Post by Lady Serana on May 27, 2015 22:21:02 GMT -5
I was first introduced to "The Sims" series back in the year 2000 when the original Sims was first released, I was eleven years old. My big sister had a friend who loved the game and insisted she borrow it and try it out for herself. I remember watching her play it and wishing to create my own simulated family. She ended up not liking the game herself, but I took to it like a cat to catnip. And thus began a fifteen year love. Hours of neglecting friends, homework, and food... I was hooked and happy about it.
One of my first favorite video games, Barbie hands and all.
What I love most about The Sims is the creative freedom it provides. The freedom to be who you want to be, to experience life as someone else, or the freedom to be who you really are but aren't allowed to be in reality, for one reason or another. The awkward shy girl who has always been in the corner can become the popular cheerleader. You can create yourself a sugar momma who takes care of your every need so you can focus your time on sleeping in till noon and going to the club every night. Or you can finally give yourself the family you always wished you were born into!
The Sims is also a great creative outlet that allows gamers to build almost any type of building they can imagine (more so in The Sims 2 and 3), with any the landscape that they desire. With The Sims, you are able to finally realize your dream home! As for the architecture-ly challenged people out there who just want to create sims and play in the premade homes, they are able to express their creativity through the story mode with complex interpersonal stories involving multiple individuals. Create generations of families, with personal stories for each and every individual in the family!
Sims' genes even carry on to the next generation.
The first Sims released in February of the year 2000, was a beautiful beginning of a beloved game series. Then the first expansion pack, "The Sims Livin' Large", was released in August. This was a huge deal! Our game that we already loved had been expanded on! We now had more characters, new career options, more items, and brand new features! Then, approximately seven months later, (April, 2001) the next expansion pack was released, "The Sims House Party". This one was loved as well, we were given more items, characters and features! Then seven months later, another expansion (November, 2001), then another about five months after that (March, 2002), and another seven months (November 2002) after that! We were happy gamers who were simply happy to be given a game that we loved and were thankful for every new feature that was given, every half a year or so. And remember... we are paying for each and every one of these.
Many birthdays, Christmases, and allowance money.
Then after four years of expansion packs, in September of 2004, "The Sims 2" arrived! All the sims lovers went wild with excitement. It had beautifully improved graphics, the ability to view the world in full 3D, greater options for customizing sims in Create-a-Sim, rewards for game play, seven life stages including aging, and etc! It was everything we loved from the first one, but so much more! And then came the years of expansion packs... This one had eight expansions, and nine "stuff" packs, making seventeen in total! But each expansion gave us something new and interesting that we loved and were willing to pay the price for. So once again, we shoveled out money to "The Sims" every year, twice a year...
And the money shoveling continued...
After about five years of the second base game's expansions, came, you guessed it... "The Sims 3"! This one, being my personal favorite, had even further notable improvements from the previous two. Although I could easily list all the improvements, I will tell you my favorites for the reasoning you will soon see. The greatest improvement was the open world. Once you began your game in your home, there were NO MORE loading screens for the rest of your time playing! You want to ride your bike to the local gym? No problem! You can watch your sim walk to the road, watch them ride all the way to the gym and even stay with them while they are lifting weights! What if while your other sim back at home starts a kitchen fire while you were out? No problem! You are able, fast and effortlessly, to glide right back home with the click of one button. Amazing! Such freedom had never been realized in a sim game before!
One big, beautiful, open world!
My other two favorite aspects of the third base game that I loved the most will be grouped into one category, Create-a-Style. In the previous games, the player was able to customize their sims and homes well, but the third game mastered customization! Before the third base game, when designing clothing or rooms, you were limited to the predetermined colors and set designs. Now, with the help of Create-a Style and a full color wheel, the player can make clothing/walls/carpet/furniture/anythingatall be any color or style they desire! Have you ever wanted a complete black and white zebra bedroom?? Do you want your dress to be exactly the same as your couch, bedspread or wallpaper?? Now you can! The Sims 3 will never tell you "no"!
And then came "The Sims 4"... we were excited! What did EA Games have in store for us this time!? Well, as it turns out, not much. Don't get me wrong, they did upgrade the graphics, if smooth, shiny, cartoon looking sims are your thing. They did add in the ability for sims to multi-task, which is a great new way to make life more fluid and less focused on taking care of the mundane basic physical needs. The final improvement that the fourth installment made was improved frame rate... at the cost of an extensive list of features MISSING. Remember all the features mentioned earlier that were greatly loved from the previous games?? Well, forget them, because they are long gone in "The Sims 4". Basements? GONE! Ghosts? GONE!! Terrain tools? Nope, every block of land is completely flat! Story progression outside the current family? Nope, your sims will grow and change, and everyone else will be forever stagnate. A full color wheel in Create-a-Sim? Now you get to choose from a small pre-approved selection of colors based on what you're looking at. Toddlers? No, babies will literally jump right out of the cradle and turn right into fully grown children. And my personal favorite: the open world. This was my final straw, the salt in the wound, the jerk of the knife, i had had it. In "The Sims 4", you cannot simply walk outside your door and visit your neighbor. What do you get instead? Loading screens! Visit the local park, loading screen! Go across the street, loading screen!! Check on your sims back at home, LOADING SCREEN!! And in case you are interested, here is a full list of all the items and features that were NOT included in the fourth game: <http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/759976/updated-the-list-of-whats-confirmed-not-returning-in-the-series-with-the-sims-4-as-of-now>.
It is important that I am honest here, I never bought the game. I bought and enjoyed the first, second, and third base games along with many expansions, but I refuse to buy this one. I am the type that always does research before buying new games, and once the reviews were released, i was far less than impressed with what I heard. The fourth game is a gutted, depressed version of the previous games, with the same high asking price! As a gamer, especially a long-time loyal follower of the series, I am insulted by this horrific move by EA Games! How dare they take a game I love, gut it nearly to the point of unrecognizable, and then "add insult to injury" by asking the same price as a full game!? I may have been willing to pay half price, but after looking at the full list of features missing, I'm not even sure it is worth half! In fact, every sale this game makes angers me, because it is telling the makers that they can give us a crappy shadow of a game, and we will still buy it at full price! People who take advantage of others like this should not be rewarded.
I don't even know what to say...
I have always been under the impression that sequels should be BETTER than their predecessors. Take something good, and simply add on to it and make it better, right? How hard is that? I guess when you have people who will buy your crap, and then continue to stand up for you saying "they will bring them back in future expansions..." , then you don't have to actually try to make games of quality. On that note, i would like to know how brain dead a person has to be to have no problem with someone taking something from them, and then proceeding to force them to PAY to get it back. Maybe these people don't work for their money. Maybe $70 to be returned what should have been theirs to begin with, just isn't a big deal to some people. But for the people out there who were considering buying this game, who care about quality games, and who believe in justice... for the love of God, DON'T buy this game! Do not support this kind of laziness and greed.
Say NO to laziness and greed! Oops... sorry, wrong picture! ^_^
One of my first favorite video games, Barbie hands and all.
What I love most about The Sims is the creative freedom it provides. The freedom to be who you want to be, to experience life as someone else, or the freedom to be who you really are but aren't allowed to be in reality, for one reason or another. The awkward shy girl who has always been in the corner can become the popular cheerleader. You can create yourself a sugar momma who takes care of your every need so you can focus your time on sleeping in till noon and going to the club every night. Or you can finally give yourself the family you always wished you were born into!
Your real family...
Your Sims family!
Your Sims family!
The Sims is also a great creative outlet that allows gamers to build almost any type of building they can imagine (more so in The Sims 2 and 3), with any the landscape that they desire. With The Sims, you are able to finally realize your dream home! As for the architecture-ly challenged people out there who just want to create sims and play in the premade homes, they are able to express their creativity through the story mode with complex interpersonal stories involving multiple individuals. Create generations of families, with personal stories for each and every individual in the family!
Sims' genes even carry on to the next generation.
The first Sims released in February of the year 2000, was a beautiful beginning of a beloved game series. Then the first expansion pack, "The Sims Livin' Large", was released in August. This was a huge deal! Our game that we already loved had been expanded on! We now had more characters, new career options, more items, and brand new features! Then, approximately seven months later, (April, 2001) the next expansion pack was released, "The Sims House Party". This one was loved as well, we were given more items, characters and features! Then seven months later, another expansion (November, 2001), then another about five months after that (March, 2002), and another seven months (November 2002) after that! We were happy gamers who were simply happy to be given a game that we loved and were thankful for every new feature that was given, every half a year or so. And remember... we are paying for each and every one of these.
Many birthdays, Christmases, and allowance money.
Then after four years of expansion packs, in September of 2004, "The Sims 2" arrived! All the sims lovers went wild with excitement. It had beautifully improved graphics, the ability to view the world in full 3D, greater options for customizing sims in Create-a-Sim, rewards for game play, seven life stages including aging, and etc! It was everything we loved from the first one, but so much more! And then came the years of expansion packs... This one had eight expansions, and nine "stuff" packs, making seventeen in total! But each expansion gave us something new and interesting that we loved and were willing to pay the price for. So once again, we shoveled out money to "The Sims" every year, twice a year...
And the money shoveling continued...
After about five years of the second base game's expansions, came, you guessed it... "The Sims 3"! This one, being my personal favorite, had even further notable improvements from the previous two. Although I could easily list all the improvements, I will tell you my favorites for the reasoning you will soon see. The greatest improvement was the open world. Once you began your game in your home, there were NO MORE loading screens for the rest of your time playing! You want to ride your bike to the local gym? No problem! You can watch your sim walk to the road, watch them ride all the way to the gym and even stay with them while they are lifting weights! What if while your other sim back at home starts a kitchen fire while you were out? No problem! You are able, fast and effortlessly, to glide right back home with the click of one button. Amazing! Such freedom had never been realized in a sim game before!
One big, beautiful, open world!
My other two favorite aspects of the third base game that I loved the most will be grouped into one category, Create-a-Style. In the previous games, the player was able to customize their sims and homes well, but the third game mastered customization! Before the third base game, when designing clothing or rooms, you were limited to the predetermined colors and set designs. Now, with the help of Create-a Style and a full color wheel, the player can make clothing/walls/carpet/furniture/anythingatall be any color or style they desire! Have you ever wanted a complete black and white zebra bedroom?? Do you want your dress to be exactly the same as your couch, bedspread or wallpaper?? Now you can! The Sims 3 will never tell you "no"!
As easy as drag and drop.
With "The Sims 3", you can do anything!
With "The Sims 3", you can do anything!
And then came "The Sims 4"... we were excited! What did EA Games have in store for us this time!? Well, as it turns out, not much. Don't get me wrong, they did upgrade the graphics, if smooth, shiny, cartoon looking sims are your thing. They did add in the ability for sims to multi-task, which is a great new way to make life more fluid and less focused on taking care of the mundane basic physical needs. The final improvement that the fourth installment made was improved frame rate... at the cost of an extensive list of features MISSING. Remember all the features mentioned earlier that were greatly loved from the previous games?? Well, forget them, because they are long gone in "The Sims 4". Basements? GONE! Ghosts? GONE!! Terrain tools? Nope, every block of land is completely flat! Story progression outside the current family? Nope, your sims will grow and change, and everyone else will be forever stagnate. A full color wheel in Create-a-Sim? Now you get to choose from a small pre-approved selection of colors based on what you're looking at. Toddlers? No, babies will literally jump right out of the cradle and turn right into fully grown children. And my personal favorite: the open world. This was my final straw, the salt in the wound, the jerk of the knife, i had had it. In "The Sims 4", you cannot simply walk outside your door and visit your neighbor. What do you get instead? Loading screens! Visit the local park, loading screen! Go across the street, loading screen!! Check on your sims back at home, LOADING SCREEN!! And in case you are interested, here is a full list of all the items and features that were NOT included in the fourth game: <http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/759976/updated-the-list-of-whats-confirmed-not-returning-in-the-series-with-the-sims-4-as-of-now>.
Believe it or not, this is the FIRST game's map!
Are you kidding me!?
Are you kidding me!?
It is important that I am honest here, I never bought the game. I bought and enjoyed the first, second, and third base games along with many expansions, but I refuse to buy this one. I am the type that always does research before buying new games, and once the reviews were released, i was far less than impressed with what I heard. The fourth game is a gutted, depressed version of the previous games, with the same high asking price! As a gamer, especially a long-time loyal follower of the series, I am insulted by this horrific move by EA Games! How dare they take a game I love, gut it nearly to the point of unrecognizable, and then "add insult to injury" by asking the same price as a full game!? I may have been willing to pay half price, but after looking at the full list of features missing, I'm not even sure it is worth half! In fact, every sale this game makes angers me, because it is telling the makers that they can give us a crappy shadow of a game, and we will still buy it at full price! People who take advantage of others like this should not be rewarded.
I don't even know what to say...
I have always been under the impression that sequels should be BETTER than their predecessors. Take something good, and simply add on to it and make it better, right? How hard is that? I guess when you have people who will buy your crap, and then continue to stand up for you saying "they will bring them back in future expansions..." , then you don't have to actually try to make games of quality. On that note, i would like to know how brain dead a person has to be to have no problem with someone taking something from them, and then proceeding to force them to PAY to get it back. Maybe these people don't work for their money. Maybe $70 to be returned what should have been theirs to begin with, just isn't a big deal to some people. But for the people out there who were considering buying this game, who care about quality games, and who believe in justice... for the love of God, DON'T buy this game! Do not support this kind of laziness and greed.
Say NO to laziness and greed! Oops... sorry, wrong picture! ^_^