Saints Row Day One Edition (PS5)

I read and watched a lot of reviews for this game and the subject was very similar:- It's too repetitive.- The characters aren't relatable.- It's not very realistic- The graphics aren't realistic enoughEtc, etc. Let's just get one thing straight. If you are looking for a story that compels you to come back for more, if you're looking for a game that has realism, or realistic physics/graphics, if you're looking to become attached to relatable characters, this game is not for you.People have forgotten what games are for. They are to mess around and have fun. To break away from reality. That's it, and this game delivers. Yes, I appreciate good physics in a game. I love realistic graphics. I'm a reader, so I love a compelling story and relatable/interesting characters, and I love to see all these things in games. But that doesn't mean that's all I want. Sometimes it's just nice to kick back and have some fun. And this game delivers.Yes, it's not without its flaws. One thing that bugs me is there's no cover system. I'm lenient with this when I revisit the PS1 and PS2 era, but these days? There's not really any reason for not including it. It's easy work. Are the characters relatable? It's too soon for me to give an opinion on this but in honesty, I think it's going to be hard to match the original saints, and I think the developers knew this. (The characters in this game are different and diverse. They have changed it up and taken a risk. Should they be punished for this?) Whilst I never expected physics to be realistic, they could have done a better job I think. Especially with car damage and the wingsuiting.But hey, I want to break the realm of reality. I want to drift in a car for thirty seconds. I want to glide 30cm off the ground for an extended period of time. I want to take thirty bullets to the abdomin and still be able to put down the people shooting those bullets in that moment, because it's fun!So sure, the game doesn't have a cover system, the physics could be better, the characters more relatable etc, but the difficulty level is EXTREMELY customisable. You want to take a lot of damage, but want to put down enemies quickly? Doable. You want to be put down with a couple of shots but want your enemies to be walking brick walls? Doable. Fed up with the durability of enemy vehicles? Reduce the difficulty without affecting the damage anywhere else. You want enemies to attack your turf frequently? Customise the difficulty. Fed up with them attacking too often? Customise the difficulty. And so much more. Honestly, other game developers can and should learn from the customisability of its protagonist and difficulty settings.This game is NOT about compelling characters, stories or graphics. It's about kicking back, letting loose and having some f***ing fun! And it delivers!So yes, it can be repetitive and shallow at times, but with the level of customisation and with the intention of just letting loose, it doesn't matter. This is a throwback to the PS2/early PS3 era, when games didn't take themselves too seriously. If you go into this game with that expectation, you should enjoy it. If you're hoping for something more, you'll be disappointed.More games should take themselves less seriously, and for that reason I'm giving five stars.

Ideally, like to give this game 3.5/5 instead of 3/5 (doesnt feel good enough for a 4/5).Pros:- definitely feels like a saints row game, albeit one catered for Gen Z / late millenials instead of older generation.- Story is surprisingly quite enjoyable and prefer it over the story for 3,4, GOOH and Mayhem (2 had best story imo, 3 most fun to play)- Santo Ileso is probably my favourate city in the franchise / looks better than steelport and stillwaterCons:- too many side missions which are repetitive. Acquiring a business is OK but having to do 14 submissions all over the map which are all repetitve can be a massive chore.- characters are OK but nowhere near as memorable as those from 2 or 3.-graphically, it is all over the place. on the one hand, dust effects, and explosions look beautiful, as does the city and wilderness up close, but other times, it looks like an old saints row game. Not to mention framerate issues can occur randomly (during last mission, framerate felt slower than 20fps to the extent the screen was half freezing during cutscenes and missions...on a ps5, albeit on 4k mode). I agree with Digital Foundry's assessment that they need to lock framerates on consoles / offer a performance mode once the mid-cycle consoles are released. The fact Watch_Dogs 2 on PS4 (running on PS5) looks better is a worry.-very glitchy, particularly with customisation. It is nowhere near as bad a Mafia III or Red Dead 2 but it is a bit concerning, fortunately it was patched today which dealt with the main bugs but created a new bug which disabled the in-game music player.Overall, this definitely feels like a Saints game, had potential to be a great game but rate it at above average. I would probably say this is in the top 2 saints games re story but is blighted by very longwinded side-missions which ruin the flow. Also doesnt help that the characters arent memorable either.

Good game for the price

Having loved saints 2&3 I was looking forward to this new release. I held off from preordering after the reviews started coming out. I was essentially waiting for it to be be a lot cheaper.Got it during black Friday for £24.99 and that was £24.98 too much.It's like they built this game in 2007. Handles horrendously and the fact it's no longer the usual saints, it's a group of woke folk who eat quiche. They actually mention they want quiche for dinner.Avoid to save yourself the rotten disappointment. I've already sold to CEX

It's a fun game that pulls back from the wackiness of the previous saint's row games.The character creator is top notch and you get a lot of funny characters being made and shared by the community. My only gripe is it takes a while to load in community-made creations.The combat is solid. They have a lot of funny takedown animations you can trigger and a decent amount of combat skills to unlock.The story isn't the best. You feel more like a millennial trying to get a start-up off the ground than a hardened gang boss creating a criminal empire. Also, the characters are a bit bland and lack presence. They seem like a collection of stereotypes rather than actual people.Overall if you're looking for something to play casually with a friend after work there's a lot of fun to be with this game.

Having played GTA online for so long I wanted something similar that was fun to play. The gameplay works great and has the perfect combination of tongue-in-cheek and fun to make the game something I love to come back to. The driving is not a smooth as GTA and feels simplified but if you want a light-hearted game with tons of progression then this would be the game for you.