The Sims 4

sigh... looks like I am back in my annual two-week Sims rut...

this game is nothing more than a messy, buggy, and vapid money grab without its modding community!!

[...that involve modding which takes more time than you'll spend pla
Fun with mods, though the problem is the modding mechanism really sucks, almost everything conflicts with each other and especially the ones that enhance the otherwise quite boring gameplay. Though if you just need to create an idealized version of your prospective household, because you're a victim of capitalism's failure against urbanization, it can be fun for a dozen few hours. No wonder there is still no successor to it as EA's business model of releasing a meager yet expensive basegame that may become enjoyable with at least a few DLCs has crossed some sort of corporate Laffer's curve where the equivalent of tax evasion is piracy. I do not hope this will improve with the next release as the general tendency is that we, gamers, instead of getting a better product just receive improved graphics and some changed metadata plus stronger DRMs and more of this subscription-based BS that is a scourge of the digital economy.

for the psychos

This game essentially functions to me more like a character creator and building game. The core gameplay of Sims 4 is so heavily downgraded and flawed in comparison to Sims 3 and even 2 that it gets old very quickly, largely thanks to how much the Mood system actually removes personality from the equation and the huge amount of features that have been removed, or added back in a diminished fashion compared to the much more impressive (albeit poorly-optimized and buggy) Sims 3.

The place where this game does shine, however, is its highly intuitive and well-designed creation systems. It is very fun to create sims and build lots and make them look better than any other entry in the series. However, this comes at the cost of the removal of the amazing Create-a-Style feature. I would argue it is almost worth the removal but not quite. I see no reason why we cannot have that level of customization with the improved toolsets of 4, especially with advances in hardware since 2007.

This is a game I'd only say to pick up on sale and to definitely avoid the DLC unless you find yourself legitimately enjoying the core gameplay loop, as they all do little to remedy the game's major problems. It's alright as an entry point into the Sims series, but it will always be frustrating to have seen EA go in the exact opposite direction the series should of went with this game. The Sims can be way better than just ok if it wasn't confined to one of the most notoriously terrible and greedy publishers out there.

My first Sims game, by most accounts, a bad introduction. The character creator is great, the graphics are fine, the house builder is pretty cool (though I suck at using it), but compared to other Sims titles, it's very bare and boring, at least the vanilla. My biggest issue is this game is expensive as a bitch. So much fucking DLC, so much additional content that isn't worth its price, it's ridiculous. I'm not interested in the game enough to spend any money in it, and luckily I got it for free, so yeah shoutout Origin.
It's fun for the first few days, much like any Sims title, but in comparison, it kinda sucks.