Werewolf Expansion

Personally I rather like the pack. But we can all have different opinions.

positives

• the sims team did think about werewolf/vampire rivalry. They instantly dislike each other. There is lore about them being enemies which pop up messages if you read the books that come with the werewolf pack. Werewolves and vampires can duel each other (spellcasters can't for example). The details of werewolf-vampire rivalry differ between books, movies and lore in general. There is not one set version. So the devs were able to give it their own flavour by adding in spellcasters to the story. But all of this is in sims style of course, no explicit violence.
• werewolves are flexible. You can make them overpowered if you want to by unlocking perks like lunar resistance, immortality or perks to quickly needs anywhere. But you don't have to play that way. If you don't want to unlock perks, you can play without as well. You can also pick and choose. For instance do you want to go for the more agressive perks like vicious howl or curse bearer or the more practical like wolf nap and personal grooming.
• packs offer ranks to climb: omega, delta, beta and alfa. There is some progression and alfa is required for two of the aspirations. But ranks are only tied to the packs, not the werewolf abilities. This means simmers can choose if they want to play with a pack or not, independently from the werewolf perks they unlock. Werewolf ranks (pup, runt, prime, veteran, apex) determine the available perks. Those mark the progression of the power of individual werewolves.

negatives

• Only two default packs: well that is a downside. I would have loved if we could have the same freedom as we do with clubs.
• no full transformation: It would have been great if they would have been able to become really wolf like, like the animal. Now we only have a humanoid wolf form.
• only male body frames: this is one of my personal downsides. I know some simmers want them to look more wolf like but since they are stuck with very humanoid shaped bodies, I think a feminine frame should have been added as well

WOLFSBANE: This used to be part of the vampires pack but was patched into base game at the launch of werewolves. Any simmer, even the ones with only base game, have wolfsbane in their game. Unfortunatly there is no plant to harvest in base game, you only find those plants in forgotten hollow OR moonwood mill. But you can get on through seed packets and fishing with only base game.

I had a lot of fun with the pack, but then again I don't play the most agressive sims, both werewolves and other sims tend to be rather nice in my game. I think werewolves are some of the better occults in the game with useful perks but also some downsides you have to deal with, something spellcasters for example totally lack. The lore is consistent and has attention for the general theme of werewolves against vampires.