Would be 10 if there were a few more things that were great from Castaway, being able to go underwater, a secret lot of some sort and the ability to vacation here also by designated the lot as a vacation lot (without mods).
"Not All Who Wander Are Lost"-Tolkien
Origin ID: simaddict1990
I'm still exploring the pack, but I'm hovering between 7 and 8 (because mermaids bump it up for me). I don't know which to vote for, since the pack has good content in it, and I'm loving it, but it's missing some depth.
I've preordered the pack elsewhere for a much cheaper price (around 30 bucks), and I think the cheaper price is a much better fit for the pack. It's gorgeous, and I just love the mermaids, but I feel that rabbit holes, limitations of mermaids (like no baby/toddler/child mermaid stuff and lack of real drowning power), lack of underwater lots, not quite enough beach or water activities, and not able to have toddlers play-swim (ala Sims 3) hurt the pack, in my opinion.
I feel Island Paradise is better in some ways, but I still prefer these Sims 4 mermaids over the past ones, so I'm divided here. Ignoring the meh mermaids from Sims 3, Sims 3 Island Paradise and the Sims 3 store both have more content for this kind of theme. (Too bad I'm too meh about Sims 3 overall, ugh.)
I still love the pack overall, though (for the reduced price I got). Gorgeous world and lovely content in various areas. And the mermaids are still awesome.
I just feel there could be more done with some of the content. I am missing houseboats, for example. Being able to take the camera underwater and see how sims swim underwater (ala Sims 3) would have been awesome as well. Lifeguard career that's not rabbithole, for sure!
That is just my two cents, though. I am still playing and enjoying the pack, but I already like Sims 4, and I always love mermaids, so that could be what's influencing me, lol.
It would still be one of my top packs (for the reduced price), just because mermaids and island theme alone. It just had potential to be more indepth in some areas.
I like it a lot. Sulani is really pretty and it adds a lot of gameplay for me. Like sending the family off to the beach now and then. The buy/build mode got some real nice stuff too, but I wish that they have added more objects though. The catalogue feels a bit bare bones to be honest. We got some real nice kitchen counters but no new fridge or stove? We got a Sulani themed bathtub/shower and sink but no toilet. What?
The mermaids are really great too. But I wish they were a bit more fleshed out like the vampires. I feel like there isn't a lot to do with them. They basically just swim around and that's it. I wish they could sit on land with their tail out. Like sitting on the edge of a pool or pier. I also wish there were some more danger to them. Like dying of dehydration. They only seem to get real tense if they're dehydrated. Vampires die from sunlight, why not make mermaids die from dehydration? It only makes sense to me. So yeah, they're really pretty, but that's all there's to them I think.
I guess my favorite part of the expansion pack is the world itself.
I'm not ready to rate it yet but I'm thinking around a 7. I moved a sim into a lot, turned her into a mermaid. The island is stunningly gorgeous, and the animations are beautiful and so fluid (pun intended). It's very immersive and relaxing. I like the odd job system too. YET... I would agree there seems to be a lack of gameplay. I haven't played the conservation career yet, so that might change my mind one way or the other.
But I'm missing challenge: there are no new skills and no new whims. Outside of the conservation career, there is no sense of "progression."
Starting to really think that the game really REALLY needs some overhaul in terms of whims, aspirations, and personality. More depth, not just water... PLEASE!!!!
Can't rate it yet I got it but my laptop is in the shop getting a new motherboard...hopefully I will get it tomorrow or soon ... I am dying to play it.
Hello Simmers! i rated the game an 8 because i really haven't time to get into it, but what i've played so far is great! so i hope there would be another poll sometime so i can give it a better rating
For what I want the pack for, vacationing, it is a full 10/10.
Gripes:
- With the way the Off the grid trait works now the old "Just make believe and use common sense" approach is much more viable.
- Cleaning up the island is a wasted opportunity, as it goes from idyllic to slightly more idyllic. Never once did I feel that the "polluted" neighborhood needed cleaning up, to the contrary, I have to actively dig for trash every day and even then half of the time it's just a decomposing fish. I had hoped for more distinct stages (both for the better and for the worse). The invasive species idea is neat. But from what I've seen so far they are not doing much invading, but seem to have forged a happy blended community with the local fish/frogs.
- No swimming skill, how come we have skills for each instrument, but everything sports related is summed up under Fitness?!
I'm having a blast , seriously. Played through a sim year-and-a-half, fully restored Mua Pel'am, earned loads of money fishing (40 types of fish, and not leaving the islands!) and collecting seashells/treasures, expanded/upgraded the starter house, became a mermaid, and just NOW started to venture outside Sulani.
I haven't even tried the new career yet, and only did one odd job, not even visited all places. The world is really gorgeous. It is a very relaxing place, very welcoming. Although, maybe the townies feel a bit TOO welcome....My house IS apparently THEIR house also
I do miss reggae music, and perhaps a new dance for the island radio station. It just doesn't look right with the regular dancing to that music. There are some other small hic-ups too, that makes me not give it a solid 10.
I can't rate it yet as I haven't got it, but I came to read this thread to decide whether I'll get it or not, and based on what I've read, that's a big yes. I'm off to buy it on line right now. Thanks for all the input/reviews/thoughts.
For what I want the pack for, vacationing, it is a full 10/10.
Gripes:
- With the way the Off the grid trait works now the old "Just make believe and use common sense" approach is much more viable.
- Cleaning up the island is a wasted opportunity, as it goes from idyllic to slightly more idyllic. Never once did I feel that the "polluted" neighborhood needed cleaning up, to the contrary, I have to actively dig for trash every day and even then half of the time it's just a decomposing fish. I had hoped for more distinct stages (both for the better and for the worse). The invasive species idea is neat. But from what I've seen so far they are not doing much invading, but seem to have forged a happy blended community with the local fish/frogs.
- No swimming skill, how come we have skills for each instrument, but everything sports related is summed up under Fitness?!
I TOTALLY wanted the island to look really bad until my sim cleaned it up. I wanted dark nasty algae in the water and the coral to look pale and dying, dead fish on the shore from pollution, etc
I give it a 9..first because 9 is my all time favorite number lol but for real while there are many things about this pack that i’m loving like the beautiful world, being able to see my sims swimming in the ocean sun tanning and aqua zipping around and all the new beds, there are a few things i’m kind of meh about like the new volcanic rocks only giving gem collectibles i wish something new to collect would come out of those, i also wish when your sims are snorkeling and diving down in the water i want to be able to right click to follow my sim and go down with them and see a beautiful underwater view and i hate that there are no hotels or no way to put a hotel in so i can make a sort of honeymoon spot or just a getaway so my sims can escape to the island for a couple of days.
I love to share my sims stories and hear about others. Got a story you want to share come talk to me!
I give a 8 because it misses some features I would have loved to see like Surfing or watching your sim underwater scuba diving. The new swim styles, the dolphin interactions, the kiss in water and the heavenly scenery make it up for it however. Overall, it's a great EP. Hopefully surfing will be added in a free update later on.
What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us -Helen Keller-
7. Sulani is beautiful and one of my favorite worlds so far! The cas is great and build/buy is quite nice. I love finally being able to go to the beach and swim in the sea, sailing, snorkeling or sunbathing. Mermaids are nice. I like the new stilt foundation. I like the ecological aspect they added. I like the new fish, plants and shellfish.
Now for the constructive criticism : Mermaids are nice, I’ll admit I like them and yet I wasn’t really interested in them at first. But, I feel like something’s missing to them. They’re basically regular sims with a tail and the ability to summon storms or nice weather. Or and that need to go in the water regularly. They can’t even dive. What’s the point of mermaids if you can’t dive with them ?
Speaking of Diving, I’m disappointed that it’s a rabbit hole. I wanted to go under the sea. Also that could have worked with the new conservationist career, divers could pick up trash, save a dolphin or a turtle tangled in a fishing net for instance.
Where is the kitchen Island counter ?
It seems there is no secret lot, by What they said during the live stream I understood it is just a mermaid spawner.
I haven’t tried the lifegard career but from what I read it’s a rabbit hole too.
They reused a lot of old content. A lot of recipes are old. Even the coconut cake is the same mesh as the white cake. They reused the fire dance from GT and they’ve now used the same water animation for toddlers 3 times. Diving is a rabbit hole. Life guard is a rabbit hole. The mermaids are just sims with fins. They don’t do anything special other than the songs and calling dolphins. Honestly, this won’t be a pack I use. Jungle Advwnture had more game play imo. This should have been a game pack and I wouldn’t have been as disappointed. It’s not worth the expansion price tag imo.
I can not vote yet, have not bought the pack, but I will, we all will, it what simmers do.
I do not have the pack yet. But I do have the Lounge chair they added to the base game, so I will just comment on the lounge chair.
I was very happy to get the lounge chair, we have been wanting them for so long.
I liked the look a lot even without cushions, You can make it so many colors and I was happy to put them around the pool.
Then I tested them well yes everyone has that same simple lounge not cute, but it will do, this is the Sims and of course, they do not allow ladies to sit pretty ever. I feel they could care less about changing our sits or the lounge animations.
Sure I would love to see us move a bit while lounging so that our sims would look more realistic, but oh no we could have got hit over the head and it would not look any different, then if your sleep your head just go to one side. Ok whatever, That's is just what we will have. I did not like the lack of lounge chair animations one bit. They can drink if they bring the drink, also they can have a drink from inventory, that's a plus. So if they add chat it would be perfect.
Yay, you can sit on the side. read a book and chat, no big deal we had that already.
What is this all about? What upset me was You can not have a conversation or move at all while lounging, not that's just the worst, why do they do this type thing to us over and over we want to communicate with our families while lounging, or maybe take a drink. We should be able to move our head we are not dead, look at the person in the lounge chair next to us and chat.
To me, they do this to us because they can.
This is such a little thing but they rather we have to look and behave like a corpse while we are lounging, Thanks for that EA.
well at least we finally got the lounge chair we should all be grateful of course like I said as furniture goes I like them.
Post edited by Stormsview on
we'll give you a full refund. Just make sure you make your request within 24 hours after you first launch the game, within seven days from your date of purchase, or within seven days from the game's release date if you pre-ordered, whichever comes first.
Who said EA doesn't have a sense of humor
This is, honestly, my third favorite pack (#1 being Cats & Dogs, and #2 being Seasons). I just love the new world of Sulani. There are so many gorgeous hairstyles and outfits in CAS. There are lots more activities to do. Being able to build over water is really fun as well. My all-time favorite part of this pack is the mermaids. They are amazing. I love them so much and they make things more interesting and fun. I still haven't explored everything from this pack. I am still working on the Conservationist career and restoring Mua Pel'am.
I have two problems with this pack:
#1 Every activity like swimming, snorkeling, and aqua-jetting all build fitness skill. There is no separate snorkeling skill or even freediving skill. I was kind of hoping that they would be more separated. If you have mermaids, your fitness skill will increase quickly.
#2 When you free dive, you don't get to see them underwater. All you see is them diving and then they come back up to the surface. I was really hoping that there would be some underwater section like in The Sims 3, but I totally get why they didn't do this. It probably would have made it so you needed a lot of computer power to run this pack.
The world is stunning. I wish there was slightly more gameplay. And WHY can'
mermaids annoy people but not actually kill sims? Lol
I'm not into killing sims myself, so I'm not sure, but having accidentally used the Siren's lullaby on a sim, I'm wondering if using that twice in a row or on an already weakened sim wouldn't end up killing him? Again, idk, but maybe someone else does?
The world is stunning. I wish there was slightly more gameplay. And WHY can'
mermaids annoy people but not actually kill sims? Lol
I'm not into killing sims myself, so I'm not sure, but having accidentally used the Siren's lullaby on a sim, I'm wondering if using that twice in a row or on an already weakened sim wouldn't end up killing him? Again, idk, but maybe someone else does?
You can definitely kill, AFAIK. Just never the first time.
You can pull them under repeatedly, or you can have Cthulhu Light do it for you ("Deep Sea Entity with tentacles") (also repeatedly). Or you could just swim out among the sharks... At least if you have Child Of The Ocean trait sharks will never attack YOU... your company? Fair Game. Literally.
I feel a lot of the budget for this pack went into swimable oceans. It's what everyone has been begging for since this game came out and I think they delivered some solid game play in that regards.
But it's probably also why other areas of this pack feel less expanded upon.
As much as I love this pack, I do feel it needs something more. An underwater area that we could have explored would have made this pack a 10 for me. Hotels I feel are better saved for a game pack, so I understand why they didn't include them, and houseboats would have been difficult to implement in the Sims 4. But scuba diving could have been amazing, and I'm disappointed it's only a rabbit hole.
Also, (and this is just a personal gripe) I wish there wasen't so much foot traffic on the natural island. I'd love to play a castaway or amazon challenge there but the random townies kind of ruin the feel.
The world is stunning. I wish there was slightly more gameplay. And WHY can'
mermaids annoy people but not actually kill sims? Lol
I'm not into killing sims myself, so I'm not sure, but having accidentally used the Siren's lullaby on a sim, I'm wondering if using that twice in a row or on an already weakened sim wouldn't end up killing him? Again, idk, but maybe someone else does?
You can definitely kill, AFAIK. Just never the first time.
You can pull them under repeatedly, or you can have Cthulhu Light do it for you ("Deep Sea Entity with tentacles") (also repeatedly). Or you could just swim out among the sharks... At least if you have Child Of The Ocean trait sharks will never attack YOU... your company? Fair Game. Literally.
@SimTrippy@Beardedgeek
It's been talked about how this is not possible at all. Mermaids can't kill, no matter how many times you try.
As for the rating: I don't have it yet so I won't vote. But going by what I've seen of the game it's far from worthy of a 10. Few games/dlcs are. I'd likely end up give it the very average rating of 5, since it's so lacking and aesthetics is mostly what it have.
I gave it a 7.. It is good but I am disappointed that we can not dive and explore under the water like we could in sims 3.
Also, my sim left her police officer career at level 5 because I think there is a glitch in it (she can't arrest suspects because the suspects are also police officers and the option to arrest is not there), she started the diving career at level 3 and for some reason or other, she can not advance even though she has been on excellent for sims days now.
I would like to have had hotels and more/bigger lots to build on as well as some new kinds of venues.
I do like it but I feel it could have been alot better and is a bit disappointing. I am only hoping the forthcoming magic one makes up for the short falls of Island Living.
Comments
Origin ID: simaddict1990
I've preordered the pack elsewhere for a much cheaper price (around 30 bucks), and I think the cheaper price is a much better fit for the pack. It's gorgeous, and I just love the mermaids, but I feel that rabbit holes, limitations of mermaids (like no baby/toddler/child mermaid stuff and lack of real drowning power), lack of underwater lots, not quite enough beach or water activities, and not able to have toddlers play-swim (ala Sims 3) hurt the pack, in my opinion.
I feel Island Paradise is better in some ways, but I still prefer these Sims 4 mermaids over the past ones, so I'm divided here. Ignoring the meh mermaids from Sims 3, Sims 3 Island Paradise and the Sims 3 store both have more content for this kind of theme. (Too bad I'm too meh about Sims 3 overall, ugh.)
I still love the pack overall, though (for the reduced price I got). Gorgeous world and lovely content in various areas. And the mermaids are still awesome.
I just feel there could be more done with some of the content. I am missing houseboats, for example. Being able to take the camera underwater and see how sims swim underwater (ala Sims 3) would have been awesome as well. Lifeguard career that's not rabbithole, for sure!
That is just my two cents, though. I am still playing and enjoying the pack, but I already like Sims 4, and I always love mermaids, so that could be what's influencing me, lol.
It would still be one of my top packs (for the reduced price), just because mermaids and island theme alone.
(She/her)
The mermaids are really great too. But I wish they were a bit more fleshed out like the vampires. I feel like there isn't a lot to do with them. They basically just swim around and that's it. I wish they could sit on land with their tail out. Like sitting on the edge of a pool or pier. I also wish there were some more danger to them. Like dying of dehydration. They only seem to get real tense if they're dehydrated. Vampires die from sunlight, why not make mermaids die from dehydration? It only makes sense to me. So yeah, they're really pretty, but that's all there's to them I think.
I guess my favorite part of the expansion pack is the world itself.
But I'm missing challenge: there are no new skills and no new whims. Outside of the conservation career, there is no sense of "progression."
Starting to really think that the game really REALLY needs some overhaul in terms of whims, aspirations, and personality. More depth, not just water... PLEASE!!!!
Sim Stuff by Pegasys
Gripes:
- With the way the Off the grid trait works now the old "Just make believe and use common sense" approach is much more viable.
- Cleaning up the island is a wasted opportunity, as it goes from idyllic to slightly more idyllic. Never once did I feel that the "polluted" neighborhood needed cleaning up, to the contrary, I have to actively dig for trash every day and even then half of the time it's just a decomposing fish. I had hoped for more distinct stages (both for the better and for the worse). The invasive species idea is neat. But from what I've seen so far they are not doing much invading, but seem to have forged a happy blended community with the local fish/frogs.
- No swimming skill, how come we have skills for each instrument, but everything sports related is summed up under Fitness?!
I haven't even tried the new career yet, and only did one odd job, not even visited all places. The world is really gorgeous. It is a very relaxing place, very welcoming. Although, maybe the townies feel a bit TOO welcome....My house IS apparently THEIR house also
I do miss reggae music, and perhaps a new dance for the island radio station. It just doesn't look right with the regular dancing to that music. There are some other small hic-ups too, that makes me not give it a solid 10.
Gallery: Kathykins
AHQ - Game help and Bugs
EDIT - Done. Woo hoo, It's coming!
I TOTALLY wanted the island to look really bad until my sim cleaned it up. I wanted dark nasty algae in the water and the coral to look pale and dying, dead fish on the shore from pollution, etc
What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us -Helen Keller-
Now for the constructive criticism :
Mermaids are nice, I’ll admit I like them and yet I wasn’t really interested in them at first. But, I feel like something’s missing to them. They’re basically regular sims with a tail and the ability to summon storms or nice weather. Or and that need to go in the water regularly. They can’t even dive. What’s the point of mermaids if you can’t dive with them ?
Speaking of Diving, I’m disappointed that it’s a rabbit hole. I wanted to go under the sea. Also that could have worked with the new conservationist career, divers could pick up trash, save a dolphin or a turtle tangled in a fishing net for instance.
Where is the kitchen Island counter ?
It seems there is no secret lot, by What they said during the live stream I understood it is just a mermaid spawner.
I haven’t tried the lifegard career but from what I read it’s a rabbit hole too.
I do not have the pack yet. But I do have the Lounge chair they added to the base game, so I will just comment on the lounge chair.
I was very happy to get the lounge chair, we have been wanting them for so long.
I liked the look a lot even without cushions, You can make it so many colors and I was happy to put them around the pool.
Then I tested them well yes everyone has that same simple lounge not cute, but it will do, this is the Sims and of course, they do not allow ladies to sit pretty ever. I feel they could care less about changing our sits or the lounge animations.
Sure I would love to see us move a bit while lounging so that our sims would look more realistic, but oh no we could have got hit over the head and it would not look any different, then if your sleep your head just go to one side. Ok whatever, That's is just what we will have. I did not like the lack of lounge chair animations one bit. They can drink if they bring the drink, also they can have a drink from inventory, that's a plus. So if they add chat it would be perfect.
Yay, you can sit on the side. read a book and chat, no big deal we had that already.
What is this all about? What upset me was You can not have a conversation or move at all while lounging, not that's just the worst, why do they do this type thing to us over and over we want to communicate with our families while lounging, or maybe take a drink. We should be able to move our head we are not dead, look at the person in the lounge chair next to us and chat.
To me, they do this to us because they can.
This is such a little thing but they rather we have to look and behave like a corpse while we are lounging, Thanks for that EA.
well at least we finally got the lounge chair we should all be grateful of course like I said as furniture goes I like them.
Who said EA doesn't have a sense of humor
I have two problems with this pack:
#1 Every activity like swimming, snorkeling, and aqua-jetting all build fitness skill. There is no separate snorkeling skill or even freediving skill. I was kind of hoping that they would be more separated. If you have mermaids, your fitness skill will increase quickly.
#2 When you free dive, you don't get to see them underwater. All you see is them diving and then they come back up to the surface. I was really hoping that there would be some underwater section like in The Sims 3, but I totally get why they didn't do this. It probably would have made it so you needed a lot of computer power to run this pack.
Or do both and create yourself as a mermaid.
mermaids annoy people but not actually kill sims? Lol
I'm not into killing sims myself, so I'm not sure, but having accidentally used the Siren's lullaby on a sim, I'm wondering if using that twice in a row or on an already weakened sim wouldn't end up killing him? Again, idk, but maybe someone else does?
You can definitely kill, AFAIK. Just never the first time.
You can pull them under repeatedly, or you can have Cthulhu Light do it for you ("Deep Sea Entity with tentacles") (also repeatedly). Or you could just swim out among the sharks... At least if you have Child Of The Ocean trait sharks will never attack YOU... your company? Fair Game. Literally.
But it's probably also why other areas of this pack feel less expanded upon.
As much as I love this pack, I do feel it needs something more. An underwater area that we could have explored would have made this pack a 10 for me. Hotels I feel are better saved for a game pack, so I understand why they didn't include them, and houseboats would have been difficult to implement in the Sims 4. But scuba diving could have been amazing, and I'm disappointed it's only a rabbit hole.
Also, (and this is just a personal gripe) I wish there wasen't so much foot traffic on the natural island. I'd love to play a castaway or amazon challenge there but the random townies kind of ruin the feel.
It's been talked about how this is not possible at all. Mermaids can't kill, no matter how many times you try.
As for the rating: I don't have it yet so I won't vote. But going by what I've seen of the game it's far from worthy of a 10. Few games/dlcs are. I'd likely end up give it the very average rating of 5, since it's so lacking and aesthetics is mostly what it have.
Also, my sim left her police officer career at level 5 because I think there is a glitch in it (she can't arrest suspects because the suspects are also police officers and the option to arrest is not there), she started the diving career at level 3 and for some reason or other, she can not advance even though she has been on excellent for sims days now.
I would like to have had hotels and more/bigger lots to build on as well as some new kinds of venues.
I do like it but I feel it could have been alot better and is a bit disappointing. I am only hoping the forthcoming magic one makes up for the short falls of Island Living.