cormack12
Gold Member
Summarised by getrecall.ai
- A visit to Volition in 2019 revealed information about a new Saints Row game, with the original title being Saints Row Sinko, and the game's concept and setting were explained by Mike Watson, Kate Nelson, and Jim Boone 04:28
- The game was intended to be a clean slate, with a focus on gangs and rising from the ground up, and a tone that was 80% Saints Row 2 and 20% Saints Row 3, allowing for occasional absurd moments 05:41
- The game's setting was a desert city called Santo Alleso, inspired by Las Vegas, with a concept of the "weird west" and a rich history, and the studio had spent two years rebuilding their engine to include features like customization, co-op, and activities 06:37
- A vertical slice of the game was shown, which was a fully functioning but small section of the game, demonstrating how the full experience would come across, and it was explained that every team worked holistically to develop this vertical slice 07:48
Gameplay Mechanics and Features
- The game started with a cut scene of two gang members attempting to bury the boss alive, but they were interrupted by a generic saint who shot the gang members and helped the boss, 08:20
- The game's HUD was more sterile compared to previous games, but still had a hint of the Saint's Row flare, and the game featured a new exploration reward system, including dumpster diving, 09:49
- The game had a unique leveling up system with three separate skill trees: muscle, wealth, and fame, which would level up based on the player's actions, and each level would unlock a new perk, 10:42
- The game's customization options were impressive, including layered clothing, socks, and a wide variety of fabrics, but many of these options were later removed due to memory limitations, 11:33
- The game's environment was set in a desert, which was a change from the previous games, and the creative director, Brian Trafocante, had a background in environmental art and pushed to make the world look as breathtaking as possible, 13:04
Planned Features and Mechanics
- The game featured a new mechanic called the tether, which allowed cars and aircraft to pull large objects, and this mechanic was demonstrated in a mission where the boss uses a car to pull a porta-potty with an idol member inside 17:18.
- Hot air balloons were going to be a big element of the open world, and the boss uses a wing suit to reach Billy's hot air balloon in a mission, with the wing suit being a compromise for newer fans who loved the superpowers in Saints Row 4 18:28.
- The game had a feature called Criminal Ventures, which served as a customization option for the city, allowing players to place businesses in newly acquired territories and offering unique missions and income, with examples including the Brighter Future waste disposal and Planet Saints 21:47.
- The Criminal Ventures were going to be tied to a feature called proclamations, which allowed players to declare new laws in controlled districts, such as allowing pedestrians to streak freely or engage in Wild West standoffs, but this feature was cut due to its scale and potential controversy 23:50.
- Pierce, a character voiced by Reefest Kinchin, was going to have a significant role in the game, and some of his original voice lines can still be found in the game's files, including a radio ad for Planet Saints 19:40.
- The game's HQ would evolve with each takedown of a rival gang, and player customization would be done at the HQ, with the option to use a phone app, removing the need for plastic surgeons and barber shops 25:37
- Crib customization was planned, allowing players to customize their cribs with items found in the open world or unlocked through activities, challenges, and missions, but this feature was later removed from the final release 27:05
- The game's city, Santoso, was designed to be a living and breathing world, with a high level of detail, including historic sites with narrated descriptions, and hidden rewards for players who explored the map, but many of these features were cut or changed in the final game 28:17
Character Development and Roles
- The Saints Row reboot was planned as a full reboot with a new cast, replacing the old Saints, which was a surprising decision 34:29
- Mike Watson was working on a mission to resolve the Dex plot line, a long-standing unresolved story in the series, and was given the opportunity to finally conclude it 35:57
- The game's concept art showed a thriving world, with a focus on creating a city closer to Still Water, and included designs for the Panteros gang, their vehicles, and arsenal 38:13
- The Panteros gang was described as a combination of the Brotherhood's ruthless force and the Carnales' criminal dominance, with a unique art style and arsenal 40:35
- The game's UI art included skill perks, such as Golden Guns and a face of Genki, and vehicle upgrades, like an ejector seat and the Jturn 39:24
- The game Saints Row was initially going to feature characters named Lonnie and Donnie, who were cut from the game and replaced with the Idol collective leaders 42:44
- The Saints gang was going to have a customizable dog mascot, but due to difficulties with quadriped NPCs, it was replaced with a cat that only appears in cutscenes 44:10
- The rival gang Ult was initially going to be one of the main gangs, but was later changed to Msako Multinational and eventually became the Marshalls 45:02
- A character named Nwali was planned from the beginning, and was going to be a stoic badass who betrays the Saints, but his design and storyline underwent significant changes 47:26
Story Development and Revisions
- The game's story underwent major revisions, including the introduction of the boss's mother and a plot involving a corrupt politician and a mechanical gorilla final boss 50:26
- The original story for Saints Row had the boss killing John Bland in a retirement home, but this idea was later changed, and John Bland became a forgettable character in the full game, a realtor who helps the player get the church and lots for their criminal ventures 51:20.
- Steve Jarus, the writer behind previous Saints Row titles, was brought back to rewrite the story, which became a reboot, and his word became gospel, with the other writers not allowed to criticize his decisions 52:13.
- The game's story began with the player as a Marshall soldier, participating in a mission to bust a Pantara's drug deal, and later, the player would form the Saints, with the goal of taking down the Pantara's and other gangs, including the Idols 53:08.
- The player would eventually team up with Nwali, who would help the Saints take down the Pantara's, and the story would involve a series of missions, including a heist on a Marshall-controlled train, where the player would try to kill Sergio 56:19.
- The ultimate goal of the story was to obtain the Mockingbird Codeex, a map to a hidden treasure, which would unlock endgame content, including a pyramid with Genki's face, where players could unlock cheats by entering codes found around the map 58:06.
- The original story for Saints Row involved the boss massacring their way to reach Gwen, who would then help the Saints, and eventually join them after being fired by Attekus 59:56.
- The story would have culminated in a final mission where Nwali would meet with the boss, reveal his plan to kill them, and the boss would fight Nwali on the brink of death, ultimately killing him and gaining control of the Saints 01:01:11.
- The story underwent significant changes during the pandemic, with Jerus's contract expiring and the writing team attempting to fulfill his wishes, resulting in a story that was heavily criticized 01:02:40.
Changes and Challenges in Development
- The 2080 rule, which guided the game's tone, was changed from 80% Saint's Row 2 and 20% Saint's Row 3 to 80% grounded and 20% silly, and later to 20% silly, 80% grounded, and 10% absurd, allowing for more outlandish ideas 01:04:12.
- The writers faced heavy restrictions from THQ Nordic and Deep Silver on the game's dialogue and voiceovers, leading to compromises on certain lines, such as the infamous "horse testies" rant 01:04:47.
and it just feels like older gamers tended to gatekeep a genre to a singular franchise or developer, rather than embrace the rest of them. It reminds me of when Soulslikes first started coming out. To this day there are still people who think only Fromsoft can own that entire subgenre.