Jun 14, 2021
Why is Everyone Mad at The Sims 4?
A lot of criticism is being thrown around; here’s what it’s all about
While it is arguably the most popular sandbox game on the market today, The Sims 4 has a lot problems. The game is riddled with bugs, has issues loading different features (including traveling between worlds), and many players believe it pales in comparison to previous editions of The Sims franchise.
Personally, I love The Sims 4. I love building and creating different Sims and getting to try out different challenges. I recognize the criticism that the game gets, but I don’t always see eye-to-eye with the critics. However, there are three main complaints that most Simmers can agree on.
Packs are incomplete upon release
With every new pack comes a patch update for the base game in The Sims 4. And for whatever reason, each patch seems to screw up the newest DLC and create more bugs than we started with.
The most recent notable instance of this was with the new Bust the Dust Kit, which introduced vacuuming and dust accumulation in Sims' homes. However, the entire pack was broken.
There is a gameplay feature with the pack that allows Dust Bunnies to form out of dust, and Sims can find trinkets and Simoleons by interacting with the Bunnies. However when YouTube Simmer James Turner played around with Bust the Dust, he found that he was consistently finding items worth thousands upon thousands of Simoleons (which kind of defeats the purpose of playing the game at all as it removes the biggest challenge).
On top of that issue, Simmers found that dust accumulates at rapid rates and it was near impossible to get rid of it all before it showed up again.
The Sims team has supposedly fixed the bugs with the pack, but many consumers took to Twitter to bash Sim Gurus at EA for releasing a pack that was “unplayable.”
Aside from the issues with Kits, which in the defense of EA is a brand new kind of DLC, the most recent release of a GP was also riddled with problems. Many players took to Twitter to speak out about the gig system being broken and reported a lot of issues with building on NPC’s lots.
Players have to pay a fortune to get all the DLC
The Sims 4 has four different types of DLC: Expansion Packs (EPs), Game Packs (GPs), Stuff Packs (SPs), and, the newest type, Kits.
The Sims 4 on its own costs a grand total of $5. EA describes The Sims 4 with features like “Create Unique Sims,” “Build the Perfect Home,” and “Play With Life.”
EPs are $39.99 USD each, GPs are $19.99 USD each, SPs are $10 USD, and Kits are $5 USD. As of right now — not including the new EP that was announced on June 10 — there are ten EPs, ten GPs, 18 SPs, and four Kits. If you wanted to purchase the entire collection of DLC and own every item in the game, it would cost over $800 total.
It’s important to note that EA has regular sales, so most of the packs that I own I was able to purchase at a discount (sometimes as much as 50% off). As well, if you play on PC instead of console, you also have the capability to “bundle” packs, where you can purchase one EP, one GP, and one SP for $49.99. So there are definitely some cost-saving options. However, if you aren’t willing to wait for a sale, paying full price for new content is the only option.
Many critics of The Sims 4 claim that this is simply a cash-grab from EA; rather than combining ideas that go together (i.e. Tiny Living SP and Nifty Knitting SP, with Eco Lifestyle EP, all of which have similar themes and play really well together), forcing consumers to purchase separate content to get overlapping features.
While I don’t necessarily agree with this sentiment — if you ask me, just don’t buy what you don’t want — I will agree that it’s a little outrageous that the complete collection of the game costs a small fortune. $800 for one game is a bit much.
Players have to buy DLC in order to make the game fun
When The Sims 4 was released in 2014, people were objectively very excited. I didn’t play any of the past Sims games myself growing up, and didn’t really get into the game at all until 2019. However with the graphics, it was supposed to be a big step up from The Sims 3.
Unfortunately, The Sims 4 took away some key features that made The Sims 3 so great: namely, the create-a-style feature where players can customize literally any color or pattern on any object in the game. In The Sims 4 there are individual swatches that players pick and choose but have a lot less freedom than in previous games.
There is a lot of criticism against The Sims 4 base game for its lack of content and immersive game play. There are only three worlds in the base game — Willow Creek, Oasis Springs, and Newcrest — and while there are a lot of lots to choose from and build in, there’s also a lack of NPCs and “good" lots.
I think a lot of this criticism is about personal taste because for a while I only had the base game on my PC and I still had fun playing. I was able to download custom content (CC) for free that was compatible with the base game and I was happy with what options I did have.
A big issue many people have is that Mods and CC make the game better, and that it shouldn’t be that way. The game should be good on its own and DLC should be a fun upgrade rather than a necessity.
While there is definitely a lot that can be improved upon, The Sims 4 is still one of my favorite games ever. I recommend it to friends and I’ve written extensively about my love of the franchise. Nothing can be absolutely perfect; even if The Sims 4 team fixed every bug and added every single thing the community asks for, there would still be room for improvement. There’s always room for growth.
