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WHY YOU SHOULD BUY THE SIMS 4
Graham Nardone

There are tons of lists out there compiling missing or removed features from The Sims 4.  The lists are so long and detailed many are wondering what’s actually in the game and why they should buy at all.   Graham Nardone attempts to answer that question at Mod The Sims and in the process pisses off fans — inadvertently I’m sure — by dismissing our complaints and concerns over the missing features as “minutia of differences”. 

Here are a few examples of those lists if you’ve somehow missed them:

• A running list of 65+ (yes really 65+!) OFFICIALLY CONFIRMED MISSING/CRIPPLED BASE features… —bflury, The Sims 3 Forums
• Removed/New in TS4 -HystericalParoxysm, MTS
• The Sims 4 Pools & Toddlers: What happened? —Honeywell

The bottom line for Graham?  The Sims 4 is fun to play.  Here’s the full post:

Inge Jones: Please, Graham, tell us what is the reason to upgrade from any earlier Sims game (other than maybe TS1) to this one?

“I know you’ve already heard and read the official "pitch” from numerous places, so instead I’ll offer this… Four main entries into the franchise and it becomes more of a challenge to explain the nuances of what’s different from one to the next. For example, we say something along the line of, “hey, these new emotions Sims have are pretty rad”, and people counter with, “but my Sims have always had emotions”. Well… ok, maybe we did a convincing job selling that fiction in previous games, but truly your Sims haven’t had anything like this before. But the conversation then changes into discussing what is or isn’t there and the minutiae of differences in each feature along some scale because the easiest way to try and understand something new is to compare and contrast it to what came before. Looking at a list of features on paper may tell you what you can expect to find in the game, but it doesn’t tell you if it’s fun to play. That said, if there’s something that’s not in the game at launch and that’s a deal breaker for you then I understand and respect your decision, and I hope you’ll give the game another look down the line.

What encourages me is speaking with players after they’ve had some hands on time with the game to wrap their head around those differences and better understand what it brings to the overall experience. I wasn’t involved in any official way in the Creator’s Camp, but I poked my head in a few times to get a general sense of how things were going, and I came away with the impression that a lot of the talking points we’ve used to discuss what this game is were being validated and appreciated after people had time to play. I personally find myself enjoying the deep socialization between Sims and the enhanced sense of an intimate community of neighbors and friends. Those were aspects of The Sims 3 that never particularly resonated with me, so in a number of ways The Sims 4 evolved my Sims experience to offer something more than just a five year leap in technology.” —Graham Nardone

Personally, I expect more and I won’t pay premium prices for less — not when what little is included isn’t anything I play a Sims game for in the first place.  Less customization, over the top emotions, quests and goal oriented gameplay just aren’t that interesting to me. 

I hope they take a look at our lists of “minutia” and move The Sims 4 in that direction, but if not, there’s always The Sims 5.  I’m still a fan.