The Sims 4

If you’re looking for a game experience that’s slightly edgier than talking with animals in a village then The Sims 4 is the game for you. The newest entry in the legendary Sims franchise promises to reinvent the wheel but despite it’s shiny new features, it ends up being a slightly lackluster sequel in a few unfortunate ways.

A Brand New World

The Sims 4 focuses mainly on expanding some of the core systems we’ve come to love over the years while unfortunately leaving some others behind. The social interactions are more robust and complex than ever and feature a lot more options to romance, scare, tease and otherwise mess around with fellow characters in your household or town.

They’re a lot of fun and more complete than they used to be; you’ll have more options than you know what to do with half the time with many more you can acquire as you progress through the gameplay. The creation features are also much better than ever before. Creating your Sim gives you a Fallout 4 style menu that’s better than that game in a lot of ways. The architecture for making your own house is also much more capable than the last entry, allowing you to make the characters and houses of your dreams many times over. The game even goes so far as to allow gender and sex options for a very inclusive and socially accepting creation menu that’s sure to be appreciated by many players out there.

Not Quite The Same Old Sims

The biggest issue with The Sims 4 is just how much is not better than The Sims 3. In fact a lot of it is missing entirely. The base game feels incredibly barren and lacking so many features fans have come to expect, including major life aspects such as the toddler stage. That last one is a particularly jarring omission for people who actually intend to raise a family in this game.

And it should come as no surprise that every single feature introduced in The Sims 3 expansions is completely removed as well. So yes, you have to buy Pets again. The game reeks of unnecessarily greedy decisions that will no doubt bum out people who collected everything in the last game and are now expected to reacquire it all again. Not cool.

The Good & Bad of The Sims 4

Pros:

• Wonderful, cheery graphics.
• Incredible character and house customization.
• Expanded social interactions.
• Social diversity for minority options.
• It’s a Sims game and all the hilarity that comes with it.

Cons

• Lacking features compared to even the previous game’s base release.
• Expected to re-buy every single expansion for features you already had.