Did the Sims make up for the last three packs?
I was unimpressed with Eco Living, had nothing to say about Nifty Knitting, and didn’t even bother buying the Star Wars pack (and I have a Star Wars tattoo.)
I was hesitantly excited. I wanted a snowy world and with the Japanese inspiration…well I didn’t have high hopes but knew it would be better than Star Wars.
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My other Sims 4 reviews:
A Snowy Vacation
Of course I used my Sim-self but this time around gave her a wife named, Araya, who is from Mt. Komorebi and wanted to see where she was born.
I fitted them in the new clothes and hairs and booked them a vacation using one of the pre-made rental builds. I am so happy I didn’t have to rebuild anything. At least they used actual builders instead of creating a house with no toilet.
They did everything from go on hikes, get attacked by bugs, relaxed in the Onsen, and learned winter sports. I gave my Sim the new extreme sport aspiration while Araya got the location aspiration.
Hiking The Mountain
One of the things that interested me the most was hiking in general, but more-so on Mt. Komorebi. You have to have at least level six in rock climbing and start a social event to climb. I read you can go into caves and collect fruit but I must’ve missed them since I made them hike in a blizzard.
When it was all over, my Sims unlocked a new shirt, beanie, bracelet, and traits.
Lifestyles
Lifestyles appear overtime as your Sim does more of one thing. My Sim, for example, spent a lot of time outdoors and therefore gained an Outdoorsy lifestyle, making her want to spend more time outside. After hiking the mountain, she also gained an Adventurous lifestyle.
They do read as traits but can change overtime.
Pros
- CAS fits the pack well with new snowy/cold winter wear
- I’m a big fan of the hairs
- Build and Buy and the new type of builds
- More apartments
- New aspirations and traits
- A new world
- New things for your Sim to do like hiking, rock climbing, skiing/snowboarding, and visiting an Onsen
- Different hiking options like visiting a temple or a meditation walk
- Lifestyles
- Vending machines
- New food
- New festivals
- New woo-hoo locations
- New deaths
- The Japanese-inspired theme
- Kids feel more included since they can actually join adults on hikes
- Mt. Komorebi is beautiful
Cons
- Even though I love the hairs, I’m a little disappointed in the clothes. There’s a lot of new jackets and snow pants, which is good for winter wear, but I feel like they’re not versatile enough
- They really missed out on adding resorts/hotels to this pack
- Only one new career
- Even though kids have things to do, kids still don’t have things to do
- I found myself bored at the festivals. They definitely aren’t as good as the ones in City Living
- There are temples and shrines to visit but you can’t go in
- Actually, that sums up a lot of this pack. It looks like there’s buildings to visit or things to do but you either can’t interact at all or it’s limited
- To me, it feels like something is missing. Like I’ve said in other packs, there’s things to do, but after three days my Sims could’ve gone home. Since they can’t snowboard/rock climb anywhere else, they can travel to the world just to do that, but everything became monotonous
- This isn’t the pack’s fault but everyone is aware of the glitches. My Sims were CONSTANTLY sad
Is Snowy Escape Worth It?
I think Mt. Komorebi is a good place to live but doesn’t seem like a long vacation destination.
However, the world is different and the Japanese-theme is new. Maybe if they added even more to the world based on Japan there would be more depth. Anime, bonsai trees and sculpting them, or just traditions in general.
Overall, I don’t think Snowy Escape is worth the expansion pack title. It feels more like a game pack with no BIG thing to make it worth the price. I know there are players who buy the packs just for the objects and build mode but I would wait for a sale if you truly want that.
Like usual, it doesn’t add anything huge to the game. Unlike Discover University, I can’t see myself sitting here for hours on end playing just in this world. I really didn’t. In the past, I’ve spent ALL DAY playing with a new pack but with this one, it was only a couple of hours over a couple of days.
It’s disappointing. I bought Nifty Knitting but literally had nothing to say for a review and was hoping this time around would be different. I had to add more in the beginning or else this review would be nothing and after spending $40, I will get something out of it.
However, I had a blast watching people roast the Star Wars pack.
Quibbles and Scribbles 
I watched Plumbella review the pack and the moment she said you couldn’t do anything in the square…I think I will buy for the objects and furniture because I love that. This pack had so much potential they did an okay job getting actually simmers to build the houses, the gameplay is sorta cool but they dropped the ball on the rest.
Simmers want immersion.
What are these people doing I wonder. I know there are different teams, but man. Sometimes I wish I worked there.
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Like usual, the objects are really good, same with CAS, it just gets too boring. I wonder how they go through this every time, same complaints, and nothing changes.
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I think some packs they did do well on. But the majority its like what the heck happened guys? It’s just half baked work.
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Yeah I think that’s something that Sims 4 is lacking where Sims 3 really shined. An immersive gameplay. Like you both are saying, the objects are a-mazing, but that only goes so far until you start thinking “Sooo what else is there to do?”
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This sums up the pack well. I like the Lifestyles component and feel like that adds to the gameplay in all the worlds (and it’s nice that the rock climbing skill translates into that rock Climbing wall from the Fitness stuff pack). But overall, it feels like it looks beautiful but needs a little more to justify the Expansion Pack label. I like it but agree that it’s better to wait until it’s on sale.
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