Is IL worth the Full Price Tag

"EnkiSchmidt;c-17138082" wrote:
Objectively? Probably not. For me? Yes, would buy again. There's still a handful of packs that I'm waiting for outrageous sales (below 50%) before buying, but IL is exactly the opposite for me.

May I ask why? Curious because Island Living is my least favorite pack out of all 7 and I’ve rated it 1 out of 5 stars.

Depending on what type of player you are OP, if you can, I would wait for a sale or put it in a bundle (like I did). The world, BB and CAS are lovely - you can basically build a matching home from IL content which is so great (!!!), but gameplay is very lacking, and not expansion-worthy.

If you love occults (like I do), then mermaids are pretty disappointing - they don't act that much different to a normal sim, and they don't have a lot of different interactions with the water.

If you love jobs/gameplay, then most of this is already in the base game. The swimming actions for oceans are the same as pools (no new skill, diving is a rabbit hole and you can't move the camera underwater even when snorkeling), lounge chairs are in the base game (and the towel interaction is similar, so you're not missing much there), and so is the improved fishing. You have 1 active career in IL (I love how it changes the world, but it only works in one beach/area), and the rest are rabbit holes. In terms of expansion packs: swings are already in seasons, and while you can't tan/burn, if you play an occult in IL, you can't do that either (as my poor vamp sim found out).

On the other hand, I know some simmers really enjoy this game, so if you decide to get it, I hope you have lots of fun :).

Yes. It added a lot. Mermaids can do more compared to Sims 3 and are fully customization, a new beautiful world with their own welcome and all that, new activities and careers, traits, etc...adds swimming in the ocean and the world feels bigger now, make sand castles, look for shells, etc... Plus what you do changes at least part of the world.

I used more so far compared to Get Together.

"LadyKyn;c-17139066" wrote:
I suggest looking at this. Carl goes into a lot of a deeper detail of this pack than anyone and sum it up very well. He is a gamechanger, but Ive found him to look at every feature in the pack and go into it I favor this moreso than a LGR review.
But as I mentioned bwfore the value of a pack will vary person to person.

Also you should chwck out the IL did you know thread for what players have discovered.
https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/960519/a-did-you-know-thread-on-island-living#latest

https://youtu.be/oVDCU82W7U0

It is a good video and well worth the watch. Thank you. I would recommend him to others.

It's beautiful and designed with a lot of care/good ideas, but not remotely close to $40 worth.

Yes, I really am enjoying it. I love the conservationist career and the beautiful world and the build and cas items.

I would be thrilled if it was cheaper of course, but I would also buy it again at full price and don't regret it.

I've heard people saying Jungle Adventure added more and was a game pack and while I agree, I would have bought Jungle Adventure as an expansion haha. I love that pack too. I'm just thankful they gave it to us for less cost.

(And this is coming from a broke single parent who uses her entire entertainment budget just on the Sims, haha! No tv, no movies out, going out for coffee once every few months, no data plan or minutes on her cellphone (only just got my first cellphone this year, one was given to me).

But yep, the pack was worth it to me because after hours of play in it I am still very, very much in love with it lol! I don't play the mermaids (more of a realistic player and haven't seen the mermaids yet) but it's just got so much in it that I can enjoy.

To be honest, I have all the packs except vampires and I only regret 2 of them and think one wasn't worth it. (Regret Bowling Stuff and SPa Day, neither add anything to my game, and thing City Living was way too expensive for what it comes with, THAT one should have been a game pack)

No! It is indeed gorgeous with it's mermaids and landscapes; but the mermaids are really disappointing. There's only very few cool things that you can do as a mermaid. Overall the only exciting thing that it gave was the fact that you could swim in the ocean now. Unlike the Sims3, you need to become a mermaid in CAS or have another mermaid help you. In the Sims3, becoming a mermaid was easy, just buy the kelp. Now it's extremely hard for pre-existing Sims to become a mermaid.

"LadyKyn;c-17139066" wrote:
I suggest looking at this. Carl goes into a lot of a deeper detail of this pack than anyone and sum it up very well. He is a gamechanger, but Ive found him to look at every feature in the pack and go into it I favor this moreso than a LGR review.
But as I mentioned before the value of a pack will vary person to person.

Also you should check out the IL did you know thread for what players have discovered.
https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/960519/a-did-you-know-thread-on-island-living#latest

https://youtu.be/oVDCU82W7U0

That review is so spot on.
It's exactly how I feel about this pack.

I think it depends on how you play whether it’s worth 40 dollars or not.

I got it for about $12 less through a different seller than Origin but even if I had paid full price, I would feel as if it were worth it. Heck, forty dollars equals two trips to the deli for me and my S/O; it's the price of one dinner at a very special restaurant my family and I visit a couple of times a year for special occasions; it's less than half of what it costs to get my hair cut and highlighted every six weeks.

For me, the new world, mermaids, interaction with dolphins, expanded fishing, and build items were definitely worth the asking price, not to mention that island view. My real life is sometimes so stressful that coming home in the evenings and watching my Sim fishing from her boat with a Sulani sunset in the background is super relaxing.

I know not everyone has as much money in their budget as I do, but I will get literally years of enjoyment and relaxation out of this pack. I play this game at least four evenings a week, for a few hours at a time, and when I do the math on what it costs versus how much time I spend in the game, in the long run it turns out to be inexpensive entertainment indeed.