After a solid 12 hours in Uni, I definitely think this pack was worth the wait. I think it was done well and I'm satisfied with all of the items included as well as the interactions, the careers and the world.
IMO so far from what I've experienced it is a hard fat YES from me.
I always say I only buy packs on sale because they are very pricey in my country. Well, I said it this time either. In the evening of 15th I couldn't stand it and I bought the pack full price. It was my favorite pack in TS3 and I am not worried to say it is my favorite pack (after Get Together, obviously) in TS4.
It is very challenging and I love that!
I play with aging off because normally I play on normal and that would mean my sims would be at the end of they young adulthood if they took the shortest way. You need to complete 12 classes to get a degree and you can take 4 classes per term. A term lasts a week.
I recommend to take up to two classes if you want to experience university life to the fullest - side activites, etc. It takes a lot of time to do the homeworks, presentations, term papers...
Also, the tuition is really expensive. I can't believe I said it because before the pack came out I was saying the tuition is ridiculously low. Well, it isn't low at all. I was struggling a lot And I love it!
What I don't like, on the other hand, is that if you live on a dorm your sims WALK (or run, though it is still snaily slow) to the classes. The classes are 90 minutes long and it takes about 60 minutes to get to the building. Your sims need to go there early if you don't want to miss most of the class. I know this is not a popular opinion but I wish they just dissappeared at the elevator. I am a fan of closed world or whatever it is called in english.
I love it. I recommend it 100%.
Also, I am so so so glad the gurus on the deep dive livestream didn't tell us what the new death was! I experienced it the very first side activity meet up my sim had and I was so shook! It was so unexpected that I even forgot to beg Grim for mercy. Luckily it wasn't my sims but still. This is the best moment from the game. So far. I am very sure many more are to come yet.
Get Together is still my favorite. I am so sentimental about this one. Perhaps if I wouldn't Discover University would be the best one for me.
Also, I love the dorms. I love that your sim's family comes to visit sometimes. It must be so embarrassing for them If at least they gave your sim some money, lol. Or food! Other roomies get tons of food everyday. They kiss each other quite often and my sim is either embarrassed or disgusted. They fight a lot too. I love it.
Surprisingly I find most of the sims at dorms and around very attractive and well dressed.
And I love that if your sims are skilled enough they can give lectures to the ones that are not that skilled in the building where classes are happening. They even get some small ammount of money for that.
My sim just went off to university and I feel like I've barely scratched the surface. The whole lead up to university from high school definitely gives me some incentive to try and make good grades now though.
EA nailed it! It really keeps me busy, unlike most of the expansion packs. The CAS items and BM items are just amazing! Some of the best, actually! And for this pack, I kept my hopes lower than all the other packs. For this pack, I under hoped I think. Don't get me wrong, It doesn't have absolutely everything I wanted. But if definitely gave plenty of stuff I didn't expect.
If you are thinking about getting it, I say get it. It definitely is the best expansion pack EA's done for the game in my honest opinion.
I've never been a fan of this theme, and I almost passed on this pack because of it. I read a few reviews by simmers who feel similarly toward the theme, and their pleasant experiences piqued my curiosity. I lost my entire Saturday and didn't even realize it, so absorbed was I in micro managing my sim's University schedule. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I was actually having fun and found my sim and myself to be equally challenged by the rigorous schedule. The following are the points I have enjoyed most, so far. I have only played for 16 hours, so this is in no way a complete and comprehensive breakdown of the EP, just the highlights of what has been a pleasant surprise for me.
Roommates rock and are a marvelous source of chaotic fun. (If you enjoy chaos in your sims, at least. lol) I have been having a ridiculous amount of fun watching all that sim drama play out. LOL It's a more intimate way to get that crazy apartment drama feel of everyone being up in your business without having a loading screen. I am incredibly pleased with this feature.
Micromanaging your college course load is challenging.
My first semester I chose the Physics major and loaded up on 3 primary classes and 1 elective in mixology, cause I mean, college stereotypes are funny to me! lol My sim received an athletic scholarship, so she also had soccer practice, games, and homework on top of her course load. Shortly after the semester started, the offering my sim left for good grades, landed her an invite into a secret society, so I piled that on too. I didn't want to miss that opportunity. LOL Anyway, I worked my BUTT off and was actually stressing out trying to get everything accomplished. After the semester ended, she had 4 A+s and 1 C. The C was in mixology, crazy enough, but I think that was due to a bug because she went to her final exam, but the completion never registered. She ended the semester with a cumulative A-.
I was pleasantly surprised at how HARD I had to work to score those grades, too. I totally resorted to cheating at the very end to fill her needs. LOL In a game where I rarely have to do that, I was ecstatic to see this level of challenge. My sim was not able to do anything even remotely "fun", though, so the next semester I only took 1 class, so I'd have more room to explore the other features. Of course, 1 class wasn't just 1 class, because she still had that athletic scholarship and the secret society to manage. That proved to be way too easy, though, so I've upped the next semester to 2 classes. I think that will be a nice balance between having plenty of time to score excellent grades and actually having a social life at the college with time to actually attend events and socialize. ROFL I have yet to explore the other societies on the campus, and there are a lot to choose from.
The Secret Society sprites are cute and helpful!
These little adorable sprites saved my bootie with their positive moodlet boosts. They were the only reason my sim was able to keep up with her heinous first semester course load. I'm always a fan of adding supernatural elements to a game, and these little sprites are a nice little nugget of magic for my "normie" sims. These powers couple nicely with herbalism, and I can create a pretty authentic little hedge witch, now.
I liked that the offerings to level up in the society were already existing items in the game, too. Crystals and metals in particular have needed to be linked to more relevant game play for a long while. I was ecstatic when they did it in RoM, and I'm happy to see it here in University. I really like that these collectibles are useful for something outside of a nice display or monetary gain. Good move, gurus!
The degree spread is really nice! I was honestly surprised at just how many degrees we have to choose from and how many classes a sim can take. I'm impressed, and it's nice to have a new way to level up our sim's skill lines outside of the pathways we are used to. It's different, in a good way, and I like having another avenue available for skilling up. This method of skill development fits very nicely into a narrative story line, too.
Soccer is better than I thought it would be.
So when I first read about soccer in University, I thought it was stupid. I did, I'm sorry. LOL I didn't like that it was a rabbit hole, and I found myself wondering what the point in adding it even was. I wasn't going to bother with it, at all, but my sim won an athletic scholarship, so I had no choice. I didn't actually read the details when applying for the scholarships (I just wanted free money! lol), so I was surprised when she got to college and was automatically enrolled on the soccer team. (My bad! ROFL)
Anyway, I actually found myself enjoying the system that they set up for soccer. The little interactive popups were well written and so were the resulting actions. It added to the ambiance of a sim's story nicely, and the "Who am I?" +2 dazed moodlet you get for getting bonked in the head with a soccer ball during a game was pretty intense. I'm wondering if that has a chance of killing my sim? Part of your homework is building a relationship with your soccer team, too, and I liked that and found it to be an appropriate and immersive requirement for being on the team. It was a very realistic setup, that wasn't overly tedious.
In the end, while this is a very small aspect of game play, it was a very pleasant change of pace to level up the fitness skill through soccer footwork, instead of the other options we have available to us. The soccer ball is so compact, and I can see this really benefiting my tiny home sims. I don't have to find room for gigantic treadmills, weight machines, or punching bags unless it fits that sim's personality. Previously, I had to rely on jogging and the push up/sit up options for super small homes, but now I can use the soccer ball, and I really like that. Instead, I now have the option of just using the soccer ball combined with jogging to level that skill set. I really like this. Sometimes it's the little things.
I appreciate all these reviews; they're very encouraging. I had thought I'd either skip DU or wait for a 75% off sale (meaning after TS4 is done, most likely), but now I'll try to nab it when it's half-price. I have enjoyed all the Uni packs in the past.
Comments
I always say I only buy packs on sale because they are very pricey in my country. Well, I said it this time either. In the evening of 15th I couldn't stand it and I bought the pack full price. It was my favorite pack in TS3 and I am not worried to say it is my favorite pack (after Get Together, obviously) in TS4.
It is very challenging and I love that!
I play with aging off because normally I play on normal and that would mean my sims would be at the end of they young adulthood if they took the shortest way. You need to complete 12 classes to get a degree and you can take 4 classes per term. A term lasts a week.
I recommend to take up to two classes if you want to experience university life to the fullest - side activites, etc. It takes a lot of time to do the homeworks, presentations, term papers...
Also, the tuition is really expensive. I can't believe I said it because before the pack came out I was saying the tuition is ridiculously low. Well, it isn't low at all. I was struggling a lot
What I don't like, on the other hand, is that if you live on a dorm your sims WALK (or run, though it is still snaily slow) to the classes. The classes are 90 minutes long and it takes about 60 minutes to get to the building. Your sims need to go there early if you don't want to miss most of the class. I know this is not a popular opinion but I wish they just dissappeared at the elevator. I am a fan of closed world or whatever it is called in english.
I love it. I recommend it 100%.
Also, I am so so so glad the gurus on the deep dive livestream didn't tell us what the new death was! I experienced it the very first side activity meet up my sim had and I was so shook! It was so unexpected that I even forgot to beg Grim for mercy. Luckily it wasn't my sims but still. This is the best moment from the game. So far. I am very sure many more are to come yet.
Get Together is still my favorite. I am so sentimental about this one. Perhaps if I wouldn't Discover University would be the best one for me.
Also, I love the dorms. I love that your sim's family comes to visit sometimes. It must be so embarrassing for them
Surprisingly I find most of the sims at dorms and around very attractive and well dressed.
And I love that if your sims are skilled enough they can give lectures to the ones that are not that skilled in the building where classes are happening. They even get some small ammount of money for that.
I love it. Don't hesitate and buy it.
If you are thinking about getting it, I say get it. It definitely is the best expansion pack EA's done for the game in my honest opinion.
Roommates rock and are a marvelous source of chaotic fun.
(If you enjoy chaos in your sims, at least. lol) I have been having a ridiculous amount of fun watching all that sim drama play out. LOL It's a more intimate way to get that crazy apartment drama feel of everyone being up in your business without having a loading screen. I am incredibly pleased with this feature.
Micromanaging your college course load is challenging.
My first semester I chose the Physics major and loaded up on 3 primary classes and 1 elective in mixology, cause I mean, college stereotypes are funny to me! lol My sim received an athletic scholarship, so she also had soccer practice, games, and homework on top of her course load. Shortly after the semester started, the offering my sim left for good grades, landed her an invite into a secret society, so I piled that on too. I didn't want to miss that opportunity. LOL Anyway, I worked my BUTT off and was actually stressing out trying to get everything accomplished. After the semester ended, she had 4 A+s and 1 C. The C was in mixology, crazy enough, but I think that was due to a bug because she went to her final exam, but the completion never registered. She ended the semester with a cumulative A-.
I was pleasantly surprised at how HARD I had to work to score those grades, too. I totally resorted to cheating at the very end to fill her needs. LOL In a game where I rarely have to do that, I was ecstatic to see this level of challenge. My sim was not able to do anything even remotely "fun", though, so the next semester I only took 1 class, so I'd have more room to explore the other features. Of course, 1 class wasn't just 1 class, because she still had that athletic scholarship and the secret society to manage. That proved to be way too easy, though, so I've upped the next semester to 2 classes. I think that will be a nice balance between having plenty of time to score excellent grades and actually having a social life at the college with time to actually attend events and socialize. ROFL I have yet to explore the other societies on the campus, and there are a lot to choose from.
The Secret Society sprites are cute and helpful!
These little adorable sprites saved my bootie with their positive moodlet boosts. They were the only reason my sim was able to keep up with her heinous first semester course load. I'm always a fan of adding supernatural elements to a game, and these little sprites are a nice little nugget of magic for my "normie" sims. These powers couple nicely with herbalism, and I can create a pretty authentic little hedge witch, now.
I liked that the offerings to level up in the society were already existing items in the game, too. Crystals and metals in particular have needed to be linked to more relevant game play for a long while. I was ecstatic when they did it in RoM, and I'm happy to see it here in University. I really like that these collectibles are useful for something outside of a nice display or monetary gain. Good move, gurus!
The degree spread is really nice!
I was honestly surprised at just how many degrees we have to choose from and how many classes a sim can take. I'm impressed, and it's nice to have a new way to level up our sim's skill lines outside of the pathways we are used to. It's different, in a good way, and I like having another avenue available for skilling up. This method of skill development fits very nicely into a narrative story line, too.
Soccer is better than I thought it would be.
So when I first read about soccer in University, I thought it was stupid. I did, I'm sorry. LOL I didn't like that it was a rabbit hole, and I found myself wondering what the point in adding it even was. I wasn't going to bother with it, at all, but my sim won an athletic scholarship, so I had no choice. I didn't actually read the details when applying for the scholarships (I just wanted free money! lol), so I was surprised when she got to college and was automatically enrolled on the soccer team. (My bad! ROFL)
Anyway, I actually found myself enjoying the system that they set up for soccer. The little interactive popups were well written and so were the resulting actions. It added to the ambiance of a sim's story nicely, and the "Who am I?" +2 dazed moodlet you get for getting bonked in the head with a soccer ball during a game was pretty intense. I'm wondering if that has a chance of killing my sim? Part of your homework is building a relationship with your soccer team, too, and I liked that and found it to be an appropriate and immersive requirement for being on the team. It was a very realistic setup, that wasn't overly tedious.
In the end, while this is a very small aspect of game play, it was a very pleasant change of pace to level up the fitness skill through soccer footwork, instead of the other options we have available to us. The soccer ball is so compact, and I can see this really benefiting my tiny home sims. I don't have to find room for gigantic treadmills, weight machines, or punching bags unless it fits that sim's personality. Previously, I had to rely on jogging and the push up/sit up options for super small homes, but now I can use the soccer ball, and I really like that. Instead, I now have the option of just using the soccer ball combined with jogging to level that skill set. I really like this. Sometimes it's the little things.