Lately i have been reading and strongly analizing everything related to RoM. I used to enjoy witches in previous games, but there's something that puts me off in Realm of magic... i don't know exactly what it is, i think that maybe the visual effects, that seem to colorfull and bright and a bit exagerated...
After reading and watching a lot of youtube videos i've realized that everyone mentions how the spells and potions are just stuff that already exists in the game...
Is this your experience with RoM? Aren't there any spells/powers/potions unique to the pack? And what do you think of the animations?
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I partially agree as there are spells that summon ghosts and resurrects ghosts. Plus the potion of immortality and potions that immediately make other sims your sim talks to friends, enemies, or lovers.
Oh and also using magic to make food but you can't make it appear on a table or a counter ....
Back on topic though.... Using the cauldron, magic and dispelling charge definitely use new animations. Riding the broom is new animations. There is also a spell that creates a plant so that's also new.
Scruberoo - don't know of another way to clean that's not cleaning/making someone else clean. Same with Repario and repairing stuff (as opposed to re-buying it).
Florialoral covers watering, weeding, and spraying for bugs. Get the right Spellcaster perks and you don't have to go out in a storm to do it.
Delicioso - other than the grilled cheese aspiration, don't know of a way to summon food either.
Herbio - again, not aware of a way to summon a full size plant outside of debug. This may be limited to Magical plants, I don't use it because I want my sims to develop their gardening skill.
I, personally, love the pack. I alternate between two saves at the moment, and I find myself missing magic in the one that isn't following a Spellcaster family. The spell animation (there's only one, I think) is nice enough, but I don't worry about it over much.
Chillio = Freeze Ray
Burgliate = Kleptomaniac trait
Despairio = A strong sad moodlet
Transportalate = Teleporting
Potion of Nausea = An uncomfortable moodlet
Potion of the Nimble Mind = Skill boost, which we already have a ton of
Potion of Alluring Aura = Flirty moodlet
Potion of Emotional Stability = Happy moodlet
Potion of Prompt Resurrection = Protection from death. So like the Death Flower, except you don't need another sim for it to work.
Other spells and potions are unique, or different enough to stand out on their own.
The Sims 4 hasn't introduced a new musical instrument since 2017
That leaves us with a good amount of unique spells and potions
But it's true that some features already exist in game, and how potions work is a bit easy too. But im using mods to get the game to my liking. But sure the game is easier with spells, tho it is also a problem for some simmers.
Looking for some custom animations? Check out my youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKrWaxowK2vCzwkz6bEZRbg
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I heard from a review (LGR I think) that the spells in ROM are just cheats dressed up in animations. I've played ROM for a little while now and while I do agree with this, I enjoy the pack.
I haven't tried everything yet. I made the mistake of 'resetting' my sim's knowledge (not his spellcaster level, but his spellbook) when I saved him to the gallery and loaded him into a new game. There's lots more to explore in my game. So, I am still learning it as I go.
I really like the colourful and exaggerated aspects of this gamepack. It is magic after all, and I do like the animations.
ROM is good for just simple good fun, but it won't completely change your game. My sim has spent much of his time turning his enemies into weird objects and setting his kitchen on fire. I had a laugh with that. I also love CAS and build/buy. If you like old fashioned, occult or alternative style outfits then it's a great pack, I think. I would use this pack for the CAS alone.
Okay, that turned into a mini review. I'm hoping this helped a little
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Getting hit by a curse is a surprise element, though. And unless you keep the needs panel open all the time, it can be missed. I've had that happen too (though I did pay more attention until the moodlet passed.)
Yeah they kind of are, don't expect any "chased by bees" or "turned to hold" spells like previous installments. All of the spells are based on events and using animations already in the game.
I was going to let this go but... where are the recycled animations for casting spells from? That they all use the same animation is a valid criticism. That they're recycled ... gonna need your sources. (Previous Sims games don't count. new Rig, new Animations.)
Also... without using cheats... how do you get rid of a puddle without mopping? Or repair a stove that's been torched in a fire without spending simoleans? Or get food without prepping it/buying it from a stall? or, for that matter, unspoil spoiled food and improve poor quality food? Yes, they're cheats in the game, but no cheat code or mods to access dev cheats required. So again, I'm going to need more than "it's a cheat" to dismiss them as just recycled gameplay.
And then there's the Strangify spell... where's that recycled from? I don't remember finding it in the game before Realm of Magic came along.
As I said, I should let this go. But while there are valid criticisms of both Realm of Magic and of recycled content and animations in Sims 4, this is not one them.
I am a little disappointed in some spells, mostly cause they are too harmless for me, I wouldve liked some untamed and mischief spells to be more dangerous or mean, more so I would have loved to be able to curse someone (which technically also already exists in game with the Jungle Adventure Pack).
That said, there are unique ones, as others already mentioned alot of the practical spells are unique and also strangeify.
And morphiate I think does also not exist in the same way, as a scientist you can change a sims appearance but you can't turn them into objects as you do with morphiate (I would have preffered being able to turn them into a toad though).
And of course the obvious ones Homewardial, Decursify and Rite of Ascension
Potions...hmm...Good Fortune, I don't think there is anything else like it? It makes you find stuff whatever you do, be it ingredients or simoleons, Forced Friendship, Transcendent Charmer, Immortality and Perk Purging, Curse Cleansing.
I love that potion, but yes it is a bit weird that it is so easy to make, I feel for such a powerful (and useful) potion they should have made it higher lever and use more rare ingredients...
lol...yeah, it's magic!
thank you LGR aka "Cpt Obvious"
I say, if you like witches, get it. You'll enjoy discovering what's in it and maybe playing a household.
It doesn't leave you wanting to replay it, it's true. The spellcaster system is not as interesting as the one for vampires or even celebrities, and there's not much to do in the Magic Realm itself besides looking at it.
For me it was a must, even though I do think it's the weakest, overall, just because a concept like this requires a bit more depth (and they've proved they can deliver on this before, just didn't with RoM).
It's pretty much what everyone has said: shallow gameplay. But not everyone has to be bothered by this, some people still have fun with it.
@cheescaeks I remember that we could craft those plumbob crystals... like the one with the shape of a star to turn your sim in a celebrity. But I also ALWAYS wanted to have that beanstalk appear in my yard so that I could see the giant in the clouds haha I was never able to do that for some reason
Also, where's the ICONIC spell to turn people into frogs?!
I think Some of it's good I kind of wish they made Spells more organic, Instead of "wave of hand/wand" + Glitter and boop spell is cast. sometimes the partial affects are a bit much, or unnecessary.
Like for infernate, I wish they did the fireball spell where a sim conjures a ball of fire in their hand and threw it at the target chosen.
What really made me mad, is definitely Zip-Zap they had a better option they could have chosen to do the Lightning summoner ability, from Seasons. Y'know if you got struck by lightning you got the chance to be a temporary storm caller, and summon lightning down at target. But instead we just got the lame mischief Hand zapper interaction. Spellcasters could have been able to harness that ability at will, and it would have been epic.
My Mood:
@DaWaterRat I don't think you understand what I mean. Just because you can't do some things with cheats doesn't mean the animations aren't recycled. "repairing a broken thing" is a feature of the game that already exists but with RoM there's a flashy spell that comes with it. "Setting someone on fire" is something maybe you can't do with cheats, however it uses the same animation like when I sim is normally on fire.
In previous installments there were actually tons of spells that featured completely new animations and objects, like the bees from The Sims 2, or golden objects/sims from sims 3 etc.
These are just the ones from the top of my head right now.