For context, a 5 means “passed”, values below 5 are fail grades.
World Aesthetic Uniqueness (9/10)
For Sims 4 or in general terms? I mean, “abandoned mine/lumberjack camp in the forest” is a very common set in fiction, so that would make it a rating of two, but for Sims 4 it is pretty novel. The closest we got so far were Port Promise and the quarry neighborhood, and even those were more refurbished/in the process of gentrification than a place left in disarray.
The world checks all the boxes, it is believable for what it wants to be. I like that there is no town as such (even though the flavor text acts as if there was one), just those scattered buildings.
World Replayability (3/10)
Less than it could be, because there is no way to turn off werewolves in Moonwood Mill, only in the other worlds. That limits the kind of story we can tell there, at the very least you need to take care not to get a were in your screenshots when playing something mundane.
From a non-story viewpoint I guess you visit once during a full moon, get the new fish, the new flower, get bitten and be done forever. There is no game-mechanic reason for choosing MWM over, say, Oasis Springs with the community garden and fossil dig spots. Even swim spots aren’t that rare anymore either.
Personally I’m in love with this world and will make it may new to-go fishing trip destination. There’s plenty of story potential in how this new tourism threatens to change the “town” and its inhabitants. Subjectively this is an 8/10 (due to the weres and their hangouts being a permanent fixture).
World Size (4/10)
World size is okay, although I’d prefered two neighborhoods (one for each side of the river) to make it appear larger. With a loading screen in between I could imagine that the howling mountain is way deeper in the forest than a casual stroll from the bus bar. Also the number of lots is still sad.
Taking into account needs management, I think the size of the world allows for exploring while still having food and toilet within comfortable reach (unlike the jungle, where you need to provision and bring a tent). For a human the open space is just right, for a were or vamp too small.
Build Buy Aesthetic Uniqueness (8/10)
It fits right in with Eco, Little Campers and some parts of GTW, but grunge/industrial is still rare in Sims 4.
Build Buy Usefulness and Reusability (N.A.)
Usefulness depends on your setting, for standard family/career play it is low.
“Re”useability is a weird term for furniture in a life simulation game, where one adds content with the idea of expanding one’s choices. It’s not a dungeon you raid once and then calculate whether repeated boss farming gives you good loot.
I sent my sims to the new place without changing anything, then my werewolf sims lived their lives back home with contemporary BB and I plan to put the young premade weres into a standard uni dorm next. So I haven’t even used the new BB once, let alone re-used it.
That said, starting with Kids’ room stuff Sims 4 furniture has graduated from Lego Duplo to standard Lego, so for that alone the newer stuff’s usefulness is higher than the older’s.
Build Buy Quantity of Content (5)
Haven’t checked yet, but from the lifestream it didn’t look like too much. There’s a trove of BB treasure in debug, but the casual player these ratings aim at won’t ever delve that deep.
CAS Aesthetic Uniqueness (10/10)
Almost bursting the 1-10 scale, at least for Sims 4 standards.
CAS Usefulness and Reusability (N.A.)
For my urban setting 10/10, but others’ mileage may vary.
Ever since University, CAS made big leap forward, and I consider Eco and Cottage the peak of CAS quality. I said before about BB that usefulness depends on your setting, but from the CAS quality alone the newer CAS is by default more useful than the basegame and early stuff.
CAS Quantity of Content (6/10)
Less than it feels, because with grunge being rare, every piece provided adds so much utility. But, yeah, numerically there could have been more.
Gameplay System Uniqueness (8/10)
The first tiers of werewolf powers already obliterate the need for toilets, kitchen and bath, without actually negating the needs themselves (unlike certain satisfaction traits, spellcaster potions and being a vampire). That’s new ground. It frees sims up, while keeping the basic The Sims experience intact.
Other than that, the system itself is a variant of Vampires, like casters and celebs were already, so not groundbreakingly new.
Fury is a new “need” to manage and motive failure in this case has interesting consequences.
Gameplay System Replayability (4/10)
As in: “Will I experience something new with the second werewolf I play compared to my first?”? I think you can earn less points than there are powers, so there probably is some replayability in how you build your were.
Two different packs to join aren’t much, and two of the four new aspirations are tied to pack advancement, with the fourth being tied to finding the cure, something you’d do anyway, regardless of an aspiration existing or not, leaving only one unique aspiration (Lone wolf). So I think the “But I don’t want to make my own story, show me what I should do!” crowd won’t be too happy with this pack.
Edit: My personal replay value is higher than I rated this category in an attempt at being objective, but I cannot judge the exact value yet.
Gameplay System Depth (7/10)
It’s entertaining as heck, but not very deep. Other than Fury, there are no downsides to being a werewolf, there are no banes or quirks, what takes a level of management away. Temperaments manage themselves and are assigned randomly with the only non-modded means to swap them out being Lunar Howl that is basically a lottery.
Points in this category come from the hunt for the lore, gameplay and lore tying in nicely with each other and the whole system integrating in the general Sims 4 flow without sticking out as tacked on. There’s a cure to research, different ways of becoming a werewolf, packs politics… I think a player with the “buy dlc, beat it, move on” mindset will get their ten or 20 hours out of it.
