I think people just wanted Saints Row to be an off-brand Grand Theft Auto, even though GTA was basically not really doing anything wrong (by the time Saints Row: The Third came out, Grand Theft Auto was no longer PlayStation exclusive). So I thought it was fine that Saints Row went out and found its own voice.
Then there was Crackdown which Saints Row (particularly the fourth one with the skill orbs) leaned into. I should play Crackdown again. Similar thing with superpowers, but it had a trick the others didn’t. Each island/region had a boss you had to kill, and each boss had several lieutenants you could optionally kill, and killing them would weaken some aspect of the boss’s gang empire — his cars, his weapons, things like that. I remember melee being super useful, like you could punch or kick a guy across a park or something.
I think people just wanted Saints Row to be an off-brand Grand Theft Auto, even though GTA was basically not really doing anything wrong (by the time Saints Row: The Third came out, Grand Theft Auto was no longer PlayStation exclusive). So I thought it was fine that Saints Row went out and found its own voice.
Then there was Crackdown which Saints Row (particularly the fourth one with the skill orbs) leaned into. I should play Crackdown again. Similar thing with superpowers, but it had a trick the others didn’t. Each island/region had a boss you had to kill, and each boss had several lieutenants you could optionally kill, and killing them would weaken some aspect of the boss’s gang empire — his cars, his weapons, things like that. I remember melee being super useful, like you could punch or kick a guy across a park or something.