- Deducted 1 point for the pack including festivals. This is now the 3rd pack with events/festivals and I hate them in each one.
- Deducted 1 point for how confusing hiking and outdoor activities are. I would have liked if there was a map where I could see everything available and have my Sim go to that particular place, instead of having to just wonder around looking for a slope or a wall or a board. Plus I don’t like that there aren’t any ways for Sims who are in these random spots to use the bathroom! There should be bushes or those all-in-one bathrooms along the hike.
- Deducted 1 point for lack of replay ability. I had a Sim go to the mountain once and it seemed like he did everything there was for him to do on that one trip. I had him vacation for 7 days. He walked around the town for the 1st day and the 2nd day went to the spa and the mountain. The remaining 5 days he was sad. He literally wouldn’t stop crying and I have no idea why. I joke that he was probably bored on vacation, as bored as I was watching him lol. Plus there’s nothing to do relating to the new pack when you get back home.
So, so far the pack is a 7 for me. The only thing I haven’t looked at in detail is CAS.
I would be bored with the pack too if I took a 7 day vacation in the new world. I play differently and only "dip my sims' feet in pack features" here and there instead of solely focusing on doing every last feature of a new pack at a time. I find every pack more enjoyable that way and it also gives you fresh ways to mix other content together with your new pack's experience. I had a great time focusing on unlocking the Outdoorsy lifestyle for one sim Troy but I did it while living in Granite Falls with the Zerbu mod that let's it be a residential world. I realized how beautiful and neglected Granite Falls was! Now that he's Outdoorsy I had him vacation at Mt. Komorebi and he appreciates it even more and has started rock climbing and trying out snow activities. His girlfriend to be did some hiking while he did that. I am rambling now but my original point is to try looking at each feature we already have in tandem with a brand new pack and it might give you a fresh perspective. Just a friendly idea is all.
- Deducted 1 point for the pack including festivals. This is now the 3rd pack with events/festivals and I hate them in each one.
- Deducted 1 point for how confusing hiking and outdoor activities are. I would have liked if there was a map where I could see everything available and have my Sim go to that particular place, instead of having to just wonder around looking for a slope or a wall or a board. Plus I don’t like that there aren’t any ways for Sims who are in these random spots to use the bathroom! There should be bushes or those all-in-one bathrooms along the hike.
- Deducted 1 point for lack of replay ability. I had a Sim go to the mountain once and it seemed like he did everything there was for him to do on that one trip. I had him vacation for 7 days. He walked around the town for the 1st day and the 2nd day went to the spa and the mountain. The remaining 5 days he was sad. He literally wouldn’t stop crying and I have no idea why. I joke that he was probably bored on vacation, as bored as I was watching him lol. Plus there’s nothing to do relating to the new pack when you get back home.
So, so far the pack is a 7 for me. The only thing I haven’t looked at in detail is CAS.
I would be bored with the pack too if I took a 7 day vacation in the new world. I play differently and only "dip my sims' feet in pack features" here and there instead of solely focusing on doing every last feature of a new pack at a time. I find every pack more enjoyable that way and it also gives you fresh ways to mix other content together with your new pack's experience. I had a great time focusing on unlocking the Outdoorsy lifestyle for one sim Troy but I did it while living in Granite Falls with the Zerbu mod that let's it be a residential world. I realized how beautiful and neglected Granite Falls was! Now that he's Outdoorsy I had him vacation at Mt. Komorebi and he appreciates it even more and has started rock climbing and trying out snow activities. His girlfriend to be did some hiking while he did that. I am rambling now but my original point is to try looking at each feature we already have in tandem with a brand new pack and it might give you a fresh perspective. Just a friendly idea is all.
I wanted the vacation to be 7 days to make sure I had enough time to do everything since everything is tied to the new world. I don’t like that. I finished seeing everything in 2 days and decided to just have my Sim hang around the world anyway the other 5 days. I ended up having my Sim gain skills since he was there. And he got a girlfriend lol. There’s literally nothing to do back in your regular home. You can add a hot pot, the little table (forgot the name), but that’s it. You can’t even mount the snowboards and things on your Sims wall which seems like a missed opportunity to me. They could’ve made a small ramp you could put in your Sim’s backyard so they could do the winter activities. They create those jumbo sized ice skating rinks so why couldn’t they create a little ramp? I wish there was more for my Sim to do regarding this pack when they were back on their home lot.
I don’t regret buying it because the world is very pretty and whenever I get around to sending a new family on vacation, I’m sure I’ll enjoy it, I just don’t see that happening any time soon because I don’t like my Sims to leave the house for the most part. They don’t vacation often.
The BB Mode stuff like I said is very nice. I still have to test out the platform feature (which from what I understand came in the patch not the pack) and also look at the CAS items. But right now, it’s a 7 for me dawg.
My sims took a seven day vacation and I ended up having to add more days onto it because I didn't have enough time for them to do everything I wanted them to do. I guess it must depend on how differently we play? I feel that the pack has a lot of things to experience.
My sims took a seven day vacation and I ended up having to add more days onto it because I didn't have enough time for them to do everything I wanted them to do. I guess it must depend on how differently we play? I feel that the pack has a lot of things to experience.
same, my sims have just added another week to their winter vacation, that'll be 2 weeks in total, I have never had any of my sims vacation for that long, this really feels like a vacation, which imho is partly due to the fact that most new activities are locked to the world which makes them feel more special.
My sims took a seven day vacation and I ended up having to add more days onto it because I didn't have enough time for them to do everything I wanted them to do. I guess it must depend on how differently we play? I feel that the pack has a lot of things to experience.
I have had to make my sims take a 3 or 4 week vacation before all for the sake of the same thing, not having enough time in a weeks time to do all the things that I wanted them to do while on vacation.
I'll give this pack a 9 now. The patch for console has been great. I was messing around with Build/Buy mode for a few hours and I didn't have a single crash or a loss of sound.
I was able to build a small pagoda style house on one of the 15x20 lots with room for trees out front. It has a proper engawa around 3 of the four sides of it, and I'm going to redo the interior to add some more features.
"That person who helps others simply because it should or must be done, and because it is the right thing to do, is indeed without a doubt, a real superhero." - Stan Lee
My sims took a seven day vacation and I ended up having to add more days onto it because I didn't have enough time for them to do everything I wanted them to do. I guess it must depend on how differently we play? I feel that the pack has a lot of things to experience.
Same. I've gone with a single sim, single father and daughter and family with toddler and needed to extend with all and I haven't come close to doing all the things yet.
I am not all that impressed but I gave it 4 because of the skying which they finally gave us looks like more real action in this pack in the past they really didn' t do much for this type of a Winter Theme. I could do without the location I think it is a redo from Sims 3 looks similar not impressed with that. I would prefer to have Horses.
I really like the Japanese setting and new build/buy items but I kind of wish there was a slightly more modern urban area of the neighbourhood :# Having said that, I only had time to play it twice before the Nov 17 patch so perhaps I missed something!
Now I've had chance to play the pack other then spending a full week building in the world for me it is about a 6 or a 6 and a half. The gameplay is ok but nothing amazing. For me it is at the same level as cats and dogs in it's about my 4th or 5th favourite EP. The festivals are boring and the world I find is just meh to play in. I say this as someone who loves City and Island Living and thought this pack and it's type of gameplay would suit me. Personally I feel there are better packs out there and I feel so upset saying this as I thought I would love this pack.
The world is beautiful, and lifestyles are a welcome addition. But I gave it a low score, because I already have Fitness Stuff, Spa Day, Seasons, and City Living. I don't mind that they added features that I already had, but I do mind that they didn't add that much extra.
Some examples: At the Festival of Lights, it would be great if your Sim could light a lantern and place it in the river. At the Festival of Snow, it would be great if your Sim could work on a snow sculpture instead of just a snowpal. And at the Festival of Youth, adding origami as a craft would have been wonderful.
Don't get me started on all the shell buildings that fill out the neighborhoods. And adult Sims still don't have any winter hats that cover their ears.
I think one problem with this pack is that you don't get to the good stuff until you've played for a long time. You don't even start finding out which lifestyle your Sim is working on until a Sim week has gone by. Your Sim has to become good at skiing and snowboarding before you see any new animations, (falling when they try to stop skiing is the same as slipping in the mud or on the ice from Seasons) and your Sim has to be at level 6 rock-climbing before you can send him or her on the mountain excursion.
8
I give Snowy Escape a rating of 8 because it's lacking in Japanese style dishes and in the festivals as well.
Particularly in the Festival of Lights. There's basically nothing to do at that festival except interact with the town's mascot, eat or drink some thing from the stall or vending machine, buy some swag, and make a wish and play with the bonfire.
Now I've had chance to play the pack other then spending a full week building in the world for me it is about a 6 or a 6 and a half. The gameplay is ok but nothing amazing. For me it is at the same level as cats and dogs in it's about my 4th or 5th favourite EP. The festivals are boring and the world I find is just meh to play in. I say this as someone who loves City and Island Living and thought this pack and it's type of gameplay would suit me. Personally I feel there are better packs out there and I feel so upset saying this as I thought I would love this pack.
You and I feel pretty similar I think - and I also absolutely adore City & Island Living, but this just isn't on par for me, unfortunately.
The pack was pretty average to me, and I don't think it's worth the £35 price tag.
I think the main problem is that a lot of inspiration has been taken from existing packs, so it feels more like a mash up of Fitness Stuff, City Living and Spa Day and it ended up getting boring quite quickly for me. It's a shame, because I really wanted to love this pack.
Sims 4 Wish List:
> Option to toggle on/off random townie generation.
> Turn vacation worlds into residential worlds.
> Option to purchase separate worlds or a world pack.
I like it and I feel so many things were in it that are great. I wish it had just a couple more things like:
New bathing suits
Old style ladies hair updo
Standing ornate screens
Yeti
Harvestibles- one or two more
graveyard like in the Sims3
Souvenir shop, but love the machines so much
Maybe a Japanese porcelain collection
I like pretty stuff, so just a little more and it would've been worth a 10.
I wish they'd included more outdoor plants - I think the only new items are a tree and a rock, and there are so many items that would have been ideal for this pack.
I'll give this pack a 9 now. The patch for console has been great. I was messing around with Build/Buy mode for a few hours and I didn't have a single crash or a loss of sound.
I was able to build a small pagoda style house on one of the 15x20 lots with room for trees out front. It has a proper engawa around 3 of the four sides of it, and I'm going to redo the interior to add some more features.
Thanks so much for the link! I was so engrossed I read several articles about Japanese culture. I only knew a few of the customs so it was a learning experience as well. Love the tips on building, thanks again!
In my house, dog hair sticks to everything but the dog.
NEGATIVE FEEDBACK +FIXES 1.Lifestyles needs to be fixed+ability to turn off a certain Lifestyle on a sim (=the sim can´t evolve this Lifestyle).
LIFESTYLES *The notification that the sim has reached the limit of how much they can work towards a lifestyle in one day => also tell me which lifestyle *Possibility to “turn off” specific lifestyles on a sim (= the sim can´t evolve this lifestyle) *The Lifestyles needs to affects autonomous actions (e.g. A sim with the “Health Food Nut” shall not grab servings of popcorns/unhealthy quick meals all the time)
Close-knit / People person *Should only count friends OUTSIDE the family (and no pets! You don´t need to be a People person just because you have a lot of kids/relatives) *Higher minimum friends for the “People person” (you ain´t either Close knit or People person) *Add the new relationship professional relation to avoid getting the “people person” from work (e.g. if your sim is a doctor and speak to their patients)
Junk Food Devourer *Fix the animation so you can add bacon / sugar on a meal when SITTING and MULTITASK (=that you don´t need to cancel the eating action to add bacon / sugar and you sims don´t need to stand up to do this). *Possibility to “add bacon / sugar” + grab a meal when taking a serving from a group meal
Adrenaline seeker *Fix so you don´t get the “Adrenaline seeker” lifestyle from skiing/snowboarding on a low intensity level. Only activate this lifestyle from “high intensity” skiing/snowboarding/climbing.
Frequent Traveler *Need some tuning or maybe give us the ability to “turn off” certain lifestyles on a sim?
Why not just activate this lifestyle if a sim travels A LOT?? And if they travels to new destinations all the time? “Frequent traveler” will start to activate on all sims in a family after ONE longer vacation (7 days). Some of my sims are interested in skiing as a hobby, Mt Komorebi is the only place where you can ski, but I don´t want them to have the “Frequent traveler”.
2. There needs to be an Freelance career for skiing / snowboarding / climbing: Outdoor sport instructor
3. Kids should be able to level up Skiing / Snowboarding to a LEVEL 5
4. The scenery should be clickable (the shops in the Wakaba area could be “rabbit holes” shops. Maybe the ability to become a business partner = own 10-100% of a shop and gain profit from it -sims 3 style)
5. Ski / Snowboard competitions should be included. Boost your chances in winning: High skill in skiing / snowboarding +fitness skill / Bribe the judge / Cheat - sabotaging for the other contestants (higher risk of getting caught and discalified if having a low Mischief skill). Reward: gold medal + fame + cash price.
6. Improve festivals (more things to do), easy fix: add a list on thing to do at festivals = gain satisfaction points (or ignore and get no punishment, similiar to holidays in SEASONS EP)
7.Toddlers need to be able to sit and eat at the Kotatsu table
8. Add the new relationship status Professional relation to avoid getting the People person Lifestyle from work (e.g. if you are a doctor and speak with your patients) / avoid getting a lot of random friends.
*All relations at work (e.g. your colleagues, or the relations with your patients if you´re a doctor) or with working sims (e.g. the barista / librarian / food stand employee) will list as a Professional relation (work as a regular relationship but you will not become friend with them) *Click on a sim in your relationship panel and choose “Get to know IRL” to start a “real” (friendly) relationship
POSITIVE FEEDBACK
1. Fun with more cultural worlds 2. Lifestyles (it´s a good start, but needs some tuning) 3. Some things to interact with in the world: hiking / climbing on walls 4. Dogs can go on hike with sims 5. Option for chops sticks 6. The kotatsu table 7. Kids can go skiing / snowboarding 8. 2 sims can go sledding, toddlers can go sledding with another sim 9. Different skills for each activity: skiing / snowboarding / climbing 10. Sims can swim in the river (Can we please get a Swimming skill? = level up swimming +fitness) 11. Athletic skills also level up fitness (climbing = level up climbing + fitness) 12. Great idea that game changers / simmers built all the lots
Wasn't gonna buy it but did when on sale because i liked the sentiments idea. Long story short, it's my "I wish I've burnt money in the fireplace instead of buying that" pack along with IL. I might be a bit biased though, because I don't like winter irl either
I still haven't fully played with the pack yet, so I'm basing my rating on my pure excitement for it. I LOVE the world, and the winter sports just make me so happy because winter is my favorite time of year. I had been asking for a resort mountain world for years and they actually delivered. I'm having fun teaching them how to do the sports, and the new outside outfits are adorable and fun. The new vending machines are cute too and I really like the proper trait and lifestyles. I haven't quite made a full lifestyle yet, but I'm working on it. It's something new and fun to aspire for.
Comments
I was fully prepared to pay $40 yesterday for the pack, but happened to check CDKeys and it was like $26 or $28. I was pleasantly surprised.
I would be bored with the pack too if I took a 7 day vacation in the new world. I play differently and only "dip my sims' feet in pack features" here and there instead of solely focusing on doing every last feature of a new pack at a time. I find every pack more enjoyable that way and it also gives you fresh ways to mix other content together with your new pack's experience. I had a great time focusing on unlocking the Outdoorsy lifestyle for one sim Troy but I did it while living in Granite Falls with the Zerbu mod that let's it be a residential world. I realized how beautiful and neglected Granite Falls was! Now that he's Outdoorsy I had him vacation at Mt. Komorebi and he appreciates it even more and has started rock climbing and trying out snow activities. His girlfriend to be did some hiking while he did that. I am rambling now but my original point is to try looking at each feature we already have in tandem with a brand new pack and it might give you a fresh perspective. Just a friendly idea is all.
Yes and it goes up and down too, I preordered for 22 I think, day later it was at 25 😂
I wanted the vacation to be 7 days to make sure I had enough time to do everything since everything is tied to the new world. I don’t like that. I finished seeing everything in 2 days and decided to just have my Sim hang around the world anyway the other 5 days. I ended up having my Sim gain skills since he was there. And he got a girlfriend lol. There’s literally nothing to do back in your regular home. You can add a hot pot, the little table (forgot the name), but that’s it. You can’t even mount the snowboards and things on your Sims wall which seems like a missed opportunity to me. They could’ve made a small ramp you could put in your Sim’s backyard so they could do the winter activities. They create those jumbo sized ice skating rinks so why couldn’t they create a little ramp? I wish there was more for my Sim to do regarding this pack when they were back on their home lot.
I don’t regret buying it because the world is very pretty and whenever I get around to sending a new family on vacation, I’m sure I’ll enjoy it, I just don’t see that happening any time soon because I don’t like my Sims to leave the house for the most part. They don’t vacation often.
The BB Mode stuff like I said is very nice. I still have to test out the platform feature (which from what I understand came in the patch not the pack) and also look at the CAS items. But right now, it’s a 7 for me dawg.
same, my sims have just added another week to their winter vacation, that'll be 2 weeks in total, I have never had any of my sims vacation for that long, this really feels like a vacation, which imho is partly due to the fact that most new activities are locked to the world which makes them feel more special.
I was able to build a small pagoda style house on one of the 15x20 lots with room for trees out front. It has a proper engawa around 3 of the four sides of it, and I'm going to redo the interior to add some more features.
FYI, if anyone is a builder check out this site for some features you can add to your new builds. https://www.japan-talk.com/jt/new/japanese-houses
Same. I've gone with a single sim, single father and daughter and family with toddler and needed to extend with all and I haven't come close to doing all the things yet.
Sadly, several of those features are missing in the game. I wish they'd included chabudai and irori.
Some examples: At the Festival of Lights, it would be great if your Sim could light a lantern and place it in the river. At the Festival of Snow, it would be great if your Sim could work on a snow sculpture instead of just a snowpal. And at the Festival of Youth, adding origami as a craft would have been wonderful.
Don't get me started on all the shell buildings that fill out the neighborhoods. And adult Sims still don't have any winter hats that cover their ears.
I think one problem with this pack is that you don't get to the good stuff until you've played for a long time. You don't even start finding out which lifestyle your Sim is working on until a Sim week has gone by. Your Sim has to become good at skiing and snowboarding before you see any new animations, (falling when they try to stop skiing is the same as slipping in the mud or on the ice from Seasons) and your Sim has to be at level 6 rock-climbing before you can send him or her on the mountain excursion.
I give Snowy Escape a rating of 8 because it's lacking in Japanese style dishes and in the festivals as well.
Particularly in the Festival of Lights. There's basically nothing to do at that festival except interact with the town's mascot, eat or drink some thing from the stall or vending machine, buy some swag, and make a wish and play with the bonfire.
You and I feel pretty similar I think - and I also absolutely adore City & Island Living, but this just isn't on par for me, unfortunately.
I think the main problem is that a lot of inspiration has been taken from existing packs, so it feels more like a mash up of Fitness Stuff, City Living and Spa Day and it ended up getting boring quite quickly for me. It's a shame, because I really wanted to love this pack.
I wish they'd included more outdoor plants - I think the only new items are a tree and a rock, and there are so many items that would have been ideal for this pack.
Thanks so much for the link! I was so engrossed I read several articles about Japanese culture. I only knew a few of the customs so it was a learning experience as well. Love the tips on building, thanks again!
NEGATIVE FEEDBACK +FIXES
1. Lifestyles needs to be fixed +ability to turn off a certain Lifestyle on a sim (=the sim can´t evolve this Lifestyle).
*The notification that the sim has reached the limit of how much they can work towards a lifestyle in one day => also tell me which lifestyle
*Possibility to “turn off” specific lifestyles on a sim (= the sim can´t evolve this lifestyle)
*The Lifestyles needs to affects autonomous actions (e.g. A sim with the “Health Food Nut” shall not grab servings of popcorns/unhealthy quick meals all the time)
Close-knit / People person
*Should only count friends OUTSIDE the family (and no pets! You don´t need to be a People person just because you have a lot of kids/relatives)
*Higher minimum friends for the “People person” (you ain´t either Close knit or People person)
*Add the new relationship professional relation to avoid getting the “people person” from work (e.g. if your sim is a doctor and speak to their patients)
Junk Food Devourer
*Fix the animation so you can add bacon / sugar on a meal when SITTING and MULTITASK (=that you don´t need to cancel the eating action to add bacon / sugar and you sims don´t need to stand up to do this).
*Possibility to “add bacon / sugar” + grab a meal when taking a serving from a group meal
Adrenaline seeker
*Fix so you don´t get the “Adrenaline seeker” lifestyle from skiing/snowboarding on a low intensity level. Only activate this lifestyle from “high intensity” skiing/snowboarding/climbing.
Frequent Traveler
*Need some tuning or maybe give us the ability to “turn off” certain lifestyles on a sim?
Why not just activate this lifestyle if a sim travels A LOT?? And if they travels to new destinations all the time? “Frequent traveler” will start to activate on all sims in a family after ONE longer vacation (7 days). Some of my sims are interested in skiing as a hobby, Mt Komorebi is the only place where you can ski, but I don´t want them to have the “Frequent traveler”.
3. Kids should be able to level up Skiing / Snowboarding to a LEVEL 5
4. The scenery should be clickable (the shops in the Wakaba area could be “rabbit holes” shops. Maybe the ability to become a business partner = own 10-100% of a shop and gain profit from it -sims 3 style)
5. Ski / Snowboard competitions should be included. Boost your chances in winning: High skill in skiing / snowboarding +fitness skill / Bribe the judge / Cheat - sabotaging for the other contestants (higher risk of getting caught and discalified if having a low Mischief skill). Reward: gold medal + fame + cash price.
6. Improve festivals (more things to do), easy fix: add a list on thing to do at festivals = gain satisfaction points (or ignore and get no punishment, similiar to holidays in SEASONS EP)
7. Toddlers need to be able to sit and eat at the Kotatsu table
8. Add the new relationship status Professional relation to avoid getting the People person Lifestyle from work (e.g. if you are a doctor and speak with your patients) / avoid getting a lot of random friends.
*Click on a sim in your relationship panel and choose “Get to know IRL” to start a “real” (friendly) relationship
POSITIVE FEEDBACK
2. Lifestyles (it´s a good start, but needs some tuning)
3. Some things to interact with in the world: hiking / climbing on walls
4. Dogs can go on hike with sims
5. Option for chops sticks
6. The kotatsu table
7. Kids can go skiing / snowboarding
8. 2 sims can go sledding, toddlers can go sledding with another sim
9. Different skills for each activity: skiing / snowboarding / climbing
10. Sims can swim in the river (Can we please get a Swimming skill? = level up swimming +fitness)
11. Athletic skills also level up fitness (climbing = level up climbing + fitness)
12. Great idea that game changers / simmers built all the lots
LIFE STRUGGLES PACK