A life simulator, understandably, should let you leave your home to experience the wide-open world. And that’s exactly what you can do in The Sims 4: travel to the rest of the world. Unfortunately, in the fourth installment of the classic Sims series, there’s not that much to see.
The Sims 4 has a bit of a world problem. If you were around for the original release of the game, you remember the disappointment when you first decided to leave your home. There was no open world to explore, and there were so few lots to do anything that it was almost better to just keep your Sim on one lot like you were limited to in the original Sims 1.
As the years have gone on, EA has expanded on the amount of worlds that you can visit with the introduction of numerous expansion and game packs. While no one is psyched about having to pay for even more DLC, it at least gives players new worlds to explore. But these worlds are getting smaller and smaller as they continue to release.
Beautiful, but no substance
Visually, many of the new worlds are incredibly appealing. Worlds like Tomarang, Sulani, and the latest addition with the Lovestruck pack Ciudad Enamorada, provide breathtaking views for your Sims to enjoy on beaches, in the woods, and on top of towering skyscrapers. Sadly, that’s all these are though. A vast majority of some of the most beautiful locations are simply set dressing.
Take for example, in the world of Tomarang included in For Rent, there’s a beautiful Southeast Asian-inspired temple that serves as the Tiger Sanctuary. What a perfect place to go exploring for secrets of the town, right? But The Tiger Sanctuary is nothing more than a rabbit hole for your Sim to disappear into, with a few pop-ups describing your adventures.
So, not only are many of the stunning spots just there to look pretty, but the lots you are able to go and check out are limited. The original two worlds included, Willow Creek and Oasis Springs, both have a respectable 21 lots. This isn’t huge, and a majority of those lots are taken up by residential homes, but at least it was a starting point. The problem is that the worlds that have been released have been shaving off lots for a while now.
The world keeps getting smaller
When packs were first released, it seemed like the dev team was trying to make the worlds bigger than before. Windenburg, the world included with Get Together, gave players 14 residential lots and 13 community lots to play with. San Myshuno, packaged with City Living, has 30 lots in total if you count each apartment as its own lot.
However, as more packs have been released, those numbers have been dwindling. Get Famous, released in 2018, has only 11 lots in total. The latest world for players to explore, Ciudad Enamorada, only has 13. Compare this to the largest world included in The Sims 3, Sunset Valley, which had a whopping 92 lots. That’s 79 fewer lots to play with.
It doesn’t help that, unlike previous installments in the series, the map is not editable. You cannot add new lots to the land. While you are able to edit each lot itself, you can’t place a new one next to an existing one, even if that land is blank. The map is instead 2D, with no way to change it.
There are no world adventures here
This has a huge impact on gameplay. Instead of plenty of places to visit, to explore and meet new Sims, players are stuck with the same few places and faces. Playing Sims 4 feels almost like a routine because there’s not much to see and do. Even when new packs are released, you’re able to check out the entire world in just a short few hours of gameplay.
It’s not just the lack of lots, but the lack of variety within them. Each world features the same types of venues, as put by user ContinuumKing on a Reddit post discussing the new features of the Lovestruck pack:
With plenty of upvotes, the sentiment is quite popular. There’s nothing new or exciting to check out in the other worlds because the same activities exist in the world you’re already in. User Big_Stop8917 shared the sentiment:
For fans who love to take their Sims on adventures and journeys that span their entire lifetime, you simply can’t do that with The Sims 4. The coolest places to go are just scenery, the lots that are there are repetitive, and you’ll be able to see it all within just a few days of your Sim’s life. It honestly makes me want to just keep my Sims at home.
We’d love to see a change in this as more DLC releases for Sims 4. Bigger worlds expand the possibilities in gameplay significantly. However, the expansions continue to sell well, so it seems there’s little incentive for EA to fix the problem. The packs will keep rolling out, but hopefully the worlds won’t keep this trend going.
Published: Aug 3, 2024 10:00 am