So, what are the complaints exactly?

[Queen HawlSera]

I came into this game expecting to hate it, but what I find it just a slightly tamer version of Saints Row The Third (It's "Current Year" everything's going to be tamer sadly)

I'm realizing a lot of the hate this game got was manchildren screaming "WOKE!" anytime they see a black man in a video game.

[Longy999]

I think most people are just mad about the Epic exclusivity which gets others to jump on the hate bandwagon, woke is sadly just the latest trend word getting thrown around at every opportunity, it'll get replaced with a new one soon enough

I've had a few hours on the game and I've enjoyed it for the most part, it's nowhere near as bad as the naysayers have made it out to be. Personally I'd say it's not as good as 2 and 3 but better than 4 and that awful Gat spinoff

It's a bit janky in places and the story is kinda meh but as a whole I'll have had more than my £20 worth of entertainment out of it by the time I get to the end

[Ben]

Couldnt get past the first few missions because of the broken Audio Mix.
Can you guys hear your car engine, your steps or any ambient noises?

[Luke]

It is tamer but after 10 hours playing the game I have to say I am enjoying it. There's been some sound issues where everything goes super quiet and I don't like the helicopter controls/handling (controller not m/k). Other than those issues, it feels like a Saints Row game, just a bit tamer.

[Longy999]

Originally posted by Ben:

Couldnt get past the first few missions because of the broken Audio Mix.
Can you guys hear your car engine, your steps or any ambient noises?

The only audio bug I've experienced so far was the voices became distorted during one of the mission end scenes, went back to normal once I went back to gameplay though. Can't say as I've noticed any problems audio wise other than that

The biggest problem I've had is the insurance fraud venture, soon as I start it all the cars on the map seem to just up and vanish meaning it's a nightmare to pass. Even went onto the freeway and there was about 3 cars every 30 seconds. Some of them even actively stopped and tried to turn around before they got to me, bizarre

[Queen HawlSera]

Originally posted by Ben:

Couldnt get past the first few missions because of the broken Audio Mix.
Can you guys hear your car engine, your steps or any ambient noises?

I mean I can, try verifying your files you something

Originally posted by Luke:

It is tamer but after 10 hours playing the game I have to say I am enjoying it. There's been some sound issues where everything goes super quiet and I don't like the helicopter controls/handling (controller not m/k). Other than those issues, it feels like a Saints Row game, just a bit tamer.

I really hope the "Softer and Tamer!" ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ comes to an end, the game's great, but I do cringe a little when I remember they're not allowed to say "Freckle ♥♥♥♥♥'s"

[kcuf]

kinda have the same feeling. it just feels like another SR3. graphics arent that good, but they never really were in saints row. and the dialogue is far from the worst ive heard in a video game. lines not 10/10 but at least the actors are pretty good.

[Anindya]

There is also the gender neutral thing. Because of which (I am guessing) the walking animation is not good compared to previous games. Check walking animation of female character in previous games compared to this one. Female character walking animation from Saints Row The Third can be seen at about 28:44 in this video - https://youtu.be/wYbp7yUlf88?si=P0fcSPnFS6z2yNk0&t=1723

There is also the stupid stance thingy and stupid facial expression when you have any weapons out. It is not possible to walk around with weapons out either like you could in previous games. Here I thought that getting a concealed carry permit was more difficult in USA (depends on state apparently). Whereas this game seems to be suggesting that concealed carry is okay, but unconcealed carry is not.

Edit: The walking animation in Saints Row 2022 can be seen in this video - https://vimeo.com/831813566

I am guessing it is a gender neutral walking animation. There is also the weapon stance thing in the video, but the usual angry facial expression that happens when you switch weapons is not there. In GTA V I have even heard NPCs apologizing if you suddenly pull out weapon when walking among them. I remember hearing something like, "If I offended you, I am sorry...". In this game it is simply not possible to walk among NPCs with weapons out. If there are hostile NPCs around, only then your character will pull out the selected weapon. And also switch to the stupid stance and in most cases the angry facial expression too. I believe it is possible to walk around with certain melee weapons though. Like a sword for example (Edit: And this - https://postimg.cc/N5BXRfmt ). ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Milkless Tea]

It's not a saints row game. Unless to you saints row is 3 and 4. It's not even a good game of today, if it came out 10 years ago then sure, but it's not adding anything saints row 3 and 4 added. It's a dated bad game with an agenda to push that nobody wants.

[Cutlass Jack]

So its not a Saints Row game unless you count half the Saints Row games?
Anyway there's no agenda. Nothing going on that wasn't also in the other games.

[Milkless Tea]

Originally posted by Cutlass Jack:

So its not a Saints Row game unless you count half the Saints Row games?
Anyway there's no agenda. Nothing going on that wasn't also in the other games.

Which can be argued aren't also saints row games. President with super powers lmao, but yeah there's no woke trash going on let's ignore it

[Ben]

Originally posted by Queen HawlSera:

I mean I can, try verifying your files you something

Already did. No change.
They files are there, the sounds are there too just extremely quiet in comparison to speech and music.

[Anindya]

Originally posted by Cutlass Jack:

Anyway there's no agenda. Nothing going on that wasn't also in the other games.

Agenda there definitely exists. But yes, nothing that wasn't also present in the other games. Like the "your mom" thing that can be seen in this screenshot - https://postimg.cc/RNJ09N79 . The "your mom" thing in Saints Row The Third I didn't even notice and only found out from this fandom page - https://saintsrow.fandom.com/wiki/Burns_Hill . The same park has been used in other locations too and they have the same sign that says, "This park is dedicated to your mom". Edit: Screenshot - https://postimg.cc/ThDrNYKL . Edit 2: Sign is missing in Saints Row IV - https://postimg.cc/XZHb0qFb . But it once again exists in Saints Row The Third Remastered, probably because it is supposed to be a remaster only and not a remake - https://postimg.cc/LqjzcFLm .

I believe I also saw a "beware of mom" sign inside a Friendly Fire in this game just recently (Edit 3: Screenshot of "beware of mom" sign - https://postimg.cc/MMvYy4BY ). I only took screenshot of the "Never mind the cat..." sign because I noticed it first - https://postimg.cc/LYJcfZ68 .

[Famous eco-rapper Biggi Bioswale]

It's got all the stuff I like from the rest of the series. The writing went from South Park to Seinfeld but I didn't play the old games for the writing.

I don't really like desert settings but I think it was a real positive choice. All the other maps were like GTA 4 where it was just coast to coast city. The ability to offroad for a shortcut is pretty nice.

[Indigo Jinx]

I found the sound levels to be fine once I adjusted them in the settings menu...

"WOKE" has nothing to do with black people, hipster doofusses just say woke when they don't understand the obvious metaphors they know are there, but are far too sheltered, uneducated, or slow witted to understand.

It's NOT anywhere near as good as SR-2, but I do like it, & will continue playing it, solo, AND Co-Op.

The thing I personally dislike the most is that they got rid of ALL of the Saints we loved, that all had great personalities, & replaced them with these insufferable ______s. (insert whatever offputting traits you like in the blank)

I don't hate Epic games, I own it there, I also own about 75 games I got there every 2 weeks for free, these Steam fanboys trying to ruin games with negative review bombs are little punks, & if you listen to troll punks, you deserve to miss out on good games because somebody thought paying for a year's exclusive wasn't the BAD idea it always is.

[Flashbaxx]

The criticism over the broken state of the game at launch I can understand, as well as the platform exclusivity. They've pulled back on offensive stereotyping, which is kind of expected these days. The humor is rather weak in thinking that "random = funny" all the time. But as for everything else, it's on par with Saints Row: The Third, which is fine by me.