I’ve been playing the SIMS 4 for 3 nights now. I thought I’d share my initial impressions of the game because I know a lot of people are still on the fence.
The Good:
1. It runs super smooth and very fast. The loading screens are no more than 10 seconds. You can play the game immediately when it loads. I used to have to wait forever to get the Sims 3 loaded. It felt like eternity. Those days are over. I like the fact that I can play this on my laptop and I don’t have to use my husband’s hardcore amped up graphic tower PC anymore. (He’s happy about that too. Believe me)
2. The world is beautiful. I love the warm reds and golds of the desert landscape. I love the vibrant greens and lush landscape of the New Orleans inspired world. The falling leaves, the fireflies, the trees, the train running in the background, the trolley, the river and the ambient sounds.
3. The Mood System adds a whole new level to the Sims personalities. I didn’t even realize the full depth of it until I had two Sims living under the same roof. Then the new personality system really shines. You can just sit back and watch in amusement. I’ve been missing the fun I used to have with Sims 2. I feel like something was lost in Sims 3. They felt a little lifeless. It was more about the expanded environment and multitude of new tasks they could perform over their personalities. I feel like Sims 4 is bringing some of that old magic back. I actually CARE about my Sims again. I once again lost track of time and got immersed in the game play. New animations & subject topics popping up according to the moods & personalities of the various Sims are constantly surprising me. Example: When my Sim Clare woke up her Lazy husband, Steve from a nap to see if he wanted to go out to the lounge, he positively pitched a fit. I was taken aback. He stormed out the house, kicked over a trash can, stomped around the living room and threw a cup of water in her face! I did NOT see that coming.
4. I love the little details. The way my foodie cooks with such a loving flourish and joy. The details in the food she cooks and the variety of meals she can create. If she wants pancakes for dinner and Pasta for breakfast. No problem. The way a sim child puts her toys back on the shelf and the artwork she can hang on the walls. The new pregnancy test. Baking the birthday cakes. Breastfeeding. There are so many little details that I keep seeing and appreciating.
5. Create a sim – I made a sim version of myself that actually looked like me for the first time ever. I like the outfit styles and the amount of outfits the sims can alternate wearing now.
6. Build mode – It’s so easy now and more intuitive.
7. Last but not least Multi-tasking makes all the difference and makes the Sims feel more real to me than they ever did before. Seeing my sim gesture to the bartender for another drink in the middle of a conversation without missing a beat for the first time was awesome. There are so many examples I could mention that changed gameplay a lot.
Cons
1. No open world. I don’t miss it as much as I thought I would because I’m so involved in uncovering the new game play options right now but I know that I eventually I will
2. The color wheel – I know custom colors will be emerging and probably a mod of some type. It’s not a game breaker for me right now, but I liked that variety and I will want it later.
3. No repairman – They NEED to bring that back. I don’t want to buy a whole new television in order to avoid electrocuting myself because I don’ t have enough Handiness points to fix it. If we still have the maid, there is no reason not to have the repairman. Throw a fireman in there too.
4. The babies – Honestly they’ve NEVER been great in the Sims series. I appreciate the fact that they have legs now and they’re not squirming larvae… but they look lifeless. I aged my sim up immediately to a child. If I’m not feeling the connection, I don’t have time for that. Oddly enough, I don’t miss toddlers. I used to be stressed out about getting the toddler all the necessary skills before aging up so I could choose it’s trait. Many times I ended up with a loser kid because I didn’t have time to potty train it. I know a lot of people miss toddlers though. So I also vote to bring it back for all of you.
5. No Cars. I miss them. I also miss the pools because that used to be my measure of success in a sims game. I saved up for them and it was a fun reward for getting to the top of a career path. I hope they bring both of these back.
6. The map. It looks like the Xbox 360 console version. I feel a little more time could have been put into making that look nice. Also needs to be bigger. More lots.
For me the Pros outweigh the cons. Initially when I first started playing, I was very focused on what was missing and uber critical. “This is missing… that’s different… where is the so and so..” But by the 3rd hour, I found that I was enjoying myself far more than I ever did with Sims 3. I’m truly enjoying the Sims 4 and I was surprised when I went online to see all the complaints. I understand where everyone is coming from, but it’s a base game. It’s going to grow and improve. This seems like a solid foundation to me. That being said, I haven’t experienced any of the glitches that I’ve heard others dealt with. (i.e. The Dreaded Demon baby)
Here’s a walkthrough of my first 3 days playing the Sims 4:
I decided to go the easy route with my first SIM. I made her
cheerful, outgoing and
a foodie. I named her
Clare Peterson. I chose the
foodie challenge on the
mixology branch.
I moved her into the starter house in Oasis Springs. I love how the streets are filled with people now. Jogging, talking, driving by. You don’t have to go far to find someone to interact with.
The first thing I did was have my Sim Clare cook something. I really love the new cooking details but It took FOREVER for my Sim to eat her salad. First she needed to take a picture of it with her phone to post on her Instagram acct or whatever. Then she gazed down at it lovingly with admiration like it was a sparkling diamond bracelet. She ate one bite, Put down her fork and sighed wistfully down at her food. She murmered “mmmm”. JUST EAT THE FREAKING SALAD!! Note to self: No more “Foodie’s”.
Also bought her a bar so she could start building her mixology skills.
Then I decided to explore the town a bit. I went to a bar. I really loved the fact that the bar was packed. My first encounter was with Bella. After seeing her in all the adverts, It was fun seeing her there in my game interacting with my SIM. They sat down together and chatted. It was all very organic, and the conversation flowed in a natural way compared to previous Sims. No awkward Sims standing and shifting nervously while they wait for their next command prompt, eventually wandering away from each other if you don’t come up with the next conversation topic fast enough. Not anymore. I REALLY liked that.
The Lothario stud was the next person she met. They were talking to each other from across the crowded bar. She gave him a heartfelt compliment. He got up and I thought he was going to walk away… instead he walked over to her end of the bar, smiled suggestively and slid into the bar stool next to her. NOW we’re talking. That’s what’s missing from the other Sims. Those human moments, that connection.
Everything felt so fluid in comparison to Sims 3. The multi-tasking does make a difference. I noticed that now they nurse their drinks and carry them around. They’ll put them on the counters and the end tables. They even take the drinks with them to the bathroom and drink them on the toilet! No more 2 fast swigs of the “juice” and the glass simply disappears type deal. I used to hate that.
I also liked the fact that you can take the microphone and do some improv. comedy or perform music. My Sim Clare wasn't very good at the comedy routine. She totally tanked.
So my SIM Clare became a bit of a bar regular after that, constantly drinking and partying into the early morning hours. She had a circle of friends, Bella and 3 other Chicas. They drop by a lot during the day, hang out and watch the cooking channel with her. Dance around the apartment and at night they hit the town.
You can see she’s been having a bit too much to drink here and the dude next to her thought he was going to get lucky. He didn’t. lol
Clare and Bella
(Note: Unfortunately I noticed Clare was gaining weight. At first I thought it was just in my head… but over time I saw she was REALLY packing on the pounds. I tried doing a few sit ups here and there, but I realized she was going to have to cut down the drinking of empty carbs all night long or start working out. I decided to just use one of my aspiration award options for 750 pts she could be thin again. The lazy way out, I know. I wonder how long that’s going to last, but it got the job done for the time being.)
I really like the different moods and the events that trigger them. I found myself examining my own moods today at work and how I can go from one to the next pretty quickly as well. Here’s a quick example: Sim Clare was taking a shower when one of her friends walked in to use the toilet. Her friend saw her naked, gasped and ran out. Clare became very embarrassed. When she emerged awkwardly from the bathroom wringing her hands, she sat down with her friend and “discussed her insecurities”. Her friend nodded in understanding and patted her hand. I thought that was oddly heartwarming.
The first house party SIM Clare threw was a success. I like how there are mini goals to achieve to make the party a hopping one. It’s fun to personally greet everyone and thanks them for coming. It’s so much easier now. I like how you can throw a party at your friend’s house. I like how they can dance and talk. I do have an issue with some of the dancing. There’s a weird move they make where they look like they are kneading dough in the air. That one has to go. Really awkward and bad dance move. I like the fact that Sims help themselves to your left overs so you don’t have to worry about them getting fed… well that might get annoying after a while. We’ll see… I did notice that some of the Sims took it upon themselves to help with the clean up after the party. I appreciated that.
(Clare passed out in the early morning after a long night of partying)
So after all these parties, Clare was broke. She had to pay her bills or her electricity would be shut off, but there was no way she could pay her next bill without getting a job. Mixology career was the obvious choice for her. I used to phone to make that happen.
She’s pretty good at bartending at this point. I really like the mini-tasks to level up at work. It makes it more challenging and interesting.
I realized it was time to find Clare someone to settle down with. She can’t spend the rest of her life partying with the girls. I started wandering through town in search of an eligible mate. I feel like it was slim pickings..
Then I met Steve..
At first glance, he did NOT seem like the perfect match for Clare. He looks like a complete lughead bro hulk. Turns out he’s a foodie and a bookworm. They bonded over their love of fine cuisine. It was a match made in heaven.
After a few dates the love began to blossom
Here she is nervously confessing her attraction to him for the first time..
First Kiss
It wasn’t long before the proposal happened…
Clare is now married to Steve and they have a little girl named Daisy. She’s absolutely adorable. I love kids in the Sims 4! I’ll post more pictures (wedding and child) tonight.
Comments
Clare and Steve didn’t have a lot of money for the wedding because they were saving up for a move to a 2 bedroom home. They had a very basic and very quick wedding ceremony in their front yard with a handful of their closest friends. They couldn’t afford chairs so the guests had to stand in the street. Lol! Clare baked a black and white wedding cake for the reception inside the house. Despite the budgetary restraints, it was a festive and happy day for both of them.
Some pictures from the wedding
Reciting the vows
Happy groom
The kiss
Shortly after the wedding, Clare became pregnant. (I love using the pregnancy test the next morning to find out. So
much better than straining to hear that faint baby melody sound after woo hoo. More realistic too) I love how you can share the news. Steve was so excited to find out that Clare was expecting. It was super cute.
They moved to a nice 2 bedroom home in Willow Creek. I love the cricket and frog sounds at night, the birds chirping and the natural light. Perfect neighborhood to raise a child.
Clare explored the neighborhood and discovered there was a community garden where she met some of the locals.
Their living space was much better in the bigger home.
Steve was so excited about the new baby on the way.
I love how massaged Clare’s back autonomously when she returned from a hard day at work in the kitchen. Those little touches make all the difference.
Clare giving birth.
And welcoming her newborn baby girl Daisy into the world
I mentioned this earlier, but I’m not crazy for babies in general in ANY of the SIMS games. As soon as she started screaming in her crib (the baby sounds are more realistic now) I immediately clicked the “age sim” option. (I’m grateful that’s an option.)
Daisy was an adorable little girl. You have 4 new child trait options when the child is born in addition to one of the regular personality traits. I picked creative path for both.
Daisy has a lot of her mother’s features and her father’s skin tone. You can see a bit of her father’s mischievousness in her face.
I really love the children in this game. They have a lot of 🐸🐸🐸🐸. Daisy in particular was a real character. I loved watching her interact with her Dad
Steve is a Lazy, bookworm, Foodie. His ideal day involves eating, reading and sleeping. When you take him away from those three things, he gets positively cranky. Little Daisy followed him around a lot and interrupted him from his routine a lot. They had a few heated arguments when she got particularly mischievous.
After disciplining her a few times they fell into a good routine. He seemed very amused by her and they became bestfriends. She was always running up to him and hugging him. She loved sharing secrets with him and not with her mom so much. Those two were definitely closer.
Meanwhile, Clare was moving up the ladder and improving her mixology skills. She still had a healthy social life with Bella and her other girlfriends. She’s outgoing, so she wasn’t going to stop barhopping when her child came.
Steve didn’t mind taking on a big share of the parenting duty. As long as he was able to take a lazy nap every afternoon after work and no one woke him up from that nap. Steve was doing the international spy career track which involved learning programming and researching FBI files..etc.
I really like how the children can draw and hang their creations all over their bedroom.
I also have taken more time to appreciate the little things like family meals. They don’t jump up right away and run off. They sit and talk more now. That’s a nice change of pace.
Over all, this is probably the happiest and most loving family I’ve had in the Sims.
Now Clare and Steve are expecting their second child. I wonder how Daisy is going to feel about that?
To be continued …
Side Note: I was not playing Sims 4 on the highest settings. So these pictures are not indicative of the best quality of the game. I just realized I had the edge smoothing on a low setting. I changed that last night and everything looks so much smoother now.
To find these sims4 creations type SOULB1 under origin ID.
I played the game for a few hours and was so disappointed with it! Mind you, I was sick and wasn't exactly myself. I actually turned it off and was like "well that sucked.". The next day i requested a refund from EA. Reason: wasn't fun enough. honestly, that was an option. It was approved and today i was issued my refund. I actually came home, re-installed the Sims 3 (I felt like I missed one of my middle children, you know? I don't actually have kids, I'm just saying. Anyway, I read your post and I didn't even get to the end before I opened up Origin, canceled The Sims 3 download. Opened the origin store and purchased The Sims 4! It's downloading right now. The moral of the story here is that i gave up too fast! I have been playing The Sims since the day it first came out. I used to play at the age of 12 and literately drool as I was playing because I'd be so lost in this other world where I could do anything, be anything I wanted. It was love at first site. I am sorry EA. Sorry I didn't have enough faith that you have my best interests at heart here. I will give it another chance, and hope that I enjoy my stories as much as you do! I'm actually inspired to use the hot chubby single girl that loves to flirt while using the Create a Sim Demo... hahahaha. This is hands down, the best post i have ever read on the Sims Forum, ever.
Cheers
I do like that the worlds are more populated and the textures seem more detailed. I can't wait to see what a ocean world will look like.
For some reason the leap from the sims 3 to the sims 4 doesn't seem as much as going from sims 2 to sims 3 did.
@Kristin27 – Wow! Thanks so much! I’m glad you’re giving Sims 4 a second chance. I can completely relate to what you said about the initial disappointment. I was like that too. I think I spent the first hour just grumbling about the stuff missing and contemplating cancelling my purchase on Origin as well. By the 3rd hour I was hooked though. I started focusing on what the game had to offer instead of the objects that were missing. I realized there is a lot of fun to be had in the new features. The Sims 3 was getting boring because it was so predictable. I could change the outfits and environments to my heart’s content, but the sims were the same. I reached the point where I could predict their behavior algorithms. I really like how much the moods and personality affects game play in this new version. I’m completely enjoying the little surprises. I see this game as a base foundation. I really do believe that the game will grow and improve with each expansion pack.
I’m totally like you though, I’ve been playing Sims since it first came out… I love the SIMS. I would be so sad if this franchise died out.
P.S. Most importantly - Congratulations on your wedding!!
As for the bladder situation, I know what you mean. The first aspiration award I got was the steel bladder. I think the most annoying thing about the Sims game is having to use the bathroom – although now Sims use their ipad while they’re doing their business which cracks me up for some reason.
Daisy is incredibly artistic and spends most of her free time at the art table.
When Clare discovered that she was pregnant with her second child, they realized they were going to need to move into a bigger home. It was my first time building a home in Sims 4 from scratch and I really like the new tools.
I was a little nervous that Daisy would have a negative response to her newborn baby brother. She was really happy though and excited about the newest member of her family.
She grew into a beautiful teenager.
She got along really well with her little brother, Jared.
Daisy passed away the days at her easel and her brother, Jared was a genius child very interested in his chemistry set.
At this point, I decided to take a break from this family and switch to a new one. I like how you can change households so easily like Sims 2 and I wanted to explore other story lines.
I downloaded Miley Cyrus from the Community pool. Her traits were insane, goofball and self assured – I had a lot of fun with that one. I’ll share pics of that next.
I've been playing the Sims 4 for a week now and I'm still enjoying it (and admittedly addicted) At this point, I can't imagine going back to Sims 3. Even though I miss the open world, I can't go back to those lifeless expressions and dough faces. I'm getting used to the multi-tasking, the personalities, the moods and the new lay out. I'm still discovering new things with each different Sim I play. I look forward to trying out all the personalities and all the jobs. I haven't even delved into gardening or building the rocket ship or collecting or even tried fishing yet. I don't see myself getting bored with this game anytime soon.
Thicker Than Thieves: A sim legacy story