#sr 2022

characters— i really like the new crew, even if they feel a bit "2-d." neenah had a great character arc, even if it was short. i understand her resentment to sergio and her attachment to her project car. eli is your typical side-character geek, but without him, the new saints empire wouldn't be built. eli definitely knows what he's doing, even if he's a bit of a klutz. eli and neenah contributed lots to the depth of the new saints row, but my issue is with my favorite of the new crew- kev. kevin is adorable, he's cute, but he lacks the depth and arc i would've liked to see. he's almost like comedic relief, and definitely has worse motives than that of neenah and eli's. the nahualli seemed like your average handsome villain, but even he had me fooled. i don't think nahualli should have been a villain, even so— volition could have changed his motives. how does he go from thinking friends are liabilities to becoming envious of the main character, their friends, and even their life within weeks? on the other hand, we have atticus marshall. i liked having him as an antagonist. atticus had a very genuine and understandable reason to dislike the protagonist, rather than nahualli becoming envious, the collective and their idols wanting to take down everyone (because they're anarchists [but not really]), and los panteros- now led by sergio, with tensions rising between neenah and sergio because of disagreements, and eventually destroying her property (definitely a better arc). regardless, there's plenty of potential to work with, to shape and mould into genuine, relatable characters, but volition somewhat lacked in the creation of a solid plot and characters we can relate to.

plot + storyline— i appreciated the start of the new saints, we've come full circle. just as the third street saints had once done, the new saints built their "empire" in a run-down church. i thought it was a cute reference. the continuation of plot and story, and the villains is a major issue. the nahualli had extremely bad motives, almost lashing out at the main character with jealousy. literal backstabbing could've worked, but not in the "im-going-to-steal-your-friends" way. the climax of the story, nahualli stabbing the main character and burying them alive, evoked lots of shock. it was definitely unexpected, and i appreciated that, but his motivation for doing so upset me. the storyline moved way too quickly for me though, it felt a bit "casual," rivalling saints row: the third's short length. things felt rushed, many things felt kind of unimportant, especially the saints becoming the saints because of rivalry and student- fucking -loans, but some moments within the game, such as the main character choosing to shoot or terminate atticus marshall from his own company— they felt amazing. seeing the saints go from a rag-tag friend group, to a "gang" operating out of a church, to an empire within santo ileso felt all too fast, like it was weeks, rather than months as canon suggests. the issue isn't with the beginning of the story at all, or the marshall arc, but the nahualli. the nahualli wasn't a very good villain, even if i enjoyed his character. i know volition could have done better at the end of the game, but the beginning definitely hooked me.

critics— i don't believe the reboot deserves all the hate it gets, it has innovative and streamlined gameplay, and is plenty of fun to play, with a beautiful open world to explore. however, i don't think the reboot is a good open-world game. there's plenty of effort, beauty, and detail put into the open world, but we don't use it much outside of ventures and side hustles. however, i feel like the reboot of saints row lacks an audience, it lacks the soul we know in a saints row game (at least to me.) saints row (2022) is a very solid game that lacks a specific audience is wants to appeal to, and even so, i feel as if it's target audience is "quirky millennials." it doesn't feel different, but it does have the little references to the older games i always wanted to see. i can tell volition poured a lot of love into the new saints row, but as times change, so do video games. i prefer the gritty, cynical humor of the original saints row, but maybe it was time to retire the old crew and their humor, as much as i adore them. the comedy in the reboot felt a bit dry. game critics seemed to be too harsh on this new game, though, clearly expecting to see what was surface level in the older games. with enough attention to detail here in the new game, the references kind-of reveal themselves to you. i believe the shit-storm of hate was not deserved, but i personally also think the reboot is not the best saints row title. however— the reboot wasn't given a chance to prove itself as a truly solid game.