I'll never completely understand why Volition started running away from SR2 as hard as they could. It's way deeper than "yall just don't like it cause it's brand new and goofy". They had something special hear GTA never had, and they pretty much threw it all away. Congrats I guess
I think if I remember correctly they wanted to go full silly to differentiate it from GTA because people just saw Saints Row as copying GTA even if it wasn't I'd say it's part Volition not having confidence in what they had and the general gaming public being fucking idiots and not knowing what they were talking about. Hey, they wanted a unique experience and they got it: Be careful what you wish for, right?
@@tennypenny8737 gta Idiot fanboys don't understand the difference between "Copying" and "Inspiration", Inspiration is taking an idea and turn it into your own unique version which is what saints row 2 developers did, it had unique features which gta didn't, gta itself was inspired by scarface and the godfather movies and some say the game (driver 1999) inspired the 3D world in gta 3.
Carlos' death was so fucking sad. I remember as a kid getting choked up watching it play out. I still always do the brotherhood last just to keep him around longer. The fact that he's never mentioned again even when they bring back every irrelevant character in future games blows my mind.
Another thing I always loved about SR2 was that the player character was an unapologetic psycho who would do anything to take over. It let you totally revel in being a villain, it's so rare to see games have the balls to do that without pulling some bait-and-switch and making the player character turn good.
It's funny because even the good guys are pyscho's so it's very morally lost because everyone is a crazed killer...honestly I don't blame Julius and think he was one of the protagonist because he's been trying to keep peace the most even if he had to betray something he liked
One of the wild things I remember as a kid was the attention to detail in regards to Carlos's death. If you taunt your gang members after that mission, they'll make remarks about you killing Carlos and how it was intentional, but before that mission they wouldn't mention that. That's an insane level of attention to detail. I miss when Volition focused on the many little details.
I just finished the storyline for the third game and it was nothing in comparison to the last game. It's so sad that they went the direction they did its just not same
a detail I noticed that I didn't the first couple times I've played and beaten this amazing game is that after Carlos dies some of your members when fighting brotherhood will say this is for Carlos
I just appreciate how SR2 genuinely acknowledge ls that your protagonist is a murdering sociopath who wants power and money. It doesn't try to be morally Grey like gta 4 or Red Dead Redemption
I wish Sr3 tackled this issue more, I always justified the change of the world's tone as a reflection of the Boss's mental state. Not crazy, but as the boss gets more desensitized to the violence the more it feels like a silly game to them.
@@DirtyGeorgei think he meant RDR2, not the first game, replaying rdr1 right now and alot of the characters go "Yeah but you kill people, doesn't matter if its 'who deserved it.'"
@@DirtyGeorgeI mean, Red Dead can give John the hero rank while it’s admitted that he has killed woman men and children innocent or not. You see he’s a family man but he doesn’t shy away from killing or stealing for his own benefit whether because he needs the money or because he got annoyed (in the case of the Strange Man).
Shogo's death is one of the coldest cutscenes in all of gaming. Johnny repeatedly telling him to "get up" when we all know johnny will keep this loop going as long as he can, only for shogo to finally refuse and get his jaw *slammed* through a headstone and buried alive, probably with a concussion or two. Shit gave my 13 year old self chills and its still satisfying to watch. No one came in last minute and tried telling us how we shouldnt do this because its bad, or how he maybe didnt deserve it and naybe he's more useful alive... NOPE. just two stonefaced thugs hellbent on delivering death. Real cold ass gangsta shit right there.
@@HumungusO_o if i was in the saints and i needed someone to help me, i wouldnt choose the boss or pierce or shaundi, i'd choose Gat. I know he'd have my back for sure
This is an all time old classic, it was my favourite and I’m glad to see a UA-camr play it again and show people what they were missing since most people never knew like us older people do
In my opinion, one of the simultaneously most brutal, overlooked, and undeserved gang-related deaths in the series is when the Boss throws a brick with all his strength at Matt's face during the fight with Maero. Matt was just trying to protect his friend, so he arguably didn't do anything wrong. But the Boss doesn't take too kindly to anyone who stands in his way.
It's strange how Matt gets so unceremoniously dumped whereas all the other major villains have climactic deaths, either in a duel (Veteran Child, Jyunichi, Kazuo) or in a spectacular fashion (Jessica, Shogo, Sunshine) or both (General, Maero)
There's also irony in Mareos death. When you first meet him he's got no one to back him up and he isn't afraid of the boss at all but at the end he has to have the last of his crew to back him up against the boss who is literally by himself against Mareos monster truck and his other gang members that are also in trucks. Mareo went from an unshakeable tuff guy to a scared defenseless child at the end.
@@ChrisBarnett222 it also makes for a horrible, horrible first impression. Carlos already shows he's loyal a shell. Pierce is a goof but has potential. Questioning your leader's choice right out the gate, if not for plot reason, woulda had a round to the dome for that
@RyGuyMemes Kenzie, Josh Birk, and hell, even Matt Miller, could single-handedly wipe out the entire reboot Zoomers that think they're a gang. Hell, even that drug-dealing suburban mom from SR1 and 2 (Laura?) could wipe out the Woke Zoomer-Saints.
Now that he brings it up, I think this order would be interesting. 1. Sons of Samedi 2. Brotherhood 3. Ronin So, the Boss starts out as a bad leader, a selfish one. Then, after he loses Carlos in the Brotherhood, he starts to be less of a douchebag and starts respecting his team. Then, he sees positive feedback of respecting his team with the Ronin, and by the time he ends, he says “Your son should have never messed with my friends.” Making that line feel more significantly well earned.
Also, with that order Vogel will get increasingly more presence in the story. He doesn't appear in the Sons of Samedi missions, he only appears at the end of the Brotherhood missions, and he appears throughout the Ronin missions even meeting with the Saints for the first time as well. Making that order a perfect lead in to the Ultor missions. Honestly, I think that's the canon order. It makes the most sense.
Both Carlos and Aisha's deaths still get me to this day. Barely any dialogue in either scene and still, so powerful. Johnny and Boss also burying Shogo alive is so sinister. I love it. Sadly, scenes like this have all but vanished from the series. Julius created a monster and the city has to suffer him. Boss isn't a good guy, the Saints are not puckish rogues. He is sinister, the saints are sinister. The ending is very.......dark. That is what I love about the first 2 games. I hate that the stupidity took over where it becomes mindless shooting. I wish they had kept the serious tone of the first games with a bit of humour sprinkled within.
The thing that always truck me weird is how Johnny speaks to the judge like it's a man, and I think the judge was meant to be male, as well, as you normally wouldn't call a female "a douchebag" or talk about violently shoving things up their rear without making it sexual.
@@MarvinPowell1 not really, Gat sees only 2 types of people, those he doesn't shoot and those he does. He treats them pretty much the same depending on if they're with him or not, it doesn't matter if she's a girl or not he'll just insult her and kills her just the same. Tl:dr Gat is the ultimate equality icon
To this day, Saint's Row 2 is the best co-op experience I've ever had. It should have been blatantly obvious what we wanted and when we knew we were being ignored, they spat in our faces. I'll be throwing a party when Volition packs it up and goes under. I realize that the team that made SR2 already left, but Volition had big shoes to fill and they deserve to fail.
This was a really fun watch. I remember always thinking of the final Mr. Sunshine cutscene as being more creepy than silly. While they did do the headless gag at the end, the fact that this dude just kept getting back up like he was powered by something sinister is really eerie. I like that touch of the supernatural. Fit the character so well, and it was just enough to both creep you out and make you laugh. SR2's balance of tone was so spot on. Miss that era of the series, now more than ever.
That scene of sunshine tanking bullets messed me up as a 9 year old. I wasn’t even convinced that decapitation would truly kill sunshine. I really hoped the boss would grind him into mincemeat and burn the meat to guarantee he doesn’t get back up. 💀
yeah i cant lie i never got it as a silly goofy moment like how it was described I thought it was very fitting to the nature of the gang and the personas they were going with and fitted really well. theres samurais and monster truckers, why not a bit of voodoo too lol. as real as the rest of it
There is a little detail . When we start the game we can explore and enjoy the city by just walking , driving , listening to radio no one will interrupt or ruin our immersion . But when we starts taking over the city the saints will go nuts they will start terrorizing the neighborhood every minutes passes.
Back in the day I used to play SR2 quite a bit with a buddy of mine. He would join my game in a hotdog costume, with the absurd cockney accent and a ridiculous facial expression, and all the most over-the-top weapons, which always kind of annoyed me because I played it much more seriously. But that was one of the things that was so great about SR2. You could play it straight like a serious crime action/drama, like I did, or you could go all in on the ridiculosity, like my friend did. And that was one of the things they lost with SR3. You no longer had the option to treat the game seriously if you wanted to. They gave you no choice but to play into the ridiculosity because that's all there was. In their desire to run away from GTA they ran right off the cliff.
To be honest, I really don't fucking see what's wrong with being a "gta clone", I love gta and the more games there are like gta the better for me, I want more of that shit
Spittin facts, Saints Row 3 tried too hard to constantly show you how absurd and wacky it is, literally forcing you to use the 'fart in a jar' weapon to save Shaundi's life while "I need a hero" plays in the background, all right before the space opera parody epilogue mission. They also ""killed"" Johnny offscreen 10 minutes in, & it was as if the writers forgot it happened until the DLC, or the stupid "Gat is back" SR4 trailer.
Something to note about Gat's arrest is that he was arrested trying to assassinate Troy. There's so much story potential that was just...taken away after Volition decided to go balls to the wall with SR3
If you think about it, each faction sort of sums up how their pride before the fall. Brotherhood was about arrogance and pride (which costed both sides important members but underestimated the Boss's ruthlessness) as both Maero and the Boss were in a petty squabble over the shipment. In the end, the difference was that Boss took the fight directly to the Brotherhood while Maero went from rational to irrational in response of his mates (which he made personal once he attacked Carlos). The Ronin was about tradition (their "honor" was a blanket term and wasn't adaptable to the times nor their opponent) with Akuji being too stuck in tradition to see the real threat and Shojo not having any principles which let him be swayed by his father (or perhaps too much by his father's approval to make sound decisions). If Shojo struck out on his own, he'd probably do well or even have lived in peace with the Saints (or be killed if he thought he could take them) while his father thought too highly of himself and his own personal vendetta to notice the gun at his face. The Sons of Samedi sort of follows the theme, being ruthless to it's own members. Although having voodoo powers of a gang and a professionalism is a good way to show how their operations are run, they do show how the Sons aren't inspiring confidence. How the General thought that he could go around driving in his own branded vehicles with most of his territory taken out along with Sunshine, well, guess he had invented the pocket Armored Truck. Finally, Dan Vogel. Do I need to say more?
This is one of the best analyses I ever seen on this game. That last part with Julius was something that I've always maintained personally, and it's cool to see that someone else came to this conclusion. "Vice Kings that wore purple" is probably the greatest foreshadowing of what the Saints ultimately become in SR3 onwards, provided that one accepts that part of the series as the same story.
There was some Dialogue in the first game that Julius was apart of kings gang(being Ben's right hand and former best friend) and decided to form the Saints because the Kings were trying to be more civil with there gang crimes since it was Ben Kings goal to bring the end to the other gangs through slower methods. With his enforcer and 2nd in command being restless thanks to Tanya pulling there strings to take over so she can take over the Kings.
We don't really agree with the Julius appraisal as he was the one who got into bed with the Colombians in the first game and there was no talk of stopping any of the violence until he got busted. We think he liked the power he had at the end of the first game and would have never given it up if he hadn't been arrested, Ultimately he was just an old coward who wanted to get out of some prison time.
I'd like to think that Saints Row 2 is the end of this franchise because everything comes together greatly and it tells its message perfectly. I love 4, don't mind 3 but those games, continuing on from 2. Just fucks it up yk?
Carlos breaks my fucking heart every time. I'm so sorry, kid. Didn't deserve any of what you got. I really wish he was mentioned in 3, or someone gave the boss some shit. This is why I go for the Brotherhood first. Makes sense as far as the Boss' experience/mindset as a leader, making silly mistakes and doing personal attacks instead of doing actual gangshit.
The developers stopped giving a shit after 2. Most of the storyline got dropped entirely for just straight silly gameplay and nothing more. It's a damn shame.
He was mentioned in 3 but like one time, which is sad. He could have come back in 4 but Volition just stopped giving a shit. Heard that the multiple choices were added because they felt bad about killing off Carlos but I’m not sure if there’s credibility to that claim
I have never played SR2, I was introduced to SR3. It's a surprise to see how much fun you can have in the game and customization, but also how serious the game's tone can be such as at 21:00, 37:00, 45:20 & 45:50. It shows some emotion in the story and shows the character development as it progressed. Its also nice to see each gang having its own sort of lesson/ narrative behind them. Its also cool to see the world having a sort of permanent changes from our actions in the world, I wish more games would have this as it feels like my actions in missions have no real world impact, simple things such as burning buildings with fire fighters around; if only a certain game added more security guards or police in an area where we might of raided such as a certain IAA building. And the end game twist with Ultor, while I expected it to happen; I was not expecting the reasoning behind it. I'll have to get this.
I suggest you get it for console if you want to play it with no hassle. The PC version is notoriously infamous for being a horrible port. There are mods to fix that, but it will take a bit of tinkering.
@@FalafelTheBurner I'll say, the controls are absolute garbage... which is why I only ever managed to get maybe an hour into the game before giving it up in frustration. Though I'll also say that the later GTA games are the same, I dont do 3d games with a joypad, and GTA doesnt do mouse steering. It is utter CRAP to drive a car with digital steering. Full left lock, straight ahead, full right lock... if you have to dodge something your car starts bouncing around and fishtailing like a landed carp...
At 38:00 I think you mistake Jyunichi's reasons for stopping the Ronin gang member from shooting Johnny. It wasn't honorable combat that must be respected. It was pride. This wasn't a hypocritical oversight, this was more building who Jyunichi was. He was constantly more and more defiant of Shogo and cocky in his own ability. So when he saw some random low level Ronin about to take out Gat, he absolutely could NOT abide that. HE, Jyunichi, was going to be the man who killed the legendary Johnny Gat. With his own blade. This was pride, not honor.
I think it was a bit of both. Whilst you are right, he could only feel pride if it was an honorable duel because only then it could've been worthy of feeling pride from winning at all.
@@Istura it’s like Vergil in DMC 5 he coulda fought and maybe kill Dante after he was resurrected but he goes “defeating you like this has no meaning heal your wounds and get strong then we’ll settle the matter” because of his honor and pride wanting to prove his *power* and likely would’ve been killed by Dante if it wasn’t for Nero intervening
The whole concept of a "GTA Clone" being a negative thing is so insane. Let alone the idea of "GTA Clones" being an idea in general is absolutely stupid, and I've never understood it. There used to be only 2 characteristics that would doom a game to be considered a GTA Clone; Open world and Crime. Literally the two most basic gameplay concepts imaginable, reserved to be claimed by only one series. Imagine if any military first person shooters were derogatorily referred to as "Call of Duty Clones". Or any battle royale game being considered a PUBG clone. Any tactical military shooter being a Ghost Recon Clone. Its such a stupid concept that I never understood. Saints Row 1 and 2 were great games in the Open World crime genre that existed alongside GTA, but offered a completely different kind of experience. Its a massive shame the stupid concept of the "GTA Clone" connotation from the 2000's is what caused Volition to overhaul the franchise after 1 and 2 for the worse.
I'm a big fan of GTA, but i can still say it's one of, if not, the most overrated game series ever. Even games that aren't open world like yakuza get called a clone. And rockstar's other games are either forgotten or dead, because they also compared to or overshadowed by GTA, like it's the only game they ever made.
GTA is recently overrated.Red Dead Redemption 2 is getting neglected by Rockstar because it's still focusing on GTA 5 when that game has been out since 2013.
This is nearly every genre ever. A lot of people who hate/have never touched a fighting game(s) refer to every 2D fighter (and sometimes even 3D fighters) as a Street Fighter clone or (more recently) Tekkenlike (which is objectively wrong on multiple levels), all arena fighters are Naruto Storm clones, platform fighters are Smash clones, monster catching games are Pokemon clones (though to be fair, some of those really are just Pokemon clones), anime-styled open world games are BotW clones, and Doom clone used to be a thing.
I normally target the Sons Of Samedi first since their territory is right on top of the Saints hideout and since they are the ones the Saints took it from in the first place. Since the Ronin also have territory in the Red Light District, I target them next. I basically just attack them based off of who has territory closest to the Saints Hideout at the moment.
@@instinctofapredator9009 It always felt right to me, to do it that way since Ultor iirc is locked till after the 3 are gone. If not then I probably naturally started on the "bottom" of the scale since Sons have the hoods full of druggies, up to industrial area rebel types and left the nice suburbs as the third step towards the crisp, corporate and clean area Ultor had. A kinda from rags to glory progression. I will say I do love Ronin and Ultor's areas
The English voice actor was such a hilarious touch for an American gangster. Bashing pimps and throwing them off clffs and car surfing was just so much fun. Customising your gang to wear outrageous costumes was hilarious
Saints Row 2 is so underrated and deserves a remake. But in my opinion I think SR1 deserves it more. Anyways I'll be back to watch the video because I got stuff to do atm so great video as always! It was worth the wait!
Unfortunately one of the games creators who was planning to do the remake died, and one of his friends apparently said they were gonna finish it a few years ago but nobody has heard about it
I didn't play Scarface but I do believe San Andreas and SR2 were the pinnacle for gameplay/sandbox depth. Both franchises sacrificed depth for graphics and I feel never really returned. GTA online has lots going on but I would still say it's not as robust as San Andreas. If anything, it took RDR2 for rockstar to achieve that level of depth again.
GTA San Andreas Saints Row 2 & 1 Godfather Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction (more of a war crime sim than a crime sim, fully destructible environments tho) Scarface: The World Is Yours Mafia (2002) Sleeping Dogs and True Crime: Streets of LA (sure you play as "cops" but they're still considered GTA clones so I'm listing them)
There was a neat mechanic where if you ADS at a pedestrian sometimes they would drop cash off when they ran, and how you can pick up things from the environment to use against other NPCs. Little details like that made me enjoy the game more than GTA in the day
My favorite little detail is the fighting styles you get for beating storylines. You get Karate from the Ronnin, Capoeria from the Samedi, and IDK what the brotherhood give you. But ultimately you'll almost never use them in regular gameplay (the fight clubs maybe but you can do them with the starting brawling style). Lot of effort that probably wasn't appreciated by many.
I did the mission where you get money from the casinos and I beat people with a keyboard. And you can rip out the parking meters too. That shit was cool.
I believe you get an ATV in your garage for sticking up 50 pedestrians, or maybe it was Jane Valderama as a homie? I forgot which one. I always made sure to do that quickly on each new save file. EDIT: just googled it, you get the paintball mask for 30 muggings and Jane at 50
Another one of many reasons why SR2 reigns supreme is the fact they actually made the hierarchy feel right, because you know, you are supposed to be the leader of a GANG. It's easily understood that Gat is your right hand second in command man, while Shaundi and Pierce are your lower lieutenants. SR3 and 4 totally abandoned that obviously with plenty of other things
That and the justification for you doing the missions instead of your underlings makes sense. Where at the end, he used to just do as his allies say, he does them because he's got the experience to back it up. It doesn't feel like you're just a henchman with a big ol' title, you're the main leader spearheading your revival to bring the Saints back to relevancy.
Saints Row 1 & 2 will always be the best games labeled "Saints Row" I do like that the new developers are trying to bring some of this style back but I dont think they'll come close in this new game. What made the old games special is they had that early 2000's thug/gangsta vibe that was in the mainstream for a few years during those times. I always loved playing games that made me feel like I was in real life. Sr2 was some of the most fun I ever had when the game was new especially the Multiplayer mode where you could earn money after every match to buy clothes.
@@hyperdark06 I enjoyed it when it first came out but I didn’t like that there wasn’t a multiplayer. Activities were okay but they got rid of Fight Club even though they added those new moves. Sr3 was missing a few things but overall wasn’t a bad Saints Row. It made me happy that they at least brought back Male voice 2
Just got the reboot at the time of this comment. Did the first mission, turned it off. Popped in SR2 and still had a better time replaying missions and wreaking havoc throughout the city.
A bit of a hot take, but I like to think that had Pierce been assigned the Brotherhood and not Carlos, he might have spoken up and actually tried to get Maero and the Boss to negotiate a deal that would actually work. Especially since in Agents of Mayhem, Pierce was shown able to make the Vice Kings, Carnales and Rollerz partner up. Though a caveat to such a scenario is that Carlos would probably still die except to the Ronin (and even worse, we might have had to choose between him and Aisha).
Makes you think what were they thinking with SR22, i was expecting more guest VAs, more legit VAs for the BOSS and the gang, thats what made the original four SRs fun is hearing snd guessing whos in the game. It honestly felt like a movie, while SR22 feels like a steam greenlight "Saints Row" knockoff
@@yoko_bby due to the unhealthy amount of time I've played Fallout New Vegas for, I can almost immediately recognize Yuri Lowenthal whenever he pops up in games
Yeah, the replay feature was practically my favorite part of SR2. I kept coming back again and again to play those cutscenes with different outfits and stuff. Never understood how that feature fell by the wayside.
Supposedly, the reason is that replay features are extremely difficult to make and can cause glitches. I'm not a programmer though so take that with a grain of salt.
I have always shared these views but its only very recently that iv seen some large creatirs talk and discuss such a revolutionary game. People opinions of "saints row" go to the newer games when they should focus on the old. Im so glad that people such as yourself and darkviperau are diving into such a legendary status franchise
I wish they would have made a Saints Row The Third Reboot and continued the story from Saints Row 2 giving us a more grounded and realistic story. And give us the true ending to the Boss's story. How does volition expect us to believe the Boss would have just forgot all about Dex? Edit: and maybe in the 4th game they could continue of SR3 Reboot the gang owns more than just one City they're the top of the food chain and maybe the Boss begins to realize that maybe Julius was right and they basically have became "Vice Kings that wear purple" idk just some ideas
Hmm if they were to continue off of SR3, the story would need to hve a few, new "complications* for the Boss. The thing that felt a bit off in SR3 was the mild consequences, or lack there of at some point. Gat dies at the start and from there on...there ain't much in the way of the Boss. I love revenge stories, but SR3 is missing something like Charlos' death. There's really not much in the way of the Boss simply obliterating everyone out of the way, save for the last mission where you have to choose between saving Shaundi or leaving her to her fate. The tension, the difficulty of choices as a leader is what propably makes most fans dislike SR3 because it's simply a wacky and satiric parody compared to SR2, despite any character developments present and how SR3 wraps up the story of 2 cities and the main characters. Buuut, with the current reboot...there ain't much of a chance to see anything from now on...
@@mark030a You got a point. I never really thought about that but the Boss would be on some next level sh*t if Gat died. The SR3 boss didn't really feel like the "Boss" They really could've built a awesome story off of Gat being killed but now that you mention Gats death honestly feels pointless and random.
@@randomguyonyoutube5292 Yeah, I guess I'm starting to see that's one reason people despise SR3 or simply just deny its existence. The story was on the "eh" side mostly...
Pretty much what I think too, if there's a Saints Row game that needs to be rebooted it's the third game since that eventually led to the nonsense of 4 and onwards.
@@richardcorvo3677 tbf even I dont trust volition with something like that. It better if they just remaster saints row 2 and not try anything at new at all because they just mess it up tonality wise.
2 fun things. 1) You can actually do the secret Julius mission at any time. It doesn't have to be at the very end. 2) One that is definitely near the end is the secret Stronghold mission in the mall. That entire place is under Ultor Jurisdiction for most of the game but once you dispose of your gang rivals you can take the place over.
Watching this reminded me why this game was fantastic, People always look at Saints Row as goofy and stupid, but some of the story scenes in this are as dark as dark gets for video games.
This was my favourite game of all time growing up I played it literally every day after school and I would stay up all night on weekends . it was really nice revisiting with this video after a few years of not playing and it made me see some of the deeper meanings to the story that I wouldn’t have caught because I was too young to really get it. But great video man I really enjoyed revisiting this with you I’m actually gonna go get my ps3 and give it another play through :)
They lost the source code for SR1 so I don't see that happening. A former employee was working on a SR2 remaster, but he sadly died before he could finish it.
@@the757general2 i agree 😂😂 but you can’t lie, if they remade the second saints row with todays graphics but the same voice lines and what not it’ll be an easy buy
I still can't believe we went from Johnny Fucking Gatt to Kevin...A FUCKING KEVIN. And that funeral scene still hits hard AF to this day. Even I felt sorry for the kid being buried alive, but it wasn't my choice, it was Johnnys.
that narative choice that shogo tells the boss where Jyunichi was great, it feels so natural and raw Shogo just want to get rid off Jyunichi for his personal vendetta and used you as a perfect pawn, It makes the story feels like you're part of the world and not you revolves around it to get what you want. the devs could just make you torture another gang member to know where Jyunichi is but no, they made it more connecting to the story.
This video made me realise something I never did before about SR2: there virtually no musical score in the cutscenes, just silence. But I actually like this, it makes the cutscenes seem heavier and grittier like you're watching a crime movie. So much better without some ultra tense DADADADA theme blaring over it all.
In a funny way, the Saints Row series’ journey throughout the years tells a tale with the classic moral of “be yourself” Upon being compared to GTA, Volition was desperate to move away from what made 1 and 2 so great and as a result changed into whatever the hell The Third and IV are What we can learn from this is that we shouldn’t change ourselves just because we might get compared to someone/something else. Just keep doing what you’re doing
@@0rangecray0n Volition stopped listening, and even insulted their own fans because they deliberately took the wrong direction of Saints Row. If any, they murdered their own GTA clone.
The funeral with Johnny will always be my favorite cutscene. It's played so darkly straight. Johnny's rage gives me chills. Johnny will always be my #2. Unquestionably!!!
This game had some legit goofy hilarious stuff (not so over the top it's eye rolling like sr3) but also EXTREMELY heavy hitting emotional bits and well written characters. So glad people give sr2 the praise and recognition it deserves.
I Will honestly always have a hope that we will see a SR2 Remaster and the whole game upscaled to look like the SR3 remaster or the SR Reboot but only in the quality of the graphics and not the art style. Seeing that game with the capabilities of modern tech really is exciting to me, the life just bursting out of stillwater as it does in the original. Crowds passing on the street, cars speeding down the roads. It really would be a great way for so many people to get into The OG SR Games and genuinely appreciate this gem of a series for what it is.
Your analysis on the Ronin storyline made me appreciate this game's writing a lot more than I already did. Makes me wonder what would've happened had Shogo fully taken over the Ronin against his father. It felt like he was going in that direction when he sold out Jyunichi, but it didn't turn out that way.
We need more of Saints Row 2. This reboot is an even bigger disappointment then 4!! The first 3 games were just so damn good. The new saints are so bad....
@@Yoser97 No it's not, the Playa would have wasted that whole gang of wannabe snowflakes in the first side mission of a real SR game. There is zero depth or serious story or even proper physics or gun-play in that game. Bullet sponges even when headshot from mission 1 onwards, wtf ...
I honestly think this is one of the best youtube videos ever created. You were able to give a detailed explanation and review while throwing in serious in depth (but not too deep) analysis and also genuinely funny (but not trying too hard to be funny) editing. The editing style runs perfectly in parallel to how the game was serious when it needed to be and funny when it wanted to be without trying hard to be funny or serious. You also were able to keep the different parts of the game and its story organized and separated while also making meaningful connections between the two. I also liked your touch on explaining the overall theme and message of the different stories in the game and what the developers were trying to communicate with the audience. Thanks for showing love and justice to a game that means so much to the people who played it!
Goddamn this game is timeless. The story is incredible. Characters have some of the greatest writing and arcs. The missions are all memorable. I remember being like 8 or 9 and my nana bought me it from Woolworths of all places back when it first came out 😂 I wanted it based on the pure fact that I knew my brother loved the first game which I never had a proper play through of at that time. That didn’t even matter. I loved every second of this game and I’m grateful it was my introduction into this series properly. It’s just such a damn shame that the people at Volition seem too scared or try their hardest to not replicate the feel and vibe of this entry when it’s all that most of the fan base wants. When people ask more about the SR2 PC Patch release date than they do about the reboot’s DLC, you know you messed up somewhere as a developer.
0:01 Opening discussion/drama 2:28 brilliance 3:33 rundown in saints row 1 story 4:41 to the beginning act of saints row 2 story 12:33 customization 14:07 recruitment 15:23 the brotherhood Arc 30:27 earn respect through activities 34:01 the ronin Arc 51:21 the sons of samedi Arc 1:03:43 ultor Arc 1:12:15 secret mission 1:19:00 next games 1:20:02 this line hasn't aged well 1:20:15 closing discussion
There is no question that this was the best game ever made right? This game was the epitome of fun and it fit in so well 2008-2009 culture. So many good memories with this absolute gem.
I usually save the brotherhood and ronin for last due to the character deaths involved. Wanna keep Aiesha and Carlos with us the longest. Though I will say having Zombie!Carlos is kinda cool. It's a throwback to Lynn's death in 1
Saints Row 2 is just a masterclass of open world crime games. It's not so realistic that it shuts off enjoyment but not too ridiculous where everything is a joke. It's gameplay is some of the funnest of it's genre and it's made even better when it's complemented by its non-linear (yet connected) storyline of sociopathic ruthlessness in pure form. Saints Row may never be as culturally relevant as Grand Theft Auto, but it sure as hell is relevant to the many fans it accrued over the first two games. Truly a classic.
And tbf Shogo told Boss where to find Jyunichi. In all fairness what got Gat enraged to the point of burying Shogo alive might've been the disrespect to Aisha's funeral. Notice how he mentions him interrupting her funeral once he's dragging Shogo to the casket.
@@NewRodin very fair point, and Gat was originally patient giving him atleast 2 chances to fvck off away from the funeral but Shogo just had to keep pushing
Damn the memories this game has Ive played this ever since I was 11 ill be 20 this year such a damn unique open world experience the customization was off the charts, the map had so many Easter eggs and cool locations . Looking back still a helluva good time to play I wish they kept this style like 1 and 2 had there will never be nothing like it again
49:50 I LOVE how The Boss calls Mr. Wong (the side mission hitman guy), one of the only times he's ever mentioned outside of his own missions. It really adds a touch to making the game world seem alive.
I also think in the Ronin arc is the arrogance of the boss and Johnny. Even though they had a base of operation under their control, they brazenly continued going to a safe house in the middle of ronin territory. Putting Aisha in the crosshairs where if they moved with a sense of tactic, Aisha probably never would’ve been found.
I loved SR2, but I admit, I had a pretty good time with SR4. I missed the complex emotional drama of SR2, but having superpowers was quite fun and made navigating the city quick and engaging. I found a lot of the side games to be pretty fun. Your analysis of calling your character Deadpool in that game is spot on, the game is a parody that even has a side quest that points out how Flanderized your character has become over time. While it’s not what everyone wanted from the franchise, there was still a lot of passion and creativity that went into it compared to something like Madden or a mediocre Call of Duty
SR4 was great. I think SR3 leaned too far into the wackiness while still making a half-assed attempt at emotional drama. Once SR4 went full-on buttfuck crazy, it was pretty easy to enjoy it as a love letter to the first two games. As lame as it is, I was psyched when you find out Johnny survived SR3 because zinyak took him. A stupid retcon? Yes. But it was good to get Johnny back. The amount of older settings and characters they returned to in 4 was heartwarming and fun, the gameplay was addictive, all in all I think it was a success.
Yeah, same here. I personally love all the Saints Row games as their own thing because they do great at what they do. I just happen to enjoy 2 the best, mainly because I find Stilwater WAY more fun to explore than any form of Steelport. Frankly I think DLC is where 3 and 4 REALLY shine.
Every time I see that final beat down of Shoji by Gat (looking like the embodiment of death himself in that suit) I get chills. This is the Johnny with no jokes or quips, just pure hatred and anger.
All the people who said SR was a GTA clone clearly never played it or were just game journos (and they've always been garbge) but the devs were so obsessed with it they ran away from what made SR so good. Shame.
I've probably put 2000 hours or more into GTA 4 and I can tell you SR2 is nothing like it. Both games are incredible in their own right. IV shines in its tone, story telling, gameplay and setting. SR2 on the other hand is simply more fun and laid back.
one thing i rly loved about having the choice in which gang u want to take out first is that it doesn't feel weird or forced to take one out before the other. i personally went ronin -> samedi -> brotherhood, and rather than seeing it as 'the boss is childish and couldn't work with maero bc theyre still new to being a boss', i saw it more as 'the boss got overzealous due to beating the first 2 gangs, and resorted to petty attacks bc they felt unstoppable'. with carlos' uncertainty, in my eyes it looked more like he was unsure of having more power/responsibility, rather than being a gang member at all considering he had been with the gang this whole time and with dealing with the ronin first, us losing aisha so early on made it feel like the saints couldn't take their time/mess around too much, bc we would've been putting more civilians close to the gang in harms way. ig it also made sense to me to take out the ronin first, since they had control over the area where the saints had their first hideout :0c also as a kid i apparently missed the fact that there was a choice in the order u could go in lmao, and now i kinda wanna go back and play in a different order to see how the vibes play out 😄
The Mr. Sunshine death scene HAS to be a reference to Baron Samedi in the James Bond Franchise. He is notorious for not dying even though he should've and I think actually comes from an Haitian/Caribbean folktale. Referencing the name of the gang the sons of Samedi AKA Baron Samedi. So when I saw that for the first time I was actually laughing my ass off at that scene.
Tbh I never played SR2 before seeing this review of yours but you convinced me to play it and I won’t lie I’ve had so much fun with it and it’s better than I could’ve ever imagined. The story, gameplay, characters, everything about it is just so amazing! Absolutely amazing review to an equally amazing game. It’s hilarious how a game that’s labeled as a gta clone does gta better than actual gta.
I also looked and found out that Saints Row 2, 14 years later,, became trending on the Xbox store a little ways behind Fall Guys and that shows how great this game is and what the Reboot will never be.
I'll never completely understand why Volition started running away from SR2 as hard as they could. It's way deeper than "yall just don't like it cause it's brand new and goofy". They had something special hear GTA never had, and they pretty much threw it all away. Congrats I guess
I’d honestly do anything besides gay acts for a saints row 2 remaster or re release, even just being able to play it on ps + would be great
I think if I remember correctly they wanted to go full silly to differentiate it from GTA because people just saw Saints Row as copying GTA even if it wasn't
I'd say it's part Volition not having confidence in what they had and the general gaming public being fucking idiots and not knowing what they were talking about. Hey, they wanted a unique experience and they got it: Be careful what you wish for, right?
@@connormoylan4320 it is on ps+. You need the premium tier tho. And you have stream it no download option unfortunately.
@@TheRealKjay Australia doesn’t have PS now
@@tennypenny8737 gta Idiot fanboys don't understand the difference between "Copying" and "Inspiration", Inspiration is taking an idea and turn it into your own unique version which is what saints row 2 developers did, it had unique features which gta didn't, gta itself was inspired by scarface and the godfather movies and some say the game (driver 1999) inspired the 3D world in gta 3.
Carlos' death was so fucking sad. I remember as a kid getting choked up watching it play out. I still always do the brotherhood last just to keep him around longer. The fact that he's never mentioned again even when they bring back every irrelevant character in future games blows my mind.
"This is for Carlos!"
same bro i remember that shit like it was yesterday
I was gutted honestly
He was mentioned in Saints row 3 during that final boss
Never finished both saints row and saints row 2 cause of the deaths 😔
Another thing I always loved about SR2 was that the player character was an unapologetic psycho who would do anything to take over. It let you totally revel in being a villain, it's so rare to see games have the balls to do that without pulling some bait-and-switch and making the player character turn good.
It's funny because even the good guys are pyscho's so it's very morally lost because everyone is a crazed killer...honestly I don't blame Julius and think he was one of the protagonist because he's been trying to keep peace the most even if he had to betray something he liked
@N/A H Protagonist doesn't mean hero. The Boss is the protagonist, so that would make Julius the antagonist - because heroes can be antagonists too.
Until you get you the scene where Gat buries Shogo. Then even the Boss hesitates for a second.
I made my character look like the Joker
and suddenly everything made sense
I love villain protagonists so much
It's a shame you didn't mention Johnny mumbling about Aisha the entire drive to the hospital. That tore my heart to pieces when I played Saints 2
Yeah 😔
Brooooooooo!!! There’s a memory I don’t need…
Ikr!?? I miss good story telling! When he was bleeding out and said "Where ya goin' Eesh?" I felt my eyes start to water...
One of the wild things I remember as a kid was the attention to detail in regards to Carlos's death. If you taunt your gang members after that mission, they'll make remarks about you killing Carlos and how it was intentional, but before that mission they wouldn't mention that. That's an insane level of attention to detail. I miss when Volition focused on the many little details.
I just finished the storyline for the third game and it was nothing in comparison to the last game. It's so sad that they went the direction they did its just not same
a detail I noticed that I didn't the first couple times I've played and beaten this amazing game is that after Carlos dies some of your members when fighting brotherhood will say this is for Carlos
How they gonna mention it when it hasn't happened yet
Hilarious that this 14 year old game has better characters, gameplay, driving, and storyline than the recent "reboot".
I'd argue the graphics are better looking too
@@thedude3065 graphics dont mean shit if the games bad
@@sandyk9300 1. I was adding to his points
and 2. this game is a work of art
@@sandyk9300 you jelly bro?
@@thedude3065 oh i was agreeing with you...i guess i wrote it weird
"I hope the saints row reboot is good"
Famous last words
Agreed
Rip Voilition
i like it
@@NoahBerzerk i don't but i do respect your opinion.
I just appreciate how SR2 genuinely acknowledge ls that your protagonist is a murdering sociopath who wants power and money. It doesn't try to be morally Grey like gta 4 or Red Dead Redemption
I wish Sr3 tackled this issue more, I always justified the change of the world's tone as a reflection of the Boss's mental state. Not crazy, but as the boss gets more desensitized to the violence the more it feels like a silly game to them.
Red dead wasn't morally grey
@@DirtyGeorgei think he meant RDR2, not the first game, replaying rdr1 right now and alot of the characters go "Yeah but you kill people, doesn't matter if its 'who deserved it.'"
@@DirtyGeorgeI mean, Red Dead can give John the hero rank while it’s admitted that he has killed woman men and children innocent or not. You see he’s a family man but he doesn’t shy away from killing or stealing for his own benefit whether because he needs the money or because he got annoyed (in the case of the Strange Man).
That's the whole point of GTA though: The (often) morally questionable rise to the "top" of society.
As a kid from the hood, this was our GTA. This sh*t was ultimate when it dropped in 2008.
They made it for US cleary👌🏾🤦🏾♂️😂😂 soon as they started adding extra shyt and wacky stuff it fell off. 3 sold the most copies because of 1&2!
Shogo's death is one of the coldest cutscenes in all of gaming. Johnny repeatedly telling him to "get up" when we all know johnny will keep this loop going as long as he can, only for shogo to finally refuse and get his jaw *slammed* through a headstone and buried alive, probably with a concussion or two.
Shit gave my 13 year old self chills and its still satisfying to watch. No one came in last minute and tried telling us how we shouldnt do this because its bad, or how he maybe didnt deserve it and naybe he's more useful alive... NOPE. just two stonefaced thugs hellbent on delivering death.
Real cold ass gangsta shit right there.
@EvilDead_Editz that one is satisfying for revenge over Carlos on the brotherhood
I liked the junichi character so I never cared he killed jonnys girl
@DontLike_or_Subscribenah, the tattoo artist losing his hand
Shogo's murder is one of the big reasons I don't like Gar. I like Carlos. I like Pierce. Even Shaundi. Gat? No.
@@delsingray5923shit youre bonkers. No one can buy true loyalty. Gat was a true g.
@@HumungusO_o if i was in the saints and i needed someone to help me, i wouldnt choose the boss or pierce or shaundi, i'd choose Gat. I know he'd have my back for sure
This is an all time old classic, it was my favourite and I’m glad to see a UA-camr play it again and show people what they were missing since most people never knew like us older people do
Istura is straight up simping for professional now lol
I agree
@@KTTstudios not with you though
Amen!! 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
Saints Row 2 is easily the greatest game of this genre, wish more peopoe had played it
In my opinion, one of the simultaneously most brutal, overlooked, and undeserved gang-related deaths in the series is when the Boss throws a brick with all his strength at Matt's face during the fight with Maero. Matt was just trying to protect his friend, so he arguably didn't do anything wrong. But the Boss doesn't take too kindly to anyone who stands in his way.
It's strange how Matt gets so unceremoniously dumped whereas all the other major villains have climactic deaths, either in a duel (Veteran Child, Jyunichi, Kazuo) or in a spectacular fashion (Jessica, Shogo, Sunshine) or both (General, Maero)
@@felixcroc To be fair, the Boss beat the shit outta him with instruments, then burned TF outta his arm. FEED DOGS SUCK!
FR
That was a death? I always thought Matt was knocked out during that cutscene.
@@felixcroc Is he a major villain though? I think even Donnie is closer to that status than some guy who happens to just tattoo the gang.
There's also irony in Mareos death. When you first meet him he's got no one to back him up and he isn't afraid of the boss at all but at the end he has to have the last of his crew to back him up against the boss who is literally by himself against Mareos monster truck and his other gang members that are also in trucks. Mareo went from an unshakeable tuff guy to a scared defenseless child at the end.
Good point
The Boss put the fear of god in Maero.
Also "Go to hell" and literally Gat Out Of Hell
14:34 The Boss is so hard compared to the 2022 Boss. He immediately checks Shaundi for questioning his orders.
That’s what a boss is supposed to do, your job isn’t to decide which gang you focus on, it’s your job to follow orders.
@@ChrisBarnett222 it also makes for a horrible, horrible first impression. Carlos already shows he's loyal a shell. Pierce is a goof but has potential. Questioning your leader's choice right out the gate, if not for plot reason, woulda had a round to the dome for that
@RyGuyMemes
Kenzie, Josh Birk, and hell, even Matt Miller, could single-handedly wipe out the entire reboot Zoomers that think they're a gang. Hell, even that drug-dealing suburban mom from SR1 and 2 (Laura?) could wipe out the Woke Zoomer-Saints.
@@ChrisBarnett222and we all know that following orders has never led to a bad outcome that could have been easily avoided. Not once ever.
@@MarvinPowell1 are those the ones from saints row 3
That game is trash
Only 1 and 2 are good , 2 being a top great game
Now that he brings it up, I think this order would be interesting.
1. Sons of Samedi
2. Brotherhood
3. Ronin
So, the Boss starts out as a bad leader, a selfish one. Then, after he loses Carlos in the Brotherhood, he starts to be less of a douchebag and starts respecting his team. Then, he sees positive feedback of respecting his team with the Ronin, and by the time he ends, he says “Your son should have never messed with my friends.” Making that line feel more significantly well earned.
Also, with that order Vogel will get increasingly more presence in the story. He doesn't appear in the Sons of Samedi missions, he only appears at the end of the Brotherhood missions, and he appears throughout the Ronin missions even meeting with the Saints for the first time as well.
Making that order a perfect lead in to the Ultor missions.
Honestly, I think that's the canon order. It makes the most sense.
I think this is the way I went about it on my last playthrough genuinely feels canon
I do the opposite order. Hes a gangster and a bit of a psycho, but hes always had love and respect for his friends. But thats just me
i usually just alternate between them. couple missions for one, then the other, then the other
Both Carlos and Aisha's deaths still get me to this day. Barely any dialogue in either scene and still, so powerful. Johnny and Boss also burying Shogo alive is so sinister. I love it. Sadly, scenes like this have all but vanished from the series. Julius created a monster and the city has to suffer him. Boss isn't a good guy, the Saints are not puckish rogues. He is sinister, the saints are sinister. The ending is very.......dark. That is what I love about the first 2 games. I hate that the stupidity took over where it becomes mindless shooting. I wish they had kept the serious tone of the first games with a bit of humour sprinkled within.
Saints Row 2 is one of the best open world games ever made.
Nah saints row 1 was better
@@Shel230 no it wasn't
@@LuckyLefty92 yes it was
Legit
@@Shel230 no it wasn't
That Johnny Gat courtroom scene never fails to make me smile.
The thing that always truck me weird is how Johnny speaks to the judge like it's a man, and I think the judge was meant to be male, as well, as you normally wouldn't call a female "a douchebag" or talk about violently shoving things up their rear without making it sexual.
'Is anyone injured and needs a lawyer?'
@@MarvinPowell1 not really, Gat sees only 2 types of people, those he doesn't shoot and those he does.
He treats them pretty much the same depending on if they're with him or not, it doesn't matter if she's a girl or not he'll just insult her and kills her just the same.
Tl:dr Gat is the ultimate equality icon
Hus amount of murder charges 😹
To this day, Saint's Row 2 is the best co-op experience I've ever had. It should have been blatantly obvious what we wanted and when we knew we were being ignored, they spat in our faces. I'll be throwing a party when Volition packs it up and goes under. I realize that the team that made SR2 already left, but Volition had big shoes to fill and they deserve to fail.
Pimp slap+ low gravity+ companion who can't die
shame online has been dead for ages :'(
@@andrzejwysocki609 I never did any online I never had internet back then
I still beat saints row 2 like ten times
Well volition just shut down so you got what you wanted
@@donovanquetell3035 a shame volition didnt get redemption, most of the og devs were gone after sr2 but icl i enjoyed sr3 and 4
This was a really fun watch. I remember always thinking of the final Mr. Sunshine cutscene as being more creepy than silly. While they did do the headless gag at the end, the fact that this dude just kept getting back up like he was powered by something sinister is really eerie. I like that touch of the supernatural. Fit the character so well, and it was just enough to both creep you out and make you laugh.
SR2's balance of tone was so spot on. Miss that era of the series, now more than ever.
That scene of sunshine tanking bullets messed me up as a 9 year old. I wasn’t even convinced that decapitation would truly kill sunshine. I really hoped the boss would grind him into mincemeat and burn the meat to guarantee he doesn’t get back up. 💀
@@maalikserebryakov lmao me too.
yeah i cant lie i never got it as a silly goofy moment like how it was described I thought it was very fitting to the nature of the gang and the personas they were going with and fitted really well. theres samurais and monster truckers, why not a bit of voodoo too lol. as real as the rest of it
There is a little detail . When we start the game we can explore and enjoy the city by just walking , driving , listening to radio no one will interrupt or ruin our immersion . But when we starts taking over the city the saints will go nuts they will start terrorizing the neighborhood every minutes passes.
Back in the day I used to play SR2 quite a bit with a buddy of mine. He would join my game in a hotdog costume, with the absurd cockney accent and a ridiculous facial expression, and all the most over-the-top weapons, which always kind of annoyed me because I played it much more seriously. But that was one of the things that was so great about SR2. You could play it straight like a serious crime action/drama, like I did, or you could go all in on the ridiculosity, like my friend did. And that was one of the things they lost with SR3. You no longer had the option to treat the game seriously if you wanted to. They gave you no choice but to play into the ridiculosity because that's all there was.
In their desire to run away from GTA they ran right off the cliff.
To be honest, I really don't fucking see what's wrong with being a "gta clone", I love gta and the more games there are like gta the better for me, I want more of that shit
Spittin facts, Saints Row 3 tried too hard to constantly show you how absurd and wacky it is, literally forcing you to use the 'fart in a jar' weapon to save Shaundi's life while "I need a hero" plays in the background, all right before the space opera parody epilogue mission.
They also ""killed"" Johnny offscreen 10 minutes in, & it was as if the writers forgot it happened until the DLC, or the stupid "Gat is back" SR4 trailer.
but to be fair, literally flying with wings in Gat out of Hell was pretty fun
@@kenpanderz672 ngl that was lit
Fax, I loved playing big bad wears expensive suits boss man and sr2 was tops for this
SR2 was a master piece. I don't think Volition will ever understand what they accomplished here.
Something to note about Gat's arrest is that he was arrested trying to assassinate Troy. There's so much story potential that was just...taken away after Volition decided to go balls to the wall with SR3
If you think about it, each faction sort of sums up how their pride before the fall.
Brotherhood was about arrogance and pride (which costed both sides important members but underestimated the Boss's ruthlessness) as both Maero and the Boss were in a petty squabble over the shipment. In the end, the difference was that Boss took the fight directly to the Brotherhood while Maero went from rational to irrational in response of his mates (which he made personal once he attacked Carlos).
The Ronin was about tradition (their "honor" was a blanket term and wasn't adaptable to the times nor their opponent) with Akuji being too stuck in tradition to see the real threat and Shojo not having any principles which let him be swayed by his father (or perhaps too much by his father's approval to make sound decisions). If Shojo struck out on his own, he'd probably do well or even have lived in peace with the Saints (or be killed if he thought he could take them) while his father thought too highly of himself and his own personal vendetta to notice the gun at his face.
The Sons of Samedi sort of follows the theme, being ruthless to it's own members. Although having voodoo powers of a gang and a professionalism is a good way to show how their operations are run, they do show how the Sons aren't inspiring confidence. How the General thought that he could go around driving in his own branded vehicles with most of his territory taken out along with Sunshine, well, guess he had invented the pocket Armored Truck.
Finally, Dan Vogel. Do I need to say more?
This is one of the best analyses I ever seen on this game.
That last part with Julius was something that I've always maintained personally, and it's cool to see that someone else came to this conclusion. "Vice Kings that wore purple" is probably the greatest foreshadowing of what the Saints ultimately become in SR3 onwards, provided that one accepts that part of the series as the same story.
There was some Dialogue in the first game that Julius was apart of kings gang(being Ben's right hand and former best friend) and decided to form the Saints because the Kings were trying to be more civil with there gang crimes since it was Ben Kings goal to bring the end to the other gangs through slower methods. With his enforcer and 2nd in command being restless thanks to Tanya pulling there strings to take over so she can take over the Kings.
I love that disclaimer at the very end. I, for one, refuse to acknowledge anything that came after this game.
This analyses is horrible what are you talking about
We don't really agree with the Julius appraisal as he was the one who got into bed with the Colombians in the first game and there was no talk of stopping any of the violence until he got busted. We think he liked the power he had at the end of the first game and would have never given it up if he hadn't been arrested, Ultimately he was just an old coward who wanted to get out of some prison time.
I'd like to think that Saints Row 2 is the end of this franchise because everything comes together greatly and it tells its message perfectly. I love 4, don't mind 3 but those games, continuing on from 2. Just fucks it up yk?
Carlos breaks my fucking heart every time. I'm so sorry, kid. Didn't deserve any of what you got. I really wish he was mentioned in 3, or someone gave the boss some shit.
This is why I go for the Brotherhood first. Makes sense as far as the Boss' experience/mindset as a leader, making silly mistakes and doing personal attacks instead of doing actual gangshit.
Kid really did everything to help us and for that he always should be remembered
The developers stopped giving a shit after 2.
Most of the storyline got dropped entirely for just straight silly gameplay and nothing more. It's a damn shame.
He was mentioned in 3 but like one time, which is sad. He could have come back in 4 but Volition just stopped giving a shit. Heard that the multiple choices were added because they felt bad about killing off Carlos but I’m not sure if there’s credibility to that claim
I swear you could call him up on Saints Row 3, and he comes as a zombie.
@@anglecurtain I do recall that, same with Gat.
I have never played SR2, I was introduced to SR3. It's a surprise to see how much fun you can have in the game and customization, but also how serious the game's tone can be such as at 21:00, 37:00, 45:20 & 45:50. It shows some emotion in the story and shows the character development as it progressed. Its also nice to see each gang having its own sort of lesson/ narrative behind them.
Its also cool to see the world having a sort of permanent changes from our actions in the world, I wish more games would have this as it feels like my actions in missions have no real world impact, simple things such as burning buildings with fire fighters around; if only a certain game added more security guards or police in an area where we might of raided such as a certain IAA building.
And the end game twist with Ultor, while I expected it to happen; I was not expecting the reasoning behind it.
I'll have to get this.
I just got it free on Xbox idk if it is still is
I suggest you get it for console if you want to play it with no hassle. The PC version is notoriously infamous for being a horrible port. There are mods to fix that, but it will take a bit of tinkering.
I’m sad for you that you didn’t play it before watching this…
@@FalafelTheBurner I'll say, the controls are absolute garbage... which is why I only ever managed to get maybe an hour into the game before giving it up in frustration.
Though I'll also say that the later GTA games are the same, I dont do 3d games with a joypad, and GTA doesnt do mouse steering. It is utter CRAP to drive a car with digital steering. Full left lock, straight ahead, full right lock... if you have to dodge something your car starts bouncing around and fishtailing like a landed carp...
Please do yourself a service and play this game
SR2 struck that delicate balance between wacky PS2 GTA and "darker & edgier" HD GTA.
u strike that delicate balance between nerd and geek
To this day I cannot believe how good this game is. I wish I had known I was in the golden age of gaming when it was happening.
It was very special but very special games are being made today RD2 for instance
@@0rangecray0nnot that many as most games today lack creativity which is the basic premise of the video which you may have missed
At 38:00 I think you mistake Jyunichi's reasons for stopping the Ronin gang member from shooting Johnny. It wasn't honorable combat that must be respected. It was pride. This wasn't a hypocritical oversight, this was more building who Jyunichi was. He was constantly more and more defiant of Shogo and cocky in his own ability. So when he saw some random low level Ronin about to take out Gat, he absolutely could NOT abide that. HE, Jyunichi, was going to be the man who killed the legendary Johnny Gat. With his own blade. This was pride, not honor.
I think it was a bit of both. Whilst you are right, he could only feel pride if it was an honorable duel because only then it could've been worthy of feeling pride from winning at all.
@@Istura it’s like Vergil in DMC 5 he coulda fought and maybe kill Dante after he was resurrected but he goes “defeating you like this has no meaning heal your wounds and get strong then we’ll settle the matter” because of his honor and pride wanting to prove his *power* and likely would’ve been killed by Dante if it wasn’t for Nero intervening
I think he killed her because she screamed out to Gat, he would probably have left her alive if she hadn't screamed.
@@takethisduck399 he did say he gave her his word that she would live if she did everything he told her to but when she did not... well yeah
The whole concept of a "GTA Clone" being a negative thing is so insane. Let alone the idea of "GTA Clones" being an idea in general is absolutely stupid, and I've never understood it. There used to be only 2 characteristics that would doom a game to be considered a GTA Clone; Open world and Crime. Literally the two most basic gameplay concepts imaginable, reserved to be claimed by only one series. Imagine if any military first person shooters were derogatorily referred to as "Call of Duty Clones". Or any battle royale game being considered a PUBG clone. Any tactical military shooter being a Ghost Recon Clone. Its such a stupid concept that I never understood. Saints Row 1 and 2 were great games in the Open World crime genre that existed alongside GTA, but offered a completely different kind of experience. Its a massive shame the stupid concept of the "GTA Clone" connotation from the 2000's is what caused Volition to overhaul the franchise after 1 and 2 for the worse.
I'm a big fan of GTA, but i can still say it's one of, if not, the most overrated game series ever. Even games that aren't open world like yakuza get called a clone. And rockstar's other games are either forgotten or dead, because they also compared to or overshadowed by GTA, like it's the only game they ever made.
@@CyoteBongWater87 yeah i'm also a GTA Fan and i agree with your opinion
Wait until you hear about DOOM Clones
GTA is recently overrated.Red Dead Redemption 2 is getting neglected by Rockstar because it's still focusing on GTA 5 when that game has been out since 2013.
This is nearly every genre ever. A lot of people who hate/have never touched a fighting game(s) refer to every 2D fighter (and sometimes even 3D fighters) as a Street Fighter clone or (more recently) Tekkenlike (which is objectively wrong on multiple levels), all arena fighters are Naruto Storm clones, platform fighters are Smash clones, monster catching games are Pokemon clones (though to be fair, some of those really are just Pokemon clones), anime-styled open world games are BotW clones, and Doom clone used to be a thing.
I normally target the Sons Of Samedi first since their territory is right on top of the Saints hideout and since they are the ones the Saints took it from in the first place. Since the Ronin also have territory in the Red Light District, I target them next. I basically just attack them based off of who has territory closest to the Saints Hideout at the moment.
I target the Samedi cause I like killing college kids lmao
Facts, plus you make more money running drugs🤷🏽♂️💯
I go Sons, Brotherhood, Ronin. As the gangs and territory get progressively upscale towards Ultor
@@Lucy2Juicy Interesting
@@instinctofapredator9009 It always felt right to me, to do it that way since Ultor iirc is locked till after the 3 are gone. If not then I probably naturally started on the "bottom" of the scale since Sons have the hoods full of druggies, up to industrial area rebel types and left the nice suburbs as the third step towards the crisp, corporate and clean area Ultor had. A kinda from rags to glory progression.
I will say I do love Ronin and Ultor's areas
The car running over Shogo at 45:40 before the cutscene of you throwing him at Gat to punch is unironically the funniest part of this so far
Hahahaha
The English voice actor was such a hilarious touch for an American gangster. Bashing pimps and throwing them off clffs and car surfing was just so much fun. Customising your gang to wear outrageous costumes was hilarious
It's even better when you realize the English voice actor was the dad from The Nanny 😂
Saints Row 2 is so underrated and deserves a remake. But in my opinion I think SR1 deserves it more. Anyways I'll be back to watch the video because I got stuff to do atm so great video as always! It was worth the wait!
Underrated?? Bro this is one of the best games ever in my opinion saints row 2 is best gangster game ever
I...don't think you know what "underrated" means.
Unfortunately one of the games creators who was planning to do the remake died, and one of his friends apparently said they were gonna finish it a few years ago but nobody has heard about it
@@FLOODEDxOUT you mean Mike IdolNinja or you mean someone else
The first is underrated since alot don't mention it
San Andreas, saints row 2, Scarface these are the best open world crime simulators ever. And hold a special place in my heart
I didn't play Scarface but I do believe San Andreas and SR2 were the pinnacle for gameplay/sandbox depth. Both franchises sacrificed depth for graphics and I feel never really returned. GTA online has lots going on but I would still say it's not as robust as San Andreas. If anything, it took RDR2 for rockstar to achieve that level of depth again.
@@TrialBySquire I love Scarface, that game made you feel like a total boss.
Don't forget The Godfather.
@@Kavallero I like the godfather game, but I love the movies. especially the second one, but I got to put mafia 1 and 2 over the godfather.
GTA San Andreas
Saints Row 2 & 1
Godfather
Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction (more of a war crime sim than a crime sim, fully destructible environments tho)
Scarface: The World Is Yours
Mafia (2002)
Sleeping Dogs and True Crime: Streets of LA (sure you play as "cops" but they're still considered GTA clones so I'm listing them)
There was a neat mechanic where if you ADS at a pedestrian sometimes they would drop cash off when they ran, and how you can pick up things from the environment to use against other NPCs. Little details like that made me enjoy the game more than GTA in the day
My favorite little detail is the fighting styles you get for beating storylines. You get Karate from the Ronnin, Capoeria from the Samedi, and IDK what the brotherhood give you. But ultimately you'll almost never use them in regular gameplay (the fight clubs maybe but you can do them with the starting brawling style). Lot of effort that probably wasn't appreciated by many.
@@NEEDbacon i really like that
I did the mission where you get money from the casinos and I beat people with a keyboard. And you can rip out the parking meters too. That shit was cool.
Never knew that
I believe you get an ATV in your garage for sticking up 50 pedestrians, or maybe it was Jane Valderama as a homie? I forgot which one. I always made sure to do that quickly on each new save file.
EDIT: just googled it, you get the paintball mask for 30 muggings and Jane at 50
Another one of many reasons why SR2 reigns supreme is the fact they actually made the hierarchy feel right, because you know, you are supposed to be the leader of a GANG. It's easily understood that Gat is your right hand second in command man, while Shaundi and Pierce are your lower lieutenants. SR3 and 4 totally abandoned that obviously with plenty of other things
That and the justification for you doing the missions instead of your underlings makes sense. Where at the end, he used to just do as his allies say, he does them because he's got the experience to back it up. It doesn't feel like you're just a henchman with a big ol' title, you're the main leader spearheading your revival to bring the Saints back to relevancy.
There will never be anything like Saints Row 2 again. The characters, the story, the customization and the overall tone cannot be topped.
Never again. Watching the way games changed over the span of those 15 years nothing ever came close to it and won’t
even different fighting styles like man, what a game
Saints Row 1 & 2 will always be the best games labeled "Saints Row" I do like that the new developers are trying to bring some of this style back but I dont think they'll come close in this new game. What made the old games special is they had that early 2000's thug/gangsta vibe that was in the mainstream for a few years during those times. I always loved playing games that made me feel like I was in real life. Sr2 was some of the most fun I ever had when the game was new especially the Multiplayer mode where you could earn money after every match to buy clothes.
the third game still equals to the name
@@hyperdark06 Not entirely
@@FLOODEDxOUT it do , cause it still has gangs in it and didn't completely lose itself
@@hyperdark06 I enjoyed it when it first came out but I didn’t like that there wasn’t a multiplayer. Activities were okay but they got rid of Fight Club even though they added those new moves. Sr3 was missing a few things but overall wasn’t a bad Saints Row. It made me happy that they at least brought back Male voice 2
@@FLOODEDxOUT i see i grew to like the professor genki stuff alot maybe they could have mixed the two
Just got the reboot at the time of this comment. Did the first mission, turned it off. Popped in SR2 and still had a better time replaying missions and wreaking havoc throughout the city.
How awesome.
I'm gonna do that without playing the reboot! Sr2 weekend!
@@wrathscar247 Nice.
I totally would play sr2 but i only have it on pc and Pc sr2 has so many bugs and crashes
@@MotionDelay914 LMMFAO 🤣😂🤣
Hitting the brotherhood first always felt right. Especially with that 20-80 deal since it does seem he is trying to be reasonable
i always saved the brother hood for last since it was the best story. Samedi first, ronin or brotherhood last
@@skrillabagbgI always did the ronin first because Johnny Gat is my favorite video game character ever
@@tokyodeathghoul2313 game was so good you could replay it over and over
48:33 God damnit, Wong's reason for revenge and Gats' reaction made me spit my coffee all over my screen. Nice.
A bit of a hot take, but I like to think that had Pierce been assigned the Brotherhood and not Carlos, he might have spoken up and actually tried to get Maero and the Boss to negotiate a deal that would actually work. Especially since in Agents of Mayhem, Pierce was shown able to make the Vice Kings, Carnales and Rollerz partner up. Though a caveat to such a scenario is that Carlos would probably still die except to the Ronin (and even worse, we might have had to choose between him and Aisha).
The voice acting cast is amazing. Top to bottom. They brought in Jaime Pressly and NPH for bit parts and you'd never even know without looking it up.
Makes you think what were they thinking with SR22, i was expecting more guest VAs, more legit VAs for the BOSS and the gang, thats what made the original four SRs fun is hearing snd guessing whos in the game. It honestly felt like a movie, while SR22 feels like a steam greenlight "Saints Row" knockoff
Holy fucking shit, Jaime Pressly is Jessica. How the fuck did I never know this.
yuri loenthal as shojo and keith david as Julius little
@@yoko_bby due to the unhealthy amount of time I've played Fallout New Vegas for, I can almost immediately recognize Yuri Lowenthal whenever he pops up in games
@@filmgeekstudios4393 oh snap, that's Priscilla from Not Another Teenage Movie? She's good at acting like a snobby bitch, lol.
Yeah, the replay feature was practically my favorite part of SR2. I kept coming back again and again to play those cutscenes with different outfits and stuff. Never understood how that feature fell by the wayside.
Supposedly, the reason is that replay features are extremely difficult to make and can cause glitches. I'm not a programmer though so take that with a grain of salt.
@@PewPewBeets Maybe. It's just frustrating when advancing technology means that you lose features instead of gaining them.
@@PewPewBeets Doesn't seem that difficult when the community modded it into SR3 a month after release.
I just learned about the VAs for Shogo and Maero are basically Spider-Man and Marcus from Fallout and that has just blown my mind
Saints row 2 is one of the best game ever made. I remember waiting for school to end quick just to go back home to play it over and over again
I have always shared these views but its only very recently that iv seen some large creatirs talk and discuss such a revolutionary game. People opinions of "saints row" go to the newer games when they should focus on the old. Im so glad that people such as yourself and darkviperau are diving into such a legendary status franchise
I wish they would have made a Saints Row The Third Reboot and continued the story from Saints Row 2 giving us a more grounded and realistic story. And give us the true ending to the Boss's story. How does volition expect us to believe the Boss would have just forgot all about Dex?
Edit: and maybe in the 4th game they could continue of SR3 Reboot the gang owns more than just one City they're the top of the food chain and maybe the Boss begins to realize that maybe Julius was right and they basically have became "Vice Kings that wear purple" idk just some ideas
Hmm if they were to continue off of SR3, the story would need to hve a few, new "complications* for the Boss.
The thing that felt a bit off in SR3 was the mild consequences, or lack there of at some point. Gat dies at the start and from there on...there ain't much in the way of the Boss.
I love revenge stories, but SR3 is missing something like Charlos' death. There's really not much in the way of the Boss simply obliterating everyone out of the way, save for the last mission where you have to choose between saving Shaundi or leaving her to her fate. The tension, the difficulty of choices as a leader is what propably makes most fans dislike SR3 because it's simply a wacky and satiric parody compared to SR2, despite any character developments present and how SR3 wraps up the story of 2 cities and the main characters.
Buuut, with the current reboot...there ain't much of a chance to see anything from now on...
@@mark030a You got a point. I never really thought about that but the Boss would be on some next level sh*t if Gat died. The SR3 boss didn't really feel like the "Boss" They really could've built a awesome story off of Gat being killed but now that you mention Gats death honestly feels pointless and random.
@@randomguyonyoutube5292 Yeah, I guess I'm starting to see that's one reason people despise SR3 or simply just deny its existence. The story was on the "eh" side mostly...
Pretty much what I think too, if there's a Saints Row game that needs to be rebooted it's the third game since that eventually led to the nonsense of 4 and onwards.
@@richardcorvo3677 tbf even I dont trust volition with something like that. It better if they just remaster saints row 2 and not try anything at new at all because they just mess it up tonality wise.
SR2 was the very first game I 100% completed, it will always hold a special place in my heart
2 fun things.
1) You can actually do the secret Julius mission at any time. It doesn't have to be at the very end.
2) One that is definitely near the end is the secret Stronghold mission in the mall. That entire place is under Ultor Jurisdiction for most of the game but once you dispose of your gang rivals you can take the place over.
Watching this reminded me why this game was fantastic, People always look at Saints Row as goofy and stupid, but some of the story scenes in this are as dark as dark gets for video games.
Saints Row didnt get goofy and stupid until Saints Row 3 and only got worse from there.
This was my favourite game of all time growing up I played it literally every day after school and I would stay up all night on weekends . it was really nice revisiting with this video after a few years of not playing and it made me see some of the deeper meanings to the story that I wouldn’t have caught because I was too young to really get it. But great video man I really enjoyed revisiting this with you I’m actually gonna go get my ps3 and give it another play through :)
A remastered Saints Row 1 & 2 would be a another smash hit.
Im sure they would do a remaster good, just like GTA right.....right :(
@@Nnothingg- they need to make a full remake instead
They lost the source code for SR1 so I don't see that happening. A former employee was working on a SR2 remaster, but he sadly died before he could finish it.
@@rackydacky2660 I wouldn't even trust current Volition to remake either game
@@the757general2 i agree 😂😂 but you can’t lie, if they remade the second saints row with todays graphics but the same voice lines and what not it’ll be an easy buy
I still can't believe we went from Johnny Fucking Gatt to Kevin...A FUCKING KEVIN.
And that funeral scene still hits hard AF to this day. Even I felt sorry for the kid being buried alive, but it wasn't my choice, it was Johnnys.
Kev is that kid Gat really didn't want to take care of but his sister forced on him for a weekend
that narative choice that shogo tells the boss where Jyunichi was great, it feels so natural and raw Shogo just want to get rid off Jyunichi for his personal vendetta and used you as a perfect pawn, It makes the story feels like you're part of the world and not you revolves around it to get what you want. the devs could just make you torture another gang member to know where Jyunichi is but no, they made it more connecting to the story.
This video made me realise something I never did before about SR2: there virtually no musical score in the cutscenes, just silence. But I actually like this, it makes the cutscenes seem heavier and grittier like you're watching a crime movie. So much better without some ultra tense DADADADA theme blaring over it all.
In a funny way, the Saints Row series’ journey throughout the years tells a tale with the classic moral of “be yourself”
Upon being compared to GTA, Volition was desperate to move away from what made 1 and 2 so great and as a result changed into whatever the hell The Third and IV are
What we can learn from this is that we shouldn’t change ourselves just because we might get compared to someone/something else. Just keep doing what you’re doing
To be fair super hero saints had something going for it even if it completely strayed away from the original but yeah screw the third
I liked The Third.
@@0rangecray0n Volition stopped listening, and even insulted their own fans because they deliberately took the wrong direction of Saints Row. If any, they murdered their own GTA clone.
Life sucks without competition. If we only had one GTA game, then we would spend most of our time wishing for another GTA game.
This was heavy! The editing, the attention to setting the details of this game; you're bound to get people to try it out for sure. Fantastic video! 💫
It is criminal that such a well edited video has only
Bro this game is 14 years old?? That’s literally insane. I remember first getting it and playing it for hours. A classic
The funeral with Johnny will always be my favorite cutscene. It's played so darkly straight. Johnny's rage gives me chills. Johnny will always be my #2. Unquestionably!!!
This game had some legit goofy hilarious stuff (not so over the top it's eye rolling like sr3) but also EXTREMELY heavy hitting emotional bits and well written characters. So glad people give sr2 the praise and recognition it deserves.
I Will honestly always have a hope that we will see a SR2 Remaster and the whole game upscaled to look like the SR3 remaster or the SR Reboot but only in the quality of the graphics and not the art style. Seeing that game with the capabilities of modern tech really is exciting to me, the life just bursting out of stillwater as it does in the original. Crowds passing on the street, cars speeding down the roads. It really would be a great way for so many people to get into The OG SR Games and genuinely appreciate this gem of a series for what it is.
Your analysis on the Ronin storyline made me appreciate this game's writing a lot more than I already did. Makes me wonder what would've happened had Shogo fully taken over the Ronin against his father. It felt like he was going in that direction when he sold out Jyunichi, but it didn't turn out that way.
0:03 "for 🐑 or for worse"
what else made it feel alive is that your character would interact with npcs in activities if you stand idle too long
We need more of Saints Row 2. This reboot is an even bigger disappointment then 4!! The first 3 games were just so damn good. The new saints are so bad....
*first 2 games
The new game is like saints row 1 and 2
@@Yoser97 No it's not, the Playa would have wasted that whole gang of wannabe snowflakes in the first side mission of a real SR game. There is zero depth or serious story or even proper physics or gun-play in that game. Bullet sponges even when headshot from mission 1 onwards, wtf ...
@@Yoser97 That's just plain nonsense
@@Yoser97 SUPER tons deaf and ignorant comment holy shit lmfao
I honestly think this is one of the best youtube videos ever created. You were able to give a detailed explanation and review while throwing in serious in depth (but not too deep) analysis and also genuinely funny (but not trying too hard to be funny) editing. The editing style runs perfectly in parallel to how the game was serious when it needed to be and funny when it wanted to be without trying hard to be funny or serious. You also were able to keep the different parts of the game and its story organized and separated while also making meaningful connections between the two. I also liked your touch on explaining the overall theme and message of the different stories in the game and what the developers were trying to communicate with the audience. Thanks for showing love and justice to a game that means so much to the people who played it!
Goddamn this game is timeless. The story is incredible. Characters have some of the greatest writing and arcs. The missions are all memorable. I remember being like 8 or 9 and my nana bought me it from Woolworths of all places back when it first came out 😂 I wanted it based on the pure fact that I knew my brother loved the first game which I never had a proper play through of at that time. That didn’t even matter. I loved every second of this game and I’m grateful it was my introduction into this series properly. It’s just such a damn shame that the people at Volition seem too scared or try their hardest to not replicate the feel and vibe of this entry when it’s all that most of the fan base wants. When people ask more about the SR2 PC Patch release date than they do about the reboot’s DLC, you know you messed up somewhere as a developer.
I’ve watched this video so many times, it’s easily one of the best videos analysing/breaking down Saints Row 2. You did God’s work here, mate.
0:01 Opening discussion/drama
2:28 brilliance
3:33 rundown in saints row 1 story
4:41 to the beginning act of saints row 2 story
12:33 customization
14:07 recruitment
15:23 the brotherhood Arc
30:27 earn respect through activities
34:01 the ronin Arc
51:21 the sons of samedi Arc
1:03:43 ultor Arc
1:12:15 secret mission
1:19:00 next games
1:20:02 this line hasn't aged well
1:20:15 closing discussion
This video essay really capture the feeling of playing Saints Row 2, what a ride
There is no question that this was the best game ever made right? This game was the epitome of fun and it fit in so well 2008-2009 culture. So many good memories with this absolute gem.
I'm not sure if its the best game of all time but its certainly my favorite. Best open world in gaming and my favorite story of all time.
Best open world sandbox yes. It's been 15yrs and they can't do better smh
I usually save the brotherhood and ronin for last due to the character deaths involved. Wanna keep Aiesha and Carlos with us the longest. Though I will say having Zombie!Carlos is kinda cool. It's a throwback to Lynn's death in 1
Saints Row 2 is just a masterclass of open world crime games. It's not so realistic that it shuts off enjoyment but not too ridiculous where everything is a joke. It's gameplay is some of the funnest of it's genre and it's made even better when it's complemented by its non-linear (yet connected) storyline of sociopathic ruthlessness in pure form. Saints Row may never be as culturally relevant as Grand Theft Auto, but it sure as hell is relevant to the many fans it accrued over the first two games. Truly a classic.
Tbf to shogo, he didn’t even order Aishas death, he just told Junychi to take care of the situation and that’s how he did
And tbf Shogo told Boss where to find Jyunichi. In all fairness what got Gat enraged to the point of burying Shogo alive might've been the disrespect to Aisha's funeral. Notice how he mentions him interrupting her funeral once he's dragging Shogo to the casket.
@@NewRodin very fair point, and Gat was originally patient giving him atleast 2 chances to fvck off away from the funeral but Shogo just had to keep pushing
Saints Row 2 will always remain a special place in my heart
Same
This video certainly has given me a different look at Saints Row 2's story. It's really way more deep than I thought previously
This is the first video of yours I’ve seen, and it’s genuinely one of the best deep dives I have ever seen! Honestly really inspiring, good work!
Saints row 2 is so god tier it holds up to today’s gaming world and is better than 88% of open world games today and it came out around 2008
Damn the memories this game has Ive played this ever since I was 11 ill be 20 this year such a damn unique open world experience the customization was off the charts, the map had so many Easter eggs and cool locations . Looking back still a helluva good time to play I wish they kept this style like 1 and 2 had there will never be nothing like it again
49:50 I LOVE how The Boss calls Mr. Wong (the side mission hitman guy), one of the only times he's ever mentioned outside of his own missions. It really adds a touch to making the game world seem alive.
I also think in the Ronin arc is the arrogance of the boss and Johnny. Even though they had a base of operation under their control, they brazenly continued going to a safe house in the middle of ronin territory. Putting Aisha in the crosshairs where if they moved with a sense of tactic, Aisha probably never would’ve been found.
I loved SR2, but I admit, I had a pretty good time with SR4. I missed the complex emotional drama of SR2, but having superpowers was quite fun and made navigating the city quick and engaging. I found a lot of the side games to be pretty fun. Your analysis of calling your character Deadpool in that game is spot on, the game is a parody that even has a side quest that points out how Flanderized your character has become over time. While it’s not what everyone wanted from the franchise, there was still a lot of passion and creativity that went into it compared to something like Madden or a mediocre Call of Duty
SR4 was great. I think SR3 leaned too far into the wackiness while still making a half-assed attempt at emotional drama. Once SR4 went full-on buttfuck crazy, it was pretty easy to enjoy it as a love letter to the first two games.
As lame as it is, I was psyched when you find out Johnny survived SR3 because zinyak took him. A stupid retcon? Yes. But it was good to get Johnny back.
The amount of older settings and characters they returned to in 4 was heartwarming and fun, the gameplay was addictive, all in all I think it was a success.
@@filmgeekstudios4393 yeah sr4 is better than sr3 imo
Yeah, same here. I personally love all the Saints Row games as their own thing because they do great at what they do. I just happen to enjoy 2 the best, mainly because I find Stilwater WAY more fun to explore than any form of Steelport. Frankly I think DLC is where 3 and 4 REALLY shine.
Yeah, yeah!
Yeah like seriously. I don't know why people don't like it. It embraces itself, love that game ❤
Every time I see that final beat down of Shoji by Gat (looking like the embodiment of death himself in that suit) I get chills. This is the Johnny with no jokes or quips, just pure hatred and anger.
All the people who said SR was a GTA clone clearly never played it or were just game journos (and they've always been garbge) but the devs were so obsessed with it they ran away from what made SR so good. Shame.
Very glad you covered this absolute gem of a game that is sr2, it needs much more attention!
I've watched a fuckin lot of SR2 video analysis over the years and this one is the single best one, thanks for this amazing video!
I've probably put 2000 hours or more into GTA 4 and I can tell you SR2 is nothing like it. Both games are incredible in their own right. IV shines in its tone, story telling, gameplay and setting. SR2 on the other hand is simply more fun and laid back.
best game soundtrack till this DAY.. i don’t wanna argue either , no in gane soundtrack/ radios i’ve looked up more
one thing i rly loved about having the choice in which gang u want to take out first is that it doesn't feel weird or forced to take one out before the other. i personally went ronin -> samedi -> brotherhood, and rather than seeing it as 'the boss is childish and couldn't work with maero bc theyre still new to being a boss', i saw it more as 'the boss got overzealous due to beating the first 2 gangs, and resorted to petty attacks bc they felt unstoppable'. with carlos' uncertainty, in my eyes it looked more like he was unsure of having more power/responsibility, rather than being a gang member at all considering he had been with the gang this whole time
and with dealing with the ronin first, us losing aisha so early on made it feel like the saints couldn't take their time/mess around too much, bc we would've been putting more civilians close to the gang in harms way. ig it also made sense to me to take out the ronin first, since they had control over the area where the saints had their first hideout :0c
also as a kid i apparently missed the fact that there was a choice in the order u could go in lmao, and now i kinda wanna go back and play in a different order to see how the vibes play out 😄
The Mr. Sunshine death scene HAS to be a reference to Baron Samedi in the James Bond Franchise. He is notorious for not dying even though he should've and I think actually comes from an Haitian/Caribbean folktale. Referencing the name of the gang the sons of Samedi AKA Baron Samedi.
So when I saw that for the first time I was actually laughing my ass off at that scene.
I just have to say this is one of the best game reviews i've ever seen. I dont think i've ever laughed so hard from one lol. Meme quality is 10/10
A lot of Yakuza would literally kill to be in the good graces of a company that as more sway than it rightfully has.
Tbh I never played SR2 before seeing this review of yours but you convinced me to play it and I won’t lie I’ve had so much fun with it and it’s better than I could’ve ever imagined. The story, gameplay, characters, everything about it is just so amazing! Absolutely amazing review to an equally amazing game. It’s hilarious how a game that’s labeled as a gta clone does gta better than actual gta.
I also looked and found out that Saints Row 2, 14 years later,, became trending on the Xbox store a little ways behind Fall Guys and that shows how great this game is and what the Reboot will never be.
This dudes editing is top notch. The memes never failed to make me laugh without distracting me from the video.