Saint's Row IV

[Lakov_Sanite]

Even in the most ridiculous games we sometimes latch onto things that seem irrational to us. It's pretty common and everyone has some example of it.

[climbjtree]

I'd like to play this game without a gamepad, but when I try to do it the buttons flicker back and forth between gamepad icons and keys. Any clue how to set it specifically to one or the other?

[Lakov_Sanite]

Do you have a gamepad connected in any way?

[climbjtree]

No, but my keyboard, mouse, and headphones are all logitech wireless. I also have a joystick that was recently plugged in, but hasn't been since before I installed SR4.

[Ingmar]

The superjumping really is pretty lame IN COMPARISON to CoH. It's kind of a black mark for me honestly.

Also the patch last night apparently broke the shit out of the weapon cache - people are losing weapons, etc. Beware.

[Simond]

Steam patch today to fix weapon cache, btw.

[Venkman]

This game gives me flashbacks to CoH more than Saints Row 3.

Not done yet so not reading the whole thread. I came by only to say "the clusters man... THE CLUSTERS!". Some gotta-get-them-all bone I didn't realize I had, worse than those freakin' flags in Tomb Raider I wasn't quitting until I 100%'d it.

But this post stuck out at me because I feel the same. Saints Row IV is the best super hero game I've played. This is, in large part, because I didn't need some goddamned grind punching me in the dick for 15 hours before I got access to the one signature ability my pre-constrained class/IP dictated I was allowed to have. I'm only halfway through, but since I'm apparently a completionist (news to me), I've unlocked all the powers I can get to that point up through maxed stomp (i assume there's more). I'm way overpowered for the open world stuff, but shit if it ain't fun to tornado half the city chasing the green(yellow?) orbs that appeared because I curb stomped a base and surrounding neighborhood to max chaos/awareness/whatever-the-red means That just doens't get old.

Still don't like the insurance fraud bits, but I didn't in 3 either, so no foul there.

[Khaldun]

I am almost interested in this. I never got very far into Saint's Row 3. I dunno why. The humor just didn't scratch my itch and in the early gameplay especially I felt it was kind of pointless--that whole thing where you're in the plane talking to the Belgian crook and then you're shooting in the air while falling and all that, it felt very passive and oh-so-pleased with itself for its self-referentiality, etc. I'll try to do Saint's Row 3 again tonight and see if I enjoy it more later in the game, that's probably a clue about SRIV for me.

[Lakov_Sanite]

Still don't like the insurance fraud bits, but I didn't in 3 either, so no foul there.

I found the missions super easy when I realised you only need to stay in the fraud spot once to build up your adrenaline bar, then you just sort of roll down the entire stretch of the city.

[Segoris]

Not done yet so not reading the whole thread. I came by only to say "the clusters man... THE CLUSTERS!". Some gotta-get-them-all bone I didn't realize I had, worse than those freakin' flags in Tomb Raider I wasn't quitting until I 100%'d it.

But this post stuck out at me because I feel the same. Saints Row IV is the best super hero game I've played. This is, in large part, because I didn't need some goddamned grind punching me in the dick for 15 hours before I got access to the one signature ability my pre-constrained class/IP dictated I was allowed to have. I'm only halfway through, but since I'm apparently a completionist (news to me), I've unlocked all the powers I can get to that point up through maxed stomp (i assume there's more). I'm way overpowered for the open world stuff, but shit if it ain't fun to tornado half the city chasing the green(yellow?) orbs that appeared because I curb stomped a base and surrounding neighborhood to max chaos/awareness/whatever-the-red means That just doens't get old.

Still don't like the insurance fraud bits, but I didn't in 3 either, so no foul there.

Yeah, I 100% this before I realized, the whole time bitching about that one final cluster I did not find until a long time of flying/searching. Fuck clusters. As for powers and there being more - yes, as you level up and invest in powers more will be available. Then there are others which are only earned from achievements (if needed you can lower the difficulty to earn those achievements, but even on HC they aren't too bad. Except rifts).

I will say this - do Matt Miller's missions until you gain the collectible finder, you'll be much better off getting that as early as possible as you try to collect every single cluster.

As for insurance fraud, it went from annoying to somewhat fun as you ragdoll across the city as super power speed and gain $1mil+ combos

[Sky]

I am almost interested in this. I never got very far into Saint's Row 3. I dunno why. The humor just didn't scratch my itch and in the early gameplay especially I felt it was kind of pointless--that whole thing where you're in the plane talking to the Belgian crook and then you're shooting in the air while falling and all that, it felt very passive and oh-so-pleased with itself for its self-referentiality, etc. I'll try to do Saint's Row 3 again tonight and see if I enjoy it more later in the game, that's probably a clue about SRIV for me.

Don't judge a book by it's set piece QTE intro.

SR4 does the same, but those are few and far between in the actual game.

This game is fun and all, but it makes me want to play GTA and have more story and less silliness. I like the silly to be in the context of a more serious story.

[Venkman]

Thanks Segoris. I JUST got that thing last night and his helped with the headaches a lot

I am almost interested in this. I never got very far into Saint's Row 3. I dunno why. The humor just didn't scratch my itch and in the early gameplay especially I felt it was kind of pointless--that whole thing where you're in the plane talking to the Belgian crook and then you're shooting in the air while falling and all that, it felt very passive and oh-so-pleased with itself for its self-referentiality, etc. I'll try to do Saint's Row 3 again tonight and see if I enjoy it more later in the game, that's probably a clue about SRIV for me.

Don't judge a book by it's set piece QTE intro.

SR4 does the same, but those are few and far between in the actual game.

This game is fun and all, but it makes me want to play GTA and have more story and less silliness. I like the silly to be in the context of a more serious story.

I kind of agree with this. SR3's humor worked for me because it was silliness in a quasi-serious-enough world and having never played a SR game before I was kinda expecting a layperson GTA before GTA V. SR4 is the same humor but they tossed all seriousness in favor of a tongue-in-cheek Matrix riff. Some of it is still pretty funny, but more in the context of how they twist the SR3 gags than anything unto itself. Like if my first SR game was 4, I may not laugh as much.

Love the game, but hope SR5 doesn't push down this vector further.

[Segoris]

NP Darniaq, now just wait until there's only 1 more cluster and audio log with only the "drive an alien craft 1356471374377 million miles (though, there's a mod to reduce that number for the achievement a bit, I'm being odd and just won't use it).

SR4 does the same, but those are few and far between in the actual game.

They're few and far between in SR3, but in SR4 it's a QTE with every single warden and it truly is a downer.

As for SR5, it's supposed to have a new protagonist/boss, so I'm guessing it will be toned down quite a bit. I'm hoping it's a mix of SR2/SR3, but that's a long ways away yet and I'm hoping for a GTA5 port to PC before worrying about SR5.

[Venkman]

Is SR2 worth playing? My first was SR3, but I've heard good things about too, so wondering if maybe it's too old to go back to.

The QTEs for wardens are pretty lightweight. Just a few seconds of mashing a few keys. When that first QTE came up in 4 though, I was worried it was going to heavy hand it more. Glad to be wrong. I didn't really want any of those Witcher 2 boxing scenes or the Tomb Raider ones.

[rattran]

SR2 port was awful when it came out, so if you own a console, it's worth it. If you're pc only, I dunno if it ever got improved, it was so buggy/annoying I gave up.

[Segoris]

Is SR2 worth playing? My first was SR3, but I've heard good things about too, so wondering if maybe it's too old to go back to.

The QTEs for wardens are pretty lightweight. Just a few seconds of mashing a few keys. When that first QTE came up in 4 though, I was worried it was going to heavy hand it more. Glad to be wrong. I didn't really want any of those Witcher 2 boxing scenes or the Tomb Raider ones.

SR2 is wonderful as a game, but for PC you need to go and download Gentleman of the Row. I played SR2 on PC with GotR and it was well worth it. I'd also suggest Sandbox+, but GotR is the main one.

As for QTEs in SR4 - yes they're lightweight, but they're only rare if you're not off doing what was fun in previous SR games - shooting sprees with new weapons, drive-bys, etc. If you try any of that now then QTEs are often enough to be annoying and they're done so poorly in that you're stopped by a really really weak mini-boss and a shitty QTE which wipes all notoriety which took longer to build up then to finish off the warden and his QTE. 

[Koyasha]

The story, I think, was most solid in SR2.  It was serious with wacky elements, basically.  And I had no problems on PC...on the other hand, a friend of mine has never gotten it to work on PC.  So it's hard to tell whether you'll be able to make it work or not.  The Gentlemen of the Row modpack helped a lot.  Assuming your PC runs it well, it's better on PC because the mods really made a number of things cooler, and let you do a lot more customizing with your appearance and all.

[Ingmar]

For me the more serious it is, the less pleasant the experience in this style of game usually - or to put it in SR4's words, I prefer more puckish rogue, less actual psycopath, and SR2 seems to be tilted heavily towards the latter. I need it to be completely over the top into parody land before I can get past a lot of the stuff you actually do and just enjoy the gameplay.

[Segoris]

I get that, and I love some wacky humor, but the downside to that is there's really no points in SR3 or 4 where a development makes someone think "holy shit I can't believe that happened" like in SR2 with the darker and more serious nature of the game. The result of the war with Maero and the Brotherhood is a good example (at the derby).

[Paelos]

I don't like roleplaying an actual gangbanger. That's not uplifting in any sense.

[Sjofn]

I find being a psychopath way, way too depressing. I need to be able to actually like myself to get through a game, and SR2 makes sure I would not like myself even a teeny tiny bit with some of the shit it has me do in the cut scenes.

[Lakov_Sanite]

For the same reason I think I dislike the most recent GTA, crime sim is fun and all when it's silly like vice city but when you are just playing a terrible person doing bad things it really loses something.

[Paelos]

It's easier if you're a redeemable character caught in a bad situation. Which I think is what they were going for on some of the GTA stuff. However, they failed in many of those games to get that across. GTA 4 comes to mind.

[rattran]

GTA4 you're someone who should be in prison for war crimes, and get worse as the game progresses. Not much fun, not even counting 'Hey cousin, let us go see some teetees!' while trying to play. I much more enjoyed SR3/4s over the top exuberance.

[Koyasha]

I actually like the seriousness better, personally.  For me, the gameplay in SR2 was fun, but the story carried the game where the bad port might otherwise have made me quit in frustration because I was highly engaged and interested in seeing what my Boss would do next.  And while the end of 4 was ridiculously awesome, I think the end of 2 was more satisfying.

[Lakov_Sanite]

Seriousness in these games only works alongside a tongue in cheek element, which is why SR3 was great.  GTA4-5 seem to be going for serious storytelling throughout but along with mowing people on sidewalks down, which makes little sense.

[Sky]

Diff'rent strokes.

[Nevermore]

Whatchoo talkin' 'bout, Willis?

[Venkman]

SR2 is wonderful as a game, but for PC you need to go and download Gentleman of the Row.
...
As for QTEs in SR4 - yes they're lightweight, but they're only rare if you're not off doing what was fun in previous SR games - shooting sprees with new weapons, drive-bys, etc. If you try any of that now then QTEs are often enough to be annoying and they're done so poorly in that you're stopped by a really really weak mini-boss and a shitty QTE which wipes all notoriety which took longer to build up then to finish off the warden and his QTE. 

Awesome. I think I'd rather play SR2 than GTA V anyway. Like otherwise, playing a gangbanger in a kinda serious way isn't my thing. I didn't even like the airplane level in COD4 

And interesting note on QTEs. I haven't run into what you're talking about. For me I generally keep my noto at zero and if it goes up, I'll have fun with the first wave or two and then chase down the CID. So basically, thus far I've only had QTEs on 6-8 Wardens. Think I'm going to need to start some sprees or something... which here it's ok because, ya know, the Matrix and stuff 

[Lakov_Sanite]

Diff'rent strokes.

Serious question.  As a fan how do you reconcile a serious storyline with gameplay that only bears a similarity to reality.  (spray painting cars to avoid cops, killing thousands, etc etc)

[Sky]

Don't overthink things.

[Lakov_Sanite]

So, don't take it seriously. 

[Rasix]

Well, it is a game.

[Koyasha]

Seriousness in these games only works alongside a tongue in cheek element, which is why SR3 was great.  GTA4-5 seem to be going for serious storytelling throughout but along with mowing people on sidewalks down, which makes little sense.

Oh, I agree there needs to be a level of silly; things like mowing people down on the sidewalks and all that during gameplay feel incongruous if the setting tries to be too serious.  SR2 had hilarious minigames, there were jokes interspersed throughout the plot line, and you could build a ridiculous look for yourself and your gang, all of which helped make it fun.  It's just that the story itself was more engaging and satisfying to me because it felt like serious people living in a world that had a certain level of ridiculousness built in.

[Sky]

So, don't take it seriously. 

Well, I see what you're trying to do there. There's a difference between a serious tone and taking a game seriously.

Thus 'diff'rent strokes' comment. Some people want to pull apart every little thing and discuss Tali's heritage and sexuality or how that SHIELD agent can be alive in the tv series. That stuff doesn't bother me at all. But I'm more interested in playing a guy who is trying to distance himself from his past but continues to be confronted with it, someone who is only good at the one thing he hates...set in a GTA world where silly stuff also happens because that's fun as a game. As opposed to the Saints leader whom I have no connection to or interest in at all, it's a fun game but it's also very shallow and forgettable.

Sometimes you need a Big Smoke.

This is more thought than I've put into it. I prefer GTA over SR, though I enjoy both. Why delve into the mysteries of why? I'm more of an experiential person and don't worry about the existential.