Hello, I'm me and I've been playing sims games since the first one. My big sister got me hooked when I was a teenager. She bought the game at a Ross, a purchase her husband had to convince her to make because she was taking too long to think about it. After she brought it home, she was hooked, and I'm sure her husband regretted his help in the addiction.
Sims 4 came out yesterday, and I've heard a lot of opinions on it. The reviews on Amazon are sad, and I hope that anyone who worked on this game isn't looking at them. Because they are honestly not a good reflection on the game play. It's generally a lot of people complaining about how little content there is in a base game because they've been playing Sims 3 for years with expansion packs plus stuff packs plus mod content.
So here's my general thought: Yes. The game is lacking. (Literally, pools and toddlers.) And I find that the price point is rather high. (Was the Sims 3 base game $60?) But there's a bit more gained here too that's actually very subtle, and probably being over looked.
We like pictures though, right? So here's my Sim.
I made her an insane artistic type. I wanted her to start painting at home because I don't like sending my sims in for a 9 to 5 type job.
And classic sims style, the first time she got hungry, I let her make food, and she set herself on fire.
Wow, that nostalgia. My basic sim rule is no cooking involving fire until cooking level 2.
She was hungry, so I sent her out. Here's where I noticed the first important difference.
First con: There's no good place to get food for a starving sim or a sim on a date. She went to the night club and had some chips, which did tide her over, but was a little disappointing for me.
First pro: There's a ton of sims here at the night club! People were talking and dancing. At one point during the night, everyone lined up at the bar to order drinks.
Second pro: I didn't have to spend my entire night waiting for my sim to do things as she pondered existence and pathways. I'd tell her to do things, and she'd get up and do them.
Third pro: She multi-tasked successfully! She carried her drink with her. She danced and talked. She sat at the bar and talked and ate and drank.
She also managed to make friends and meet herself a romantic interest.
It's the guy she's glancing over at, though she also clicked with Eliza Pancakes there. (Her name is too good to not remember.)
Over all, her first night out I had fun. I didn't have to check her needs. There was no stress. If her needs dropped, she'd go and take care of them on her own. (The pee walk is really cute.)
Whenever I send her out, there are Sims all over the place. This is something I think they've managed to really bulk up. That feeling of community. I guess because the game isn't as graphically intense, it doesn't take so much effort for the computer to throw sims at a lot, and that is something I'd MUCH rather have than better graphics.
Other small details I noticed included spacing. Much like sims 3, there are multiple spaces on a surface which means a sim can appear to eat and drink or read and drink.
I really wanted the picture where he and his wife were sipping coffee at a table cluttered with dishes. Apparently, in my enjoyment, I didn't get that picture.
Sims will converse while cooking, while painting, while practicing coding. My sims had a kid, and they spent a morning chatting with him while he was on an activity table on the porch and they were eating breakfast.
Again, I missed the picture where Dad comes out and spends time on the porch with them all talking between his bites of salad.
Here's a much more subtle one. Mom is helping junior studying while Dad has decided (on his own) that it will be joke time. It took all evening to get his homework done thanks to dad.
I'm short on time at the moment. So I'll list the other things I am missing: community lots like the bookstore and grocery, the color wheel, being able to select bed sheets and bed frame colors separately, freakin' toddlers.
This game is not like Sims 2. It's actually much more like an updated version of Sims 1 to be honest. I spend most of my play time at the home lot or around the home lot. I can see why that would be a pain to people who are used to Sims 3 or even Sims 2. Personally, I've been looking to jump back into sims without all the bloat, and this take me back to when Sims were a simpler thing. When I could save in a second, load up in a moment, and just start playing with my sim lives. So over all, I'm enjoying it.
