The original Saints Row. A solid 360 exclusive, a solid early console title (since it came within a year since the 360 came out) but definitely a game that has aged rather...roughly

I know much of it was caused by it coming out before a lot of features that we now can't live with were becoming the standard (such as checkpoints) but there's a lot of other questionable gameplay design choices that were (thankfully) all fixed by the 2nd or 3rd game. One gripe I have with the game is the frustrating amount of grinding the game forced me into committing to by forcing me into performing the side activities. While some of the side activities can be entertaining and I can understand the design philosophy (most players wouldn't play the side-missions otherwise unless they were seeking to 100% the game) I do believe it's not being done justice here given how hit and miss the side-missions are, especially in comparation with the subsequent games which both have improved the side-missions as well as make the game much less of a grindfest, relying you to play the bearable side-missions until you can't gain any more experience from them (or if you're lucky to realize the hostage submission gives a decent amount of experience for what it's worth).

Side-Missions aside, the story, while nothing memorable to write home about, was alright enough. The missions were challenging but in a fun way for the most part. They're definitely very arcadey and straightforward, especially when we're talking about the Stronghold missions. I definitely enjoyed the missions for the most part because they were challenging enough while also not feeling too unfair (well, the lack of checkpoints made them seem more unfair but looking at the big picture they weren't too bad)

The overall atmosphere was pretty charming. I'm very nostalgic about the mid 2000s so given how the game came out in 2006 it definitely felt like a time capsule from the era. Everything about it made me look back at 2000s hip hop culture (for better or for worse) as well as the 2000s overall.

Saints Row, quirks and annoyances aside, is a solid gta clone. If you want a straightforward gta clone with a gangwar centered story then I can't help but recommend the game if you own an XBOX 360, XBOX One or XBOX Series X. The game is exclusive to the XBOX, mainly the 360, but the developers have made the effort to make the game available on the newer consoles, in order to help the game not stay forever stranded on one platform for the rest of time (looks at you, JSRF). The lack of ports is explained with the fact the developers have apparently lost the source code, thus being unable to natively port it to any newer platform or the PC. Is it worth picking up a 360 for? No, not really. However, is it worth dusting off your old 360 to take it out for a whirl for, maybe to even hype yourself up for the reboot? Sure. There's a lot of fun times to be had.

The original Saints Row was back before Saints Row became this post-ironic commentary on video games and pop culture so expect it to take itself much more seriously than what you'd expect with Saints Row 3 or even 2. There's no dildo weapon, no barrel rolls, no futuristic stuff or any of the most outwordly. The most out there you'd get is with the radio commercials, gangsters wielding rocket launchers or with Stefan the fashion consultant speaking in third person. The game is a straighforward gangster story with little of the quirkiness that ended up defining the franchise.

3/5

The follow-up of a classic I really enjoyed must be at least as good if not better than the original, right? Well I got some good news for you! Saints Row 2 builds upon the first game in every way but improves almost everything about it while being its own thing with its own individual identity.

Saints Row 2 follows the events about 5 years after the ending of the original Saints Row. Your goal is to get the gang back together and work together to gain back control over the city against 3 new gangs who, while you were gone, took over most of the city, with the main area from the first game as well as the area the name of the game is derived from - Saint's Row - being taken over by a capitalist conglomerate and gentrified to the point the only thing that would tell you this is the same Saint's Row from the 1st game is the church, the only spot from the area that still exists in 2, now used as a tourist attraction.

The game's overall different bloomier and more pale atmosphere alongside all the changes made to the city gave it a unique uncanny yet familiar feeling, a very "everything is eerily familiar yet entirely different" and I think that helps solidify how much of a tight grip the Ultor corporation has on the city and how much they want to transform it into a capitalistic utopia of sorts. Playing the 2nd game after the first makes you really miss the Saints Row 1 Stilwater, especially the classic version of Saint's Row and how colorful everything was in contrast to the 2nd game's pale colors on just about everything.

Saints Row 2 fixes just about every one of my complaints with the first game: It has a checkpoint system for its missions (which the first game did not have whatsoever), it has been changed to be a lot less grindy than the first game (gone are the times you have to do a couple side-missions to level up your respect. now one side mission or two at most could level you up easily. the game also adds a very convenient system that awards you points whenever you do various activities such as dodging cars, killing gangsters and bailing out of a car at a high speed) and also the side-missions themselves are much more fun - there's new side missions that are fun to play on their own and the returning missions have been tweaked here and there to be more fun, and to give out rewards that do help you outside of said side-missions a lot, such as infinite pistol ammo or the police/gangs forgetting about you much faster.

The story was pretty simple, maintaining the same format as the first game where you have a few prologue missions, then a number of missions of each individual gang that you can tackle in any order you desire and then a few epilogue missions but also including one secret mission that is meant to tie loose ends with the ending of the first game, giving some extra context as to what happened and why.

I know a lot of people who complain about Saints Row 3 taking the story towards being a bit too out there and wacky might dislike my answer but that started with the 2nd game. Everything is more over the top and a bit of a self-parody and while at times it can work in favor for the game (such as the over the top missions and some plot elements) there are some parts where the game has taken a few nosedives, particularly with the writing. Many of the returning characters (specifically the player character and Johnny Gat) have either changed a ton or have become a bit too flanderized. Johnny Gat sometimes acts so edgy it feels like a 12 year old's OC and the future games do play into that even more. Sure, Gat was always a bit more out there and more violent but it was not to this extent. Also the fact the player went from a voiceless character with 0 agency or personality to a character that has maybe a bit too much of both (to the point they're very much a self imposing asshole with little regard towards anyone they're not close with). At first I was not a fan of what they did with Julius but as I thought of it more, it really made a lot of sense and his intentions were ultimately more or less justified (I do think he was definitely very right about the Saints becoming the very thing they fought against).
Shaundi and Pierce didn't have a lot of significant writing at that point so they're kinda reduced to a few traits, such as how Shaundi is known to have had a lot of exes and is a huge stoner and Pierce is kinda some sort of a goofier version of Dex from the first game who doesn't get enough credit for the work he puts in. I think the characters being a bit cartoony and/or one dimensional is the biggest flaw with the game, really.

The story overall isn't much to write home about but does what it's supposed to do. The missions are fun and you get a lot of entertainment from the cutscenes and the action but just don't expect a storywriting masterpiece from Saints Row. I'm not going to expect everything to be Homer's Odyssey but as a video game and neither should you. The story is simple and that is the goal. Most of the charm is in the action and the story does a good job with that.

I really liked the themes of anti capitalism and anti gentrification and I kinda liked how you can see Saints Row 2 as a villain story of sorts if you think about it given the change of character motives between the games.
Also, if you play as a woman in SR2 and onwards the character is canonically trans and the game acknowledges that.

Saints Row 2 is a really fun game and I definitely recommend it. I recommend people to play the first game firstly for better context but it's not a must. It's more than your typical gta clone or whatever and it really shows. Volition went above and beyond to make Saints Row the best experience possible by fixing all the flaws of the first game and improving just about everything. Saints Row needed a stable comfort area to be in and the 2nd game does just that. It's a fun experience I do not regret having and playing both SR1 and 2 made me appreciate the series in a way I didn't get to by playing SR3 (SR3 is still a good game IMO don't get me wrong). This may not be able to capture all my thoughts on the game but it's pretty close. I've typed about 6200 characters in this review so I think I've sold the game well enough. Play it if you have an XBOX or a PS3. If you're on PC try to look for any mods that improve the shoddy port. I wholeheartedly recommend the game to anyone who wants to have a truly fun experience with an open world game