History YMMV / SaintsRowIV

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Related to above, Cyrus Temple and Killbane. The ex-STAG commander turned terrorist and the former leader of the Luchadores would be a great main antagonists if they joined forces and the game focused on The Boss being the US President, opening the possibility of satisfying final confrotation with both of them, since both walked off free in the canon ending of the first game. But, instead, Cyrus is offed right at the prologue and Killbane only has a brief apperance in the simulation.

* TheyWasterAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Related to above, Cyrus Temple and Killbane. The ex-STAG commander turned terrorist and the former leader of the Luchadores would be a great main antagonists if they joined forces and the game focused on The Boss being the US President, opening the possibility of satisfying final confrotation with both of them, since both walked off free in the canon ending of the first game. But, instead, Cyrus is offed right at the prologue and Killbane only has a brief cameo in the simulation.

* DemonicSpiders: Though not too hard to kill, the Marauders are completely invulnerable from the front, and they enjoy ignoring other characters and homing in on the player, making getting around them a hassle. In one mission, they fall from the sky, and can pin the player to one spot, making them even more of a nuisance. The easiest way to deal with them is to toss them into the water for a one-hit kill, but that just lets the game spawn ''another'', to the point that they devolve into GoddamnBats.
** [[MechaMooks Murderbots]] soak up massive amounts of damage while spraying you with laser miniguns, usually spawn in groups, and crawl after you when their legs are blown off. It's even worse when CIDs shield them.

* GoddamnedBats
** Zin soldiers on hoverbikes. They're the weakest vehicles in the Zin arsenal, and a well-placed freeze blast will always take them out unless they're insanely close to the ground. This doesn't stop them from hassling you with their rapid spawn in pairs and their ability to keep up with you in anything short of a jet.

* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The President's dance in Ben King's Loyalty mission.

* MostAnnoyingSound: CID's constant snarking whenever you make a mistake in one of the Rift activities gets grating very fast.

** Alternatively, it's ''VideoGame/{{Prototype}}'', ''Saints Row'' and ''VideoGame/DestroyAllHumans''' bastard son. [[TropesAreNotBad Of course, that doesn't sound too bad.]]

** At one point in ''Enter The Dominatrix'' the Boss dances (or as [[spoiler:Matt Miler]] calls it, having a seizure) to "Simply Irresistible". While dressed up as a stripper cowboy.

** The [[DontExplainTheJoke joke]] behind having Creator/NolanNorth as one of the voice options is that Nolan North is in ''every'' video game. Now that 2013 has passed you could [[VideoGame/TheLastOfUs probably]] [[VideoGame/BioshockInfinite make]] [[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins the]] [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2 same]] [[VideoGame/InfamousSecondSon joke]] [[VideoGame/MassEffect3 about]] Creator/TroyBaker... except that he already provides Male Voice 1 for the Boss.

* PlayerPunch: You thought Gat's death in ''The Third'' was a PlayerPunch? How about [[spoiler:all of the Earth, every single quirky and memorable person the player has met save a small handful along with every fun location and cool hideout the player has owned, being blown to hell just for the sadistic glee it would provide the BigBad? Almost everything that players have grown to love over nearly a decade of games reduced to burning space rock in a nanosecond? Especially Oleg and Josh, since you saw them in an amusing scene beforehand?]] Yeah, Zinyak is going to pay dearly for that.

* TakeThatScrappy: Shaundi being called out for her unlikable behavior by [[spoiler:her past self]] is quite cathartic for those who hated SR3 Shaundi.

* AndYouThoughtItWouldFail: When the game was announced and revealed the whole alien invasion plot, many long time fans just deemed the series unsalvagable by this point. Granted "Saints Row the Third" was considered a decent game in it's own right, but the whole clones, lucador enemies and more lewd joke direction wasn't what many were hoping for in a "Saint's Row" sequel. So this direction certainly didn't sit well with many and people just figuring the developers having given up entirely. But once played, the tongue in cheek nature and over the top madness of the game quickly won over many. Ultimately it's considered one of the better entries in the franchise.

* CrackIsCheaper: Taken UpToEleven with, in addition to other special editions, a "Super Dangerous Wad Wad Edition" was announced, which contains all manner of unearthly prizes (a hostage rescue experience, ''plastic surgery'' etc). How much is it? '''''$1,000,000.''''' No, ''that wasn't a typo''. [[http://l2.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/tnHx21EyQIThcteobT5I9w--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NTt3PTYzMA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en-US/blogs/ygamesblog/saints-row-4-1-million.jpg Read 'em and weep]]...[[PlayedForLaughs until you find out that a developer livestream revealed that it's fake]]. And an article on Ars disecting all the goodies discovered that buying everything separately was quite a lot cheaper anyway.

** They could not have picked a better time to play "[[WesternAnimation/TransformersTheMovie The Touch]]".

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** "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing" playing when the Boss disarms the nuke. Succeed and s/he crashes into the Presidential chair of the White House before a Saints inspired dub remix of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpYj6hIeohw Hail to the Chief]] plays. And for the trifecta when you make up Saint President we get another [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w759jDLtmX0 remix]] that might be good for the real 2016 election.
** Hell, the entirety of the original soundtrack deserves notice. Can be found [[https://www.youtube.com/user/mkirbyjr here]]

** What better theme for Johnny Gat's loyalty mission, celebrating his triumphant return, than Thin Lizzy's "The Boys Are Back In Town".

* BestLevelEver: ''[[VideoGame/StreetsOfRage Saints Of Rage]]''. An AffectionateParody of classic side scrolling Beat 'Em Ups. What makes it even better? It transports your character into the game, with their exact custom look and the outfit they had on, but in classic 2D low resolution.

** Multiple times it is shown that Keith David would like to be President himself. In the ''WesternAnimation/{{RickAndMorty}}'' universe, Keith David gets to play the President of the United States.

** Multiple times it is shown that Keith David would like to be President himself. In the [[WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty Rick and Morty]] episode "Get Schwifty", Keith David gets to play the President of the United States

** The on-foot Mayhem activities may be this for some, since they restrict you to only one method of destruction (such as a Black Hole Gun or Super Stomp) in each activity. If you like what the activity lets you use, then it's a pretty fun activity. If you don't, though, it can be a pain to get through.

** One of the developers said he didn't want [[spoiler: Burt Reynolds to be dead in the Saints Row universe. Well, he apparently had no choice in the matter, because Burt Reynolds dies in this game. Having your home planet explode will do that.]]
*** [[spoiler:Though they don't actually state if he died. As far as we know he's still alive, somewhere in the simulation.]]

** [[spoiler:And then there's Rowdy RoddyPiper, the man Keith David respects.]]

** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77X_BzrIL-U GOT MY PURPLE PURPLE WUBS MAN!]] Brought to you by MiracleOfSound.

** Actually the easiest way is just to freeze blast them, which stops their head from turning for long enough to get behind them.

** Not only that, but since the French and Belgian have some sort of a love/hate relationship, with both countries frequently making fun of each other, one can only imagine how vitriolic French Boss would have been to Loren [[WhatCouldHaveBeen had her voice option been available in Saints Row: The Third...]]
** The [[DontExplainTheJoke joke behind having]] Creator/NolanNorth as one of the voice options is that Nolan North is in ''every'' video game. Now that 2013 has passed you could [[VideoGame/TheLastOfUs probably]] [[VideoGame/BioshockInfinite make]] [[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamOrigins the]] [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII2 same]] [[VideoGame/InfamousSecondSon joke]] [[VideoGame/MassEffect3 about]] Creator/TroyBaker...except that he already provides Male Voice 1 for the Boss.
** Speaking of Creator/TroyBaker, Asha's Loyalty mission becomes this as well, considering that it's a giant ShoutOut to MetalGearSolid and Troy Baker is now voicing Revolver Ocelot in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain''.

* MemeticBadass: KeithDavid, in-game. The other characters respect him so much that the Boss picked him to be his running mate, and Kinzie rescued him first.

* MisattributedSong: It's common for uninformed players to find that the first Dubstep Gun's tune is called "Polyhymnia" by Scout MacNiel. WordOfGod confirms that this is a mere imitator, since the song is actually "A Bass Renaissance" by Josh Powell.

-->'''Santa Claus:''' Shaundi, dear? Can you be a good girl and stay here? If we don't make it, you have to tell the others.
-->'''Future!Shaundi:''' [[NoOneGetsLeftBehind I'm not leaving your side, Santa!]]
-->'''Santa Claus:''' I need you to do this for me, Shaundi.
-->'''Future!Shaundi!:''' What?! [[IveComeTooFar I've come too far to stop now!]] Do you know what I've been through? I've lost friends, compatriots, [[AnArmAndALeg my arm!]]
-->'''The Boss:''' And an [[EyeScream eye.]]
-->'''Future!Shaundi:''' Yes! [[HamAndCheese And an eye!]] I can't just give you up, Santa.
* NeverLiveItDown: [[spoiler: Cyber-Julius]] laments this to Asha if you have both of them as homies in Saints Row IV

* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: Compared [[TookALevelInJerkass to her last appearance]], Shaundi has gotten far more praise and approval than in the last game. Part of it may stem from making her ActionGirl credentials more prominent, but it also uses a LOT of CharacterDevelopment to explain her transition from ''VideoGame/SaintsRow2'' to ''VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird'' to ''VideoGame/SaintsRowIV'' [[spoiler: by juxtaposing Serious!Shaundi to Fun!Shaundi, eventually having the two reconcile their differences in Shaundi's Loyalty mission, and ultimately ending with Shaundi [[TookALevelInKindness becoming less of a bitch than her last appearance]].]]

** One of Wrestling/RoddyPiper's homie conversations ends with him realizing that [[spoiler:he is dead along with everyone else on Earth.]] Real life Roddy Piper died in 2015.

** Even though it mocks a lot of elements from Creator/{{Bioware}} games, ''Saints Row IV'' windsup making for a pretty good ''Franchise/MassEffect'' game. Invasion of Earth from an unstoppable alien force, super powers, loyalty quests, romance options, inclusion of Creator/KeithDavid as your right hand man - It's all there.

* SpiritualLicensee: It's essentially the closest we'll probably ever get to ''VideoGame/{{Prototype}} 3''.

** "Pounding the Pavement" and "I Am Become Death" are also very grindy. The former requires you to kill 150 aliens with the Stomp ability, while the latter requires you to kill 1000 aliens with superpowers. Much harder and more tedious than it sounds, because Stomp doesn't do a lot of damage even when upgraded and only "Alien Kills" count, not "Explosive Kills", which can be a problem after you upgrade your powers.

*** Made even worse with the Christmas themed version bundled with "How The Saints Saved Christmas" DLC. While the time limit is generous enough, this time, the targets move. The worst part is that the activity will randomly bug, causing you to not able to pick up items to be thrown.

** The game's storytelling is getting compared with the story heavy-hitters of 2013 ''VideoGame/TheLastOfUs'' and ''VideoGame/BioshockInfinite''. Clearly an improvement over the previous games of the series and probably says something about TroyBaker.

** The entire game seems to be based on the philosophy of making an entire game out of ''SaintsRowTheThird'''s "HTTP://deckers.die" mission, which was one of the more universally well-liked parts of said game.