Who doesn’t want to farm crickets?

Despite being a very eco-conscious person, I wasn’t that thrilled about Eco Lifestyle. As people pointed out, between Island Living, Laundry Day, and Tiny Living, it just felt like leftovers.

BUT, much like The Moschino Stuff Pack, after watching some Simtubers, I became interested.

My other Sims 4 reviews:

• Discover University
• Moschino Stuff Pack
• Tiny Living
• Real of Magic

I used my Sim-self, Meagan Lamb, to fulfill my dreams of making the world a better place by…farming crickets.

Header credit: Sims Online

Make The World A Better Place

The first time around, I moved my Sim into one of the new apartments, but actually found them a bit limited. I like that they’re different than the ones in San Myshuno but with only one neighbor and no balcony options.

Luckily for me, that save would not stop crashing so I had to start over and built myself an eco-friendly house that I’m proud of. It’s one of my favorite builds.

Username is meaganlamb in the Gallery. 

One of the first things you want to do is meet the neighbors and get influence so you can vote on neighborhood changes as well as what the community center will be focused on. 10 points = 1 vote.

From there you can dumpster dive, recycle objects, and make your own furniture to help the environment, as well as using eco-friendly wallpaper and flooring, living off-the-grid, and even putting more plans in your yard.

Or you can do the opposite and destroy the world.

Pros

• I’m impressed by CAS. I wasn’t sure if it would match my personal “aesthetic” but I do like most of the clothes and can see myself using them a lot.

• I love the hair. There are about four of them I can see myself wearing in real life.
• New piercings. They can just keep those coming.
• Kids and toddlers get new clothes! Wow.
• Evergreen Harbor is a different world. I like the quarry/steel feel.
• The world maps can now show you the eco-footprint of the worlds/neighborhoods.
• But I’m also glad you can turn it off.
• New apartments! 
• The walls/floors you use can have an “eco-footprint” and an effect on the environment.
• That also includes electronics/lights. Now they have an “energy use.” 
• Some of the windows/doors are cool but some are pretty big and bulky.
• Ladders! (They came with the update but there are more options.)
• The build and buy objects.
• Upright planters, generators, plants, dividers with plants, and new bikes.
• Wind turbines, solar panels, and water collectors also help the environment.
• You can make your own objects through fabrication.
• Recycling objects.
• Community centers. 
• Neighborhood voting.

• Two new aspirations and four traits. 
• A new career along with a new freelance career. 
• You can farm bugs and use them as food or fuel (but I felt bad doing that.)

• Dumpster diving is actually fun and you could literally decorate your house just from doing that. Or find spoiled food.
• Planting soybeans gives you soy wax for candles. Also, if you have a beehive, you can get bee wax.
• Candle and juice-making, which you can sell. 
• Watching the environment change as your eco-footprint does.
• An aurora borealis. I feel if it stayed in Evergreen Harbor I would like it, but found it weird showing up in other worlds. However, it’s still pretty and I got excited seeing it for the first time.

• The new, different types of builds.
• I’m super happy about the new, diverse families that come with these packs. There are two lesbian couples, one who is elderly, along with another that grows and sells drugs. It’s great.
• Watching the rest of the neighborhood change. Over time, more houses started using solar panels and water collectors.
• Dumpster woo-hoo, if you’re into that.
• Making your own “meat.” Personally, wasn’t something I was super excited about.

Cons

• Why can’t we pick up trash around the neighborhoods? Sure we can dumpster dive and search through our own trash but the random piles everywhere annoyed the hell out of me.
• It could’ve been something for kids to do since again, they don’t get much.
• What’s the point of putting out wind turbines if they’re going to break every time it rains? Am I doing something wrong?
• The apartments don’t have any kind of outside area like a balcony and feel limited.
• As far as gameplay, it doesn’t change too much, but I think that also depends on what type of player you are. If you want your Sims to live off-the-grid, then it will definitely help, but as for my Sim living in San Myshuno…there’s some objects I’ll use and that might be it.

• A lot of glitches came with this pack. Like I said, my first save crashed nonstop and I had to start over.
• I personally, don’t care about the other worlds being influenced, but that depends on your personal preference.

• You can only vote on neighborhood/community center changes if you live in that neighborhood, which is fine, but none of the other community centers ever changed. I even tried manually changing them so I had one of each, but I wasn’t allowed.

Is The Pack Worth It?

Despite the pros to cons, I don’t think this is worthy of an expansion pack title. Like most people have said, it would’ve been fine as a game pack or felt different if we didn’t already have three packs that have eco-friendly gameplay.

I don’t think there’s enough there to change the game in a huge way. There’s a lot of stuff, there’s stuff do to, but again, unless I play with an eco-friendly Sim, I don’t see myself getting too invested.

But the pack did surprise me, I just wish there was something else, more depth. Something that got me excited in the way Seasons and City Living did. The knitting pack is making me more excited and it’s just a stuff pack. But, that is just me.

If you don’t absolutely need this pack, then I’d suggest waiting for a sale or just waiting for the next.

What do you think about Eco Lifestyle?

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