i played it a bit and I don't know it's the same long ass game like Minecraft. i downloaded this game for the sole purpose of shipping sephiroth with mikhail faustin from gta 4 and it worked well later on i got some cast of bioshock as neighbors and the protagonist of midnight club los angeles was banging some vamp twink and married on the same day of meeting him

roman and niko were there too but roman was actually a literal deadbeat who watched TV and slept on the public bench outside of his home and niko became a wageslave for the criminal overlords he was working for

id play it more if i could shell out more simoleons that any of my households fail to make any because theyre all inexperienced adults'

check the screenshots in https://x.com/fluddsskark/media

For personal reference more than anything else.

Played this for a bit because I was in the mood and also to write this. Have played since 2017 consistently for about 3 years before taking a break and only properly coming back towards the end of last year.

My relationship with this game has varied over the years, after getting Sims 4, it became my main Sims game and I could very easily consider it my favourite of the franchise, but due to a bit too much time with parts of the fanbase of this franchise, I found myself questioning this. I took a couple of years away from these games (only playing every once in a while and not for too long) and after coming back I'm kind of where I started again. To my knowledge this is my favourite Sims game and one of my favourite games of all time, I am aware of a lot of the issues this game has but I had it in my head that there were far more problems because thats what other people were saying and I just don't think I agree with this.

To start off with the music is pretty nice, I think I prefer it over Sims 3 which surprises me a fair bit but I don't think I quite like it as much as the music from Sims 1 or Sims 2. During CAS a lot of the music feels kind of spooky or Halloween themed which is very strange but I really like it.

This game also has my favourite artstyle in the franchise as it just looks so nice and colourful, but I also just think that it looks really good and I don't really think it'll age poorly either.

Create-A-Sim is at its best here for me due to a lot of different things, the amount of customisation has increased again but this time you can make certain body parts bigger and smaller by holding the left mouse button and moving it in a certain direction to adjust something the way you want it. This is such a simple way of doing things but it works so well.

There's also less restrictions on some things, as now a sim can basically wear anything, at any time regardless of gender. Not everything looks great and while I can, I don't exactly put my sim in swimwear for a formal event or whatever, but the fact you can do things like this is really handy at times and just a great addition. Another new addition is that you can now add specific aspects to sims, like who they're attracted to, whether or not they can give birth, more options for different gender identities (even if it is kind of stuck with the whole male/female jumping point to start off from) and what things they like and dislike (e.g, sports, activities, types of music). I really like this as it makes each sim feel more unique in a way that doesn't feel quite as restrictive as the turn ons and turn offs from Sims 2. The likes and dislikes can be either chosen from CAS or obtained whilst playing the game, its not the most organic feeling thing in the world and a sims who you've planned to be a singer could realise they dislike singing, but thankfully you've got the option to reject a like or dislike when it comes up.

But going back to CAS, the clothing and hairstyles collection in this game is probably my favourite in any video game. Due to me believing I needed every expansion pack and game pack for a while (which thankfully dissipated during a break from the franchise after the University pack) it means that I've amassed a wide selection and it all looks so nice, there's so much variety due to the different types of clothing from each pack. One of the main ways I can justify having gotten a pack that nowadays I wouldn't have picked up due to lack of interest is that I tend to use a lot of the CAS items from it. Admittedly some of the older hairstyles look a little rough but they've managed to make better ones as more time has passed.

Create-A-Style from The Sims 3 is gone and while I didn't really use it all that much, it was still nice to have and I'm a little surprised its not in this game. There seems to have been an attempt to add different versions of clothes to make up for it and I do quite like the variants for a lot of the clothes, but in some cases an outfit will look nice but there isn't any version of it I like. I will say though, if Create-A-Style is gone because that was the reason why Sims 3 CAS ran like shit and took so long, then I am very much ok with it not being in this game.

Another thing that I think was done better by Sims 3 are traits, they're back again (thank fuck) but there's only three slots rather than 5 which I'm not overly upset about but it is quite limiting and I do wish that it was still 5 or at the very least the amount of slots was up to the player or something. My real issue though is the amount of traits themselves, when I was playing I had all the packs I own installed which was, every expansion up to and including Discover University, every game pack up to and including Realm of Magic, around 5 stuff packs and 2-3 kits (I only bought like two stuff packs and the rest is just whatever they gave away for free) and while I don't know for certain, it very much seemed like there were a lot less traits than the selection in Sims 3's base game going off of when I played it recently. This is honestly embarrassing to me and not even remotely enough, even if they had to reuse traits from Sims 3 I wouldn't care, I find myself constantly reusing the same ones and its just annoying. The worst thing is that in Sims 3 I like to try and have some variety in what I choose, two positive traits, two negative traits and one thats skill based (or at least something like that). In Sims 4 I just don't feel like I can do that as much and unless I make a bunch of sims at once and can have a wider variety in what I choose, it just makes a few of the traits feel like they would be a waste of a slot.

Build/Buy mode is mostly the same but just improved upon again, the amount of items to use is great and some things are a really big help (computer desk that only takes up one square is the most notable for me). Being able to drag a wall to extend it is a great addition. Having a search function is so good. Auto-roofing is not a thing (from what I can tell) when I'm pretty sure it was in one of the older games and I sort of wish it was, I suck at making roofs in these games and if I have the option to not do it then I'll take it.

The game is mostly the same Sims gameplay loop but there's a few new things, multitasking is something that feels so more natural, now that a sim can be at a computer, listening to music and every so often just having a quick conversation with another sim. Emotions are easily manipulated and can create some annoyance with the likes and dislikes system (a painter sim can be bored after having watched a crap film and then if they do some art in this state they may decide they don't like painting anymore which is sort of irritating, but as said earlier it can be rejected) but otherwise I do kind of like them.

As time has gone on more systems and the like have been changed or added to the game, Likes & Dislikes got added, Whims became Wants & Fears and story progression got added. While its nice they've tried to add this stuff, half of it doesn't work and if it couldn't be ignored or turned off in the settings it would be far more of a pain. But, in all honesty I preferred it when the game didn't have this stuff as the game seemed to work better and it really only feels like it got added because of complaints from people who never would have been satisfied in the first place, it just feels like a waste.

Speaking of systems from this game, a few got added by various packs and this game is probably my favourite for the packs as there are quite a few that I love and feel like they really add something substantial to the game. There's the usual mainstays, like Seasons which is my favourite version due to the inclusion of holidays and the calender. Being able to celebrate multiple different holidays (some real, some not) is quite fun and feels like a natural progression of the festivals in Sims 3 where it feels like it adds to the experiences Sims can have in their lives (celebrating with family and friends, on their own, in a new or familar home). But also being able to edit them and make your own is great and is one of the few examples of this game really letting the player have their own way with customisation.

I have similar sentiments for the festivals in City Living, as while there aren't that many and they're probably not the best thing to do over and over again. They still provide fun experiences like finding stuff at the flea market, getting into a friendly competition at the humour n hijinks festival and finding love at the romance festival. But the real highlight from this pack for me is the city, I think San Myshuno is easily one of if not my favourite worlds in this franchise. I'm already a big fan of the cities in these games but this just feels great, the lot traits of the apartments, the karaoke bar and of course the festivals. One more thing I really like from this pack is the ability for sims to work from home for certain jobs, while being an author, artist or musician have always been viable options as jobs in the franchise, I think Sims 4 really does try and make a few more options in having different types of careers that feel and play differently. Even outside of this pack there's the freelancer career, registering with the Ministry of Labor to make certain careers feel more professional and Get To Work.

I came a couple of years late to Sims 4 and even with that Get To Work was the first pack I got for the game and I'm really happy it was. I think being able to go to work with your sims was a common fantasy for a lot of sims players including myself and I think this pack does it as well as it could. Sims 3 did have this with Ambitions but it just got old so quickly and the professions could just get so repetitive. In this pack there's a neat sense of progression meaning you're doing different things as you rank up in the careers and going from, say, cleaning up mess in the hospital and giving the patients their food to actually diagnosing patients and being able to cure whatever ails them is a great way of doing it. The three careers feel different enough from each other so it makes any of them feel unique and more fun. I do slightly wish that there were more active careers though. Running a shop is good fun as well and can feel pretty hectic at times.

Get Famous is easily my favourite celebrity style pack as the acting career is a nice return to the active careers and while it could get kind of repetitive and not work at times it was still pretty good. Fame and reputation are two very neat additions that really add to the mark your sim may leave in the world, also I really like all the different ways a sim can get famous as they all make sense on some level and it helps not make becoming a celebrity get too tedious or boring. The content creator career path is also something that I quite enjoy although there's not much to it I think.

The last expansion pack that I have very positive feelings towards is Get Together which I don't think resembles any of the other packs in the older games and that's part of why I like it so much. Over the years I repeatedly saw people asking for redos of basically everything from the older games and while that's fine and all and it lead to some good shit, I do kind of prefer when the game goes out on a limb and tries something different. Its not even a completely out there conept like Into The Future was but it still felt new. The club system is one of the best things to come to the franchise as it just fits in so well with these games, having your sims be able to join clubs and just hang out with like-minded people is already really nice but the level of customisation really makes it feel like it could be used for so much more. You could make a proffesional club, something a bit more light-hearted like a kids club, a cult, a small group that has a rivalry with another group and even making a bunch of people clean and fix your shit for free under the guise of it being a 'club gathering' is what makes this system work so well in my opinion. This is then made even better by Windenburg being a great world and the CAS being one of the best (for me at least) outside of maybe Discover University, Seasons and Cats & Dogs. This is probably my favourite expansion pack from this game and maybe even in the series in all honesty, I just really love it.

This isn't to say I dislike the rest of the expansion packs, I actually really like Discover University and think that it manages to offer a fun and different gameplay experience from not only the standard gameplay loop but also Sims 3's one from University Life. The only thing is that I just think UL is a better pack. Cats & Dogs is fine, I somewhat like the vet career and the animals are pretty cute, its just not often that I enjoy playing with pets in these games. The only expansion pack I kind of regret getting is Island Living as I just don't use it, I do want to properly play with it at some stage as the world seems like it would be pretty different but I never get round to it. Odd jobs and the CAS are good though so that's at least something.

A new type of pack for this entry are the game packs and I think these are for the most part pretty decent. The best ones I think are easily the Vampires and Realm of Magic pack because they put more effort into these supernaturals as they weren't just an add-on to a bigger expansion pack or all squeezed in together in to a single expansion pack and I think this was a good experiment that in my opinion worked out pretty well. Playing with vampires and spellcasters is enjoyable as there's quite a bit to do with them and it makes them actually fun and a nice change of pace from playing with regular sims.

I also quite like Dine Out (despite its issues) and Parenthood as the Character Values system is a really good addition to me as I don't normally like playing with child sims but this make it genuinely interesting. Outdoor Retreat, Jungle Adventure & Strangerville are fine and are somewhat interesting but I've only played with each like once and while I had a good time I haven't really gone back to any of them. Spa Day is really only saved by a couple of the items and the CAS, this is probably the purchase I regret most but at least I can use it as an example to myself to not get other packs I don't give a shit about (not that I think I would anymore anyway).

Stuff packs I don't really bother with but the two I bought (Cool Kitchen Stuff and Movie Hangout stuff) I really don't regret as I use items from both of those all the time. Kits are also new to this game and if one is free, I'll pick it up and that's it. There's probably a conversation to be had about it but considering The Sims Store in Sims 3 and the fact that EA seems to have been a money-hungry company for a while now and they only seem to be getting worse as time goes on, it just seems kind of pointless. I will say though I do feel somewhat ambivalent towards kits as I've seen good arguements for and against them but eh.

Something that is kind of questionable though is the state this game is in, it usually has some kind of annoying glitch. Simulation lag is a pretty annoying one that's quite common (although I haven't suffered it much for this playthrough), sims being more likely to cheat on each other (I just didn't go for a romance because of this, but I had this at one stage with a sim who had the loyal trait and I kind of hate this glitch) and sometimes theres a slowdown of sorts that needs to be fixed by pausing and un-pausing the game (didn't get this one either this time). It feels like it has gotten worse over the years but its not often or bad enough for me to be too affected (it happens every once in a while or so) and its not as broken for me as Sims 3 is.

Another thing to talk about after having talked about the packs is how much money needs to go into this game for it to get fun. The base game has gone free in the last couple of years which I think is a good idea (even though I think the base game itself is fine) but it was originally a full priced game and then its charging quite a bit for all of the packs. So before my break, I did get a fair few of the packs and after looking a couple of months ago, I've found out just exactly how much money has gone into this game and I don't exactly mind. I love this game and so I've played it a lot and I have basically gained something from every pack even if I no longer think it was worth it, so for me overall the amount gone in has been easily worth it. It also helps that I only ever bought like one or two game packs full price and literally everything else I got was on sale for usually half price, I don't really think the expansion packs are worth £34.99 each but £17.49 is definitely acceptable to me. So taking all of this into account, I think the game is fun anyway but the things brought in by the packs are so good that I don't really mind it for the most part. I think the packs have been the best they've ever been and if its less than half a new game (or from what I've seen about less than two thirds nowadays) (also remembering that I think of these packs at their sale price and they go on sale every five minutes, but I do think the game should have a permanent price cut where everything goes to the usual sale price) and also gives me a ton more playtime with the game, not mentioning the fact that I can just research online whether I want a pack or not, I do think its fine and what the DLC should be doing anyway.

To sort of finish a bit more positively there are once again improvements and general QOL changes from the last game, not quite as many as the jump from Sims 2 to Sims 3 but still. Choosing a career straight from the phone and having all of them available is very nice, also not being restricted to a single world in a save file and being able to go to any of them is an incredibly good addition. It has become really easy to check what age an NPC is and what their traits are after you learn them, there's now two relationship bars again but rather than a lifetime relationship bar and a daily one, its now a much more simple friendship bar and romance bar. Many little conveniences have been added as well like, locking your computer so no one else can use it and choosing which sinks are for washing hands and which are for washing dishes.

But something that I consider an improvement is the difficulty of the game as its now the easiest one, There feels like there's more free time to do stuff without needing to tend to your needs and less surprises happen in the game, it has basically become really good as I've always liked having a fair bit of control over what happens in the game and don't really like it when things go to plan. So even though I think we should get to a point in the series where things like needs decaying, random events and how easy it is to get/lose money or whatever have settings which can be adjusted so that players can make the game the want they want it. I'm just happy that there is an entry in the franchise that caters to my preferred play style.

This game is far from perfect and I really do think that the issues it has should be fixed before EA moves onto the next entry, but it'll probably just get abandoned in a less than desired state. Still though for now my problems with it aren't too big and this game has brought me so many great times and has just been a constant source of fun for me when I play it. I love this game and feel more than comfortable calling it one of my favourites of all time.