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StrangerVille - My honest review
AlbaWaterhouse
Posts: 3,953 Member
I was one of the lucky simmers that got early access thanks to the EA Game Changer program.
I really wanted to like this Game Pack since I found the idea behind it very refreshing and fun. It looks like the devs had a blast conceiving and creating this pack and their Twitter campaign for it was super fun to follow. There are many cool things in the pack but unfortunately it does not completely work for me gameplay wise.
CAS is overall really good. Plenty of versatile items mixed with a cowboy/girl aesthetic with on point textures. Most items come with beautiful colour swatches and combine really well with clothes from other packs (specially Jungle Adventure and Outdoor Retreat). The haistyles are fantastic and I can see myself using them a lot. Kids get only 2 items and toddlers get none but for a GP I think it's quite a good amount of CAS items overall.
I'm very confused about the laptops, you can drag them into your sim's inventory but you can't use it unless it's placed on a table/desk. Not sure if this is a bug or a mistake or just not supposed to happen but I was under the impression that a laptop would be usable directly from your inventory, like a tablet.
Build/Buy mode has some of the most beautiful doors and windows we have received so far and a good amount of grungy looking items that are always welcomed. Many items are also perfect for industrial builds and modern houses. The colour swatches are great apart from one of the floors that comes with NO swatches at all (???). Some of the Build items fit really well in worlds like Brindleton Bay and Willow Creek and I love when this happens.
The new world is stunning, specially the neighbourhood on the top of the rocky mountains. It is however tied to the storyline and
The plants in this new world are so so beautiful but for some reason none of them are available in the catalogue for us to use. No new rocks nor plants despite the world being full of them is a bit odd and a shame. But I have hope, you guys!
Gameplay is the biggest focus of this pack and also my biggest problem with it.
Right off the bat, and for context of what I like in my game: my least favourite pack (not counting MFP) so far has been Get to Work because the careers and retail felt extremely restrictive and against the sandbox gameplay that I love about The Sims.
The atmosphere of the StrangerVille town and the idea of the mystery are great. However, the RPG style gamplay is not. While playing the new aspiration I did not have fun trying to solve the mysterious story even though the story itself was fun in theory.
Again, the story itself is quite creative and refreshing and the idea of having such a town is really cool but the execution makes it feel really repetitive and I had the feeling all I was doing was going from one loading screen to another loading screen for hours.
I feel like the gameplay is very self-contained and restrictive because of the RPG style its trying. The pack doesn't add anything to the rest of the game gameplay wise apart from the military career. The idea of having packs that are more detached and don't blend with the rest of the game is not a bad idea per se and I am happy that the devs are exploring options but such a script and story would have worked way better in an open world game, I'm afraid it does not work that well in TS4.
Overall, I am happy it exists and I love that the sims team is trying new things. I would still buy it if I wouldn't have it already because of CAS and BB and because the world is really beautiful
I am sure many simmers will enjoy playing the story but I am unfortunately not one of them.
I really wanted to like this Game Pack since I found the idea behind it very refreshing and fun. It looks like the devs had a blast conceiving and creating this pack and their Twitter campaign for it was super fun to follow. There are many cool things in the pack but unfortunately it does not completely work for me gameplay wise.
CAS is overall really good. Plenty of versatile items mixed with a cowboy/girl aesthetic with on point textures. Most items come with beautiful colour swatches and combine really well with clothes from other packs (specially Jungle Adventure and Outdoor Retreat). The haistyles are fantastic and I can see myself using them a lot. Kids get only 2 items and toddlers get none but for a GP I think it's quite a good amount of CAS items overall.
I'm very confused about the laptops, you can drag them into your sim's inventory but you can't use it unless it's placed on a table/desk. Not sure if this is a bug or a mistake or just not supposed to happen but I was under the impression that a laptop would be usable directly from your inventory, like a tablet.
Build/Buy mode has some of the most beautiful doors and windows we have received so far and a good amount of grungy looking items that are always welcomed. Many items are also perfect for industrial builds and modern houses. The colour swatches are great apart from one of the floors that comes with NO swatches at all (???). Some of the Build items fit really well in worlds like Brindleton Bay and Willow Creek and I love when this happens.
The new world is stunning, specially the neighbourhood on the top of the rocky mountains. It is however tied to the storyline and
won't be really normal until you have a sim defeat the mother
. I love the fact that we get a very decent size world for a Game Pack with really nice lots. The trailer park lot is cool but at the same time a bit frustrating. Seeing all those decor trailers around your fake looking trailer is a shame, I wish the pack would have come with some usable trailers (no need for them to move, just be functional for our sims to live inside and for us to customise the interior like we can do with apartments). But it is nonetheless a nice vibe to have the lot in the middle of a trailer park.The plants in this new world are so so beautiful but for some reason none of them are available in the catalogue for us to use. No new rocks nor plants despite the world being full of them is a bit odd and a shame. But I have hope, you guys!
SimGuruHouts wrote: »@AlbaWaterhouse To be honest, I'm not completely sure why those objects weren't included in the build catalog. I do know that world objects are built to different specs than on-lot objects, so there may be some restrictions our Art team was bound to when creating those assets. I'll be looking into it.
I can't make any promises about future patches at this time, but I'll be looking into what's feasible and making sure to avoid this kind of thing as much as possible moving forward.
Gameplay is the biggest focus of this pack and also my biggest problem with it.
Right off the bat, and for context of what I like in my game: my least favourite pack (not counting MFP) so far has been Get to Work because the careers and retail felt extremely restrictive and against the sandbox gameplay that I love about The Sims.
The atmosphere of the StrangerVille town and the idea of the mystery are great. However, the RPG style gamplay is not. While playing the new aspiration I did not have fun trying to solve the mysterious story even though the story itself was fun in theory.
Again, the story itself is quite creative and refreshing and the idea of having such a town is really cool but the execution makes it feel really repetitive and I had the feeling all I was doing was going from one loading screen to another loading screen for hours.
The tasks in order to defeat the mother are very fun in paper but very tedious in reality. Go to the bar, talk to townies, go to the library, talk to other townies, go to the lab, go back to the library, talk some more to townies, go back to the lab, go talk/vaccinate townies again, travel back to the lab, go back to the bar...you get the idea.
I feel like the gameplay is very self-contained and restrictive because of the RPG style its trying. The pack doesn't add anything to the rest of the game gameplay wise apart from the military career. The idea of having packs that are more detached and don't blend with the rest of the game is not a bad idea per se and I am happy that the devs are exploring options but such a script and story would have worked way better in an open world game, I'm afraid it does not work that well in TS4.
Overall, I am happy it exists and I love that the sims team is trying new things. I would still buy it if I wouldn't have it already because of CAS and BB and because the world is really beautiful
Plus, once you defeat the mother you get then to choose what level of "strangenest" you want for the town if you decide to reawake her which is a nice touch 
I am sure many simmers will enjoy playing the story but I am unfortunately not one of them.
Origin ID is: AlbaWaterhouse
All my creations are CC free.
All my creations are CC free.
Post edited by AlbaWaterhouse on
54
Comments
Can I ask how long did it take you to complete the story? Is the only way to opt out of the strangeness is to complete the story?
I took it easy and it took me around 8 irl hours to complete the story. I guess you can do it in a lot less time if you know what you are doing and go straight to the point. Also if you want to do it quickly, using the cheat to disable need decays will obviously be ideal.
As far as I know, the only way to opt out of the strangeness is to complete the story (there is no toggle or button to activate or deactivate the story in the game settings) but I am hopeful that they'll introduce a cheat of some sort for players that don't want to go through the story but still want to enjoy the new world. I can't imagine myself playing the storyline again but I really love the new world and I would like in future saves to be able to use it as just a normal world.
All my creations are CC free.
The CAS items look nice as do some of the build and buy objects.
Sure!
You can build really cool basements/bunkers/underground prison
There's a little spoiler in the bathroom though
This wall decalls and floor "rugs" are great to give it a dirty/old/creepy look
Here is a house I am building at the moment where you can see some of the new windows and doors
And this is a small selection of some of them I just made
All my creations are CC free.
And very nice of you to use the spoilers. If it's always the same story I want to be surprised at least once.
Well I remember the extreme disappointment that was Sims 3 Medieval...
I had already decided not to buy the pack, just because the theme doesn't work well with my play style and I'm not crazy about the world either (it's beautiful, but I'd rather wait and see what else is coming). I'm intrigued with the idea of a pack like this though, and I hope they look into doing other story heavy packs with the feedback they get on this one.
And I'm going to watch some youtubers I like play out the mystery, I'm sure it's a lot of fun.
I wonder if it depends on the type of player you are. There's those that blast through any new content as soon as they get it and then sit and wait for the next bit to come, but I'm the type that is slow and methodical in building my sim world/save. I still haven't even got anyone in the acting career. I haven't completed the jungle adventures puzzles.....there's still so much I haven't done yet!
I plan on taking my time with this mystery and integrating it in to my sim world slowly by using a teen who will only have time to investigate on weekends and holidays. Maybe he'll skip school occasionally (heh).
I love the look and feel of the world and it's a perfect addition to my game for my not-so-perfect aka "strange" sims.
I still want to get it for the military career, world, and new assets. I know the story is probably a one-time thing, but I think I might appreciate it too. I'm also an RPG player so I might not mind this aspect as much. From what I've seen in other videos of the non-storyline parts, the GP still has enough content to make it worth your while. Personally, I think $20 isn't bad right now, considering all the other additions. I know this might not be for everyone and that value is in the eye of the beholder, but I'm willing to give it a shot
Race Against the Clock: Can your elder sim turn back the clock before their time runs out?
Updated with Werewolf Diaries (1)
Short answer: not important at all, it is completely independent.
Answer with spoilers:
All my creations are CC free.
I play other RPGs and some specific missions bore me there too like the long never ending story in The Witcher 3 where you have to find and talk to a seemingly endless amount of people to find your poet friend.
I wish I could come up with an answer as to how I would set up the mystery myself but I am not a videogame designer and lack the knowledge and imagination to do so. All I can say is what I already said unfortunately. I tried to put it in the most constructive way possible but I don't have a solution for it really.
All my creations are CC free.
The issue you have with gameplay was my biggest worry with the pack.
I am glad the developers are trying new things as well. The formula for The Sims has really been left unchanged since The Sims 2, which reinvented the wheel entirely for the franchise. EA’s omission of open world with TS4 called for big innovation elsewhere, and an overhauled moodlet system with emotions was not it, so I am very happy they are looking to try and create a bigger identity for TS4.
I think a story told by the developers could work, as long as it’s created as open-ended as possible, contains high replay value, and each Sim with each personality/interests may approach it differently. Taking the GTW approach, as they keep doing, with these linear tasks that call for you to go here, click that, go there, click another specific interaction, etc. is simply not fun at all, and it’s so unfortunate to hear that is what they chose to do with this.
So not only are we confined to a linear story, we are also confined to solving it exactly as EA wants us to.
It just doesn’t work in The Sims.
That's what it is! I could not put it into words myself but you nailed it.
All my creations are CC free.