Did reading that article make anyone else just a little bit frustrated or was it just me? Them talking about how "large, expansive and groundbreaking" snowy escape is feels like a joke to me. "Lifestyles and sentiments are dramatic changes to the life simulation portion of The Sims 4" they really aren't though. They're definitely a step in the right direction but they're still mainly just emotion buffs.
If they really don't want to move onto TS5 then the emotion system Needs an overhaul. Traits need help too because I'd like them to do more than just give my sims emotion buffs and vaguely influence a few actions (like taking a book out of the shelf just to put it down and grab another one ?). There also just aren't enough traits even 6 years in it's kind of pathetic. We don't even get new ones added to the base game we have to buy them. Better aspirations would also be nice I'm tired of all the tutorial ones we get now.
I also miss whims. I didn't like them as much as TS2's wants/fear system but it was better than nothing. I had to turn my whims off because the amount of times they would be to buy some object that they usually already owned was driving me up the wall. But since they turned off whims automatically now I doubt we're ever getting that system back...
I would also like to see open neighborhoods. I feel like it's a nice middle ground between closed and open worlds. I'd like to be able to visit neighbors or the local cafe without having to go through a loading screen. You don't even have to load all of the buildings interiors at once. Just make it so a sim can go over and knock on the door to load the interior like they already do just remove having to travel to do it. And maybe it could even be toggled so lower end PC players can have an option.
I used to be sternly in the camp of "no sims 5 until the sims 4 actually feels like a real entry into the series" but I've come to accept that the engine they used and the quick assembly of the game after being forced to scrap the online version has severely hindered this game to a point where I'm not sure how much it can be salvaged and improved. Plus it's 6 years old. And they think that there's endless possibilities for expansion?? Where? I just don't see it. Especially since the team keeps complaining about all the things we want that they can't do because it's "hard".... Even after the switch from 32 to 64 bit the neighborhoods continue to shrink in size "for performance". I doubt we'll ever see another neighborhood as large as Windenburg and that really sucks. Or if we do we'll only have 10 lots surrounded by fake buildings you can't interact with ?
I want this game to be good so badly, and if it was treated with the love and respect that TS2 had it could be that good! It's not necessarily a Bad game but it is severely disappointing when we know what could be done in older iterations, and how the new and better tech we have today could allow those older, kind of bugged systems to work so much better! But unfortunately this just feels like "Cut Corners: The Game" sold at full price and being forced to live longer just because it's being milked as a cash cow and not because it actually has the room to grow... As someone who's been playing since TS1 I'm just so disappointed in where the sims is now and I'm just hoping Paralives can offer SOME kind of competition...
