What HAPPENED To Saints Row? | Saints Row Retrospective

saints row is back after a long time out of the spotlight the third street saints have returned or have they is there even a saints row in santo aliso i guess we'll find out but there's been a slew of controversy surrounding this reboot and i have my own thoughts which i have posted in the dedicated video to that over on my other channel so go and check it out if you want i'll link it in the description and whatever there's no better time however to revisit their humble beginnings back to when we first saw the third street saints burst onto our screens and take us on a crazy unforgettable journey like no other game truly had from working your way up the ranks of a street gang to leading your allies into battle against aliens it's safe to say that this series has done and seen almost everything saints row is a franchise of hearts of family and of leadership and you can't truly embrace the new without taking a dive into what came before so strap yourselves in folks because here we go all right everybody listen up we got some serious [ __ ] to discuss yeah we cleared out the road you think for a second that's going to stop them unless we wipe all these [ __ ] out they're going to keep coming i think it's time to give those other crew to wake up thought earth [Music] and you better believe we're showing this [ __ ] humanity isn't dead because we're still alive saints used to own stillwater and it seems like the only [ __ ] that remember that is me and gack once we're done here go talk to one of these guys they'll have something to do it's our time now let's get this [ __ ] started [Music] [Music] volition under the publisher of thq in the early 2000s held a design exercise for its staff to submit ideas for a new intellectual property one idea was a hybrid between an fps and a quote unquote gang simulator something we hadn't really seen explored a great deal in video games a trailer was put together a proof of concept let's say using clips from movies and games using the backing track [ __ ] the police and after being shown off to the board thq's chief financial officer decided that was the game they were going to make the game was titled in development bling bling which actually became a store that you could visit within saints row later down the line a lot of the studio wanted to stay away from it they felt it was either too controversial or not worth their time soon however all of alician would be involved in creating a single open world game saints row it was clearly a game set to capitalize on the success of the grand theft auto franchise with the widely successful gta 3 and vice city releasing only a year or two prior to development beginning the entire design philosophy however was giving the player agency and choice the story was set to be non-linear in structure allowing the players to tackle each arc as they chose to and that the player had the freedom to approach these missions how they felt they wanted christopher stockman the design director on the game felt that open world games didn't reward the player enough for messing around with the sandbox that came with these types of games the story and open world exploration was separate saints row aimed to change that by giving the player rewards for going off and experimenting we clearly see this concept developed as the main premise of saints row is the sandbox giving the player the tools to really go off and do wild things the development of the game had no major hitches other than the fact they overspent their budget of around 9 million otherwise went pretty well with the marketing bringing a large amount of attention towards saints row the release of gta san andreas one year prior to the release of saints row no doubt helped as it too focused on gang warfare as a major component the demo released on xbox live marketplace also broke records for being downloaded more than 350 000 times in the first week saints row was released on august 29 2006 and it went incredibly well for thq and volition the reviews sat comfortably at eight out of ten sometimes crossing over into nine out of ten but occasionally dropping down to the lower sixes and sevens the game was praised for its approach to sandbox whilst being heavily criticized in a lot of areas for the similarities to grand theft auto understandable yet when a game so big creates essentially its own genre of game you can expect there are others that will follow suit and saints row did more than being a mere copycat the game fell into a similar camp as gta at the time with its edgy direction and content with the time stating this is a game guaranteed to offend and entertain in equal measure but it is emphatically not for children with them also giving it a rating of five stars it's fair to say that saints row had done exactly what it had set out to do and the response was what was hoped for the gameplay is fairly basic from today's standards when it comes to shooting enemies driving around the map or exploring the city but the sandbox is really where it showed its individuality the game allowed players to really go at the world however they chose with a large arsenal of weapons some purchased and some unlockable you would find yourself destroying convoys of cars with an rpg defending a drug dealer from on sorts of police cars or escorting an escort around as her clients try to hide from the pesky paparazzi the game really had it all and it felt as if you were delving into a world that you probably shouldn't be the gunplay is simple but incredibly satisfying i feel even by today's standards sure the actual shooting is pretty naff but the ragdoll physics as you gun people down just never get old the same goes for hitting pedestrians with your car something about the noise it makes and the way they fly through the air is just right am i just [ __ ] up what the hell the game also had a large focus on player customization with the clothes you wear mattering giving you more respect as it's called feeling like as you made more money you wore better clothes and you really weren't moving up in your gang the cars you drive were also a huge part of the game with tons of cars to buy steal or unlock all customizable you felt as if you were really being rewarded for playing the game i love collecting cars and making them my own giving them that saints purple color to represent my gang the story has us take control of a bystander of a recent gang fight on the streets of the city of stillwater between the main gangs present in the story los conales a hispanic gang deep into drug trafficking ran by the brothers hector and angelo west side rollers are mainly asian gang known for its illegal street racing and car sales ran by william sharp and his nephew joseph price the vice kings a mainly african-american gang involved in most of stillwater's entertainment industry prostitution music and retail led by benjamin king and warren williams and the third street saints a diverse gang of all races new to the scene and ran by julius little aiming to take back the city from the gangs currently at the top the saints take you in and train you up your character in this game is a silent type he doesn't say much and then a few lines that did scare the [ __ ] out of me when he says them i don't really expect him to speak at all i'm gonna skull [ __ ] that [ __ ] hope you don't mind hepatitis what you alongside the gang's lieutenants troy bradshaw dex and johnny gatt work to dismantle the other three gangs running stillwater this was actually my first run-through of saints row one i started with saints row two when i was a kid and although i did try to play saints row one back in the day i never actually fully finished it i think i found it too hard to be honest so going in this time and getting to experience where it all started was nice it's a very humble beginning and you can see a lot of seeds that were planted for the later entries it's a very tight and enjoyable game the world itself is the urban city of stillwater the city itself resembles a few of your typical american cities mashed into one but from what i can tell there's no clear inspiration there's a lot of satire presence similar to the grand theft auto franchise on the radio in stores from passers-by on the street it really gives you this feeling that although you're part of a relatively serious story the world you live in is ridiculous and silly and that balance of me is what makes saints row so unique although we as the player know the concept of forgive and forget is ridiculous or gunning down waves of cops with an rpg is ludicrous the characters believe it and for them it's totally normal this grounds you in the world and allows you to experience the story through their eyes lets you relate to them and feel welcomed into this over-the-top world each character you meet is engaging and unique you feel invested in them and your character's place in the gang for what flaws this game has it definitely makes up for in the power fantasy of being part of a street gang having a team of people behind you and slowly working your way up with new clothes cars apartments and weapons it's a classic and incredibly enjoyable experience the soundtrack of this game is also an important one obviously with a game like this you have plenty of licensed music and this game does not disappoint with plenty of hip-hop rap alternative rock reggae tracks and more you'll always find something unique to listen to on the radio and that's a pretty running theme throughout the franchise of saints row the game also had a multiplayer mode one that i can't play because it's 2021 and obviously i can't but from looking online it seems there was a few different game modes supporting 1-12 players including your usual death match and other quirky types i don't think it was too popular as i didn't even know it existed but i'm sure in the comments of this video you'll find the five and a half people who absolutely loved this multiplayer mode i honestly had a ton of fun playing this through the game is nostalgic in the best way and i don't mean that as someone who played it as a kid my first entry was saints row 2 and although i did try saints row 1 after the second i never got super into it this was my first proper time delving into the origins of this franchise and i loved it the game has a charm like no other and really sets you up in this world it bolsters saints row 2 with a lot of character depth and backstory the only major issues i found was the fact that whenever you [ __ ] up on a mission which is kind of often due to it being such an old game you end up having to replay the whole thing checkpoints didn't really exist back then and so it's not so much replaying the mission that's frustrating it's replaying the entire drive there which sometimes can be across the entire damn city all in all though it's a solid story with solid gameplay and a really solid setting a game that knew what it wanted to be and set up its identity in a really wonderful way the ending of course leading us nicely into a sequel troy ends up being an undercover cop julia set us up on a boat trip that went very badly and dex don't even get me started on decks with the success of saints row under their belt volition began work on their next title one that would focus on the criticisms of saints row and the strengths that the game had making an even more unique title yet one that retained all that the first game had established and a game that will be remembered for decades to come as the peak of the franchise [Music] well i say they began work in reality saints row 2 began development a whole year before the first saints row even released the first saints row was often compared to the likes of gta 3 in san andreas it felt the industry had labelled it a gta claim volition had other plans with gta 4 set to release in 2008 and moving in a more realistic direction saints row would push itself further from gta going into a more over the top more arcadey and more out their way saints row was set to take its own slice of the open world market saints row 2 was announced officially in may of 2008 and people jumped on this game excited to see what was to come the initial trailers garnered a lot of attention in the press saints row 2 was eventually released in october of 2008 to critical acclaim a lot of reviewers giving it eights and nines and some even ten with eurogamer saying it's one of the most ridiculous and enjoyable games of the year the game sold 365 000 copies in its first month outselling dead space which was actually released on the same day by february 2009 the game had sold over 2.6 million copies along with the original release of the saints row it became one of the best selling video game franchises at the time saints row 2 took everything that worked in the first game and improved on it everything that didn't work they either changed or removed checkpoints were added so you could restart missions easier if you failed the respect system was improved so there was less need for grinding outside missions although engaging in them was still heavily encouraged there was far far more to unlock and a lot more toys to play with saints row 2 pushed the envelope for the crazy and the while without losing the tone established by saints row the game allowed for insanely and over-the-top action sequences a lot of ridiculous violent fun it's intrinsically dry humor while allowing for serious character moments and impactful scenes to play out the entire experience of saints row 2 remains one of the most fun open world experiences to date in my honest opinion you're able to do so much while feeling like it all makes sense you take the world seriously because the characters do but you can also just have fun let loose and go wild the game retains the ability to customize your clothes and cars and feel like you ever expanded your organization as you take down the other gangs in stillwater with wider options open to you taking your cars and making them feel personal is a greatly enjoyable experience in saints row 2. the game also introduced helicopters planes and boats to the game allowing you to traverse in different ways greatly expanding upon the first entry the gunplay and driving were however mostly the same but if it's not broken don't fix it saints row was never the pinnacle of driving or shooting mechanics but it's fun the arcade nature of it is somewhat satisfying let gta stick to realism in saints row i want to skid around corners as quick as possible gun down 12 guys without reloading and see them flying across the room as the bullet's impact it's the incredible visceral violent fun that makes saints row what it is the story in saints row 2 picks up a few years after the first game after the boat trip that went wrong the player or i guess the player awakes from their coma this is where the character creation comes into play allowing the player the chance to customize their character i tried to make my guy look as similar as i could to the first game but the models are so different that i kind of struggled this game also has the main character voice however you can pick from a wide selection of different voices i of course went for the cocking voices on english but also it just sounds bloody incredible [ __ ] you say breaking out of prison with one of your soon-to-be lieutenants carlos you're reintroduced to stillwater saints row has been completely transformed by the alto corporation and the saints are no more three gangs have moved into stillwater and picked up the pieces fighting over turf the sons of samdi a drug cartel named after the verdoen lord of the dead led by the general and mr sunshine the brotherhood natives of stillwater and victims of gang warfare and police violence they run a muck in the city and just take whatever they want run by their leader mero and finally we have the ronin a gang of japanese ninja types filling the power void left by the vice kings led by kazuo akuji and his son shogo our goal is to rebuild the third street saints after saving johnny gat from a prison trial and recruiting our lieutenants carlos pierce and sean the characters who i deeply love the player now the boss of the saints takes the fight to the other gangs to win ownership over the city the city of stillwater is still our setting in saints row 2 and i'm glad that it was seeing the development over the years we've been out of the game was great and the city has a lot more detail seeing areas you recognize too is incredibly rewarding it makes the city feel like home and gives you that motivation to fight so that it can be yours there's a ton of random things that npcs can be doing working their way into various side activities which makes the city feel more alive they also included the underground more than this game something they wanted to put in saints row one but ran out of time and resources to do the various characters you meet across this experience are all unique and engaging your core lieutenants being a joy the relationships you see develop between gats pierce shawndie and carlos are terrific and it makes for some amazing banter but also impactful moments too the world the characters the vibe it all feels so alive in this game this game also featured a multiplayer mode co-op was added as well so you're able to play with a friend through the main story and within the open world it was also a competitive game mode that expanded on the mode and gameplay of the original sensor and multiplayer the soundtrack to this game is also maybe one of my favorites i spent a lot of my teenage years blowing things up to panic at the disco and karma chameleon there's a lot of variety saints row 2 is a masterpiece and i'm not even exaggerating how i feel when i say that this game is so ridiculous but incredible i'd be a miss not to mention some of the greatest moments in this game johnny got in the trial room oh yeah and i'm curious if you can keep acting like a douche bag when i shove that gavel up your ass my client would like that stricken from the record losing carlos is a moment that is heavy and hits you in your guts this game is not [ __ ] messing around when you get back at marrow by making him crush his own [ __ ] girlfriends [Applause] i'm gonna kill you right here right now no you're not what's this do me a favor when you check the trunk just remember you should've offered me something better than twenty percent my god this game just didn't pull its punches i could be here all day naming scenes that hit [ __ ] good but let's not forget the final moment with vogel they're dead and you have the saints number one fan running [Music] this game doesn't [ __ ] around it's a dude in a suit for a corporation talking [ __ ] after taking over the entire city you can see the saints have grown to feel untouchable and the boss just pulls the trigger without a second thought it's [ __ ] badass as [ __ ] and i love it and this game balances its humor and serious themes perfectly i mean perfectly take for example the moment at aisha's funeral johnny's girl is dead killed by a rival gang and when the hot-headed son of the gang's leader shows up to the funeral gat isn't taking any [ __ ] i'm not killing anyone at isha's funeral tonight tomorrow you name a time and i will gladly [ __ ] you up but not now after beating him gap punishes this kid this game that sometimes has your killing dudes in hot dog suits takes its time to show gat taking out his anger on this kid beating him and demanding that he get up over and over again breaking his limbs this guy is ruthless and at no point in the scene do they make a single joke this game can be absolutely hilarious but when they let impactful moments happen they let them happen finishing this sequence by burying the kid alive and piling dirt on top of him as we hear his screams it's [ __ ] dark and it's incredible because we're immersed in this world and these characters this [ __ ] is awesome this kid had it coming he killed an innocent woman someone close to johnny and his vengeance to us is justified once they're out of the scene however we get time to make jokes and it alleviates the darkness that we just saw [ __ ] and that really is one of the many examples of how this game takes itself seriously without having to be purely dark and gritty another incredible part of this game is that it wraps up some of the threads left from saints rogue one you have the plot of julius troy dex and what happened on the boat well you can actually play a secret mission to kind of wrap it all up after going to the police station listening to some recordings that explains troy's master plan for bringing down the saints and julius opting to join him to save himself you call up dex asking you to meet him at the old church the saints base of operations from the first game once there however julius shows up realizing dex set you both up you fight to survive after that however but i guess that makes us even not really and that's it job done it's [ __ ] brilliant and caps off the game as a really nice epilogue to everything that just happened it just shows how far the saints have come and how far the boss has gone he doesn't take [ __ ] and he has the experience to back it up the only thing i wish we got resolved was the deck situation we know he took a job for altor but like what was he doing what happened to him after all toru why was he coming for julius and the boss said we never saw that storyline tied up but i can let it slide given how great this game is and with stillwater theirs the saints in full control of the city it leads us to what comes next how will the saints deal with having so much power what does that entail for saints row the third by september 2008 the next entry was in development at the time called saints row 3 obviously the team for whatever reason felt that their concept with saints row 2 of include everything made the game's identity hard to discern that serious themes didn't allow for the series to fully commit to being a more lighthearted experience in order to truly garner their own identity in the industry and push the envelope more the idea of saints row 3 was to commit to being over the top after a few ideas being thrown around including the idea of an undercover agent infiltrating the saints they settled on what became saints row the third a game that capitalized on the crazy a game that pushed the boundaries of being ridiculous and focused on the fantasy of being able to do whatever the [ __ ] you want within a sandbox they wanted every mission to have one over the top moment for players to be talking about for years to come scott phillips the game director also specifically wanted for the player character not to be a dick which is very specific and i feel goes against specifically what made him such a great character in saints row two or she the boss was a lovable for lack of a better word saints row the third they felt would reboot the franchise in a sense finally giving the series a name with a set identity the only issue being the fan base felt it had its identity sure it was wacky but it was also a gang of warfare open world sim saints row 3 wasn't going to be that the game was finally announced in march of 2011 and was a buzz in the industry with trailers and demos only bringing more hype i know my little 14 year old self was very excited for another saints row game especially after how much i adored saints row 2. the development from this point on was pretty rocky the team spent a lot of time cutting content everything was scaled back removing a cover system for shooting as well as a parkour system called free gunning scott phillips has since said that he actually wanted to remove even more which is wild because the game already feels pretty bare bones compared to saints row 2 in my opinion the game released in november of 2011 with four times the pre-order counts of saints row two so you can tell that people bought into this game on goodwill alone from the previous two entries hoping this would be the best one yet the game received what they called generally favorable reviews at least that's what wikipedia says a lot saying that the game wasn't trying to be more than a good time eurogamer stating that the game's randomness and ridiculous almost became predictable after a while of playing however they were praised in a lot of ways for their creativity and missions having a decent number of major set pieces in which varying things happened from shootouts mid-skydive to entering a virtual world to take out the leader of a hacker gang sanctuary iii certainly had some memorable moments according to the journalists with mainly scores of sevens and eight saints iii certainly wasn't doing bad by any means the gameplay of saints row the third resembles quite closely what we've come to know the gunplay has been greatly improved to feel tighter more responsive and impactful with a large array of weapons to collect upgrade and improve your arsenal has never been so extensive the driving 2 is greatly improved from the previous games every car feels unique to use and has a weight to it it's not as realistic as gta but i wouldn't want it to be it feels good with just the right amount of arcadey style to make it feel like saints row which is nice the way this game feels different however is in its general tone it's far far more lighthearted than the previous entries and plays most things off like a joke where in saints row 2 you felt like a piece of [ __ ] doing awful things and that was the fun it was edgy in saints row 3 you're more of a lovable idiot doing things that are so crazy and over the top that you don't stop to think wow i just murdered so many people it's more ludicrous than it is large-scale criminal activity the customization remains from the previous games although i feel it matters a lot less where in saints row one and two you'd be working your way up and slowly upgrading your clothes in cars feeling like making money meant something in sainsbury's three you're sort of already at the top and the customization feels entirely limited most of the clothes in this entry are sort of funny joke outfits more than actual legit clothes that make you feel like you're part of a gang i tried my best to change my outfits often but most of the stuff just looks silly which really sucks car customization although it makes a large comeback and feels pretty much as in-depth as saints row 2 did if some minor things might be missing here and there being able to upgrade your strongholds is also a pretty cool feature that increases how much money you make makes it worth your while too although general crib customization is no longer present the story of saints row iii takes place a good few years after the ending of saints row 2. after owning stillwater the saints are at the top of the game nobody wants to fight them they own the police they've merged with ultra and become the saints ultra media group a concept that i think is hugely interesting yet incredibly underexplored after a bank heist that goes wrong the saints realize they've become complacent that they're [ __ ] the same way that ultor was they needed to strike back at this gang that hit them that takes us to our new city for this game steel port after johnny gat literally [ __ ] dies over an intercom i say he dies but we'll get to that for now he dies we're on a quest for revenge the group that is responsible for all of this is the syndicate comprised of three gangs that work together under one banner the morning star the head of the syndicate the oldest gang in steel port with their hands in prostitution and human trafficking ran by philippe loren as well as the de winter sisters viola and kiki the dekker's a cyber gang who causes trouble using tech led by matt miller and finally the luchadors they make their money through gambling and drug sales led by kilbane a high profile wrestler in steel port although the game isn't structured like that of saints row one and two you don't get set up and go to take down these gangs oddly enough you sort of do bits of everything let's talk about this because honestly this game is structured super weirdly once getting to steelport you pretty much take out lorraine instantly the guy who we think is the big head of the syndicate which he is we kill him right away after that the saints try to head back to stillwater but kilbane attacks them on the bridge and also takes the role of the leader of the syndicate it also just kills kiki so she's dead now like sasha grey can't be voicing two characters now this is where [ __ ] gets really weird for me the game never seems to land on a focus once back in steel poor it's about gaining allies so you go and you meet three kinsey zemos and angel now you never really seem to spend time with these guys in saints row 2 after setting up your gang you have arcs for each gang say you're doing the sons of zambiak you speak to shaun d and then you get to know her before every mission you'll get a cutscene which shows shandy and the boss getting to know each other but also you get cutscenes showing the leader of the family reacting to your actions so there's development for everybody in sainsbury's iii however after saving these guys you get some cutscenes don't get me wrong but then the game just makes you do four or five random tasks there's no real rhyme or reason they're just side activities but the game makes them part of the main story instead of giving these characters any meaningful screen time to show why they joined the saints how does that change them how do they grow to know the boss how do they integrate with pierce and shaundi we don't see any of that instead we drive around with a tiger in the car because content we also get no time with any of these gangs that we're taking down we barely see cut scenes with them and you take them out without even realizing suddenly viola is helping you because kilbane killed their sister but like that means the morning star are done now either that or kilbane is running them as well which kind of means there's no point in anything we're actually doing same with matt miller we barely get to know him other than the surface level of he's a funny quirky nerd and then he just he just leaves we don't even kill him we just let him go because he gives us a back door into some company saints row 2's boss would have shot him on the spot no questions asked because he was our enemy that shit's cool why are we just letting him go and then all of a sudden that's the deck has dealt with no big climactic moments where the two bosses come head to head nothing he's just gone and i guess kilbane takes over again even kilbane has no real resolution suddenly he's just working with you on a film at the end because it's funny i guess the more and more i think about this game the more and more i realize this [ __ ] is just so far from what saints row means to me it's such incredibly vapid surface level over the top [ __ ] that doesn't take the time that it actually should to characterize and set a focus it just keeps piling random [ __ ] on stuff keeps happening but like also nothing happens either the game is honestly just really really weird to me it's even more jarring coming directly out of saints row 2 where these characters are actual characters seeing them become these hollow shells were just so strange to me we don't even really get time with shandy and pierce and the boss becomes a bumbling idiot who lets all of his enemies go i honestly think the reason they killed gatz is because they knew there was no way they could pacify that character and get away with it the way that they did they simply just kill him off the game is so safe it's basic and honestly kind of boring i feel like this is a very uninspired take on saints row from someone who didn't really get what made it special to begin with to wrap up my little piece here let's just look at this quote from scott phillips the game director he says i feel like i'm playing something unlike anything else we know what saints row is now and that was him talking about handling the dildo back for the first time the pinnacle of comedy the bat the bat that is a deal though the open world for this game like i said is steel port a map that always seems to be night time for some reason does anyone else notice that saints row 3 always seems to be night time steel board is always night time i don't remember night time at all really in saints row 1 and 2 although maybe there was no day night cycle in those games but anyway the city design is cool and although i obviously prefer still water purely because the games set there were kind of better steel ball is a really well designed map with unique areas really nice lighting in the city center it feels dense and feels alive which is something that saints row one and two never really achieved this game was also set to have a multiplayer mode like a competitive one but it was cut along with all of the other cut things mainly because nobody really played it in saints row 102. it did however have co-op which became a staple of the series as well as horde mode it's about like [ __ ] like horde mode but horde yeah it's funny in which it's exactly what you'd expect now i sort of already discussed how i felt about the game it's an odd one and i didn't remember a lot about this game going in only i was pretty disappointed at 14. saints row 2 was and still is one of my favorites and all i remember about saints row 3 was that it didn't deliver given that i didn't actually remember much about the game i thought this time i would enjoy it a lot more then i realized upon playing it the reason why i didn't remember it is because there's nothing really to remember there are no memorable moments not like the ones i mentioned in saints row 2. it feels pretty absent of all heart or focus or direction it's trying too hard to be as crazy and over the top as possible that it pretty much forgot the core of this series was the characters the contained story and the gang itself the saints this game was a great opportunity to show how the saints have become soft and have them go on a journey of re-learning what it means to be a saint coming up against unstoppable odds and pushing on anyway hardening up and eventually taking over an entirely new city ruthlessly and aggressively with incredible moments of interaction between the boss and the bosses of the other gangs in the syndicate confrontations that have weight actually killing these enemies and showing why the saints were on top to begin with sadly we didn't get that and i think no matter what i'll always be disappointed with saints room iii it should have taken what saints row 2 did and pushed it further it should have been the best game in the series but instead it feels pretty vacant and pretty lackluster the gameplay itself is great but the story character writing and general tone is all wrong and it's a real shame but by this point saints row was a full-blown aaa franchise with three successful games under their belts they weren't done anytime soon and they began work on a dlc for saints row the third a dlc that will push the boundaries of what wacky things these games could do however over time that dlc would evolve into something more and more development would increase and things would change eventually becoming the next main installment of the franchise and it would certainly change things but in a way that none of us could truly predict the dlc enter the dominatrix was developed alongside something called saints row part four a game set to take the saints to a new city with new gangs to face however due to financial issues at thq they were pushed to consolidate their efforts on this enter the dominatrix dlc which would feature superpowers in a simulated steel port from saints row 3. this eventually developed into what became saints row 4 with the original part 4 being entirely scrapped amidst this volition was sold to [ __ ] media in early 2013 when thq filed for bankruptcy saints row 4 would be published by deep silver volition's new goal under [ __ ] media was to create open world games where the player is an agent of mayhem and we'll get back to that one saints row 4 set to tackle the idea that nothing could be more over the top than saints row the third they wanted to prove it very well could be and so we find ourselves with aliens superpowers and a whole host of other [ __ ] that creates the game that should not work but somehow kind of does and it's kind of fantastic the game was released in august of 2013 to pretty decent reviews those who had already bought into the idea of saints row being wacky loved it whereas those who had their reservations about saints road iii departure from the serious tones mostly hated it it was clear that the fanbase at this point was split those who loved the gang-focused earlier entries and those who enjoyed the newer take on saints row which of course caused arguments and controversies in the community like i'm sure they'll be in the comments section of this video the game did well though reviews were good better than saints row the third but not quite living up to the hype of saints road 2. and given this was simply a dlc turned into a main entry i'd say that's pretty damn good for them this entry took things in an entirely new direction whereas before each new gamer developed on the gameplay of the previous saints row 4 would do away with a lot of core elements and introduce very new ones the basic shooting and driving is still there but odds are you won't be using it much reason being this game has superpowers your movement is quicker and more accessible when you're simply running around and jumping as you upgrade your skills you're even faster and can move even further i very very rarely use cars in saints row 4 because they're just obsolete along with your movement powers you also have offensive powers you gain across the game from blasts to telekinesis super stomps and buffs all with upgrades and different elements you do really have a vast arsenal combining this with the engaging gunplay and vast array of weapons and customization options you really are left with a system that's actually simply fun as [ __ ] although this game goes over the top in the gameplay department where it differs from saints row the third is in its tone the game has its funny moments for sure but it actually does take the time to set the stakes and take itself seriously despite being over the top and full of crazy action there are moments in which we see these characters being characters something we didn't often see in saints row iii this game feels focused and that's a big plus the story of saints row 4 starts us out on a secret mission to save america after the saints stop a rocket from going off while aerosmith plays you end up becoming president this is where the game sets its tone it establishes what it wants to be and where it's going heading through the white house you meet your crew the guys we've come to know and also keith david the actor who is often referred to by the gang as being like julius which gets me every time it's so dumb but also funny as [ __ ] after a press conference the white house and all of america is attacked by aliens that sound very much like reapers the zinn led by zinyak a british alien with an interest in shakespeare who acts as a very compelling enemy for the saints in this entry someone were given time to develop a hatred for and also someone who's full of charisma taboo once you escape from imprisonment on his ship with help from admiral anderson and kinsey kensington you set up your home base a spaceship floating in orbit above earth [Applause] oh never mind floating in space entering into the simulation of steel port that zignac has created you have to find your crew being held in their very own personal nightmares and take the fight to the zin the open world is very similar to saints row 3 and what we've come to know from saints row it's steel port but with a slightly new lick of paint to change things around a bit there's some pretty sweet challenges and activities with the superpowers it makes it a hell of a lot of fun to engage in but beyond that it's nothing that we haven't seen before this game also had two dlcs enter the dominatrix which finally made its way into the game as well as how the saints saved christmas they aren't anything too special but they're there saints row 4 i feel is a game that gets everything wrong whilst getting everything so right which sounds ridiculous but let me explain saints road was always about gang culture gang warfare those small scale battles that develop into running an entire city through the criminal underworld this game is not that it's a game where the earth is destroyed where you're the president of america where you're fighting aliens it's a full-on parody of mass effect with superpowers and a dubstep gun but at the same time it's so wonderfully saints row this game gives itself time to breathe something that saints row the third never did saints row four lands on a focus very early and spends the rest of the game exploring that developing that and i love it for that from the very start when the boss faces zinniac he has his edge back he dives right into the cockpit and shoots out the glass it's not funny or over the top it's just [ __ ] cool and something that saints row 3 missed the game keeps the hearts of the classics they were always about the characters and their relationships seeing these cool guys doing cool [ __ ] together bantering back and forth in this game we get so much time with each character even the new kinsey was nothing in saints row 3 but in saints row 4 i love her she's fantastic she's actually characterized saints row 3 lost itself in being as over the top as possible it didn't actually tell a story it didn't let its characters just exist in a scenario i'd argue however saints row 4 is the opposite it's all about the characters their history their chemistry and their shared goals it's so enjoyable to connect with each of them despite crazy things of course happening the game's focus isn't on that the game actually has inventive and creative level design with missions actually being fun rather than both ends of the spectrum either mundane open world tasks or ridiculous over-the-top events saints row 4 has creative missions missions that take you out of the open world to give you a set instance to exist in each of the simulations that you break your crew out of are interesting unique full of life and character you get to know something about each of them i found myself numerous times grinning to myself like when we explored shaun dee's grief in losing gat her lack of self-confidence in herself and her dramatic personality shift seeing old shaun's veteran child still water its quality and this goes for the benjamin king segment too seeing how his feud with tanya affected him even all these years later is so rich with character as well as also being great to revisit the road like it hasn't been seen since 2006. and let's not forget saving johnny gatz bringing him back was the best decision they could have made the moments leading up to it are so real and engaging the boss getting mad at matt for suggesting they not save him because of the risks involved and kinsey stepping up showing her teeth shows some damn development between all of them and the boss apologizing to matt there's no outright jokes here they aren't being funny or not taking it seriously they are serious we're watching the characters we remember interact normally rather than being bumbling idiots and it's wonderful then being back with johnny gap the boss and him have come such a long way there's such a deep connection between them and seeing them together again feels right they get to have an actual send-off in a game full of send-offs they use their entire runtime of this game to explore the characters the history of this franchise and give us a pretty decent send-off to everyone involved it feels rewarding and it feels satisfying now don't get me wrong this is far from my ideal saints row if you could have this level of writing but without the superpowers without the aliens and focus on actual gang warfare i'd take it but there's something charming about this ragtag group of friends being stuck as the last humans facing off against an advanced alien threat i wouldn't want it again but as a singular experience when the character writing is this good i don't know it just feels natural the characters make me believe it it doesn't feel out of place if that makes sense and i'm just so glad i got to see these characters properly again after saints row the third got it so wrong for me with saints row 4 being a mixed bag where reviews were concerned and every game needing dlc of some kind the next entry into the saints series would act as a sort of epilogue to saints row 4. i'm not sure why they made this and i don't think many are either but with them extensively pushing the boundaries of what can be done with the saints row yp they had one last shot before they diluted the brand identity beyond anything recognizable and so they took that shot oh boy they took that shot in december 2013 jay maher the voice of dane vogel in saints row 2 revealed that he was working on the next saints row project which of course had fans speculating like crazy later in late 2014 it was revealed something saints related was coming they announced saints row get out of hell a standalone expansion for saints row 4. steve jarris directed this game and it was inspired somewhat by disney films parrying them in musical numbers and themes the game was released in january 2015 to mixed reviews some feeling the game was fun enough to keep them engaged allowing for the player to truly let loose in a crazy and wacky sandbox others were left scratching their heads as to exactly why this entry existed the game received some favorable reviews such as an 8 out of 10 from destructoid while games radar gave it two and a half stars the game itself plays on the concepts introduced in saints row 4 super powers and whatnot with different powers being present the main one here being the power of flight witch although fun for about five minutes becomes mind-numbing for me after ten minutes saints row four although the movement did make vehicles redundant you at least had to consider your options stamina and jumps timing was key in get out of hell you're just flying about mindlessly and it does get kind of boring gunplay and everything else is exactly what you'd expect it's saints row 4 with a few minor changes and additions the story picks up after saints row 4. the saints are celebrating kinsey's birthday and matt miller brings out a ouija board and after accidentally contacting satan himself the boss is abducted and forced to marry satan's daughter jezebel yeah it's this game is [ __ ] johnny and kinsey enter hell to save him and with help from dane vogel of the altar corporation recruit a host of dead evil people we've got viola and kiki blackbeard from pirate history vlad the impaler see it's funny because he's a notoriously evil guy singing the wheels on the bus and william shakespeare right now william shakespeare humanity's greatest playwright and hell's most diabolical purveyor of entertainment see he's a dj it's funny do you get it and the game essentially consists of a ton of filler garbage until you reach the end in which johnny defeats the devil and saves the boss i can't believe that worked occam's razor now this is where you get a choice of five different endings reunite with aisha which while a touching ending i didn't pick especially since johnny said he's done living in the past in saints row four the second ending is becoming the king of hell which i think volition thinks is edgy which it it's not the third is finding a new planet for the rest of humanity to live on this is the one that i picked the fourth is to reboot the universe retconning everything that came before which might be the one we're living in now and the final one being having all of the questions you ever wanted answered answered i felt a lot of these choices either weren't in line with johnny or they were simply boring options and so finding a new planet for our crew seemed like the obvious one to me that said i also don't give a [ __ ] either because my god this game is horrible the world we inhabit for this game is called new hades and it's brand new it's small which makes it less of a [ __ ] to get around and it's pretty damn limited you have a ton of various activities to complete if you really hate yourself and you want to do option activities after the main missions make you do like 50 anyway and that's pretty much it which is fine i didn't need any more of this game overall this game is the lowest point of the franchise it's ridiculous for the sake of it there's no heart there it's a dead story with characters who suck and feel entirely out of character a concept that thinks it's being edgy but comes across as cringy and musical numbers that okay to be fair this to get a laugh out of me and loki [ __ ] bangs as much as i hate to admit it the bus is counting on us you think i don't know saints row got out of hell is a disaster of a game it takes the saints row name and probably drags it through the mud and i don't think i like much about this game other than maybe the team-up scene at the end with kinsey and gat that she's pretty sick but honestly i might have just been numbed and bored out of my mind by that point so anything would have grabbed my attention this game was the last we'd see of saints row for a very long time but that doesn't mean volition and the brand was entirely absent a lot of people believe the universe reboot ending leans into one of their future projects although i disagree i don't feel they're connected at all and volition have said as much however it's worth talking about volition announced agents of mayhem in 2016 just a year after gat out of hell it's technically however not in the saints row universe however you can see a lot of its themes and concepts carry over the game was set to be essentially a gi joe parody of sorts the game released in august 2017 and got pretty mixed reviews some people feeling the game was fun it was interesting and refreshing after saints row being a bit mental as of late others feeling the game was simply lacking that it missed out on something some hearth and some flair agents of mayhem isn't a game i've played and i don't really intend to this video is about saints row and i didn't feel it was necessary for me to play it through however it's worth mentioning because of the fact they did include johnny gat as a playable character people were already confused as to whether this game took place in the saints room universe in some capacity and adding gap just added fuel to that fire it's clearly just a reference though in my opinion and a cool inclusion in the video game rather than suggesting that saints row and agents of mayhem exist in a shared universe i just don't believe that that's the case agents of mayhem was a game that died as quickly as it was released most people completely forgot about its existence and so volition again became silent people assuming they were working on something in may of 2020 volition released a remastered version of sainsbury's iii a remastered that i believe is one of the best out there the game still suffers from all of the issues that i believe it suffers from but the remaster itself really elevates the game's visuals it looks incredibly nice and the lighting is really sweet they did a great job with this remastered title and i only wish more remasters had this level of care all the footage i've been using for saints for the third has been from my time with the remaster which is the version that i played for this video there was a lot of speculation online about what volition were doing next about what happened to saints row along with the supposed movie announced to be in pre-production in april of 2019. in august of the same year volition confirmed on twitter that they were however indeed deep in development on a new saints row title not a lot was said however nothing at all in fact so this left fans to speculate for years in august of 2021 we finally saw a new saints row was coming volition posted to their website a wall of graffiti with the word rebooted written this had fans overjoyed not only was saints row coming back but it seems they were returning to their roots of gang culture gang warfare perhaps retconning everything post saints road 2 having our characters back on form however we couldn't have been more wrong during opening night live for gamescom a few days later we got our first look a trailer showed a new group of characters in the city of santo elisso it was said to be an origin story one that showed these new characters forming a gang which we assume will be the saints in an entirely new universe as of writing this the most we know is that these characters form a gang to pay off their student loan and that it's trying to be quote a contemporary millennial power fantasy whatever that means the game isn't out yet we really can't know exactly what to expect but the backlash has been immense with the devs doubling down and not handling the situation entirely well it seems everything is a bit of a disaster and i wouldn't want to be where volition is standing right now only time will tell if they made the right choice and i hope that when it releases in february of 2020 we're all in for a pleasant surprise saints row began as a mere gta clone and has since come an incredible distance whether you like it or not it's pretty wild what this franchise has managed to do saints row carries with it for the most part incredible hearts and a host of characters we will always love whether the newest entry fails or succeeds it won't change the history that this series has given us we can always head back to stillwater we can always relive the origins of the boss their first interactions with pierce or shaundi or the lovable sociopath that is johnny gat these games have a particular aura that i can't quite describe and i recommend everyone tries at least once saints row 4 gave us a conclusion to these characters although in a way not all can appreciate i hope to see saints row on top again one day i have my own opinion on these new characters but the fact is it's their time now and it's almost time to get this [ __ ] started this video was sponsored by the online learning community skillshare skillshare offers classes on a bunch of different things a lot of people have been loving going in and finding new ways to spend their time and that's great to see as well supporting the channel with that free trial of skillshare premium membership and you're getting access to a ton of classes on things you might want to learn you never know the potential career path learning these skills could open for you i've been using it to learn bits and pieces of after effects that i maybe didn't know before and it's been incredibly helpful also don't forget the deal is still available to you the first thousand people to hit the link down in the description get a one month free trial of skillshare premium it's worth checking out even if you don't think it's something you'd necessarily be interested in because even just by signing up for the free trial it helps support me and also get you access to a lot of creativity you might not have thought about before as always if you do check it out with my link and decide to learn a new skill tweet the results of me or hit me up on discord i'd love to see what you've all been learning how to do using skillshare thank you all so much for watching this video it ended up being a bit longer than i expected although i haven't actually edited as of recording this so i might actually trim it down to the uh the the amount of time i kind of expected it to be it's been really fun going back and replaying all the sainsbury games it's been quite a journey and i've been immersed in this franchise for the past few weeks so it's been it's been it's been quite a ride let me know your thoughts down in the comment section below i'd love to know your thoughts on the new one uh you can check out my video on that that i made as well which will be linked in the description so if you want to hear my thoughts my four thoughts on the new saints row you can do that but i also love to know what what game do you think is the best and why because i did run a poll recently and the votes were incredibly favorable for saints row the third which is shocking to me it could be the fact that saints row 2 is so old at this point that most people watching me or most people active online are younger people who may be the only one they played or the first one they played was saints row the third which i can totally understand you always get that bias when the first one you play it is your favorite it tends to happen a lot uh you know the first one i've played with snapchat too and obviously it's my favorite some people their favorite is the original because you know they played it way back when and it really does depend on that so i totally get that but i'd love to know your thoughts down in the comment section below of course get a discussion going let's have a bit of a chat about saints row um despite my my my the issues that i take with the new one i am interested in seeing where they go with it and i probably will be streaming it or playing it and i'll have a video of some kind on it so subscribe here for that because whether it's good or bad i'm sure i'll analyze the game and explain why i feel the way i do about it once that once once it launches um so you know if you agree with how i feel about saints row and you'd like to know my thoughts before maybe you pick it up um i'll try and get that out when when the game drops so uh definitely subscribe for that don't forget to check me out on twitch as well the link is down in the description i'm streaming a ton of different stuff uh as well as putting out content on my other channel which is where i posted that saints row video so that's it for this video thank you guys so much for joining me i really do appreciate it thank you everyone on patreon as always for supporting uh you can support me as if you want down in the description uh obviously you don't have to but i do appreciate anyone that is over there supporting it really does help me out a ton in creating these big videos um and that's it from me for now thank you guys so much and i will see you all soon hopefully for my video on shadow of war might be the next big one that i do uh but we will see all right thank you guys so much i'll see you all soon goodbye [Music] you

Channel: LazerzZ

Views: 699,328

Keywords: gamer, gaming, games, video essays, fable, fable retrospective, lazerzz retrospective, saints row, what happened to saints row?, saints row retrospective, big saints row video, history of saints row, the whole history of saints row, the whole history, making of saints row, documentary, in depth, critique, 10 years later, 5 years later, 15 years later, 20 years later, What Really Happened to Saints Row, saints row reboot, new saints row, saints row 2022, volition, johnny gat, SJW

Id: LN2giFEu2NE

Length: 53min 2sec (3182 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 22 2021