Ahh, 2016, another year, another stuff pack.
This time it's the fifth stuff pack for The Sims 4; Movie Hangout Stuff.
Though as you'll see soon enough, I'm more confused by the name than ever.
You could name it The Sims 4 Bloogity Bloo and it'd be just as accurate.
Anyway, the idea seems to be to give your sims a place to hang out and watch movies.
And yeah, you could already do that by enlarging a TV and placing any number of chairs around, but there's always room for improvement so let's see what they've got!
The Sims 4 Movie Dee-Doo-Daa comes with both an indoor and outdoor projection screen,
which adds an ugly grid pattern and washes out the saturation of the media it displays.
Additionally, you get ten movies for your sims to watch, and by that I mean not really watch at all.
Each vignette barely seems to interest your sims, since they're constantly standing in front of the screen, switching seats,
talking loudly, getting into fights using their cellphones, and spilling their food all over the place.
And, yes, that also describes the movie-going experience in real life as well, so kudos to them for keeping it realistic.
Another thing these movie screens allow for is your sims to create a movie-watching-club,
if you have the Get Together pack installed, which I hope is a sign of further expansion expansion in the future.
The movies themselves are kind of fun too, if a bit short-lived, consisting of little Machinima films shot in The Sims 3.
Although as amusing as they are, I have to admit they remind me of all the cool features from that game that still haven't made it over to this one yet,
and how average The Sims 4 Movie Bleegee Deegee Pack is so far.
But that's just the movie screens. There's more! What about the popcorn?
Yes, you get a popcorn maker, which let's you make a variety of corn that pops.
And I mean, you know, that's good. The sound effects are crunchy, the animations of them tossing popcorn into their mouth is satisfying to watch and makes me hungry.
So, I don't really have any major qualms here either.
What I do have a qualm with is the entire rest of the pack.
It's not that it's bad exactly, it's just that it doesn't seem to fit with the rest of it.
Let's start with the Create-A-Sim mode, where each type of sim gets some new goodies in the form bohemian hippie lifestyle fashion.
Don't get me wrong, I actually appreciate a lot of this stuff, and the new hairstyles are always welcome additions.
But what I don't understand is where this fits in with hanging out at the movies.
I mean, it's nice to have balls of locally-sourced organic hemp, but I don't get why this was the pack to do so.
This trend continues with the new 30 or so new objects, including a small array of psychedelic chairs, bean bags, and "free love" seats,
some trees with lanterns, a pile of trippy wall decor that may as well come complete with its own supply of Nag Champa incense,
a trio of tables, one of which features a mirror on top for you to gaze into your soul and seek the truth within,
and an assortment of doors, candles, plants and lights befitting anyone by the name of Crystal Serenity Moonrose.
If you don't like the look of these they can at least be recolored. Well, to the degree that The Sims 4 allows, that is.
But the overall design of them is still quite the natural hippie dippie fare.
For a pack named after going to the movies, it has a curious lack of things about going to the movies.
I mean, it does also have some movie posters, but it's just that compared to the amount of non-conforming free-spirited lifestyle stuff,
it's a rather paltry offering.
In short, if you dig the bohemian fare, then right on, brothers and sisters, this pack will help you find the light.
If you don't like this and instead crave the pack of movie stuff as the name implied, then you may be left wanting.
The Sims 4 Muffle Donkey Pack is just so at odds with itself and... average.
It's like they had two separate ideas and just mashed them together and they were both half-baked and ehh.
This stuff could have been divided up and added to with two more thoughtfully designed Game Packs or something.
Like, one for movies and one for boho chic living, instead of existing as one pack with an identity crisis.
Still, if you already crave this kind of clothing and home decor and treat the movies as optional extras rather than the central feature,
then the ten bucks it costs isn't gonna stop you anyway.
For the rest of us, just keep in mind what it is and what it isn't, and do with that what you will.
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All right Ralph, snip snip!