[jazzy Sims-like music plays]
Greetings and welcome to the 177th Sims 4 pack review on LGR!
This time it’s Island Paradise, er, Island Living!
Dang it, I do that every time.
If I misspeak somewhere down the line don’t worry about it.
Anyway yeah, it’s Island Living, a pack presumably offering an island on which to live.
And as someone who has himself lived on an island and in fact has dual citizenship, I’ve
always been fond of these tropical destination packs.
An island home away from home just feels like home, what can I say?
Personal bias aside though, the question remains as to whether or not this Island Living game
pack is worth the $20 asking price!
-Uh actually no. ...Wait, what?
-It's a $40 expansion It’s a $40 expansion not a $20 game pack?
-Yeah. Ah.
-You suck. Right.
That alters expectations a bit!
Seems we’ve got the seventh Sims 4 expansion pack on our hands here, so let’s cannonball
into the crystal clear blue waters of content beginning with the island itself: Sulani.
It’s actually an archipelago with vaguely Polynesian characteristics, split up into
three smaller neighborhoods.
With a bay area settlement to the south, sunny oceanside beaches to the west, and a sparsely-inhabited
volcanic isle to the north.
And if you’ve got seasons installed, the weather differs from every other world in-game,
with warmer summers and milder winters, along with monsoons
that result in short but intense downpours.
And the occasional volcanic eruption plopping a buncha things around that may be a bit hazardous.
And while you can’t freely roam between each neighborhood without a loading screen,
each one is large enough and contains such wide swaths of open water that exploration
feels more open-ended than most of the other maps.
Plus the lighting and shaders used in Sulani lend the whole place an orange tropical glow
that I absolutely approve of, giving the world a kind of serene vibe that you just don’t
get anywhere else.
So it looks great and stuff, but uh.
Now what?
Well, what actually entails is rather open-ended.
Compared to prior destination packs like Jungle Adventure and Strangerville, Island Living
is notably lacking in concrete goals for the player.
Some may argue this is a missed opportunity, others will appreciate the requirement to
make your own fun, but either way I find it’s worth noting.
As an example, you’ll see tidbits of Sulani culture, customs, and folklore by attending
barbecues, talking to locals, and communing with island spirits.
But there’s no straightforward way of learning about the world’s history, like you could
with the Selvadoradian culture skill in Jungle Adventure, or even the otherworldly conspiracy
storyline in Strangerville.
Instead it’s all down to you to explore, appropriate, and interpret for yourself the
items offered by Sulani.
Personally I appreciate this, but it’s a departure from recent trends that feels arguably
incomplete when you consider the fascinating culture that could be tapped into here.
That of course includes new clothing, hair, and other Create A Sim items.
And again, it’s all following a sim-ified theme of South Pacific islander aesthetics.
Mostly all in the categories of clothing tops and bottoms, and not as much as I’d hope
from new tattoos.
I mean there are a few new ones, but c’mon,
this could be a defining category in a pack like this.
You also get some new traits and aspirations, with Child of the Ocean, Child of the Islands,
and Beach Life all providing options to tailor your sims’ wants and desires around living
on the Island Living island. Living.
Island Living.
There’s also a new life state, Mermaid, continuing in the flipper-steps
of Sims 3’s Island Paradise.
In Island Living though, one becomes a mermaid by ingesting Mermadic Kelp, or straight up
by designing one through Create A Sim.
Once you’ve mer-made your decision to become a mer-person,
life continues largely as usual on land.
It’s not till your sim touches a body of water that they grow a tail.
This of course allows for exceptional swimming speed, the ability to free dive without a
breathing device, the option to talk to fish and dolphins
and a raft of other water-related interactions.
They can even sing siren lullabies to alter the moods of other sims, or change the current
weather with Seasons installed.
But beyond that?
Yeah there’s not too much to do as a mermaid, man.
Or a mer-man, for that matter.
Unlike other Sims 4 life alterations like being a vampire or a celebrity, there are
no levels to being a mermaid, no skill tree for unlocking new powers or perks, and no
options to research or improve the mermaid lifestyle.
The biggest difference in your day to day routine is that you have a hydration need
in place of hygiene, which simply requires mermaid sims come in contact with water every
so often, either by drinking or submerging.
That’s it.
So beyond the mermadic mediocrity, what else is there?
Well how ‘bout taking on one of the new odd jobs, part-time jobs, or career paths?
Beyond the one-off odd jobs you can now accept, becoming a lifeguard, a fisherman, or a diver
are all options in Island Living, though each of them are
unfortunately pretty basic rabbit hole occupations.
The lifeguard, for instance, is completely hands-off here, a bit of a bummer compared
to the same more active job in The Sims 3.
Instead, here you simply send your sim outta sight during work hours to go and perform
CPR and slow motion beach running scenes off-camera in parts unknown.
Playing a fisherman is about what you’d expect, taking the existing fishing mechanics
and expanding on them with more fish and bait types, new higher-level fishing skills, and
the ability to set water traps to catch critters while you’re away.
And diving can only be described as deeply disappointing, in regards to both the part-time
job and the side activity in general.
Free dives, snorkeling, and scuba diving can only occur at designated buoys around the
map, and while there are multiple pieces of equipment to spice things up, the actual process
is utterly boring to watch.
Sims just plop underwater and disappear for multiple sim-hours at a time, with little
more than a bubble animation and the occasional pop-up message keeping you company.
There is nothing of note to see underwater at all, not even if you enable first-person mode.
And though sims can take underwater photos, the resulting images are nothing but a handful
of predetermined low-res pics depicting colorful sights that you can never actually see in-game.
Compared to the gorgeous underwater diving we’ve had in the past, this was easily the
biggest letdown of the pack for me.
Even if we couldn’t interact directly underwater, I’d still loved to have seen some depiction
of subsurface scenery, but oh well.
At least the conservationist career is more involved, in terms of player interaction and
effects on Sulani Isle at large.
There are two core paths to pursue: Environmental Manager and Marine Biologist, each revolving
around the idea of improving the environment by way of cleaning up trash, eliminating invasive
species, and generally butting heads with the less eco-conscious sims around town.
It’s one of those careers where in addition to heading off to some unseen workplace, you’re
also provided daily assignments to complete while you play at your own pace.
Taking this to another level is the fact that the more you clean up the island, the more
points you earn.
And the more points you earn, the greater the island’s health improves, as indicated
by these ecology update pop ups.
I’ve gotta say, it’s pretty rewarding to actually see your sim’s career actions
make a direct impact on the world, and it’s something I’d really like to see bleed over
into other influential careers.
Like, if you’re a garbage sim politician then the whole neighborhood turns into Biff
Tannen’s Hill Valley or something.
I dunno, surprise me Sims team!
Finally, we get to what is perhaps my favorite aspect of the pack: off-the-grid living, which
isn’t even specifically part of Island Living.
This is a lot trait that was introduced in the most recent free patch, and basically
what this does is cut the power and water to your sim’s home lot.
And it works well for the premade off-the-grid lots, with blank beaches and old shipwrecks,
all lacking outside resource connections and providing ample survivalist roleplay opportunities.
Now all you need is a bunch of washed-up shipping boxes filled with ice skates, VHS tapes, and
Wilson sports equipment.
[SimRalph reacting to excess fire]
And you might wonder why I like this so much since it’s taking things away from the game
instead of adding them.
But yeah, that’s exactly why I enjoy it!
Removing stuff like microwaves, TVs, ovens, computers, stereos, bathtubs, sinks, and anything
else that requires either power or plumbing means that you really have to rethink your
entire simming strategy.
And man, at this point, anything that shakes up the Sims 4 status quo and forces me to
get creative, I greet with open arms.
Though I’ve found that off-the-grid objects are... inconsistent, at best.
Like, you can’t use sinks because you have no running water, okay, but why are these
toilets still working?
And there’s a gas stovetop which is fine, but why can’t I use the wood burning oven
to bake things?
And then there’s the confusing laundry situation, which honestly seems like an oversight.
Yes you can use the wash tub from Laundry Stuff, but you can only use it once.
After you’ve washed a set of clothes, the water is dirty, and since you don’t have
any running water you cannot replace your nasty water.
But oh wait, there’s a sink from the same pack that *does* have running water, kind
of, so can you use that? Nope!
What about that amazing waterfall around the corner,
the one you can use as a freshwater shower?
Nada, you cannot refill water there either.
And why aren’t there any options for collecting rainwater, or using solar panels or anything?
I mean, “off-the-grid” doesn’t have to mean “forced luddite territory” with
zero water or power of any kind right.
Again, I appreciate the challenge this provides, but I also think it could use some tweaks
and more consistency with its own rules.
Something the community has already started
addressing with off-the-grid balancing mods, go figure.
But yeah, even with the odd omissions and oversights, I’ve had more fun than anticipated
just living my sim life on a virtual island free of most modern amenities.
And there’s something about the new architecture on offer
that really inspired me to build again too.
Like thatched roofing, open-air walls and windows, transparent flooring panels, and
stilt foundations that allow for building of homes out into open water somewhat.
Granted, it’s not as liberating as the building of houseboats from The Sims 3 Island Paradise,
but it’s still plenty of fun to have a nice beachside home with one side fit for lounge
chairs and sunbathing towels, ready to get you all sunburned, and the other side equipped
for floats and watercraft.
And among the nearly 200 build mode items, there are the required allotment of chairs,
with three ottomans and six chairy chairs.
Two of those happen to be lounge chairs, something which has only now been added to The Sims
4, with an additional one coming with the newest patch.
How thoughtful.
And yeah, that’s about it for The Sims 4 Island Living expansion!
Once again it costs $40, and well, that’s about twenty more than makes sense in my opinion.
It’s a beautiful-looking world, without question, but contrary to its oceanic theme
the gameplay can be bizarrely shallow.
Mermaids are a quick distraction at best, scuba diving is downright dull, and there’s
no mystery to unravel or serious culture to immerse yourself into, despite hints to that
once being the case, almost as if more was planned but eventually got scrapped.
It’s labeled a full expansion and not a game pack after all, and as the seventh expansion
there are expectations in place by now that simply aren’t fulfilled to the fullest.
Sure there’s a slew of neat side activities like canoeing, building sand castles, befriending
dolphins, dancing around bonfires, and collecting new fruits, seashells, and hidden treasures.
But it doesn’t quite add up to twice the cost of a Sims 4 game pack, many of which
I’d recommend over this expansion.
The most engaging new stuff all comes in the free patch anyway.
Off-the-grid lots, stilt foundations, enhanced fishing, lounge chairs, and part time jobs,
not to mention the 350 new color swatches, pride month items, and trait randomizing.
Those are all fantastic additions!
And every one of them are free, no Island Living required.
So yeah, while I’d recommend the world of Sulani itself simply due to the spot-on tropical
goodness, I’d also say it’s worth waiting for a discount of some kind before diving in.
[synthwave outro music]
Hi there, you’re still here!
Why not check out some other videos I’ve made, from Sims things to old computer things
to me just rambling on about who knows what every week here on LGR.
Regardless though, thank you for watching!