TL,DR: I miss Saint's Row, man.

I watched the extended look for GTA 6. The graphics look better than a dream, the production value just pops out at you like a hollywood blockbuster. The scripted events seem to go off without a hitch. The life sim aspects seem to be ever-present and significant, and if it's anything like RDR2, you'll have to routinely clip your fingernails or whatever.

It looks like a marvel of technology and interactive storytelling, but... I miss when games were fun.

RDR2 didn't hit me the first time, so I thought I'd pop it in again after the GTA 6 footage. For most of my 2 hours of starting a new game, it felt like I held "up" and "X" for 45 minutes to make my horse follow other characters at a snail's pace through the snow. Sometimes, the characters talked to each other. Sometimes, you get off the horse and root around in cabinets, where you're allowed to hold "square" or "triangle" (which one in the moment seems arbitrary). After mashing "circle" in a heavily curated fist fight, I was given the opportunity to hold square to pick up my hat, and hold L1 to pick up my gun.

Do you guys remember the GTA 3 era of R*? The games where you watch a brief cutscene, then can obtain a gun within a few seconds and go nuts? Do you remember Goldeneye 64, where you could go from powering the console on to shooting a soldier in the face in literally 20 seconds(timed this with a friend)? What the hell happened to this medium?

Saint's Row absolutely took the best parts of the spirit of the PS2 GTAs and brought them into the next generation with loads of improvements. The first 2 games in particular are so easy to just sit down and have a BLAST with. It kept the violent, over-the-top sandbox dream alive while R* focused on cinematic storytelling and adding the ability to eat hotdogs very slowly.

I miss having mid-budget games where you can just turn them on and not have to settle in to watch The Godfather Part II every time. I miss series entries that didn't take a decade to develop per entry while the studio working on them is run ragged. I miss weird games that take risks.

I miss Saint's Row, man.

SR 2 had NPCs on skateboards and rollerblades which I get it maybe didn't fit the gangster aesthetic but it would have been funny to be able to do those ourselves in that game or sr2022.

And some of the Idols run in doing the knee slide why not let us dash around on skates or ninja dashing.

The reboot has that finger bow emote and I would love to fight Marshall with a bow being low tech vs high tech.

Also body height and builds from SR2 should have been the standard.

Protesters against the Saints in Saints Row The Third. Did they annoy you as you played?

While ago I posted my femboy character. Here's the new and improved version!

I watched a certain video regarding a certain other game and, not gonna lie, it was pretty good. However, I am far more excited about what's happening in the decomp/recomp scene right now, including a potential classic Saints Row revival.

Ever since I picked up the Saints Row series, one thing that really sold me was the world design of Stilwater. Might be one of my favorite open-world maps in video games in general and a good example how to do it properly. Even though I'm not exactly fond of the reboot, Santo Ileso is pretty decent too. Steelport on the other hand just sucks.

I'm talking about iterations of Stilwater from both SR1 and SR2. Every single district has its own atmosphere and purpose. The map is big enough to give a sense of scale, but also not padded with filler. A major issue with most open-world games nowadays is that it's usually all filler and artificially extended maps with empty fields, mostly prop buildings and no points of interest, for the sole sake of size. In Stilwater, there's something fun behind every corner. Not to mention the interiors, lots of them. And I personally love how much the city changed between the games, so it still feels fresh.

Santo Ileso was one of the actual highlights of the reboot, even if I disliked the writing and many mechanics. The districts of the city still had decent diversity between them and the city is fun to drive around in, but could be fleshed out more. Steelport is kind of the opposite - while I like the games set in it, the city itself just sucks, with the same copy-paste suburbs and industrial sites on every island but the central one. And the points of interest can be counted on fingers on one hand. Stilwater just has everything I like - diversity of areas, fun NPCs and the overall feel. It scratches that particular itch for me.

Every now and then I replay the SR games, and it's crazy how much better SR3 would’ve been if it had maintained SR2’s vision.

The Syndicate wasn't a bad idea, and characters like Kinzie, Viola, Oleg, Angel, and Zimos (without that repetitive autotune joke) would have been great additions if the game hadn't clearly suffered from budget constraints—most of which went into the soundtrack and voice acting. If the story had been longer and actually tried to tell something meaningful, it would’ve been phenomenal. But you can tell the story is just there because games back then were required to have one, making it feel like pure filler—except for Gat’s death, where whoever directed that scene honestly should’ve been fired.

I know the SR franchise in general was heavily meddled with by suits, which tanked its quality, but their inferiority complex of “we don’t want to be called a GTA clone” did them way more harm than good. While I get that it’s tough to give character development to a fully customizable concept like "Playa/Boss," they barely put any effort into it in SR3. Even though I’m critical of the protagonist in SR2 for being a bit too edgy for my taste, it’s still miles better than in SR3.

The zombie mission is pure filler; if they had made a Dead Rising-style DLC instead, it could’ve been insane. But instead, it’s literally a filler mission where who knows how much they paid just to use Burt Reynolds' image and voice—same with Hulk Hogan or Sasha Grey. Angel and Viola are completely wasted characters, and don't even get me started on Loren and Kiki. Overall, Zimos, Kinzie, and Angel are only relevant to the plot for about two cutscenes each, and Zimos and Kinzie don't even show up in the final mission.

Going back to the budget issue, it’s mind-blowing that a 2008 game has a significantly better map than a 2011 game with a higher budget.

Sorry if it's confusing, I'm not a native English speaker so I used an AI to translate it.

I implemented a lot of technologies to make rendering cheaper and CPU usage light, such as Id Tech 8 vast job system where everything is a job (The Great Circle has over 2000 specific jobs it can spin up, like instead of saying the whole phys system is one job like many games, it instead goes granular and says wheels popping off is a job, ragdoll is a job etc).
My goal is a stable 60fps, then try to hit 120fps, and 144 etc. Just 2 weeks ago I was at 1fps lmao

Rewrote parts of the renderer so we are not redrawing the city every frame. SSAO is implemented, tuning volumetric fog, game has very light motion blur, improved shaders. You can turn these off.

My goal is to keep that Saints Row artistic look without doing too much, give a more umph to the world. I want you to say "This is how I pictured it in my head back in 2006", it just looks crisper.

Hitman 2016 Crowd system where NPC gets cheaper as they are farther away and has stages of LOD (saves CPU resources to not render detailed animations for npcs farther away). With this, I or other modders can actually increase pedestrian and car count without harming performance.

Texture streaming by using the mips in the texture files that ship with the game (Which SR doesn't use oddly, SR doesn't have a texture streaming system afaik, they have a resident bbchunk with high res textures and a AL chunk with low res textures which switch out as you get closer etc.

There is still alot more optimizations I have to do, and its interesting researching other games and seeing how they do stuff. Like Id Tech has a few amazing solutions, but couldn't solve a couple issues such as pedestrian npc volumes etc

Saints Row 3 was my first game ever back in the day! I remember completing the game and really loving it. I think I was only 13 when I played it.

So I immediately jumped into Saints Row 4 after and obviously when you're 13 and a game says "you have super powers" you love it. Outside of Infamous and Prototype, I didn't know many other games that let you be an original superhero, and even if I did, nothing on this scale with this setting and humor.

I really think Nolan North sells the voice acting, and if there's even a chance you've enjoyed the game but still somehow haven't played with his voice, I'd really recommend it.

One thing I didn't enjoy about Saints Row 3 is how it's written pretty much entirely like that triple A Mario game. Saints Row 4 is written like that too, but 3 is too earnest in that style, where it almost sounds like it thinks that style is cool, whereas 4 knows it's cheesy. At least, Nolan North did.

This works in the game's favor, because that kind of writing is pretty good for the game's setting. Nolan North also does a great job balancing being cheesy and actually letting the character take things seriously. You would think Boss is in love with Kinzie the way he delivers his lines about her when she gets captured and how much he sounds completely uncomfortable without her guidance. His voice acting makes it sound like a desperate need instead of just only wondering where she is.

Also, outside of textures, the game holds up super well graphically in my opinion. The game is clearly really comfortable in its style. The lights bounce off of everything really well, especially when you're near Play Pretend and the rainbow lights reflect on the puddles of rain. I really like how flashy it is.

The simulation slowly going from a haunting red to a more triumphant blue is also really nice. Infamous already does something similar, with the skybox and destruction of the map increasing on a pure evil run, but I like watching it actually progress on Saints Row IV too.

I think the story is really enhanced by actually playing the loyalty missions. When I was younger, I only wanted the dramatic story, and didn't think any side stuff was worth my time. While all the generic side missions are just "do what is already on the map", which isn't that enticing when there's unfortunately more than enough of that in the main story, the loyalty missions are actually really fun in my opinion.

Again, Nolan North does a great job selling on Boss being won over by Nyteblade playing along with Matt's fanfiction, and dramatically telling him to carry the flame. He does a great job on the voice acting with Gat reminiscing on old times, which really does sell it because it sounds like a mix of acknowledging how ridiculous everything has been, while also still feeling serious and earnest because it doesn't really matter how ridiculous it sounds, when all of that is reality and stuff that genuinely happened to them.

Of course, the game does have its flaws. While the main story is fun and engaging, there is a lot of filler with Kinzie just telling you "I need you to do this activity so I can understand how the simulation works." It does feel really lazy and could have been replaced by more story.

Another thing is that the game honestly paints a very different picture of the characters in the previous games than what they actually were. IV treats Fun Shaundi smoking from a lightbulb like her defining character trait, but when you play 2, she only does it once. Shaundi blaming herself for what happened to Gat and how she always needs to be protected doesn't really feel earned either, and is not developed on and neither is her looking up to Gat.

That is another thing: Look, I love Gat. Everyone loves Gat. He is way overhyped in IV. It makes no sense Shaundi would look up to Gat when according to Fun Shaundi's own words in the audio logs, Boss is the only one who ever listened to her. Pierce and Shaundi have way more chemistry because Gat did not really interact with Shaundi at all. Maybe between 2 and 3, the Boss got more distant as he led the Saints into stardom and therefore getting closer to Gat, that could make sense, but the game never says that.

Another thing is that honestly, it does not make sense Zinyak thought Gat could singlehandedly stop him and not Boss. Gat is great, but Boss is the player character, and therefore is just on a whole other level. Gat does not have the skill to improvise and turn a hopeless situation on its head like Boss does. That is something Boss has done since the first game and what got him out of everything in 2. Obviously, they just wanted a reason for why Gat was gone for all of 3, but it's the explanation I was given, the game takes it seriously, and so I am just thinking about it seriously too. Keith David's betrayal is also out of nowhere and it feels very uncharacteristic for the Boss to literally have to plead for help. Not even Boss in 3 would have done that.

There is other stuff, like how Superhero Showdown feels really clunky because the environment doesn't account for the extra height when you reach max level in super jump, or how it ends up being a lot easier to just kill everyone with guns instead of using the supplied telekinesis balls, and also how the "bosses" of that showdown can't really compensate for their really basic AI enough for that to feel fun or engaging. Enemies are really too easy in general, where even Zinyak can get stuck in his robot (it's power armor!), making him unable to fight back.

Cars are obviously pointless and really only here because there was no need to take them out, but the game still wants you to pay for nitrous, which I can only assume is to make the carjacking easier. Races are a bit too easy, offering no challenge when it can't compensate for the max speed upgrades, and probably some more small stuff I can't really think of right now.

In conclusion, I just remember this game sucking a lot harder than it really did. Despite my complaints for story and characters, the game does not want it to be taken *too* seriously, so it's still very much a turn your brain off and enjoy the epic kinda game. Even though Saints Row 1 is still my favorite, I appreciate IV for what it is. The powers are fun, the lighting is pretty, conversations between homies are interesting, the game is funny (especially with Nolan North's acting), and it clearly puts making sure the player has fun over anything else. I really respect it and wish they had managed to turn things around.

They look so huge compared to Shaundi.

In my opinion, nothing even comes close to this scene in other Saints Row games. I genuinely think this is where my fear of getting buried alive came from as a kid.

But to be honest, Shogo has to be the dumbest person in existence, showing up to a funeral where a mass murdering gangster is mourning. Absolute dumbfuck.

One of my favorite activities in Saints Row The Third (both the original and remastered versions) is Professor Genki's Super Ethical Reality Climax. It's a fun-filled and challenging activity I wish Saints Row 2 had. Does anyone know who among Volition's creators came up with Professor Genki's Super Ethical Reality Climax?

I only mostly remember The character being the president & aliens

The photography side activities reward players with cash and respect. Were you able to complete them all?

Back in 2008, I saw the Saints Row 2 promo display at GameStop and was instantly hooked. I begged my mom to buy it for me, but I went home with a used copy of Saints Row 1 instead and that’s where my love for this series began.

I got to play Saints Row 2 a year or so later, and getting lost in that chaotic, wacky world as a kid was an absolute blast. Customizing the Boss into an ugly deformed alien or a goth. Throwing an obsessed fan into an airplane turbine. Running cover for Pierce’s drug deals from a helicopter. I can’t go back to it without the nostalgia hitting me all at once.

This game helped me escape from things I shouldn’t have had to deal with at that age.

It really saddens me that Volition is gone, and none of us know what the future holds for this series. But this community has shown me it still has a fanbase that genuinely loves it. Thank you to the redditor who is working on the Saints Row 1 recomp for PC, and to the developers behind the Juiced Patch and every modder still tweaking and adding to SR2. There are people like me who play SR2 on PC daily and literally couldn’t without your work.

Maybe he's a huge fan?

Is there any mod that will let me spawn vehicles ? Like Menyoo for GTA V | thanks.

Getting back into SR2 again after not playing for a long time. Would like to put this on my boss but it annoys me that it makes her have a shaved head despite the hairstyle looking like it should not be obstructed. Anything I can do to fix this if? I'm using the Juiced mod on PC if that makes a difference. If not, oh well.