I Really Like Saints Row Reboot

I was so happy when the new Saints Row game was announced to be released in 2022. Saints Row: The Third being one of my all time favourite games I could not wait to play rebooted version of the series, especially when it looked as good as it did. And then the game released, reviews came in, and I kinda lost interest for a while – it seemed that Saints Row was a buggy mess and it would be better to wait some time before trying it out. And after that development team was fired. And the chronically online people started hating Saints Row's new direction (but what they wouldn't hate?). 

We're off to a great start.

Finally at the end of the 2023 I decided to grab the game from Playstation Store sale and try it out myself. I was scared. Is this game going to be bad? Waste of money? I booted it up and...

This is how I spent my Xmas.

I really loved my time with Saints Row reboot. Sure, it's not perfect. Game still has a lot of bugs and glitches, story feels little bit rushed and at times unfinished, and some missions are just chores. But on the other side there's a game that hit straight into my millennial humour, from joking about student loans to being surprisingly respectful towards different people – this is not the same game that made fun of everyone like bad South Park episode. I personally enjoy reboot's take on things more, showing that you don't need to make fun of others to get some laughs. It's what I appreciate about a lot of modern art, especially being a person who grew on this culture where humour a lot of time was and still is targeted against certain groups of people. 

This game captures my life perfectly.

There is a certain charm to this absurdity that reboot offers. NPC's are doing their own thing, living seemingly normally in a normal city while Saints just break havoc and murder anyone on their way. And even after the craziest, weirdest or most macabre events, life in Santo Ileso continues. No questions asked. Especially after Saints Row IV's alien / Matrix world building I did really find reboot's more grounded world refreshing. And fun. 

Back when I was young games were not this colourful.

And that's what I mean when I think this game is really good – it is a fun experience. There is lot of different activities to do, and in a real Saints Row style you get your hands on some crazy weaponry. Even wing suit, which is just previous entry's flying ability but more floaty, turned out to be a really cool concept after I learned to use it without crashing to every single building. 

And you can be a zombie. As usual.

Great party.

I can understand that bugs and glitches will turn some people out of the game, but for someone like me, who loves when games break, it gives an another layer to the experience. Of course it is a thin line between silly and unplayable, but at least now reboot is more on that silly and goofy side. And if some missions (like insurance fraud) just don't work as they are intended to, this game allows you to turn off time limits and stuff. I really hope that more games would do that – timed missions are probably my most hated cliché.

After about 40-50 hours characters just started casually t-posing. Or a-posing?

As this game is on a sale very often, I would really recommend you to try it out. It has very high highs and some low lows, but overall experience is on the positive side. And if somebody says that this game is bad because it is trying to be respectful, guess what? There is no need to listen those people. Just enjoy the game.

[Video] Silly Breath of the Wild Moments #1

Game is good. Enjoy these clips!

I wrote some words about Breath of the Wild a while ago: How Breath of the Wild Became One of My Favourite Games

[Video] Mario hates everything

Especially me :C

Anyway, this little video sums up my Mario Odyssey experience pretty well. Game is fun, but I am very bad at jumping.

Hopefully I get around to finish my Saints Row reboot post this week. It is pretty good if I say so myself. I also have plans to write about both The Last of Us game and TV series at some point, so stay tuned for that!

[Video] 18th Century Colonial America Petting Simulator

Bamboozled! It’s Assassin’s Creed III. Honestly, as much I enjoyed first two games of this series, this one is not the same. Colonial America as a setting just is not as interesting as old Europe – old the buildings are the same and I don’t really feel like walking in the snow on forest is what made those original games so special. But at least there are animals to pet!

[Video] Skyrim Experience II

And thus silliness continues. Long awaited sequel to Skyrim Experience is here!

Few Words About Tomb Raider I

Photo: https://laracroftonline.com/music/tomb-raider-one-soundtrack-1996.html

First obstacle with the original Tomb Raider wasn't any of the puzzles or platforming, instead it was getting it to run on Steam Deck and Linux in general. After one evening of irritation and fighting with different emulators I finally got it working without any bigger problems, except cutscenes didn't really work – there is sound, but screen is black. Thankfully you can watch them on Youtube, so that's exactly what I did.

After getting used to terrible (old-school) controls game surprised me by being fun. Of course it feels old and outdated, but that doesn't really matter because on its core Tomb Raider is a fantastic game. Atmosphere is unique and difficulty is just perfect for my stupid brain. I had so much fun trying to figure my way through the Indiana Jones styled obstacles while occasionally fighting some nightmare creatures (and dinosaurs). And thanks to very detailed walkthroughs at Stella's Tomb Raider Site I rarely got stuck on any puzzle for too long.

I especially enjoyed later levels with more macabre and grotesque designs – it truly felt that Lara Croft went from this pretty ordinary tomb raiding into something unsettling and unknown. PS1 era graphics and minimalistic sound design (though I think that at times music was bugged because it played only for a short time at random locations and stopped just like that) gave me at times horror vibes that modern indie titles that are trying to replicate original Playstation's looks can't reach – after all imitation isn't the same as the real thing in bigger picture. But that is a conversation to be had on an another blog post.

Overall I would say that original Tomb Raider is great piece of history, that I'd recommend anyone who is interested in 90's gaming or gaming culture in general to check out. And as the remastered version just released, I think even more players are able to see what Lara Croft's first adventure was like. I need to try that new version myself at some point too as I am very interested in modern control scheme it has. But until then I will be continuing my Tomb Raider adventures with the original titles.

I'm trying something new: I will be uploading these blog post on a video from on Youtube from now on – just trying things out. Tell me what you think!

[Video] Borderlands 2 Co-op Madness (feat. eew)

Pew pew! Borderlands 2 is fun but it is even more fun when playing together. On Nintendo Switch. Which was meant for games like this. Oh well.