Eh, I found the original Saints Row characters all annoying. The player character and the wacky missions were all that ever interested me, I honestly didn’t give a fuck about Johnny Gat or anyone around him. All I wanted was to rule the gang and have fun on the missions. If I wanted a realistic open world game that mostly takes itself serious, I’d play GTA V again.

Bullshit tech was introduced in SR3 and only got worse from there. If anything the remake toned it all down a little. Saints Row is best when it balances its GTA parody style and its gritty storyline, and in my opinion the worst parts are where you’re supposed to take the game seriously.

The student loan/millennial relatability pandering was a tone shift for sure, but once you left the introduction and got to the game, that stuff all faded to the background.