Emulated with Xenia
I honestly expected worse going into this one. Turned out, it's actually pretty okay parody of GTA that tried to do it's own thing as well, and I'd say they succeeded

I had some big problems with it though. But none of them are a deal breaker for me. The first of which are some of the janky systems such as having to buy the gun again to get more ammo for it if you really wanted to have a specific gun, or the fact that vehicles needed to be repaired which wouldn't be a problem if you could just do it in your garage with vehicles that aren't fully broken. The lack of a check-mark on some of the activities to indicate completion also sucked. Also the lack of mission checkpoints made some missions an absolute chore.

As for the story, there's not much substance. There are some golden one liners though, and the comedy in the game is really goods overall. I don't appreciate how they treat women though, but it is a product of it's time so I can't be too hard on it there. I appreciate the silent protagonist, and some of the times when they spoke occasionally really kinda didn't feel right. Although the "hepatitis" line was really good so all is forgiven. I'm not gonna fault you for not being able to choose gender but it would have been nice to play as a girl cause you know, I am one.

For sure gonna play RS2.

Best 10 bucks I ever spent in my life. Saints Row back in the day was a lil bit buggy, rough around the edges, and had a lot of GTA elements honestly. However, I still love this game for what it does. The cast of characters is superb and instantly memorable. Lin, Will the Pimp, Freaking JOHNY GAT are all excellent characters. The customization mogs any GTA game as you have the level of freedom akin to a dress up flash game. So, if you wanna run around in a thong and a Santa hat while saving hoes from their pimps, you can! I've beaten this game multiple times. The missions are excellent even if a majority of them are just, drive to location and shoot enemies. It's not as diverse as Saints Row 2 in structure, but if your a simple man like me then it won't matter. Also, the side activities are hilarious and super fun to play like snatch, insurance fraud, and my favorite hijacking. However, a criticism I have is that these activities go on far to long. 8 levels is ludicrous, especially in certain activities like drug trafficking which sometimes feels almost impossible as 5 star enemies will mow you down or blow your car up in a second. Also the driving takes getting use to because it's not LT and RT, rather "pResS A Tu dWrive." It's outdated driving controls that can't be modified by the player. Lastly, certain guns are just useless. Regardless, I love this game. Wonderful Hip-Hop soundtrack with mid 00's era Wu-Tang, Masta Ace, and a plethora of gems (Joe Budden n Camp Lo!). This soundtrack definitely influenced my music taste. Again, the customization is a big up. The gameplay loop is good if a bit basic. Gain respect from activities and play missions until you takeover a area. Overall, the original Saints Row is flawed, but it still has a special place in my heart.