One of the main qualms with this new entry in the Saints Row series is its main cast of characters. Many have said the characters are one dimensional, or leave little emotional attachment on fans. The script itself has left some players groaning at the dialogue and overall tone, and it seems audiences met this more grounded approach hoping for more than they received. This makes sense when one considers how well earlier entries endeared players to their cast of Saints.
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Saints Row’s Evolution in the Original Games
When the first Saints Row game released in 2006, it was met with critical and commercial success, offering a worthy rival to the Grand Theft Auto series it took inspiration from. Saints Row 2 introduced a more comedic tone to stand apart from Grand Theft Auto, and Saints Row: The Third increased the emphasis on comedy while featuring numerous pop culture homages, parodies, and self-referential humor. The subsequent entries, Saints Row 4 and its standalone expansion Gat out of Hell, continued to up the ludicrous nature of their predecessors.
Throughout each of these iterations, fans grew more attached to the cast of characters. Each character had their own unique personality that came together to make the Saints feel like a family, all while adding to the story of each individual game. Fan favorites such as Johnny Gat, Shaundi, Pierce, and others had compelling backstories and close ties to the playable protagonist, with each bringing a unique perspective and sense of comedic humor to the table that built a consistent atmosphere.
The New Saints Row Gang
Deep Silver tried to portray the new gang in its reboot as relatable through tragic backstories and motivations. This approach could have worked, yet Saints Row’s characters seem to contradict themselves by the nature of them being hardened criminals in between heroic or lighthearted moments. By comparison, the original Third Street Saints were hardened, sociopathic criminals who had much respect for each other, but treated everybody outside their gang as expendable collateral.
Another aspect of the original characters’ charm was their ability to easily weave humor into serious situations based on their own individual personalities. The Saints gang in this reboot have more surface-level personalities and very little wit among themselves. The humor was bland and forgettable for many players, no longer using the backdrop of the Saints Row universe’s crass, over-the-top humor and sexual innuendos that have made a name for the series since its second iteration.
Overall, the new Saints shy away from the zany and hardened edge of the original series, preventing them from fully sticking the landing. What little character development the Saints went through in this game did not feel as impactful nor as memorable as the development of their predecessors. Hopefully whatever Volition and Deep Silver have in mind for the future of Saints Row will allow fans to see the return of more traditional Saints Row writing, and allow players to build a relationship with the characters involved.
Saints Row is now available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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