SPOILERS I want everyones honest opinion

The game definitely has a lot of issues but when it works it's not THAT bad.
 
is this the general "reboot gripes" thread now because i definitely have something to say. caveat though: i haven't played this game yet myself, i'll get it on steam once it's available. i think the overall consensus that this game is... average at best sounds perfectly valid though.

i have been following the reboot discussion on the sr subreddit and elsewhere pretty closely out of interest and it's depressing. the worst posts for me are probably the ones that basically go "well saints row was never good anyways, you're just getting more of the same with this. isn't that enough?". not said as a judgement or an attempt to put the series down, just as a simple statement of fact. i've seen the same repeated in reviews, "it's not a good game but saints row fans are getting what they want" and like... is that really how it's always been? i definitely have a lot of gripes about the series as a whole but i've always thought that overall it's quite good actually, amazing at points even. is this really the legacy sr and Volition have at this point, forgettable mediocrity and a fanbase with very low standards? Companies Are Not Our Friends and all but i've genuinely held Volition in very high regard and always thought that they make very high quality games, especially for their size and resources. i don't want them to fail even though i definitely complain a lot.

like to go back a little i was super incensed over aom's announcement years ago because i thought it was so disgustingly transparently manipulative of the sr fanbase with its marketing (i was right too, Deep Silver proudly admitted it in an article. and i mean all you really need is eyes to confirm it). i definitely wasn't gonna buy it but you know, it's a Volition game, i'm sure it'll still be good and im just being overly negative. it'll do just fine right? then i thought the bad reception was basically a fluke, mostly a result of circumstance and the horrible marketing. i really thought this reboot would be something good if not great, a return to form, even though i can't say i was very happy about it either initially for many reasons (mostly bitterness though). instead it sounds like the biggest knee-jerky fears i had about it are true - it sounds too afraid to appeal too much to any specific audience because that might hypothetically lose them some sales, and too stuck with once again trying to recreate srtt's success to properly refresh and innovate. to me, personally, it mainly sounds and looks like homogenized reheated srtt mush, lacking in ambition, content and, maybe, passion for the craft and the series itself as well.

i swear i'm not trying to be an asshole or a hater or whatever just for the sake of it, this whole thing just made me realize how genuinely emotionally invested in these games i still am, and maybe Volition a bit as well. for some reason sr just keeps taking the goddamn cheese grater to my already soft and tender feefees whenever something's going on with it. like ultimately saying "i find the game fun and that's enough" is more than valid, i think that's really good! i think i'll have fun with it too once i can buy it, because i really love this genre. exploring video game cities is one of my favorite things even if the game itself is not the best, i am very easily entertained when it comes to that. but i also think that many people (still?) have very high standards for this particular company and this series for a reason, even after all these years, "The Saints' name used to mean something" and all. it really, really sucks to feel like the bar is now basically set underground for them and the series for a lot of people while you're still thinking about the absolute highs it was at with Stilwater, hoping in vain Volition would at least try to reach it again one day.
 
Then your standards about how a game should be is below rock bottom.
There's no way a sane person would find something good or fun about that dumpster fire. Embracer Group/THQ Nordic/Koch Media/Deep Silver/Volition naming that thing Saints Row is beyond disrespectful.
I'm glad you know me enough to make that judgement. Go off tho!
 
I would had bought it just to support Volition, but damn Deep Silver... Damn it.... why you had to go Epic exclusive?
To protect themselves and Volition... Well there's no way to know if this was actually their intention from the start. But seeing how the game bombed, I'm just glad they took EPIC's deal. If they hadn't took the deal, V would be living on borrowed time right now. And I just can't bear to see another company that made me who I am today through their games, meet such a miserable end.

Some would say that it's just not worth it, that V is just a shadow of its former self, and that they'll never be able to make games that are as good as their previous ones. They might be right, they might not be, there's no way to know for sure. What I do know for sure is that V always had good intentions, even if they became increasingly misguided as time went on.
Even with how this game turned out, it's clear to see by looking at some of its systems, that the people at Volition still have a drive to make good games, and thanks to the EPIC deal, these people now have a second chance. And that's objectively a good thing.

I just wish Volition would finally understand that it is simply impossible to please both the "new" and "old" fans with a single game.
 
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"I just wish Volition would finally understand that it is simply impossible to please both the "new" and "old" fans with a single game."
Not so.
The reason "new fans" came on board was because they were looking over the shoulder of "old fans" actively playing great games ,sometimes with silly mods installed :) .
Trying to please a whiny tiny small subset because they're shouting the loudest on twitter is never gonna work out well.
 
I guess hot take but I’m in the minority of people enjoying the game. Even more of a hot take I guess, I grew up playing Saints Row. 2 was my favorite game on the 360 as a teenager. But, I’ll admit, I’m the same age as the protagonists struggling with the same kinds of issues (student debt, making rent, etc) so the game does speak to the millennial power fantasy for me.
Ultimately it feels like they tried to go the route of “be gay do crimes fuck capitalism” crime mindset instead of the hood mindset. It’s definitely being targeted toward modern day millennials and late zoomers, so it is what it is.
 
"I just wish Volition would finally understand that it is simply impossible to please both the "new" and "old" fans with a single game."
Not so.
The reason "new fans" came on board was because they were looking over the shoulder of "old fans" actively playing great games ,sometimes with silly mods installed :) .
Trying to please a whiny tiny small subset because they're shouting the loudest on twitter is never gonna work out well.
Im a new fan and i want it to go back to the old roots. I honestly believe theyll get even more people if they do that
 
Here's something minor about the writing. I lived part of Neenah's story about driving her
mom through Chemo in her favorite car, and some asshole destroying it, after promising my mom I'd keep take good care of the vehicle
. I did that through all 18 months of my mothers own battle.

And the way it was phrased, the dry writing and soap opera-esque lack of emotion in how it was conveyed, made me feel no connection to it.

And I really hate that. In storytelling, the whole point of making characters relatable instead of just likeable, is that you're banking on the conveyance of relative emotion, to sell the moment.

And I felt nothing. :( And that sucks. I felt more emotion that the jerk got away than anything about the parallel.

If the series continues, I hope they put new writers in.
 
To protect themselves and Volition... Well there's no way to know if this was actually their intention from the start. But seeing how the game bombed, I'm just glad they took EPIC's deal. If they hadn't took the deal, V would be living on borrowed time right now. And I just can't bear to see another company that made me who I am today through their games, meet such a miserable end.

Some would say that it's just not worth it, that V is just a shadow of its former self, and that they'll never be able to make games that are as good as their previous ones. They might be right, they might not be, there's no way to know for sure. What I do know for sure is that V always had good intentions, even if they became increasingly misguided as time went on.
Even with how this game turned out, it's clear to see by looking at some of its systems, that the people at Volition still have a drive to make good games, and thanks to the EPIC deal, these people now have a second chance. And that's objectively a good thing.

I just wish Volition would finally understand that it is simply impossible to please both the "new" and "old" fans with a single game.
Third chance *points to AOM*

They really need to get out a crowd pleaser though.
 
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