The Sims 4: Seasons on PC
The Sims 4 may have had a rocky start, but it seems those days are done with for fans. And that’s not just ’cause the mods help out. No no, by now in its fifth expansion pack, sixth game pack, and fourteenth stuff pack, it feels like the fuller game that The Sims 3 felt like by the end of its lifetime. Sure, there are still some mess ups (lookin’ at you, My First Pet pack), but is Seasons another cash grab? No way, Jose. You’re Jose for the remainder of this review, by the way.
You’ve got all the new stuff, sure. The new haircuts and clothes. The new build and buy, of course. But that’s not really the juice of the gameplay here. No, I don’t even care about beekeeping or flower arranging or scouting/botanist careers, though it’s nice to have those options. The meat of the game is very clearly the weather, the calendar, and holidays, and that should honestly be the main thing that gets us all foaming at the mouth.
Roleplaying is incredibly important to simmers. Building, buying, creating, are important aspects, too. But roleplaying is what you’ll spend most of your time doing when you’re playing a family. What better way to roleplay than by facing real world weather within the game? How immersive to have to change into a coat or grab an umbrella depending on what kind of day it is? All the seasons act stereotypically within the game, as you’d expect. Within Spring, you’ve got the optimal season for gardening, Summer brings the heat, Fall has leaves fallin’ all over the place as well as the beginning of cold, and the Winter brings snow.
Not to mention holidays! Being able to countdown to midnight with others or being thankful or even something as small as celebrating the seasons premiere of a new show sometimes is such a game changer for The Sims 4. And those are only some of the pre-packaged holidays. You can straight up make your own weird tradition that’s unique to your sim family. Giving players the slate to create their own stories is really what makes The Sims among the greatest storytelling games of all time.
With all the praise I can give it, though, it’s a shame that there isn’t a whole new world and I personally can’t forgive that. I think that it’s inherently necessary when releasing an expansion pack to give players a new world. Even if it’s just a new vacation world, which the game is still sorely lacking, by the way. With there being such an emphasis on weather and holidays, having a new place to vacation would make a lot of sense, right? Well, apparently not.
Oh, and I’m still miffed that there’s no tanning like there was in The Sims 3.
All in all, though, The Sims 4: Seasons is worthy of your time and attention if you already have the base game. The expansion packs (with the exception of Get Together, really), all bring something new to the table that adds more life to the game. Each new release makes earlier versions of the game into obsolete artifacts. EA has gotten better at making sure fans are getting a good bang for their buck, and they seem to really understand that adding fan favorite stuff – like weather – is a must at this point.
Score: 4/5 – Great
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