Halloween 2024 sees the arrival of probably the most important and most enjoyable gameplay adjustments to The Sims 4. With The Sims Life & Dying enlargement pack, dying is just not the tip, and there may be way more to do within the afterlife than you ever thought doable. We had been fortunate sufficient to get a peek into what to anticipate from the newest enlargement coming quickly from Digital Arts.
Sims gamers make investments quite a lot of time within the lives of their characters, generally creating complete generations of Sim households. Now, with the Sims 4 Life & Dying enlargement pack, gamers gained’t have to fret about dropping a personality to a home fireplace or an unintended drowning.
The brand new pack creates new pathways to discover each whereas the Sim is within the land of the dwelling and after they die. Whereas alive, Sims can transfer to the brand new neighborhood of Ravenwood. Inside this new city are three distinctive areas: Crow’s Crossing, Whispering Glen, and Mourningvale. Every of those locations is frequented by ghosts, a lot of whom have unfinished enterprise, crypts, and haunted homes. That is the form of city the place your vampire, werewolf, or different supernatural Sim will really feel proper at dwelling!
Due to the proficient folks at The Sims, we had a fast tour round Ravenwood and will see all of the enjoyable particulars included. The map is impressed by the Romanian countryside, with three separate neighborhoods of various spookiness. Every neighborhood has its personal festivals, together with one moonlit celebration the place clothes is non-compulsory through the full moon!
Every new space in The Sims Life & Dying is haunted, however none a lot as Mourningvale. This space is the place many of the ghosts prefer to spend their afterlife. Mourningvale can be dwelling to the Baleful Bathroom, a non secular physique of magical water the place you possibly can lead your Sim into the afterlife and rebirth.
A pre-made Sim household is residing in Whispering Glen which some gamers could acknowledge. The Specter household is Layne Coffin, Olive Specter, and Nyon Specter (who a few of you acquainted with Sims lore could know as Nervous Topic). The addition of this household is a good little bit of colour to the Sims lore and permits gamers to mess around with the connection between Olive and the Grim Reaper – particularly since it’s now doable to attempt for a child with the Grim Reaper! Sims associated to the Grim Reaper are born with a scythe birthmark, and they’re given the flexibility to dwell longer than the common Sim.
Constructing upon aspirations and milestones is the Soul’s Journey, a brand new mechanic in The Sims Life & Dying. Sims have varied Bucket Record targets to attain all through their lives, that are affected by your Sim’s persona, their profession, and a lot extra. The Bucket Record targets are a beautiful method to flesh out your Sim’s story and make their lives richer. As soon as the Sim’s Soul Journey is fulfilled as a dwelling Sim, they will select to be reborn after they die, unlocking extra gameplay as a ghost-Sim.
Different points of gameplay that may doubtlessly change how gamers method the sport embrace new persona traits. The Chased By Dying trait is a difficult method to push your Sim to attain extra of their life, particularly as they know dying is across the nook! There’s additionally quite a lot of enjoyable to have with the Sceptic trait. With so many occult Sim sorts within the recreation now who is aware of what may occur? Simply think about how conversations will go between a skeptical Sim and their vampire neighbor… Would they danger demanding proof of vampiric existence? How would a skeptical ghost react to their very own existence?
The Sims Life & Dying opens up the lives of Sims to gameplay even after the dying of a personality. Sims can write a will and depart household heirlooms to family members. You may even create your individual Sim household lore by writing notes to your Sim ancestors. The heirloom isn’t only a good piece of furnishings, both! The surviving Sim can even try to name upon the useless Sim’s spirit.
As a dwelling Sim, there’s a new profession path to discover as a Reaper. This lively profession permits you to reap souls, fulfill soul quotas, and discuss to the massive man himself. In case your Sim has a morbid curiosity then this can be the profession for them.
Dying and grief in The Sims has been a fairly linear journey up to now. Beforehand, a Sim would die and their family members would grieve for a restricted period of time. Now, with The Sims Life & Dying enlargement pack, grief is way extra sensible. It can have an effect on completely different Sims in varied methods, relying on what their relationship with the deceased was. In fact, their grief additionally relies on whether or not the useless Sim returns as a ghost…
As I discussed earlier than, as soon as the Sim completes their Soul’s Journey, they unlock the choice to be reborn. Your Sim can select a household to hitch at no matter age you want. It’s even doable to have a lot of your Sim’s present traits reborn with the brand new Sim. Though this path is intriguing, the choice to change into a playable ghost is probably the most interesting.
In the meanwhile of their dying, you get to resolve what you need to do. Will you be reborn, change into a free-roaming ghost, or change into a playable ghost? As a playable ghost, you’ve got a number of extra targets to attain in your Soul’s Journey. This facet of the brand new enlargement is probably the most thrilling for a lot of gamers. Ghosts have been fairly passive up to now, or simply spent their time haunting your present Sims. Now, gamers get to be the ghostly Sim, with new targets and actions, together with ghostly woohoo!
There’s a lot to look ahead to with the brand new enlargement pack. From a brand new neighborhood to playable ghosts, and the brand new Grim Reaper profession, we simply can’t wait! Keep tuned for extra as we uncover what else there may be to do in Ravenwood.