History YMMV / SaintsRowIV

* ItsTheSameSoItSucks: Another gripe some have with the game is that while the story and gameplay has changed, the setting and most of the art assets haven't. But as always, you mileage may vary.
** [[TheyChangedItSoItSucks On the other end of the spectrum]], you have series purists who spout venom at the game for abandoning its serious gangland roots in favor of over-the-top comedy.

* EvenBetterSequel: For those who liked the series' changes to the more absurd, this is seen as this, due to SerialEscalation, and providing many mechanic changes.
** The game's storytelling has been compared to 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 Creator/TroyBaker.
** Heck even folks who ''didn't'' like the new direction in the third game were won over. It helps that the humor scaled back the sex and toilet jokes and managed to do the story in a way that didn't take itself seriously.

** One of the signs in simulation Steelport says "Reboot is Death", which seems awfully prophetic, given the divisive reactions towards [[VideoGame/SaintsRow2022 the 2022 reboot]] resulted in Creator/{{Volition}} folding a year after its release.

** One of the signs in simulation Steelport says "Reboot is Death", which seems awfully prophetic, given the negative reactions towards [[VideoGame/SaintsRow2022 the 2022 reboot]].

* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: The radios in the [[spoiler:50's simulation]] play a variant of [[Film/BackToTheFuture Mister Sandman]], while [[spoiler:Kinzie's loyalty mission]] plays a song that is absolutely not "Johnny B. Goode".

** Gat's revival proved to be rather contentious. While always a fan favorite character, arguably the most popular of the series, fans were split over whether his death was needless or a nice dramatic twist in ''The Third.'' The retconning of his death hear proved to be even more divisive; with people either happy that their favorite character got revived or upset that this was another in the line of the series abandoning series story telling in favor of irreverence.

* 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.

** 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 Creator/TroyBaker.

* 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 its own right, but the whole clones, luchador 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.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: For those who didn't like the way [[TookALevelInJerkass Shaundi became a massive jerk in the last game]], here, she's a lot more respectful when introducing the Saints to Asha, and eventually ends up [[TookALevelInKindness regaining her former kindness]] after reconciling with her past self.

* EmotionalTorque: The alien invasion trailer has numerous scenes that look like ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' gone gangster.

** In a meta sense, the player is breaking the game to make it easier. Super jumps and super sprint are only the first such game breakers, making cars all but obsolete to get around.

* NeverLiveItDown: [[spoiler: Cyber-Julius]] laments this to Asha if you have both of them as homies.
--> [[spoiler:'''Asha''': So, you're yet another name on the list of people who tried to kill the President, ay?]]\\
[[spoiler:'''Julius''': Despite everything I've done with my life, apparently that's what I'm known for.]]

* PortingDisaster: The PC port of ''Re-Elected'', which was released as a free update to the original version. Before the update, Deep Silver promised that the game will be compatible with previous saves and still have Steam Workshop support, as well as including all the DLC. Unfortunately, the so-called update turned the game into a broken mess: mod support is broken, the game no longer recognizes old save files and on top of that, it's filled with game-breaking glitches that weren't present in the console ports and the original PC port. And while the Steam version has an option to rollback to the previous version via the Beta branch, Deep Silver ''forgot'' to include said version in the branch, leaving rollback useless for everyone. Lastly, the game also forces players to install Epic Online Service for crossplay, much to the ire of Steam and GOG users who are against Epic's anti-consumer practices. On top of that, the inclusion of EOS also rendered the game unplayable on Steam Deck.

* MemeticMutation: Zinyak ''fucked'' with Biz Markie.

** "[[Music/{{Aerosmith}} I Don't Want]] [[Film/{{Armageddon}} 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 would have been good for the real 2016 election.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment:
** One of the developers said he didn't want [[spoiler: Creator/BurtReynolds to be dead in the Saints Row universe. Well, he apparently had no choice in the matter, because Reynolds dies in this game. Having your home planet explode will do that.]]

* HarsherInHindsight: Go ahead and leave Josh hanging, [[spoiler: and it will be [[KickTheDog the last thing you ever said to him.]]]]

*** The Pop Star version: [[http://youtu.be/3nsBVDC-eV4?t=4m47s Vindicate]] by Datsik and Music/{{Excision}}.

* 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.

* FoeYay: Mocked by the Boss when dealing with Zinyak.
-->'''Boss:''' Are you trying to kill me or sleep with me?\\
'''Zinyak:''' ''[[SarcasmMode Charming]]''.\\
'''Boss:''' See, there you go again with those mixed messages.

* GuideDangIt: The ''How The Saints Saved Christmas'' DLC has multiple collection sidequests, but the game expects you to not only get them during the mission, but to get them with no map. [[SarcasmMode Thanks]]. To clarify, they will show up on your minimap if you have the Collectible Finder upgrade, but that only helps if you already know where to look in general.

* EvenBetterSequel: For those who liked the series' changes to the more absurd, this is seen as this, with taking everything UpToEleven, and providing many mechanic changes.

* UnderusedGameMechanic: Playing around with your StockSuperpowers is great fun - too bad most story missions disable them.

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

* 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, luchador 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.

** The Tiny Pistol, despite its name, is an extremely powerful weapon that can cause a large explosion at whatever its pointed to, and can be used multiple times before it has to recharge. The only downsides are that recharging takes forever and its blasts cause the Boss to ragdoll as well, the later of which can be rectified by a high level upgrade. It can also be found early in the game if you know where to look. [[spoiler:By shooting open a door in Let's Pretend, and going down to a room where it's waiting on a chair]].

* MoralEventHorizon: While Zinyak has some CardCarryingVillain traits, he is still pretty affable and amusing, and keeping the Boss alive is BondVillainStupidity at it's finest. This all makes him effortlessly blowing up the Earth even more jarring and a horrifying reminder of that he isn't as ineffectual as he seems.

* NightmareFuel: Has its own page now.

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

** The Loyalty Mission for [[spoiler:Johnny Gat]] starts out easy enough, but the second phase kicks the difficulty into high gear. There are a ton more enemies, including several rocket launchers and an ''invincible'' Murderbot, the arena is much smaller and tighter, making dodging hard, and in general its just far more chaotic. Let's just say that when the Boss makes Matt give him/her back their super powers for this section, you ''will'' need them.

!! Index: [[YMMV/SaintsRow All Games]] | ''YMMV/SaintsRow1'' | ''YMMV/SaintsRow2'' | ''YMMV/SaintsRowTheThird'' | ''Saints Row IV'' | ''YMMV/SaintsRowGatOutOfHell'' | ''YMMV/AgentsOfMayhem''