Probably not the most offensive example but in retrospect, this was a huge letdown.
>Gameplay is worse: every enemy takes ages to kill and movement feels stiff and awkward. Compare it to 2's very fluid, responsive, and quick controls.
>The plot is genuinely retarded and it felt like the writers took every wacky idea they could think of and threw them in a blender.
>The missions are generally crap and at times, frustrating, despite some impressive setpieces.
>The side activities are worse, but now they're optional so, good?
>Upgrades are worse: you just buy them now rather than them being rewards you get for the side activities.
>The city in 3 feels like it was randomly generated. Compared with the very purposefully made city in 1 and 2, nothing is uniquely identifiable and it all just blurs together.
>Character customization is cut down compared to 2
>No unique cribs
>Stores heavily cut down; now there's only one general clothing store, only one weapon shop, no truck customization store, and no restaurants or nightclubs.
>Dedicated grenade buttons suck, especially when the animation to throw one is a solid second long.
>The tracklists on the radio stations are generally bad.
>Overall manages to completely miss the point of 2 and Flanderizes it, focusing heavily on the wacky part without the care, nuance, and contrast to make it work. 2 was comparatively grounded and even gritty in places, which made the wacky parts stand out alot more. 3 is one-note and suffers for it.
>It's a sellout both in and out of universe. It's not a coincidence that this is the game where The Saints went from gangsters to celebrity icons with product placement and their own line of trendy clothing stores. Both in and out of universe, The Saints became less nuanced in order to have more broad, popular appeal.
3 isn't genuinely bad, the way SR2022 is, but the fact that it followed up from 2, one of the best games of the 7th generation, makes it's mediocrity more galling.