Saints Row Reboot Is Awful

[Darkening Demise]

What do you get when you take a gender studies major graduate who works for Twitter and spends most of their time in a Starbucks ordering soy lattes and banning free thinkers while thinking they're gansta? You get Saints Row Reboot. WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?

 

 

[Kuroyami]

Seemed interesting, at least until that helmet was shown. Then the sci-fi techy guns. Nevermind that the characters don't seem to strike any chords at all, nothing that really stands out. Nothing that says that the intent is to, in the least, create characters that will be just as memorable as in the former games'.

 

And to top it all of...it's an Epic Exclusive for PC. 

 

Might just be another DMC: Devil May Cry. 

[Guest]

28 minutes ago, Darkening Demise said:

What do you get when you take a gender studies major graduate who works for Twitter and spends most of their time in a Starbucks ordering soy lattes and banning free thinkers while thinking they're gansta? You get Saints Row Reboot. WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?

The intro line alone, made me laugh out loud, too funny.

Edited August 26, 2021 by Guest

[FauxFurry]

It looks like Saint's Row has hit Skid Row. 

[hawkins3903]

Volition yet again misses the mark. This is sad boi time.

[Cataclysimz]

Eh, It's kinda missing the essence of Saints Row but I'm biased so I'll still play it. 

[Cataclysimz]

1 hour ago, Kuroyami said:

Seemed interesting, at least until that helmet was shown. Then the sci-fi techy guns.  

Wait until this guy hears about Saints Row 4

[davisev5225]

Looked to me like they were trying too hard to check all the "social justice" boxes.

 

Manly man is bad guy

Black girl appears to be main character

Black girl has "lesbian" haircut, probably lesbian

Shirtless skinny guy is gay, acts effeminate

Hispanic girl of unknown national origin

Nerd guy complete with goofy glasses

etc.

 

None of these, by themselves, are bad things.  At all.  But mix them all together into one single 3-minute video clip, and it just screams "we're trying to be 'socially progressive' here, please be kind on social media!".  ?

 

 

 

On 8/25/2021 at 7:21 PM, Kuroyami said:

Nevermind that the characters don't seem to strike any chords at all, nothing that really stands out. Nothing that says that the intent is to, in the least, create characters that will be just as memorable as in the former games'.

 

Definitely this too.  In trying to not have characters that fit videogame stereotypes, they instead created characters that fit real-life stereotypes, and are bland beyond the stereotyping they represent.  Entirely one-dimensional.

 

It appears the biggest risk Volition took here was... to not take any risks at all.  It's not art anymore, it's just a formula for getting money.

Edited January 1, 2022 by davisev5225

[Kuroyami]

3 hours ago, Cataclysimz said:

Wait until this guy hears about Saints Row 4

 

I'll put it this way - I bought SR 3 because I genuinely wanted to play the game. The same for SR2, and I enjoy both - though I can certainly admit that 3 has some flaws which in some places suggests it has the structure of SR2, but it lacks the serious side of things from the previous games. Even with a gang like the Deckers, I still think it kind of works, at least until Stag enters the picture. But I find it interesting that the ending in which Killbane Dies seems more satisfying than the "canon" ending(in that SR 4 follows it, at least). My thoughts on a continuation of the series? One of them would be a game that follows the ending in which Killbane dies, and the Boss does NOT become President.

 

By contrast, I bought SR4, during a sale. And I have more hours into the former two games - as well as both of them still installed, which 4 is not.

 

1 hour ago, davisev5225 said:

Definitely this too.  In trying to not have characters that fit videogame stereotypes, they instead created characters that fit real-life stereotypes, and are bland beyond the stereotyping they represent.  Entirely two-dimensional.

 

It appears the biggest risk Volition took here was... to not take any risks at all.  It's not art anymore, it's just a formula for getting money.

 

My thoughts on this "diversity or "inclusion" issue is simple. You can have whatever race you want, Whatever ethnicity you want.  But don't make that effective trait, one of the biggest selling points of the character. It would be like selling a car, and the best thing you can tell me about it, is that it has a blue paintjob - or it's painted several colors, all to be inclusive. Those sorts of details are what you, depending in the intent of the character, make part of what they might do, say, or be interested in. Likely nobody, or very few people cared about diversity in say, SR2, because the story brought characters that, even if some may be caricaturized(say for many of the Ronin scenes having a *Speaks Japanese* subtitle, rather than either translated English text, or the, well, Romanized version of the language - I forget the proper term at the moment), but even with that, they bring some level of seriousness to the story. 

 

Even worse, is the idea having this as the introduction of a new title, a reboot that even with the intent of grabbing a new audience, seems nothing more than a tone deaf response to what fans have been asking for. So any fans of the series, old and new, will be served a title that is nothing more than an experience that is a "blank-slate" reboot, that bullet points what made other games decent, fun, etc - but is made to appeal more to new fans, than existing ones. 

 

Oh, and it's Freckle Bitches. Calling it FBC is either the obvious pullback, or a jab at the IHOP's attempt at rebranding, which both seems ridiculous, since the original name was a reference already.

Edited August 26, 2021 by Kuroyami

[Kpnut]

Here's the thing about that trailer, without being told beforehand I wouldn't have known it was supposed to be Saints Row until the end of it. This isn't Saints Row, I may never have played 1 but 2 was one of the best open world sandbox games I've played and while 3 and 4 went off the rails (too much so imo) they were still fun and funny games in that trailer with its diverse and inclusive cast there didn't seem to be any of that (can't say much about gameplay since that wasn't a gameplay trailer) and none of the jokes worked there was nothing funny in it.

 

But one thing that stands out to me the most was that 2 (again, can't say much about 1) was actually really diverse if you think about the lieutenants you had:

• Carlos, who was hispanic
• Pierce, who was black (and possibly gay)
• Gat, who was Asian
• and Shaundi who was white

and they kept the diversity up for the subsequent games and on top of that they had character customisation, which got better in 2 onwards, so your boss could be whatever gender or race you want hell they could also technically be trans because there was nothing stopping you from giving them a feminine appearance with a man's voice.

 

This new game misses the mark on so many fronts it's not even funny and that's what happens when you let a load of unfunny communist millenials who care more about representation than making a good game make a game, this wasn't made for regular people it was made for the 12 psychopaths on twitter who won't even buy it.

[Darkening Demise]

They lied all this time about 'going back to their roots' and 'being like Saints Row 2'. That also is a cause of the backlash on top of the hipsters pretending to be gangster.

[Captain Cobra]

Hopefully this will tank Volition and Saint's Row can rest in peace, for a little while, anyways.

[davisev5225]

On 8/26/2021 at 12:08 AM, Kuroyami said:

 

My thoughts on this "diversity or "inclusion" issue is simple. You can have whatever race you want, Whatever ethnicity you want.  But don't make that effective trait, one of the biggest selling points of the character. It would be like selling a car, and the best thing you can tell me about it, is that it has a blue paintjob - or it's painted several colors, all to be inclusive. Those sorts of details are what you, depending in the intent of the character, make part of what they might do, say, or be interested in. Likely nobody, or very few people cared about diversity in say, SR2, because the story brought characters that, even if some may be caricaturized(say for many of the Ronin scenes having a *Speaks Japanese* subtitle, rather than either translated English text, or the, well, Romanized version of the language - I forget the proper term at the moment), but even with that, they bring some level of seriousness to the story. 

 

 

On 8/26/2021 at 5:47 AM, Kpnut said:

 

But one thing that stands out to me the most was that 2 (again, can't say much about 1) was actually really diverse if you think about the lieutenants you had:

• Carlos, who was hispanic
• Pierce, who was black (and possibly gay)
• Gat, who was Asian
• and Shaundi who was white

and they kept the diversity up for the subsequent games and on top of that they had character customisation, which got better in 2 onwards, so your boss could be whatever gender or race you want hell they could also technically be trans because there was nothing stopping you from giving them a feminine appearance with a man's voice.

 

 

Exactly, you both get it.  The previous games were quite diverse, but that was just a facet of the characters, not their main (and arguably only) personal identity.  They made genuinely enjoyable characters that happened to be diverse, not diverse characters that you're supposed to like because they're diverse.  This new trailer is just awful.

[Kpnut]

8 hours ago, davisev5225 said:

Exactly, you both get it.  The previous games were quite diverse, but that was just a facet of the characters, not their main (and arguably only) personal identity.  They made genuinely enjoyable characters that happened to be diverse, not diverse characters that you're supposed to like because they're diverse.  This new trailer is just awful.

It's something the current Western entertainment doesn't seem to understand nowadays. They're so set on shoving diversity into everything and they're so inept at writing that they make these characters' entire character their diverse aspects; the gay character's entire character is that he's gay, the black character's entire character is that she's black etc.

 

I absolutely loved Carlos from the second game, he was Hispanic but his character didn't revolve around his race. He was the younger brother of one of the original Third Street Saints and he got his position as a lieutenant because he broke the boss out of jail and all he wants to do is impress his hero, the boss, through all the Brotherhood missions and it ends up costing him his life which is the one part of the game I found absolutely heart breaking because I had grown to like him. If he was written by the modern team his entire character would be that he was hispanic or they'd make him gay and make THAT his entire character and because he's hispanic and gay they can't kill him because that would be homophobic and sexist so you lose that moment where the boss has to mercy kill one of their most loyal and longest serving lieutenants.

[_DingleBerry_]

When I saw the trailer my heart sank, I’ve been waiting for this game to be revealed for so long, and this is what we got.

 

I wouldn’t consider the game to be woke just based on how the characters look, as a few people already mentioned SR was always very diverse. What does concern me was that one of the developers commented about the “casual racism and sexism” of the past games and how things that made sense back then don’t make sense now. Sure they do, simply suggesting those things aren’t funny anymore doesn’t make it so. SR games should be just a little edgy, and SR 2 & 3 were barely even that. Someone that sensitive shouldn’t be making a Saints row game. Saints row isn’t supposed to be a socially conscious game, the whole attitude of the series is to be carefree.

 

That said, I absolutely hate all of the doofus zoomer characters they came up with. Kevin is probably the worst by virtue of having a “kawaii” motorcycle helmet with cat ears. I can’t look at him without thinking about fortnite and getting pissed off. Kevin was almost certainly created by someone older than 50. It would have been such a slam dunk to do a reboot with all the original saints from 1 & 2. I didn’t realize just how much I missed these characters until now. Thinking about it honestly gives me a morbid feeling, as if I’m mourning over their actual deaths.

 

I also hate the setting, no offense to people who live in the south west but I think there’s a reason we don’t see a lot of games set there. Brown and barren is not exactly interesting even if it is different. They talked about the color of the game being turquoise, something that makes no sense for a series heavily associated with the color purple. And they made a big deal about the cringe saying they made up for the game “keep it strange sancho.”

 

It feels like violation made this game for the small number of people working in their office, not for the fans.

[Sneaksmile]

It's just a trailer, how can anyone tell the game sucks based on a fucking trailer? That seems more like a dramatic hater. 

People are talking about the ''essence'' of Saints Row? Which is the essence of Saints Row? Literally no one knows about the franchise until Saints Row 3, when they started doing super crazy things with the story and the characters and doing GTA parodies 

Edited September 29, 2021 by Sneaksmile

[davisev5225]

On 9/29/2021 at 3:15 PM, Sneaksmile said:

It's just a trailer, how can anyone tell the game sucks based on a fucking trailer? That seems more like a dramatic hater. 

People are talking about the ''essence'' of Saints Row? Which is the essence of Saints Row? Literally no one knows about the franchise until Saints Row 3, when they started doing super crazy things with the story and the characters and doing GTA parodies 

 

Apparently I'm no one.  I actually enjoyed Saints 4 more than the rest, but have played all of them since Saints 2.  (The original Saints Row was before my time.)  There was a nice bit of characterization to all the main characters, far beyond the stereotyping we see in this new trailer.  And Volition has demonstrated, time and again, they're *really* good at missing the mark, seemingly deliberately.  I don't think it's "dramatic hate" at all to call them out on how tone-deaf this trailer is.

Edited October 13, 2021 by davisev5225

[Sneaksmile]

On 10/12/2021 at 10:45 PM, davisev5225 said:

 

Apparently I'm no one.  I actually enjoyed Saints 4 more than the rest, but have played all of them since Saints 2.  (The original Saints Row was before my time.)  There was a nice bit of characterization to all the main characters, far beyond the stereotyping we see in this new trailer.  And Volition has demonstrated, time and again, they're *really* good at missing the mark, seemingly deliberately.  I don't think it's "dramatic hate" at all to call them out on how tone-deaf this trailer is.

But what has worked in Saints Row is the style of the third part and they must follow that line, why do anything else? If only some want something similar to Saints Row two but MANY want something similar to Saints Row 3 and 4. That is supposed to be the 'rebirth' of the franchise ... that ... the style they found appropriate rather than something serious, style that Saints Row 2 did not have. I never played number 2 because it was also before my time as a gamer girl, but I have seen gameplays on YouTube.

What it annoys me is that to everyone really likes that style (crazy Joker style) but ... they start complaining when they try to compare Saints Row with GTA, and that doesn't make sense because Saints Row is not GTA.  

Edited October 23, 2021 by Sneaksmile

[GRP12]

Ok, I've watched your bad movie teaser, now I'm waiting for the Saints Row one.

[sora3]

Honestly, after watching the Trailer, they're trying too hard to be Watch_Dogs 2 really instead of the old Saints Row. I mean, the old Saints were wild adventures where you can do anything. This speaks more a hipster wannabe trying to be a gangster. If I wanted to play something like that, I'd be playing Watch Dogs Legion. And they really had to go all stereotypical characters that are really generic thus far.

 

I'd be looking it further once more teasers are out but at the moment, it's not looking good.

 

Plus Epic Store exclusivity? Fuck that.

[vaze234]

Eh, I['m giving it a shot. Seems to be more in line with the insane nature the series took. People are upset with the reboot but honestly, I can understand. Saints row stopped being whatever it was before 3 and with each entry they kept trying to up the ante to the point where there was nowhere left to go but down. Honestly, I didn't like 3 or 4.

 

 

Edited November 23, 2021 by vaze234

[9zs]

 

On 8/27/2021 at 8:38 PM, Kpnut said:

It's something the current Western entertainment doesn't seem to understand nowadays. They're so set on shoving diversity into everything and they're so inept at writing that they make these characters' entire character their diverse aspects; the gay character's entire character is that he's gay, the black character's entire character is that she's black etc.

 

I absolutely loved Carlos from the second game, he was Hispanic but his character didn't revolve around his race. He was the younger brother of one of the original Third Street Saints and he got his position as a lieutenant because he broke the boss out of jail and all he wants to do is impress his hero, the boss, through all the Brotherhood missions and it ends up costing him his life which is the one part of the game I found absolutely heart breaking because I had grown to like him. If he was written by the modern team his entire character would be that he was hispanic or they'd make him gay and make THAT his entire character and because he's hispanic and gay they can't kill him because that would be homophobic and sexist so you lose that moment where the boss has to mercy kill one of their most loyal and longest serving lieutenants.

 

This is the dumbest take I've ever read. You realize that you're complaining that a three minute long, pre-rendered action trailer has less character stories than the multi-hour main story of Saints Row 2 right? Sounds like you've got some ridiculous "war on woke" agenda you're gonna push no matter what you see.

[DocClox]

On 8/28/2021 at 3:38 AM, Kpnut said:

It's something the current Western entertainment doesn't seem to understand nowadays. They're so set on shoving diversity into everything and they're so inept at writing that they make these characters' entire character their diverse aspects; the gay character's entire character is that he's gay, the black character's entire character is that she's black etc.

 

I think the problem is that reviewers increasingly tend to praise anything that hits the correct political points, and to pan anything that does not. So writers get hired based on their politics rather than talent or ability. They write preachy rubbish because that's what they've been hired to do. And if the film/game/whatever doesn't sell, well that's just the general public's poor taste. I mean it's not the writer's fault because the critics loved it, right?

 

And at some point, brand loyalty is going to get used up, and an awful lot of media companies are going to wonder why suddenly no one is interested in their product.

 

 

On 11/25/2021 at 3:40 AM, 9zs said:

This is the dumbest take I've ever read. You realize that you're complaining that a three minute long, pre-rendered action trailer has less character stories than the multi-hour main story of Saints Row 2 right? Sounds like you've got some ridiculous "war on woke" agenda you're gonna push no matter what you see.

 

Well maybe. But you have to assume that it's representative of the game. Or at least that it's pushing the game elements that the makers think are going to sell the game. So it's not unreasonable to use the video as a guide to the likely content of the game.

 

I mean it's no use buying the game to see if, despite early indications to the contrary, it turns out to be good. Because by the time you've played the whole thing through only to decide "that was complete and utter shit" the makers have got your money and they'll take that to mean "this is working, we should do more of it".

 

Edited November 29, 2021 by DocClox

[FauxFurry]

I will post this here where it is the most relevant:

 

[Ernest Lemmingway]

This is what happens when companies get woke. They're too afraid to try anything new, or they're so deep in debt they can't develop anything new, so they rehash older stuff and often screw it up. Look at every damned remake/reboot Hollyweird and triple-A games studios keep pushing out. Some like the ME Remake are good, but those are the exception rather than the rule.