It reminded me of a lesser version of Saints Row 4’s opening being about twice as long and infinitely duller. The first few hours of the game are easily its worst parts. The game somewhat won me over easily with a blatant and cheeky nod to the Dark Souls franchise with one of the emotes you can choose for your character. You can easily lose hours just trying to make the best-looking boss or the most outlandish one in recent memory. There are tons of options both significant and insignificant to play around with. On the bright side, customizing your character or “The Boss” is as good as you would expect from Volition. Were they able to get the job done or are the Saints once again having trouble breaking free from the shadow of the original games? I’m both happy and disappointed to say that Saints Row is undeniably fun at times with moments that genuinely made me laugh out loud, while still being stuck in the past with its unpolished gameplay and sub-par visuals. You’re now back to building up the Saints gang from nothing. Saints Row (2022) is Volition’s attempt to recapture the endearing charm the first two games were able to have in their story and characters. When a game franchise that was all about a street gang trying to make a name for themselves turns into a superhero simulator fighting against an alien invasion, something probably went wrong. In the third and fourth Saints Row games, characters became a caricature of themselves instead of receiving sensible development arcs in the narratives. It knew when to say a joke and when to hold back and actually focus on telling a story. Sure, there were very wacky and cartoonish scenarios but, there were still well-contrasted by moments that felt emotionally driven and grounded.

Over time, Volition started leaning more towards the ridiculous nature of the franchise at the cost of everything else that made the first two games special. From the humble beginnings of the first game being sidelined as an attempt to capture the massive success of Grand Theft Auto to the excellent sequel that solidified the Saints as both an entertaining and heartfelt group worth following, the Saints Row franchise has come far.

Saints row 4 character creation offline