nngrNRGNaauunGHnghhhh!
I'm already tired of talking about this pack and I haven't even started!
This is The Sims 4: My First Pet Stuff and it is unbelievably the 14th stuff pack to
The Sims 4. *14TH!* It costs $10 and lets you play with virtual rodents. Yep
So I find at this point it's probably a good idea to reiterate that I actually do
like The Sims as a series. I'm not making videos criticizing it because I hate it,
but because I truly want to see it become better and better. That being said
this is not the day that happens because what we've got is The Sims 4 My First
Pet Stuff... and it's the single stupidest pack for The Sims 4 thus far. What I mean
by that is this is the first time that a stuff pack requires you to have bought
a previous pack in order to fully utilize it. Seriously, an expansion for an
expansion. This means that unless you've already bought and installed the $40
Cats and Dogs expansion pack you do not get to use everything in the $10 First
Pet Stuff pack that you just bought. I can hear Ralph
suddenly bursting into flame already...
*Ralph suddenly bursts into flame, dramatic music and fire sound effects ensue*
Well that was dramatic. But okay, before I get too far ahead of myself, let's take a
look at what you actually get here. And well this is more complicated than usual
because what you get is determined by whether or not you have the Cats and
Dogs pack, but I'm gonna do my best. Pretty much if something you see in here
applies to either a cat or a dog you won't be able to use it unless you have
the expansion to go along with it. So you pay for all these cat and dog
outfits regardless of whether or not you have the actual cats and dogs, isn't that
fun? And that's notable because the majority of the new clothing here is
only for cats and dogs there are only a few items for your humanoid sims. So you
get a few hairstyles for adults, a single shirt and a hamster outfit, a single
shirt and a onesie for kids, and a hat a shirt and a onesie for toddlers.
That's it.
Oh and pretty much all of these are recolors and slight alterations of
things that were already added to the game previously. Granted, this is nothing
shocking considering how often it's happened before in The Sims 4, but it's
just a little bit of extra salt in the wound that I find amusingly
disheartening. Same goes with the build mode objects like these desks and chairs
and things that fit perfectly with the design and color swatches of the items
that were included in Cats & Dogs. Gee, what a coincidence, almost like they
were made for that pack to begin with! Suspiciously shared design language or
not, you get a grand total of 35 objects in this pack, starting with two couches
and two chairs -- one of which kind of looks like a hamster swallowed an
ottoman. You also get two cat-inspired lamps, a bookcase, a small hamster toy, and
a few wall decorations. A round end table and an aquarium coffee table, the latter
of which looks cooler than it actually is since you can't customize the fish or
interact with it in any way. Speaking of "cooler than it looks," I thought these
hamster habitat tubes might let your rodents wander all over the walls
through custom pathways or something, but nope. They're just flat decals. Then you
get three window shades, two pet doors, a flattened rodent rug, a tree stump
feeding bowl, another pet toy box, another litter box, and another set of cat condos.
There are also two pet beds, which is fine but I really thought this would
have been a good opportunity to include some dog houses.
But nah, guess not. And yeah, if you've noted a good chunk of this stuff will only be
useful to you if you have Cats & Dogs. So if you don't own that then a lot of
this stuff just acts as a constant teaser to buy more content so you don't
feel left out, and I assume that's the point. And finally you get four rodent
homes with this pack -- regardless of what you owned previously, how generous!
Each one comes in the same cage and can do the same things, but aesthetically they
do differ, giving you the choice of a hamster, a hedgehog, a rat,
and a "Bubalus..."
Bubba-loose? Buh-bah-luss?
*DING!* I don't know, THAT. It's a little purple voidcritter thing.
Anyway these are always simpler to care for and don't take up a family slot
like cats and dogs do, and all you are really responsible for with them is
giving them a little food, attention, and cleaning every so often and that's it!
They're quite self-sufficient. And just hanging around and doing rodent things,
like eating, sleeping, taking sand baths, and running around wheels because you
GOTTA GO FAST ♪ EVERYBODY'S SUPER SONIC RACING ♫
Younger sims can choose to study them as well in order to take care of their
homework for the day, and most anyone can give them treats, talk to them, or take
them out to play for a second. Granted, you cannot actually choose
individual play interactions or take them out of the cage beyond anywhere
right in front of the door, but these interactions do improve your
relationship with each rodent. And that's important because
an unhappy rodent is prone to biting.
*sounds of an unhappy rodent biting*
And biting from a dirty critter can also lead to a new sickness:
Rabid Rodent Fever. And suffice to say your sims will not feel up to "livin' large"
when they have this. Researching it on the web or a visit to the vet's
office can help them get rid of it, but otherwise it's a fatal disease and
causes a mouth-foaming death.
*sounds of a mouth-foaming death occur. jeez.*
When they're not trying to murder you with rabid nastiness,
rodents also get up to some strange activities at night, like
holding raves and testing tiny little nuclear devices. *BOOM*
They seem to have a bit of a Pinky and The Brain thing
going on, where they're constantly messing around
with odd projects and even reaching scientific breakthroughs or ghostwriting
bestselling novels. And then sometimes they'll go on vacation for an afternoon,
sending you a collectible (but ultimately useless) postcard as a cheap consolation
while they're off frolicking on the beach having the time of their lives.
Sounds like an apt analogy for how EA treats simmers if I've ever heard one.
And that's it for The Sims 4 First Pet Stuff. Again, this is $10. And you only get
everything you paid for if you've already paid them for Cats & Dogs in
the past, effectively making it a $50 experience to get everything altogether.
And no, it is not worth buying if you ask me. Even with some cutesy
creatures the overall content itself is straight-up lacking in a big way due to
being both shoddily slapped together in a short amount of time, and because of
how a chunk of potential customers are made to pay for stuff they can't even
use without shelling out another 40 bucks. And that just bothers me, man. In my
eyes, they should have either made all of this content apply to Cats & Dogs
owners only, or only include stuff that can be used by everyone. This mixing of
the two without any regard for what you've bought before comes across as
cynical to me, like they're trying to see how far they can push players by teasing
them with content piece by piece. And you know, I can see some of where EA is coming
from since Cats & Dogs is currently the best-selling Sims 4 expansion to
date. They're a massive publisher, they answer to shareholders, and it only makes sense
for them to try and make money like this. HOWEVER... it disappoints me that the
manner in which they go about making their money here is not more friendly to
the folks that are handing over that money in the first place.
First Pet Stuff comes off as a slap to the face for Cats and Dogs owners with
it appearing to be cut content that should have probably been in the pack to
begin with, followed by another slap to the people that haven't bought Cats and
Dogs and still want hamsters. And sure, maybe it is a one-time experiment by EA
to see what simmers are willing to pay for, that's within their right to do. But
I don't know about you: I don't care to be experimented on, and I feel stupid
having even bought this pack to review it. In fact, that reminds me, I saw this
idea on a post the other day about sending your ten dollars to a local
animal shelter to help support someone's actual first pet, instead of getting this
pack. And yeah, I agree. So I'm donating to the Brother Wolf
Animal Rescue, a local no-kill animal shelter, and giving them 50 bucks
which is the total cost of both Cats & Dogs and First Pet Stuff.
I have no doubt it'll do more good for them
than it ever would being given to EA.
And that's all for this particular video on this particular pack!
Yeah I'm salty, but this pack is stupid what can I say! But if you like salt
then great! Perhaps you'd like to see some of my other videos, and there are new ones
every Monday and Friday here on LGR.
And as always thank you very much for watching!