The Sims™ 4

[b] This negative review can be summed up in 1 only line: [/b] [h1] GREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED [/h1] [b] But here's the elaborated version: [/b] After spending ~1000h ingame on the EA platform, and additionally ~600h on steam, and playing all previous titles of this franchise (on EA platform), and basically growing up with the franchise, I just have to write a bad review about TS4. The game is fun mind you, but I just cannot recommend it anymore due to the greediness of the franchise. The game has almost 1500€ of DLC's! Of course there are also other games with a lot of DLC's, but what bothers me is that compared to previous sims titles, it feels like [b] with each sequel, they split up the DLC's more and more and by that, asking more money from the players. [/b] Like, why does TS4 need 2 separate expansion packs of 40€ each for school related things? (university + highschool) Why does the TS4 need 2 separate dlc's of 40€ each for having a business? (business & hobbies + get to work) Why does it need a separate DLC game pack to own a restaurant that you can manage? I can buy at least 2 separate simulator games that are a lot more in depth in owning / managing a restaurant for that amount of money... They could have easily combined the dine out game pack + business & hobbies + get to work, in 1 dlc! But no, they split it up and ask 100€ in total for it. and there are many more examples of their greediness... [b] Sims 1 had 7 expansion packs Sims 2 had 8 expansion packs + 10 stuff packs Sims 3 had 11 expansion packs + 9 stuff packs + 11 world packs Sims 4: has 19 expansion packs, 12 game packs, 21 stuff packs and 46 kits [/b] Do you see the list getting longer with each sequel? There is even this feature, you had standard in previous sims titles, which is having a burglar that comes to your house to steal your stuff. In sims 4, they didn't implement that "at first", and how long did we have to wait for them to finally grant the players their request to have it in the TS4? We waited 10years!!! 10 LONG DAMN YEARS. But hey! On the bright side, I was very baffled, it was a small & free update, and that they didn't ask 40€ for it as a DLC... I hope people can agree that the previous titles of the game were in many ways a lot better and less money grabby. [list] [*]We had open world in TS3; In TS4 everywhere we go, we have a loading screen. [*]We had a color wheel to adjust each peace of furniture, hair,... In TS4 we only have a small set amount of predefined colours. [*] We don't even have cars we can drive & own, except for miniature decorative cars, that you scale up to make it look like you own a very pixelated car and just pretend it's the same as the feature we had in TS3.. And so on... But hey! Who knows, maybe we will get all those features back, later in 3 separate DLC's for 40€ each! [/list] Thank goodness there is a mod community, because without that, I think the game would have died ages ago. Anyway, I just had to get these frustrations out of the way. I guess I just had enough of it, and decided to write a bad review for the TS4, right after another certain game in the life-sim genre, had very recently released a huge DLC, with a lot of & more modern features and many new items FOR FREE! I just can't wait for a competitor of TS franchise to come out with a similar game, or to refine their currently released game, so that TS4 can die out, and in a perfect world, EA decides to be less greedy in the future. But I guess if ever a next sims title will be released, they will only bring out the double amount of DLC's that TS4 has.... I'll still play the game from time to time, with the content that I have, but I am just done spending money and supporting this franchise in this way. [b] I'm not against DLC's of games, and I think It's nice of them to have made the base game Free to play, after having people paying for it all those years, but I am against the greediness and the fact they could have easily combined DLC's instead of splitting them up more and more into separate, expensive DLC's. [/b] [h1] Edit to this review [/h1], THANK YOU EVERYONE for the awards, When I wrote this review, I thought to just write what I was thinking, and anticipated a lot of hate, although there was a lot of hate, I am surprised how many agree with this review. Together we are strong! And I'm glad people agree with this situation

I adore The Sims 4. Truly. It’s like God gave me a dollhouse and said, “Go wild, but also, here’s a payment plan.” The customization, the chaos, the unhinged storytelling—it’s divine. BUT. Despite my deep love for this game, I can’t in good conscience recommend it. Let me explain. 1. The DLC Situation is Criminal. This isn’t a video game. It’s a financial commitment. If you want the full Sims experience—pets, seasons, laundry, the ability to walk across town without bursting into flames—it’ll cost you roughly the GDP of a small country. I’ve spent nearly $1,000. That’s not an exaggeration. That’s a cry for help. I could’ve learned a trade. I could’ve bought a used car. Instead, I bought “My First Pet Stuff.” 2. Wicked Whims: A Masterpiece… and a Curse. Once I installed Wicked Whims (peak mod, no notes), the game took a sharp left turn into adult territory. I didn’t just play God—I became the Greek God of WooHoo. I woohooed everyone. Townies, bartenders, the Grim Reaper. If they had a heartbeat and a name, they were on the list. Eventually, I hit a wall. Literally. The only Sims left were my own descendants. The game had turned into a genealogy-based chastity belt. I couldn’t woohoo anymore without violating laws—in real life. This was not how the legacy challenge was meant to end. 3. The WooHoo Art Gallery Dilemma. In a fit of artistic brilliance, I began photographing every post-woohoo partner and hanging the portraits in an ever-expanding gallery of carnal conquests. It was elegant. It was erotic. It was… logistically impossible. I ran out of wall space. I ran out of lots big enough to contain my lust-fueled Louvre. No matter how many walls I built, they were never enough. At some point, I had to ask myself: Is this still a game, or is it just an elaborate spreadsheet of simulated intimacy and interior design? Conclusion: If EA ever releases a bundle that doesn’t require a credit check, creates an infinite supply of fresh woohoo-ables, and lets me purchase Texas-sized lots for my passion project, I will GLADLY update this review to “Recommended.” Until then, The Sims 4 remains a gorgeous, absurd, life-consuming mess of a game—and I love it so much it hurts. TL;DR: DLC = too much Mod = too powerful Relatives = too many Walls = not enough Ya boi = still trying to woohoo

It's a great game honestly, but I wouldn't give a single dime to greedy companies like this one.. Just patch the game already. Don't feel guilty about it.

game itself is great, but fuck ea, don't give them a dime of your money and get the dlc for this game through "other methods", fucking 1500 dollars worth of dlc in a lifesim is crazy

EA has abandoned any and all sense of quality or integrity for The Sims 4. They took away the gallery features in May of 2023 and never brought them back. They REFUSE to fix years-old game-corrupting bugs. They have pumped out so many half-baked, overpriced DLCs that they are struggling to even find new names for them - and they ruin the gameplay more often than not. Their official advice for this? Play the game less. Brilliant. I don't know of any other game that has gotten away with this blatant a display of greed. EA finds it to be perfectly acceptable to leave the game in such a sorry state that people's legacy saves are being corrupted. I haven't updated my game since October 2024, and won't be for the foreseeable future. EA is milking this title for every cent they can get before abandoning it entirely. Do not waste your money. As someone who has spent a ton of money on this title on more than one platform, this game has never been in a worse state than it is now. Every new DLC makes it worse and they don't care. It pains me to see something I loved so much spiraling the drain while EA sits back collecting money for it.

Alright, I've hit my thousand total hours into this game, 700 in its Origin days. And while I haven't tried other life sim games much, it's because it's the biggest on the market. But you know what being a big name on the market does to an increasingly richer company? They'll show a greedy side. These used to seemingly have some heart in them. You can see this kind of thing with Rockstar Games too with their modern GTAO updates (yeah, some strays) but the way you have a barebones game at the start and if you wanted many of the paywalled features, you'd have to pay 5-40€ for.... one of the like 50+ packs. At the very least, wait for sales if you're gonna buy the DLCs, I mean it's a technically free game after all. But yeah, the life sim genre is starting to get competitors this year, so go for those.

How in gods name does a company spend 10 YEARS developing a game , and not implement a fucking auto save feature into a game that frequently crashes? How does it even still frequently crash after 10 years of development ?

There are not legal ways to enjoy this game without $1300+. This game is a cash grab incarnate, nothing fun comes from playing it unless you buy the packs, which keep in mind, cost more than the game itself used to cost. You would think aspects such as seasons, pets, decent family and aging mechanics, and decent job mechanics would be base game, but no. This game decides anything but the barest of bare bones is worth 20-40 dollars. The worst part? This game gets boring fast. The only thing that makes the game worth playing is when a new pack comes out and then its like buying a whole new game for a crazy amount because you're desperate. My recommendation? Don't play a bad game when it costs over 100x more than an amazing game to make it tolerable.

good game but should not be played before middle school

It used to be OK but as of this year I cannot recommend. Every update, especially those setting up the new expansions, breaks the game. This wouldn't be an issue if the new expansions and packs wouldn't be coming every few weeks. This is an unplayable mess.

The Sims is a beloved franchise of many years. As such, the company has mercilessly monetized the content. The EA Launcher has ads for more content. The Sims 4 family lobby can't even be viewed without 2-3 more full-page ads for more content, then has ads in the corners. Even if you can get to the game, it still has multiple buttons, pop-ups, and ways to coax you back into the company store so you can spend more money. I could almost put up with ignoring all that in order to play the game. The breaking point for me was that when EA updated the game for a new 'content event' (yet more advertising), it can break the game's capacity to start entirely, as it did on my system. The entire experience is adversarial in design. This company doesn't deserve your money.

I have about 600 hours on epic apart from steam. I absolutely love the idea of this game and have been playing the sims forever but this has to stop. I keep wanting to play so bad, but the game just will not allow itself to be played. Every pack that comes out makes the game more and more unplayable. The game is nonfunctionally buggy. And this is coming from someone who 100% always used mods to fix bugs, constantly, throughout my entire time playing. I just expected it from sims 3, etc. It's too far now. EA is going to just keep putting out packs without fixing the game forever. It's going to get worse every patch, and they will never stop. They would have to stop releasing new content for like 1-3 dlc cycles, and we know they're never going to do that because they can't stop siphoning insane amounts of money from the playerbase for one second. I am convinced that the good reviews come from people who spend most of their time in create-a-sim, because that still works ok. Or maybe they're from people who have very few DLC installed. Because the game just gets worse and worse the more you pay them. Or maybe it's people who just play as themselves and never big families, cause hoo boy, all I want to do is make huge families and that just... Obliterates the game.

Mostly just salty that as soon as I paid for the game it became FREE and those of us who already had the game didn't get anything. Don't Starve gave Don't Starve Together if you already had the game. GTA V Just gave GTA V owners the Enhanced AND the Legacy editions simply for owning it. I am saying don't recommend because EA needs put in their place. ONE DLC is all they could have included for those of us who already GAVE them money. I'm done BUYING from EA. That's why I have NONE of the Sims DLC's. THEY HAVE ENOUGH MONEY. And it was made on UNFINISHED games like The Sims.

Unfortunately, there's too many bugs. Playable with single sims, though playing a family with kids (expecially infants, in my experience) is a true nightmare.

Fun game, the prices of the DLC's make me want to gargle lava... Alas I still buy them

Played all my life and each sims are unique in its own way, i love the game play, building aspect, and interior design. It is pricey though if you want all the dlcs.

This game is HORRIBLE. It is so laggy and honestly just a money grab. I spent SO much on this game just for it to crash every 10 seconds. I've also gotten many viruses for bugs in this game?! Not recomended unless you have some type of super computer.

The current cost as I write this comment of all the DLC is 1,929.10 USD. And by the time you read this, it's likely gone up again. Two grand of DLC. Two thousand dollars of DLC. The game is constantly churning out more and more of these, without any sign of letting up, and I'm not even sure it's possible to play them all at once. The game is glitchy, slow, and honestly, boring. When it isn't boring, it's frustrating. You have to make a special account in a third party app that begged repeatedly for my address after being told no, which can't be shared to another Steam account. So if you, say, only want your child to play on an account you run and supervise, you can't do that. The app itself is a third party download probably because it's a glorified code checker, an extremely brazen attempt to prevent any eeeevil password sharing, which clearly would be bad for the Sims, since as you can see from the 2,000 USD of DLC, they're quite hard up for cash! It's greedy, annoying, unlikable, and irritating to play. I haven't enjoyed any of my time with it, and certainly wouldn't pay two thousand dollars for more hats and a bunch of blatant advertising deals in the form of "cross overs" or whatever. It barely runs on a standard laptop anyway, so unless you have a good gaming PC, don't bother. And if you do have a good gaming PC, you should consider playing a game that respects you as a player and isn't trying constantly to wring 2k out of you.

I've played the Sims since I was a kid.. its fun and playing with mods makes it much better. All the expansion packs are kinda the only downside-- i def only get them when they go on sale..

I've been playing the sims for years! obsessed, but here recently the sims has been so broken to the point you cannot use mods, cannot play fullscreen, and cannot have a dlc u spent money on. If you are thinking of spending money on this game wait until the issues are fixed.

[b] Do not waste your money on expansion packs!! [/b] I absolutely love the Sims, but I cannot recommend Sims 4 until EA fix their game. I have bought three expansion packs (expansion packs all $40) and they all have a massive amounts of bugs in them. All expansion packs are unfinished, they haven't really fixed any of them and releasing DLCs with bugs more and more. The game has become so unplayable that I had to download community made mods just to fix them. They have somehow created a game that is worse than Sims 3. Maybe if EA fixes their game then I'll recommend it, but until then, I do not recommend wasting money on DLCs.

The Sims™ 4 is a Really good game. Unfortunately, You need a Fuck ton of DLCs for it to be worth it. They are working to give the F2P Players More things to work with, with Updates, and Free events At least. Gotta Admit however, with nothing, it does feel shallow. BUT, If you are willing to Put in the time and effort, I would Recommend this game For anyone with a Soft-spot For Life Sim's. It's Really Fun, and If you lose interest, You can use Mods to Enhance Gameplay, or Purchase More DLCs if you happen to have some money on you. 7/10, Would Recommend, But you need DLC if you want it to be Optimal. Another good game that suffers the Wrath of EA's Greed.

this game is so fun!!! and family friendly i love playing it and the amount of creativity avalible is great for people who love costomisable games!

I have recommended this game to others. It's a perfect simulation game that explores other lifestyles and challenges. I love it!

Played for a solid 8 hours 3 years ago. For some reason, the save with the awesome house I built wasn't showing up when I opened the game recently despite the save still existing in the proper folder. While trying to troubleshoot, I started a new game and this completely overwrote my old save. To say I'm pissed is an understatement.

maybe its just nostalgic for me but come on, isnt this a no brainer? my sim just woohooed with a random peeping tom that was rummaging through her trash bin, then instantly grabbed a breadstick to eat in bed. Guy stood up to leave after a power nap (woohoo took it all out of him smh) and then had a heart attack and died on her floor. She only knew this trash man for 40 in game minutes but alas, mustve been very traumatic and she won't stop crying. besides the ridiculous gameplay the building is a land of unlimited possibilities and I've got so much built that my computer can't even keep up sometimes. love this game. 10/10

EA charges $500+ to make the game feel complete. Modders and Anadius (bless them) carry the entire experience. Without them, it’s just a very expensive dollhouse.

Excluding all the bullshit money EA wants for mediocre packs, it's a great time waster when you're bored. However, it requires mods to make more fun.

I always seem to come back to The Sims 4 – usually once a year. It's the same old song and dance: I fall hopelessly in love with a hot vampire, build an unnecessarily large house, bite the appropriate number of people, and lose interest about a week later. Then six to twelve months go by, and I climb aboard the Sims train all over again. Oh well. I guess it works, since I keep doing it.

This game is extremely fun if you feel like taking your time doing things. I personally think them making the game free was the best choice, though I spent money to get this game. The main problem is the DLC and how extremely expensive it is, however, it is optional BUT the base game is pretty boring without said DLC. The DLC all together is up to a grand! EA has gotten extremely greedy from these DLCS, they’re extremely overpriced but it doesn’t change the fact I enjoy the game! Overall the game as a whole is a reccomend! (DLC needs some changes!)

Game sucks butt and for some weird reason that i totally cant think of i have 435 hours played on it. Sims 4 without mods is the equivalent to being nailed to a bench with a drop of water continously hitting your head. overall i give it a house with no doors, windows, or anything in it, with your sim stuck inside.

it's so fun especially for building. It was for a long time one of my biggest creative outlets. Love Love. If you're into building GET CC. its free and makes building so perfect.

Great game that has gotten better through out the years, but to go get the most out of it you need mods.

Allows for a lot of creativity, its very fun to be able to make many different lives through the sims.

The Sims 4 is a creative life simulation game where you design characters, build homes, and shape everyday lives. The game offers strong customization tools, a colorful art style, and a large modding community. However, the base game feels limited without expansions, and the cost of all the extra content can be quite high. Despite that, it's a fun and engaging experience for players who enjoy open-ended gameplay.

dlcs are so expensive but atleast i get to make my friends in the game

I like the design element most of all from a architectural stand point. Although the add-ons will cost hundreds. I have not played with the magic, vamps or wolfs its life. So much to do and be. Look for my (Under the stars) in the gallery under night clubs.

It's fun. Time passes very quickly when playing. the base game it a bit boring and bland but expansion packs make it a lot more fun

game refuses to launch now. played over 200 hours and it just crapped out randomly.

I have mixed feeling on this game. On one hand it is super addicting and can be fun to hop on and play now and again but on the other hand there are so many micro-transactions. Like i understand a DLC or two but there are just so many and they're all really expensive for what you're really getting. For a game that you have to pay for stand alone, it really boggles my mind as to why there are so many DLC's. It would make more sense if the game was free-to-play but it's not, at least when i got it I'm not quite sure if that has changed or not. It just seems really scummy to me. Like how cool would it be if you could have cats and dogs, different areas unlocked out of the gate, and all of the clothes unlocked simply for buying the game? It would be the best Sims game if that was the case but no, you have to buy the DLC. As far as gameplay goes it's fun there's no denying it. It can get a little old after a while but that's the case with all sims games in my opinion. Would I recommend it? Yes, I would. The DLC is really what keeps me from saying yes with 100% certainty.

The sims 4 is an enjoyable game to play. I have over 1700 hours on origin and had more than that on my old origin account, plus whatever I have on steam. I have played every sims game on PlayStation (4 is first I played on pc). While it can be expensive to buy all of the dlc at once, buying a pack/expansion etc here and there isn't bad. I like that they continue to add to the game. Both its build mode and sims creation are well done overall and the gallery is great for downloading amazing builds by people that are skilled at building. The sims are the best looking of all the games and with dlc and updates have a good amount of options for clothing and hair. Though it would be nice if they changed the teens to look more different from young adults, make them shorter and more lanky or something with clothing for just them. That being said I have a few issues with the game. It lacks little things I remember from the sims 3 (console). Such as sims from toddler age up being able to carry around a teddy bear as they walk around, then play with it and have it in their crib while they sleep. At first sims wouldn't even snuggle in bed when they are a couple (they do now). These little things make them more human and I find I miss these animations/actions. I would also like them to add cars only because I hate bringing my sims to dinner in another world that turns out has a blizzard-while they are in formal clothing- and watching them slowly shuffle to the restaurant while slipping. Then almost freezing to death on their way home. At least with a car they can quickly and safely get where they are going. They also need more traits, compared to the sims 3 there are barely any traits and considering these influence what the sim likes to do and wants to do, more variety would be nice.

It is fun creating your own family, falling in love, and making friends.

It's very difficult to not get obsessed with this game...highly recommend.

So I've been playing the sims for a while and it's a good game fun to play but i found a bug where whenever i tried to drag a item from the inventory to something else the item i was dragging would freeze the rest of the game would continue normally but the item was still frozen and then any other items i would try to drag would also freeze now i think this is because i had like 1377 potatoes in my sims inventory but then i couldn't drag any of the other items even if it was one item so if that could be fixed that would be nice

I think Sims4 has potential to be one of the greatest games of all time, the only thing holding it back is how anti mod they are. If they made modding easier, more accessible and worked them into their updates, sims4 would be incredibly amazing. Without mods this game is a 5/10

Classic game. love building the houses, funny interactions with the characters , only down side is the nickle and dime D.L.C nonsense. that's been going on for years. by now with all the money been made for this company. they should be including the game with optional major D.L.C's as a buying option.

i lloveeeeeeee sims 4 my favorite game in the entire world thats why i love to make the babies grow in this game its my favorite part. and i also love to drown my sims in their pool because i like to watch them die and i love to watch the grim reaper come and send my sims to the great gates of hell.

Best cozy game to date. I started with sims 3 and have been playing off and on for years.

This game has been a way for my inner child to stick around with me through this hard adult life. Its always been a support for me. I absolutely love this game and have for over 20 years

Glitchy sometimes, but fun! Always finding new stuff I haven't seen yet even after playing so long.