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Two Years On – Is The Sims 4 Worth Buying Now?
ThePoeticPreacher
Posts: 531 Member
When Sims 4 touched down back in September 2014, an avalanche of criticism poured forth from gamers and critics. The game arrived in a less than stellar state; missing key features and was generally just a disaster for EA. I bought the game at launch, was horrified and never really came back after that. Why would I? Sims 3 was a great game, more feature packed and just better. Yet two years later I’m curious – has The Sims 4 improved enough in that time to be considered a worthy successor to one of gamings most beloved franchises? Sadly I still don’t think so.
It’s clear from the huge amount of patches that EA has thrown into the mix that it understood the critique. Once downloaded I had access to a number of features that weren’t there before. Swimming pools and ghosts were much welcomed and should never have been left out of the launch game. other nice things to note are the improvements to loading times; EA clearly realizing that having gamers sit in loading screens after being allowed to explore the world openly was a terrible idea. While its far ideal; it’s a better situation than when the game launched.
On top of this the core experience of the game remains as solid as ever. While there’s not as much to do within the game; what there is has been refined to a fine art. The enjoyment of playing with a family and living out their lives is as polished here as it ever has been. The process of building a house is easier and more detailed than ever before – the results looking more varied than in previous outings. It should also be said that this game looks stunning. The style of the game just oozes charm and the expressions of the world and the animations are hugely enjoyable across the board. The game runs so much better than Sims 3, a game that struggled on even the highest end of PCs to remain stable. The Sims team deserves praise for making this game more accessible and for making the moods system such an enjoyable facet in the games arsenal.
Unfortunately this is where the praise abruptly ends. While Sims 4 has improved since launch it’s still very much a work in progress. It’s bizarre because the games received a fairly large amount of paid content that’s designed to bolster the games ranks – two expansion packs, three game packs and eight stuff packs. Yet even with all this installed the game feels lacking. “Get to Work” barely adds any new careers into the already shallow list of jobs your Sims can partake in; and while it’s nice that they brought back The Sims 2’s business mechanics – it still feels awkwardly limited by the framework of the game. As for “Get Together”; it brought in a number of social features like clubs and DJ sets – but really the additions don’t feel substantial enough. Even compared to The Sims 2’s version of this expansion – it still feels incredibly lacking.
The entire situation around expansion and stuff packs seems hilariously poor. Fans are screaming for more content yet the last expansion pack was released on December 8th (in the US) while before June 7th’s “Dine Out” – “Spa Day” was released just shy of a year prior. If you’re one of the fans of the fans who’s sat on Sims 2 or 3 and waiting for an excuse to leap in, I’m afraid the lack of content or expansions may be a killer blow for you. Fans don’t even know what the next expansion pack is or when they can get their hands on it. Where are the pets? The seasons? The apartments? The magic? It’s not too much to ask these questions.
And all this is even before touching the games core mechanics. The memories system is still bewilderingly underutilized – Sims seemingly don’t care. The whole point of the memories system in previous games was to keep the most important memories alive but here it’s just a bullet point hidden under a mountain of menus.
Perhaps the games biggest critique, the lack of toddlers and lack of early-life content, has been entirely overlooked. For all the stuff they’ve added in; the decision to keep toddlers absent smacks of silliness. Yes this is a new game but the fact is that a lot of Sims more die-hard players enjoy living out the lives of their virtual creations from start to finish. By not even addressing the issue; it undermines the desires of fans and really leaves a big hole in part of the games experience and makes it feel lacking next to Sims 2 and 3.
It’s hard to justify saying to people “Sims 4 is worth it” when the reality is that two years later – it still feels very much like its waiting for something big to spring out of the box. It’s such a frustrating shame that EA seem to be focused more on delivering Stuff Packs and Game Packs over filling in the holes that blight the games landscape. Coming in from Sims 3, it’s hard to get over just how much has been wholly cut out. Even next to Sims 2, the game feels lacking; in particular when you could edit and make your own neighborhoods in that game. Progress hasn’t come fast enough.
Which ultimately leads me to say that this just isn’t worth the experience right now. There have been some whispers that Sims 5 may be coming a lot sooner than we anticipated; a probably response to this games poor showing. The fact EA haven’t ported the game to the consoles should underline just how shaky the grounds on which this game stand really are. If you’re wondering whether Sims 4 is worth diving into; I’d say it’s still worth sitting back waiting.
What do you think? Are we wrong? Let us know in the comments!
http://www.screengurus.com/2016/07/28/two-years-sims-4-worth-buying-now/
It’s clear from the huge amount of patches that EA has thrown into the mix that it understood the critique. Once downloaded I had access to a number of features that weren’t there before. Swimming pools and ghosts were much welcomed and should never have been left out of the launch game. other nice things to note are the improvements to loading times; EA clearly realizing that having gamers sit in loading screens after being allowed to explore the world openly was a terrible idea. While its far ideal; it’s a better situation than when the game launched.
On top of this the core experience of the game remains as solid as ever. While there’s not as much to do within the game; what there is has been refined to a fine art. The enjoyment of playing with a family and living out their lives is as polished here as it ever has been. The process of building a house is easier and more detailed than ever before – the results looking more varied than in previous outings. It should also be said that this game looks stunning. The style of the game just oozes charm and the expressions of the world and the animations are hugely enjoyable across the board. The game runs so much better than Sims 3, a game that struggled on even the highest end of PCs to remain stable. The Sims team deserves praise for making this game more accessible and for making the moods system such an enjoyable facet in the games arsenal.
Unfortunately this is where the praise abruptly ends. While Sims 4 has improved since launch it’s still very much a work in progress. It’s bizarre because the games received a fairly large amount of paid content that’s designed to bolster the games ranks – two expansion packs, three game packs and eight stuff packs. Yet even with all this installed the game feels lacking. “Get to Work” barely adds any new careers into the already shallow list of jobs your Sims can partake in; and while it’s nice that they brought back The Sims 2’s business mechanics – it still feels awkwardly limited by the framework of the game. As for “Get Together”; it brought in a number of social features like clubs and DJ sets – but really the additions don’t feel substantial enough. Even compared to The Sims 2’s version of this expansion – it still feels incredibly lacking.
The entire situation around expansion and stuff packs seems hilariously poor. Fans are screaming for more content yet the last expansion pack was released on December 8th (in the US) while before June 7th’s “Dine Out” – “Spa Day” was released just shy of a year prior. If you’re one of the fans of the fans who’s sat on Sims 2 or 3 and waiting for an excuse to leap in, I’m afraid the lack of content or expansions may be a killer blow for you. Fans don’t even know what the next expansion pack is or when they can get their hands on it. Where are the pets? The seasons? The apartments? The magic? It’s not too much to ask these questions.
And all this is even before touching the games core mechanics. The memories system is still bewilderingly underutilized – Sims seemingly don’t care. The whole point of the memories system in previous games was to keep the most important memories alive but here it’s just a bullet point hidden under a mountain of menus.
Perhaps the games biggest critique, the lack of toddlers and lack of early-life content, has been entirely overlooked. For all the stuff they’ve added in; the decision to keep toddlers absent smacks of silliness. Yes this is a new game but the fact is that a lot of Sims more die-hard players enjoy living out the lives of their virtual creations from start to finish. By not even addressing the issue; it undermines the desires of fans and really leaves a big hole in part of the games experience and makes it feel lacking next to Sims 2 and 3.
It’s hard to justify saying to people “Sims 4 is worth it” when the reality is that two years later – it still feels very much like its waiting for something big to spring out of the box. It’s such a frustrating shame that EA seem to be focused more on delivering Stuff Packs and Game Packs over filling in the holes that blight the games landscape. Coming in from Sims 3, it’s hard to get over just how much has been wholly cut out. Even next to Sims 2, the game feels lacking; in particular when you could edit and make your own neighborhoods in that game. Progress hasn’t come fast enough.
Which ultimately leads me to say that this just isn’t worth the experience right now. There have been some whispers that Sims 5 may be coming a lot sooner than we anticipated; a probably response to this games poor showing. The fact EA haven’t ported the game to the consoles should underline just how shaky the grounds on which this game stand really are. If you’re wondering whether Sims 4 is worth diving into; I’d say it’s still worth sitting back waiting.
What do you think? Are we wrong? Let us know in the comments!
http://www.screengurus.com/2016/07/28/two-years-sims-4-worth-buying-now/
18
Comments
Curiosity in the direction and general interest in the game as a series is the main reason I'm still here.
I feel you, True that...
I understand that, they already making comments about a Sims 5....
This is what I'd tell anyone looking into buying the game; If the content that is missing doesn't bother you and you like the EP, GP, and SP that have come out so far, then I think you should get it. If the missing content bothers you but the EP, GP and SPs are interesting, then it'd be best to wait a bit for any confirmation on when stuff might be returning/whether other stuff will be returning. If the missing content bothers you and you don't like any of the packs, you probably shouldn't get it.
If I tell someone sure get the Sims 4 it's got a good build engine... except don't build on these certain lots and then try to move the property, well unless you build a pool first and then delete the pool and then place the property, OH except, also be sure and place in in build mode not map view and of course you can't change any colors or patterns so you'll probably use the same furniture over and over but it kinda matches, sorta-sometimes and I hope you really dig Victorian if you want a really good bed....
And yeah get the Sims 4 cause the sims are so lively in this one... except, don't make friends with any non-housed townies (so you know memorize ALL of them real quick) cause they'll just disappear or you know if you do make friends then make sure and go into a different part of the game and select those townies and put them in a house, assuming you have a house cause the towns are pretty small, OH and use a cheat or a mod or CALL that sim ALL the time cause otherwise the very next day you won't know them and they won't know you ...
The landscaping and neighborhood design looks great, well thought out with plantings and items and a few neighbors... except you'll never bother visiting your neighbors because you have to sit through a loading screen that goes longer the more stuff your sim collects and stores in his inventory and why sit through it just to see the inside of their house BUT the loading screens make the neighborhood so lively and full of sims, just wandering aimlessly down the street, jogging usually, pausing to do push ups and little else and sometimes dressed like a clown...
Oh... and you're a family player... well, um... there's no toddlers- still and no word on them or basically anything else- still except for the occasional "leak" from a third world country that may or may not be true (don't get your hopes up) and a quick blip each quarter that shows what's coming in the next three weeks to three months depending but there is that and it's new so I have hope. Of course, the family tree doesn't work that great either- sorry but HEY you can always just use some third party system online someplace or a mod or a workaround or something else to fix it yourself. You say you're rotational player too... oh....
So, if I truly give someone the good and the bad based on the game what do you think they'd say. I don't know- it's okay. Get it on sale.
Sometimes your creativity is limited where you use it most, but you can use those limitations to inspire new forms of creativity you may never have thought of beforehand.
my problem is I'd like to experience the whole pregnancy thing but not bothering bc can't get used to idea of infants popping out of bassinets as children. ruins my immersion.
ETA and can't quite get used to idea of parents being anchored to infant while infant is anchored to bassinet.
The parents can't "walk the baby" something I enjoy making my Sims do in TS3
One of the things I really liked when TS3 came out was the Sims got to go to the hospital (if they chose to) to have their baby
Let's take half point of The Sims 2 lifetime - we had University, Nightlife, Open for Business and Pets by half way.
Half point of The Sims 3 - World Adventures, Ambitions, Late Night, Generations and Pets.
This half year either has to perform a miracle, or the game is officially of far lesser quality in their add ons than its predecessors.
@Ciarassims Right I feel you, I feel like Sims 4 is good in so many ways, but because they not catering to what the fans want then this is making it a bad game overall....Speculators already talking them trashing this serious and going to Sims 5...if there will be a Sim it got be the best of Sim3 and 4 in one...
@CapraCorn104 right, like none of that stuff bothered me, because I really truly on played sims 1 and missed out on sims 2 and 3 because I was busy living my life, but finally settled I was able to come back to the Sims 4 so I came in loving because artistically it's a beautiful but I have gotten bored with game play fast...
100%
@JasonAnthonySterling I feel you on them glitches, I didn't play the game in 3 months because my restaurant game kept glitching every time I would hire a second cook they would disappears as if I have never hired them, I got tired of the glitch and completely stopped playing the game entirely...
I surly don't use mods because the game is always updating and I don't have time to remove mods then add them back especially if I want to use a lot of mods...mods only make sense when the game is completely done......
@MissMaddy1021 I feel you I saved for a better computer...but I haven't really played the sims 3 bout time I back SIm, sims 4 was out...
@x_Always_Heart_x I feel you...that's how it was for it was fun in the beginning once a week or two I lost interest...
@Prink34320 it surly can that's why I stopped playing the game for awhile, every time I would play dine out my second chef with show as if I never hired one....
@faytheful I didn't realize how import the baby part of the game was important until Sims 4 took it out their biggest mistake to this day....you would think they would bring it back to end the sims 4 on a good note.
@mirta000 so true, I just reading and article about the same you talking about...like really the game hasn't lived up or passed the old games...
Yes we've had game patches, but for every one thing it fixes three more are broken. Culling is still a big issue, they fixed the incest yet some sims are still marrying close family relations, who wants game issue romances or friends that you haven't had your sims create. What about a true rotational play and story progression? (I play rotational style even in Sim 3 with NRaas mods!) They haven't fixed the musical chairs issue. Multitasking as they describe, isn't really multitasking since a sim has to pause to do another action (i.e. sim eating and watching tv. They eat, pause, watch tv, pause, eat some more, etc.) Why can't my sim cook in the restaurant that she owns? She could in Sims 2? Why can't my detective be a true detective? Why does he have to process the evidence collected at the scene? Isn't that the CSI's job? My list could go on and on.
My point is, this late into the game, unless they do a complete overhaul of the game engine and the core programming, anything that they add is just a band-aid over the huge gaping wound. It had promise, but that promise is gone - at least for me it is.
Well honestly, everything is pretty much the same darling so if it wasn't before for you, it still isn't.
No toddlers, no zodiacs, no firemen, no police npc's, no robbers, only two lifestates, no random deaths tbh I never even witnessed a sim dying of electrocution in this game, no biographies, no body hair, no spiral stairs, no lifts, no platforms, no bunk beds, no lounge chairs, no playground equipment, no terrain tools, no laptops, no tash compactors, no turn-ons/turn-offs, only 13 careers, babies tied to cribs, the alien abductions are still low, the moodlet from OR is still bugged, culling is still everywhere and so on...you know the drill. But hey...we got the phone covers that were suppose to be included in GT 9 months ago, so cheers for that.