And, I own both Saints Row 3 and Saints Row 4 (thank you bundles and Steam Sales)

Should I jump right into 4 or would I be missing out on anything by not playing 3 first? I know there is an overarching storyline to a certain degree. All I know about the games are from the bombcast.

I would start with 3. It'll help you get a better sense of the world and the quirky characters. 4 has been called an expansion pack of sorts to 3.

I would star with 3. I feel like 4 is directly tied into 3, plus starting with 4 and having the superpower would make it very difficult to go back to 3.

3 it is then.

Thanks.

Another vote for 3. Saints Row 2 is the best and my absolute favourite but 3 offers a lot more playability and is more on-par with games like GTA, especially when it comes to the game world and the general fun factor. I've yet to make the jump to 4, I'm still very iffy about the whole super powers thing.

Start with 3 and go right into 4 (take a small break if needed)

To be honest 3 has the better high in terms of just being amazed at what you just did, where 4 is a way better playing game because you have super powers. Biggest issue with 4 is it uses a lot of the same jokes blatantly which stinks but for the most part it still works.

4 is informed by 3 quite a lot. 3 is where you should start.

3 is way better than 4. 4 felt kind of lifeless in comparison, even though 4 has all the crazy super power stuff.

Definitely start with 3. 4 is a hell of a good time but it's totally over-the-top mechanically. At least 3 will give you a decent impression of where the series came from.

Really, you should start with 2 if at all possible.

I have another question: I've completed 3 and 4, how is going back to 2? I picked it up for $5 the other day.

I wonder if anyone else played it in this order and if the game is tolerable at all since I've gone through the madness of The Third and IV already. The Third is one of my favorite games ever. I played through it twice. The first time in Korean! (The Korean version of PS3 games usually don't have Korean text and are in English anyway. Turns out this one was translated. My Korean's OK, but not good enough to catch the oft flashed on the screen for ten seconds objectives. I had no fucking clue what was going on during the first Tiger Escort mission, but it was pretty fucking awesome.)