September 2019 Playthrough - Saints Row: The Third

[GrayGhost81]

Checkpoints are up!

This is the first time we've done a sandbox game, and if you just plowed through the story missions the game will be very short. Take your time, explore, do the activities, buy properties, get that money and respect. Take advantage of the game's amazing character creator and let your freak flag fly!

Have fun!

[Mr_Stubbes]

I just started yesterday. I think what I’m going to do is only focus on the story missions at first. I’m not sure how much time I can put into this one so I want to at least finish the game. After that I’ll see about doing the extra stuff.

[Crabmaster2000]

I'm not sure what point I'm at in the story, but I feel like I'm probably somewhere close to the end. It's hard to tell because the whole game is just one giant climax so I can't tell if these new escalations are crazy enough to be end game material or just par for the course. I'm at Respect level 30 though if that's any indicator. The whole Morning Star areas in the middle of map I've got at 95% completion and I think every other area is between 30-50% currently.

I don't play a lot of open world games or shooters, but I'm still finding this game incredibly easy. Is is designed to be easier than similar games because the characters are all cartoonish like characters that are meant to constantly succeed overwhelming odds or am I off base with this? I didn't realize you collected your hourly money from your phone until just now so I havn't spent almost anything on upgrades (used what money I had from missions to buy new buildings/businesses instead), havn't spent a dime on upgrading any weapons or vehicles or anything either and even despite this there has been no roadblocks preventing me from progressing. Main character is a total bullet sponge than can take an insane amount of damage without flinching and any regular baddie can be killed like nothing. The big dudes don't do well with grenades so they go down easy too. Even the activities that are listed as "hard" on the map I've completed all on the first attempt (things like the Insurance Fraud, Tank Missions, etc).

Been private chatting with some of you guys about playing recently and I really feel like a joyless stick in the mud. Everyone is talking about how much fun they are having and how funny the game is. This kind of humor does the opposite for me and really makes me feel uncomfortable more than jovial. I know I'm fairly puritanical in a lot of ways so I didn't expect to love the game going in, but even with that in mind it kind of makes me feel gross playing it at all. Just the premise is not a lot of fun for me. I don't want to be a gangster, I don't want to shoot cops, I don't want to punch a mom as I steal her car and kick her kids out onto the street, I don't want to have the only options when I rescue sex workers to be sell them off or prostitute them. I'm having an impossible time so far role playing these characters at all.

That sounds like a lot of complaining, but I realize it's all me problems and not problems with the game itself. I've heard the soundtrack is very popular, but musically I don't have very eclectic tastes so my playlist is 90% of the classical station, 3 metal songs I like and Fantasy by Aldo Nova because that song rules. That's a me problem. There is a TON of content in this game, like a TON. I just have zero interest in customizing things (I even hate creating my own character at the start, who ended up being a 100 year old Asian woman), so when I finish a mission and get rewarded with new vehicles options, new poses, new styles for my gang, new guns, new cloths, etc. it's never anything I get excited about. All of my equipment everything else is the same stuff I started the game with. Again I recognize that's a me problem.

One thing I really do like about this game is how they approach their open world. The few other open world games I've played always have some kind of extremely intense event taking place that seems like it should be a priority over all the tons of little silly things to do around the map. Saints Row is just you trying to earn territory and defeat rival gangs, that in itself isn't something that needs to get done asap so it feels like you have freedom to actually do other stuff in the city. And on top of that most of the stuff you have available to do in the city gets you closer to that goal anyway (except for maybe insurance fraud). It's neat to see a world that actually well planned out with it's narrative.

[GrayGhost81]

Crabs, I don't know how to respond to your apathy. I wish you were enjoying the game more. Try wearing the Bad Kitty backpack. His arms and legs swing around when you run and it will make you smile.

I started playing the game a couple of weeks ago and I just got to the end of the first checkpoint. What I've been doing is trying to buy every property on the map to maximize the pay transfers. I'm not going to go for 100% in the game but I'd like to take more advantage of the upgrade systems than I did in my first playthrough years ago.

With so much money I've been able to max out a few of the weapons, which is very useful in combat. Indeed it makes the game pretty easy which is awesome because I love easy games. I'm also taking advantage of the vehicle upgrade system, which is something I usually don't care about. It's actually pretty awesome. If you max out a car it really changes how it controls and can make it damn near indestructible.

I really appreciate the variety in the "activities." The map is dotted with them but it's not overwhelming because the story missions come from your phone. You can filter the map, but the default display is properties and activities, so you're always near something. The only one I'm having trouble with is insurance fraud but I remember having some kind of technique for it in the past. May have to just watch a youtube video on it.

I absolutely adore the music in the game. I really wish it wouldn't stop when you bring up the phone. In SR4 you can have music playing constantly because vehicles don't play nearly as big of a role in that one. I think the music in SR4 is also way better overall but the tunes in this game are really well selected. I took advantage of the in-game mixtape function but the downside there is that every time you start the game up it starts from the beginning of the list. My favorite station is K12.

I do kind of wish there was an option for vehicle delivery from the phone and in addition to that (edit: it does have that!) some kind of fast travel system. Nothing too crazy, but it would be nice if you could fast travel to any crib you owned on the map.

I really, really like that you can wipe out your notoriety (wanted) levels just by dipping into a property you own. One of the things that drives me up a wall in GTA games is when it takes forever to shake the cops or other enemies.

I like sandbox games a lot, and I've played a lot of games that have been released after SR3 but I'm enjoying it way more than many of those. As Crabby noted, the amount of content is insane.  

[wildbil52]

This is the second time that I tried to play Saints Row The Third.  The first time I got through the first mission or two and had a laugh but just didn't keep playing.  Since this was a community play through I stuck with it and it didn't take too much longer than the first few missions before I found myself into a nice little gamely loop rhythm that I found myself enjoying. 

I'm with Crabby (Hey, that would make a great T-Shirt) in that I usually don't spend too much time in the character customization screen of any game.  No matter how hard I try, I can never capture the same magnificence that I have in real life (/s).  I normally don't create an out there, large breasted, crazy caricature of a character, I usually create myself slightly improved (as if that were possible) so my SR3 protagonist is a pale white 37 year old guy (me) with a handlebar mustache and more hair (improved!).  It didn't take me long to place the voice actor of my protagonist as Troy Baker, which I am fine with.  Usually I hear Troy Baker's "regular" voice and I'm like "here we go again with Troy" but it fits in the odd meta self awareness of SR3.

What struck me about the soundtrack early on is something that I can't remember if I've seen in any other game.  Characters in the game were singing along to a song playing in the game.  I thought this was so cool.  Sublime's "What I Got" starts playing on the car stereo and 2 characters are like "Oh Man! remember this song" and then proceed to sing along with it completed with forgetting the odd word here and there.  The other thing I like about the soundtrack is how often I feel like I am in Rocky 4 because of how frequently Robert Tepper's "No Easy Way Out" plays on 107.77 The Mix FM.  I find myself leaving the radio station on whatever channel its on when I jack a car just to get into the head of the previous owner.  I also love when I grab a minivan from outside a respectable looking home and Death Metal is blaring on the radio.

I didn't find the weapon variety appealing at first.  I ended up using handguns most of the time because they can one shot headshot most low level enemies.  When I switched to SMGs or Shotguns, I found the recoil and lack of range too restricting.  Lots of times when there is a more fun weapon to use during a mission, like a sniper or rocket launcher, the game just gives it to you for that mission.  There is a huge variety in the types of activities but I think what keeps me playing mission after mission is not just the variety, but also the brevity.  Most of these missions are just a few crazy missions long and then BAM reward.  I'll wait until later in the month before posting details on specific missions but man, there are some gems in there that we will discuss at a later time.

Overall the formula is not unique but it has enough of a unique voice that it keeps me engaged.  It also has a handful of cool features that I'm shocked I don't see in other open world games like:

-Arrows placed on the street view to let you know when to turn down a street.  This drive me crazy in Red Dead and GTA where I felt like I was watching the mini map more than the street I was trying to drive down.
-Automatic "Fast Hijack" where you just leap into the driver or passenger side to steal a car if you are running.  In other games its so weird to spring up to a car and then have to watch a the character SLOWLY open the door and remove the driver
-Vehicle delivery.  I don't know how this isn't a thing in GTA (or maybe is is, I didn't play a ton of 5).  The ability to take out your cell phone and have a homie deliver a car to your location is awesome.  Yeah you can always steal a car but there isnt always a Raycaster where you are.

There are a bunch of things that I don't particularly enjoy like shooting Police Officers.  The game tries to make you feel better about this by suggesting that the police you are shooting are the corrupt ones but the feeling still doesn't sit right.  I'm also not a big fan of plowing through a group of pedestrians on the sidewalk.  Most of the time I find it disturbing but damn it if I haven't let the odd chuckle sneak out when they "rag doll" just the right way and make funny sounds.

I'm actually quite far in the campaign, I think just a few missions from the end.  Once I complete the story I'll go back and play other bits that I enjoyed but didnt play a ton of like the Professor Genki stuff.

[Crabmaster2000]

Finished the story yesterday. Was a bit shorter than I expected. Still need to try a couple more of the activities available and at least 2 of the DLC missions included with the Full Package version before I think I'm completely done with it though.

@Grayghost - the backpack is helping

[singlebanana]

Well, funny story, I went up to my gameroom to grab my copy of SR3 and realized that I didn't have it yet. Shawn and I were deciding what to play and around that time I purchased IV and for some reason got it mixed up in my head. Oh well, it wasn't hard to go out and find a copy in the wild, and it's current 2.99 at GS (though the one I found wasn't complete so I sprang for the more expensive SR3: The Full Package).  Anyway, I have it now and actually already made it through the first checkpoint. I had to stay home 2 days with a sick kid this week, so that worked out well.

Shawn sent me a message yesterday concerned as to how I would feel about playing a sandbox game, since I am typically not a big fan of these. I have to echo some of the above comments and say that this game is designed very well in terms of missions and free time/outside events, which gives you great options if you get stuck on something or just want to have fun.  I've been buying tons of properties and raking in the dough and I think this is the best way to go; access to more cash = more fun. Shawn may be surprised, but I'm sure like him, I created a female character; she's sharply dressed and can kick ass and take initials (no time for full names). I found a flashy and insanely fast sports car, maxed it out, and of course put a sweet design on it: Saints purple of course, with teal interior and under lights to match my sweet doo! I love the variety of automobiles in this game and I just missed jacking a sweet Rolls the other day, which I also want to customize.

As you can tell, I'm really getting into this game. My intital complaint was that I couldn't really determine how to advance towards the checkpoint. However, I soon learned that if you do the first mission on your cell over and over, the story progresses. I really like all of the missions so far, except for the game show (fun idea, but can't really figure it out), and I find myself enjoying the characters a lot. 

Some of our listeners may know that I really do not like the GTA games at all. I know that sounds odd, since these games are similar, but there is something about the lighthearted nature of this game that really appeals to me a great deal. I really love the game Bully, and I feel like SR3 fits nicely between it and GTA as far as borrowing things from each. I can understand Crabby's distaste for some of the events and themes, since I feel that same way about GTA games, but quite honestly, I'm not having that kind experience at all. Though when I typically roleplay in games, I take on characteristics based on my own morals, I just don't really get that immersed when it comes to roleplaying in this game. I just kind of chuckle and accept the game for what it is, and obnoxious, fantastical, very self-aware, violent game set in a fictional cityscape. Typically, I wouldn't support such detachment in a title I am playing, but in this case, I'm just having fun with it. It's a nice change of pace from Danganronpa 2.

A few other things: love, love, love the soundtrack and it really fits into my ecclectic musical tastes. The mix tape feature is cool since it allows me to select tracks ranging from metal, rap, new wave, and other stuff I enjoy; interesting mix of Icicles, Opeth, Talk Talk, and Run DMC, among others.    Also, I have to agree with Bil, the driving mechanisms in this game are top notch. I love the GPS system and it's great that you can call a ride.  I also love calling in backup for battles. I have lots of fun using the hulking gang members; they run in and smash, while I spray. Ha ha!

 

[GrayGhost81]

In the past couple of nights I've pivoted from doing only activities and Saints Book stuff to knocking out some of the story missions. I'm almost to the second checkpoint and about to do one of the game's most famous missions, Deckers.Die.

You guys are right that the story missions go really quick if you do them in succession. I feel like in the past few days I've knocked out more than half of the game.

As I look around the map I realize I own every single available property. However my transfers are only at around $40k. I think they should have had some super valuable properties that were hard to buy but had better payouts. Yeah, this would break the game's economy but the game is intentionally out of balance in so many ways that I don't think it would matter.

There's only a few activities left on my map that I can't pass as well. Unlike Crabby I'm not a gaming savant so sometimes when things are marked as "hard" they are actually hard for a mere mortal such as myself.

I approached this game the same way I approached Dragon Warrior a few months back, but with different results. I focused on side activities and powering up my character with all the unlocks, but that has kind of thrown things out of whack. I'm sure the devs didn't intend the game to be played the way I did, especially considering that a you get a prompt to go to the main missions pretty regularly.

Still I am having the time of my life with this game. I first played it in 2012 and I can't believe how well it holds up.

[Mr_Stubbes]

I’ve been kinda slacking on this. I haven’t played since last weekend. I’ll try picking it up later and at least get to the first checkpoint. I feel like I should be somewhat close but I’m not sure.

[GrayGhost81]

Well, I lied. Instead of doing deckers.die I finished up all the activities. I have 100% of the properties and have done 100% of the activities. Cool! I'm still not gonna 100% the game entirely because I don't care to get all the collectibles.

[MetalFRO]

Started the game tonight. It already had me interested with the Star Wars-esque story crawl, paired with the music from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Nice touch. You can tell that it's a game of the PS3/360 era, with the way the characters move, the general look and feel of it, and the controls. Is it just me, or does it take WAY too long to aim at what you want to shoot?  It seems awful slow to aim at stuff, which is odd of a game from that generation. I was able to much more quickly target enemies with long range attacks in inFAMOUS. I do appreciate the game's sense of humor, though, and some of the incidental deaths from crashing the car are funny. I also dig that you can build a mixtape to play in the car when you hijack one. I'm just a few missions in, so I'll reserve judgment until I'm further along, but I'm wondering where this game is gonna go next, which is probably a good thing.

[wildbil52]

Started the game tonight. It already had me interested with the Star Wars-esque story crawl, paired with the music from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Nice touch. You can tell that it's a game of the PS3/360 era, with the way the characters move, the general look and feel of it, and the controls. Is it just me, or does it take WAY too long to aim at what you want to shoot?  It seems awful slow to aim at stuff, which is odd of a game from that generation. I was able to much more quickly target enemies with long range attacks in inFAMOUS. I do appreciate the game's sense of humor, though, and some of the incidental deaths from crashing the car are funny. I also dig that you can build a mixtape to play in the car when you hijack one. I'm just a few missions in, so I'll reserve judgment until I'm further along, but I'm wondering where this game is gonna go next, which is probably a good thing.

I'm playing with Mouse/KB but I did notice that the default sensitivity was quite low.  Pop it up a few notches and you should be good.  Totally agree about the general look/movement of the characters.  You can tell they were rigged/animated from scratch, not mo-cap

[singlebanana]

Recorded the podcast on Saturday and was so jacked on coffee that I stayed up until almost 4 a.m. playing SR3. Ha ha!

It's funny, but instead of story missions, I was doing assassinations and riding around stealing cars to detail in my garage.  I need to get back on it, but I can definitely see how easy it is to get sidetracked in this game for the fun of it.

[Mr_Stubbes]

Recorded the podcast on Saturday and was so jacked on coffee that I stayed up until almost 4 a.m. playing SR3. Ha ha!

It's funny, but instead of story missions, I was doing assassinations and riding around stealing cars to detail in my garage.  I need to get back on it, but I can definitely see how easy it is to get sidetracked in this game for the fun of it.

Oh yeah, It is very easy to get sidetracked. I would start driving to story missions only to get distracted by finding rival gang hideouts and attacking them to gain more control haha.

[singlebanana]

Well, that's a given when those pop up.