Sunnyvale, to sell to rich people and make a profit.
This game didn't get it's identity in SRTT, it lost it.
That's just my opinion though. I actually love SRTT and SR!V, and I think they have an awesome community.
I'm just grumpy that there will probably never be a game where you can wage warfare on a big corporation while wearing
a hot dog suit.
 
People talk about Saints Row 3 and 4's story being over the top and it being a breath of fresh air, but it was like that from the start.
...
It's so sad that reviewers called this game a GTA clone, because with it's off the wall humor lies a commentary and satire about what's going on in society ...
I totally agree. People just don't get satire. I think the commentary and satire in the early Saints Row games just went right over a lot of people's heads, and all they saw was a GTA clone.
So Volition noticed people just weren't getting it, and they decided to go over the top and throw it in their face with SR3 and particularly SR4. But it wasn't the same anymore.
The early Saints Row games, made me think. Their stores had some subtleties and depth to them. They had this awesome balance of humor and seriousness that no other game had, and then coupled that with a huge and vibrant open world.
It's just sad that people completely missed the most unique part of the early Saints Row games. Anyone who calls them GTA clones just wasn't paying attention.
 
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So I started playing this game and what triggers me is how everyone tells me to change and wash my clothes, that I look awful, that my clothes look dirty despite the fact I change them every in-day game.

In SR2 you could stop these pesky comments by buying some new undies everyday but here it is impossible to do.
 
So I started playing this game and what triggers me is how everyone tells me to change and wash my clothes, that I look awful, that my clothes look dirty despite the fact I change them every in-day game.

In SR2 you could stop these pesky comments by buying some new undies everyday but here it is impossible to do.
In Sr1 you're a grungy thug. What's to expect?
 
I know man, but even my fellow gangmembers tell me to wash my clothes lol

Despite I fact I'm dressed and blinged on the most expensive Impressions and On This Ice stuff
Yeah, I found out that the way that the respect system works is kind of janky. Clothing and cars has some sort of buff or timer,
which makes NPCs react positively or like a insecure high school kid who maxes his parent's cards on Gucci and Under Armor lol.
The way I see it I'm supposed to be a killer, so I give them their own blood and bullet riddled laundry to take care of. Yep, I need to go outside more...
 
Yeah, I found out that the way that the respect system works is kind of janky. Clothing and cars has some sort of buff or timer,
which makes NPCs react positively or like a insecure high school kid who maxes his parent's cards on Gucci and Under Armor lol.
The way I see it I'm supposed to be a killer, so I give them their own blood and bullet riddled laundry to take care of. Yep, I need to go outside more...

So I tried changing clothes every two days and the pesky comments stopped, I think it works better than the SR2 system because in SR2 you would have to buy a new piece of clothing every 2 in day games so ppl wouldn't tell you stink.
 
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