Before I start talking about an aspect of Saints Row IV that I absolutely hate, I want to preface this by saying that I like the game. I've played every Saints Row game in the series, and was absolutely delighted by IV. Not only is it full of fanservice for fans of every previous title all the way back to the first one, it is one of the most fun games I've played in a long time. Every activity was a delight, and the story mode had a great mix of humor and emotional impact. As of now I'm saying that Saints Row IV has a high spot on my Game of the Year list.
Now here's the annoying part of the game. The cosmetic DLC.
This started in Saints Row The Third with the planned 40 Weeks of Downloadable Content marketing line. And very few people who heard of this thought it was a good idea because there's no way they could release 40 weeks of substantial content that enhances the game.
Guess what? They didn't. 90% of those "DLC weeks" were packs of costumes, weapons, weapon skins, and additional Homies you could call. Normally it would be easy to ignore dumb cosmetic DLC like this (Horse Armor) but this is a particularly egregious case for this franchise. Saints Row should have NEVER had paid cosmetic DLC.
The main complaint I had about Saints Row The Third was its lack of customization options compared to Saints Row 2.
The base character creator in Saints Row 2 has many options that are not in The Third or IV. You can use a slider to customize your character's body type, so instead of being 100% Male or 100% Female you can choose an in-between point that suits you. You could also customize your character's hand-to-hand combat style, walk cycle, and default facial expression.
There were also several "wear options" for clothes in stores. You could buy and customize socks and undergarments, choose to layer your clothing, choose what belt you would wear with certain pairs of pants, and even do silly things like decide if you wanted your jeans to be dirty and frayed or in pristine condition.
Understandably, many fans were disappointed or upset when these options were removed from Saints Row The Third and didn't even return in IV. So it made the addition of more clothes as DLC in those games feel like they were getting taken advantage of. You'd have to buy clothes in 3/4 to get as much customization options that you had in 2.
There was also the issue of the DLC packs not being fairly priced and not being included with the Season Pass. In the end, buying all the cosmetic DLC in Saints Row the Third costs more than buying the Season Pass that has missions and substantial game content.
Why couldn't this content be in the Season Pass? Why did they lock so many cool guns as downloadable content when Saints Row 2 had more guns as in-game unlockables? And most importantly why is this process being repeated for Saints Row IV?
It's not the best barometer for gauging audience reactions, but comments and ratings for the cosmetic DLC trailers in Saints Row The Third were almost universally negative, if one were to check the Saints Row Youtube page. And most of these people share the same sentiment as me: having less content than the previous game with the intent of selling us more in the future leaves a terrible taste in our mouths.
It's happening right now, too. The Season Pass for Saints Row IV doesn't include the various cosmetic DLC packs already released. The prices are too high ($3 per pack). And I still can't customize my character's walk cycle or get a more malleable gender slider.
Saints Row IV is a great game, but this poor use of downloadable content is an ugly black mark on a generally great product.
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