The Saints Row Reboot Needs to Blend Saints Row 3's Charm with Modern Mechanics
The Saints Row franchise has gone through an impressive evolution. Originally dismissed as a Grand Theft Auto clone, the series established its own identity with a more expansive character customization system and a lack of reverence that just got crazier over time. Saints Row: The Third seems to be when the series truly stopped taking itself seriously, in spite of some character angst present in the plot. Considering how ridiculous Saints Row 4 was with its Infamous-like superhero mechanics and aliens, The Third was a more effective compromise between fans who wanted the most absurd vulgarities possible, and others who wanted a decent open-world action game about criminals.
The new Saints Row reboot will be the first original game in the series since 2013's Saints Row 4, and judging from what trailers show, it will try to preserve the series' trademark goofiness instead of going back down a semi-serious route like the first and second games. It is also clear that the new Saints Row will most integrate modern gaming mechanics and tropes into its systems. While that might seem necessary from an evolutionary standpoint, it is critical for the game to preserve the charm of its predecessors, especially The Third.
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While some classic fans may be dismayed at the direction the series took in the 2010s, the original Saints Row had equally ridiculous moments, including a mission where the player had to smear feces on a wall. Saints Row: The Third took these absurd moments and made a whole game around them, further splitting the Saints Row series from Grand Theft Auto. The game's city of Steelport is just as, if not more depraved and dangerous than Stilwater, and a lot
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