So. Saints Row 4. I make no secret I love this game.
I spent hundreds of hours dicking about in the open world. But I never fully played through the story again until just recently. The common criticism is that 4 is incapable of showing drama and that quote "Saints Row 2 has had the perfect Balance of seriousness and comedy." While it is true SR4 has far more moments devoted to comedy and parody, one moment stood out to me as a counter argument. and while the drama and seriousness is less frequent... quantity was NOT the intent. This one, singular moment was all the game needed. And there was no possible way it could have been done while Saints Row was still semi-grounded in the real world. And it was happening in what appeared to have been a VERY affectionate parody.
Johnny Gat. In recent years, people seemed to be split on him being brought back in 4. People tend to write off a fan favorite being brought back as catering to the fanbase that was lost in said characters death. While, admittedly, a reason for this was fanservice, really think about how he was brought back. Zinyak abducted him and placed him in one of many nightmare prisons to break him. Only this particular simulation was far more sadistic than the others seen.
for those of you too young to remember, Johnny Gat was in a very good relationship with a woman named Aisha. about one of the few people outside his gang he cared about. she met her end, right in front of gats eyes, at the hands of the ronin.
now, cut to the time johnny was abducted moments before he would have died at the hands of the syndicate. Zinyak has put him in, what appears to be a re-creation of his moments with aisha throughout the first two games. this always goes the same way: gat is given the chance to save her from jyunichis blade. but every time, EVERY. TIME. he always arrives just seconds too late. and then the simulation resets. this goes on for years and years until the boss was able to rescue him. the boss shows a very rare moment where he/she isn't a snarky jerkass or sociopath and consoles their best friend.
and even when the boss saves him from his virtual hell, zinyaks damage to him has already been done.
how do I know this? well, audio logs are found throughout the open world, fleshing out characters. Gat is shown talking about different things about him and the boss. then he mentions Aisha. the very mention of Aisha causes him to break down. That's right. the one everyone thought was an invincible baddass incapable of emoting beyond "snarky jackass," the one so powerful he could have ended zinyaks reign, is still human. with psychological trauma that will probably never heal.
this one moment more than meets the quota for drama this game has. and this was a simulation. or hell, could have been thought of as an afterlife for gat. because everyone thought he was dead. and, if not for zinyak invading earth, he might have had to endure zinyaks torture for far, far longer.
I spent hundreds of hours dicking about in the open world. But I never fully played through the story again until just recently. The common criticism is that 4 is incapable of showing drama and that quote "Saints Row 2 has had the perfect Balance of seriousness and comedy." While it is true SR4 has far more moments devoted to comedy and parody, one moment stood out to me as a counter argument. and while the drama and seriousness is less frequent... quantity was NOT the intent. This one, singular moment was all the game needed. And there was no possible way it could have been done while Saints Row was still semi-grounded in the real world. And it was happening in what appeared to have been a VERY affectionate parody.
Johnny Gat. In recent years, people seemed to be split on him being brought back in 4. People tend to write off a fan favorite being brought back as catering to the fanbase that was lost in said characters death. While, admittedly, a reason for this was fanservice, really think about how he was brought back. Zinyak abducted him and placed him in one of many nightmare prisons to break him. Only this particular simulation was far more sadistic than the others seen.
for those of you too young to remember, Johnny Gat was in a very good relationship with a woman named Aisha. about one of the few people outside his gang he cared about. she met her end, right in front of gats eyes, at the hands of the ronin.
now, cut to the time johnny was abducted moments before he would have died at the hands of the syndicate. Zinyak has put him in, what appears to be a re-creation of his moments with aisha throughout the first two games. this always goes the same way: gat is given the chance to save her from jyunichis blade. but every time, EVERY. TIME. he always arrives just seconds too late. and then the simulation resets. this goes on for years and years until the boss was able to rescue him. the boss shows a very rare moment where he/she isn't a snarky jerkass or sociopath and consoles their best friend.
and even when the boss saves him from his virtual hell, zinyaks damage to him has already been done.
how do I know this? well, audio logs are found throughout the open world, fleshing out characters. Gat is shown talking about different things about him and the boss. then he mentions Aisha. the very mention of Aisha causes him to break down. That's right. the one everyone thought was an invincible baddass incapable of emoting beyond "snarky jackass," the one so powerful he could have ended zinyaks reign, is still human. with psychological trauma that will probably never heal.
this one moment more than meets the quota for drama this game has. and this was a simulation. or hell, could have been thought of as an afterlife for gat. because everyone thought he was dead. and, if not for zinyak invading earth, he might have had to endure zinyaks torture for far, far longer.
