**Quick disclaimer: I have a speech impediment, and some words can be difficult for me to pronounce. I may occasionally substitute words, rephrase sentences, or avoid certain words altogether. I appreciate your understanding, and I hope it doesn't distract from the message and conversations in my videos.**

Saints Row.

A series that started as a relatively grounded crime game, slowly became one of gaming's most ridiculous open-world franchises, and eventually gave us everything from gang warfare to superpowers, aliens, dubstep guns, and giant purple dildos.

But after Saints Row IV and *Gat Out of Hell*, the series went quiet.

Then, in 2022, Volition decided it was time to bring the Saints back.

Simply titled *Saints Row**, this game was developed by **Volition* and published by **Deep Silver**, releasing on August 23rd, 2022. Rather than continuing the story of Johnny Gat, the Boss, Kinzie, and the rest of the old Saints, this was a full reboot. A new city, a new cast, a new gang, and supposedly a new beginning for the franchise.

And, well...

People didn't exactly agree on whether that was a good idea.

Critics gave Saints Row a **61 on Metacritic**, putting it firmly in the "mixed or average" category. Some critics enjoyed Santo Ileso, the customization, the combat, and the sheer amount of things there are to do. But the biggest criticisms were aimed at the writing, the characters, the dated open-world design, and, perhaps most importantly, the game's technical problems.

And the players were even less forgiving.

The game currently sits at a **3.3 user score on Metacritic**, with player reactions ranging from disappointment with the reboot's direction to frustration with its story, characters, gameplay, and technical issues.

But the story of Saints Row doesn't end with the game's release.

In August 2023, less than a year after the game's release, *Volition was shut down after 30 years* as part of parent company Embracer Group's restructuring program. The poor reception and performance of Saints Row were widely viewed as contributing to the studio's fate, although it would be inaccurate to say the game alone "caused" Volition's closure. The official reason was Embracer's wider restructuring and cost-cutting efforts.

Which makes this game particularly interesting to revisit.

Because this isn't just the latest Saints Row game.

It's the **final game Volition ever released as a studio**.

And I'll be honest right from the beginning:

*This is probably not going to be the positive, laid-back deep dive you've seen from me before.*

I'm going into this one with a much more critical eye.

There has also been a lot of discussion surrounding the political and social messaging associated with this reboot, and I want to make something very clear before we begin.

*I'm deliberately leaving that conversation out of this deep dive.*

Not because I think those discussions aren't worth having, but because that's not what I want to investigate here.

I'm not interested in determining whether Saints Row has the "right" or "wrong" political message.

I'm interested in something much simpler:

*Is the story actually good?*

Are these characters interesting?

Does their relationship feel believable?

Does the story have good pacing?

Do the villains work?

Does the Saints' rise to power actually feel earned?

And most importantly...

*Does this game understand what made Saints Row's stories worth playing in the first place?*

So we're going to put the politics aside, forget the discourse surrounding the game for a little while, and judge Saints Row on what it actually is:

*A story.*

Because at the end of the day, it doesn't matter what message a game is trying to send if the story underneath it isn't worth telling.

So...

Let's go back to Santo Ileso.

Let's meet the new Saints.

And let's find out...

*Was Saints Row 2022 really as bad as everyone remembers?*