Sul-sul! Welcome to It's a Sims Thing. If you know me, I love all things The Sims. I've been an avid player and fan of the Sims franchise for most of my life, from MySims to The Sims 2: Pets to The Sims 2: Castaway to The Sims 3 to The Sims 4 and even The Sims Medieval!
While I may have my qualms with The Sims games, I do find there are plenty of features and aspects that I absolutely love. Whether I am creating sims or building homes, I have found The Sims 4 to be an enjoyable, creative gaming experience. Not only that, there are so many features that make the gameplay more enjoyable. From wild jungle adventures to story interactions and even better babies, a game feature I thought I would dread… * cough * cough * troublesome toddlers. It's safe to say there are plenty of things I love about the game, five to be exact, so let's dive in!
When I was first introduced to the Sims game world with The Sims 2: Castaway, I immediately fell in love with the idea that you could participate in another world, completing tasks and participating in quests that add to the gameplay experience. Similarly, The Sims Medieval also added to this love as I got to play as a Royal, Merchant, Knight, Bard, and more!
So with The Sims 4 games, when it came to packs like The Sims 4: Jungle Adventure, The Sims 4: Journey to Batuu, and The Sims 4: Strangerville, gameplay instantly improved as you were no longer just living a plain old life but were able to save the town from an infection stemming from the Mother Plant hidden in a top-secret lab. You could even live out your treasure hunter adventure dreams, searching for special treasures that may or may not be cursed. And if that wasn't exciting enough, you can even wield a lightsaber and explore a small segment of the Star Wars galaxy. I mean, how can you not love these game features?! The opportunities are endless!
Sure, it's fun to create ordinary sims, but why not make gameplay more exciting with occult sims? Whether a vampire, werewolf, witch or warlock, mermaid, or even an alien, with occult sims, we're able to live out the ultimate wild fantasy. While most of the occult sims should have been included in a single pack similar to The Sims 3: Supernatural, which included fairies, werewolves, witches, and better vampires, these wild additions are entirely worth it.
While the werewolves may look cute and innocent, they are quite terrifying to control in gameplay as their powers are connected to the lunar cycle and can switch to feral at any instant. Aliens and, soon after, vampires were the first couple of occult iterations. Mermaids are by far the best, with their colorful tails and wild powers controlling elements and communicating with dolphins. All of these occult sims improve gameplay and provide players with more creative freedom. Now, if only we could get fairies!
Nothing improved gameplay more than the addition of seasonal weather changes and holidays from The Sims 4: Seasons. With seasons added to gameplay, expect the unexpected. Gameplay instantly becomes more interesting and unexpectedly dangerous, whether it is a random meteor shower, a snowy blizzard, or even a shocking heatwave. On more than one occasion, I've had seasons change the course of my gameplay narrative, whether an expected death at a playground in the heat of summer or a polar plunge group gone awry. Safe to say Grim Reaper was pretty busy that night.
Also, there is a broader ability to celebrate preset holidays in the game and create your own. From setting up decorations to completing holiday goals, players get to enjoy the challenge of making their sims experience a better one, with the occasional disappointed sim grateful the holiday is finally over.
When The Sims 4 launched, I was immediately disappointed that the interaction between a sim and their baby was limited, with the baby more of an object than a player. Plus, having a newborn age up to a toddler never truly made sense with gameplay. But finally, after close to 10 years, we were finally blessed with the free and better babies update in the game. While the object infants remain, these better babies are a pretty cute and fun addition to the game. Most of the time, my focus stays on the babies and less on the other sims… Oops! I mean, I'm dedicated to making sure those babies age up well and complete special milestones. Even if they hate tummy time on the mat, I ensure to build upon their skills.
I always thought this update would be tiresome, like the toddlers I'm always struggling to please in the game, but I was pleasantly wrong. While in the base game, there aren't many clothing, hairstyles, and furniture options. The Sims 4: Growing Together pack provides players with all the essentials to make sure baby Sims are happy and look extra adorable.
And finally. Without further ado, the primary reason I love the Sims is…
When it comes to playing the Sims games, my favorite aspect is always, hands down, the vast creative freedom. Whether creating a sim or building a lot, I always find peace when creating in the game. The Sims 4 is by far the best out of all its predecessors. Create-a-sim stands out as a top-tier feature with an ever-growing list of improvements. From selecting likes and dislikes to adjusting your sim's sexuality and relationship preferences and even the addition of various skin details, medical wearables, and surgery scars, The Sims 4 is by far the most diverse and inclusive out of all of the Sims games with plenty of room to grow even more. These added features enable players to tailor more sims and stories they can relate to, especially with the addition of various custom content mods created by avid simmers.
The Sims 4 has plenty of lovable features and is by far one of the most advanced out of all of The Sims games. What are some of your favorite things about The Sims 4? Let us know in the comments. We would love to hear your thoughts on the game.
