LGR - The Sims 4 Parenthood Review

Over the years of playing Sims games and reviewing their expansions .

I have found that there are two things that I most enjoy in a pack .

One expansion packs that logically fill in the gaps among existing features and two packs that fall more onto the realistic side of the life simulation fence .

These are probably the two main reasons why I enjoyed Sims three packs like generations as much as I did .

So it should come as no surprise that I've also been enjoying Parenthood the 5th $20 game pack to the SIM for which borrows a decent amount from generations but still relies more on its own fresh ideas to spice things up instead of just rehashing old content .

And sure , of course , it has the usual set of new clothing and new hairstyles , new objects and new chairs and that's great , but that's just kind of par for the course from any pack at all these days .

Parenthood's primary focus is really about well parenting and hoods , I guess , maybe not hoods , just parenting and all the trials and tribulations that befall anyone who seeks such a fate .

Now , to my knowledge , I am not a parent , but I have grown from childhood to adulthood under the watchful eyes of parents .

So I can at least attest to the chuckle worthy accuracy in the way parenthood portrays the maturation process .

This pack is all about maturing for one thing .

You've got dedicated fart and burp commands .

Now , both of which are skills I developed as a young lad and have continued to hone to this day .

Yeah , just be careful trusting a fart because if a SIM has to go to the bathroom and lets one loose .

Well , charts are a thing now .

Yeah , these truly are important lessons to learn on the journey to adulthood and I welcome their long awaited inclusion .

But in all seriousness , flatulence isn't the only reason I like this pack .

Probably the other reason is because it flushes out the earlier life stages in the Sims four and actually makes them worth playing through from toddlers to Children to teenagers .

Each one has been expanded to be much more hands on whether you're controlling the offspring or the caregivers .

So let's start with the offspring side of things and come out and play .

Wait , wait , wait , what , sorry .

I meant from the pre adult Sims side of things .

They now have a new panel called Character values consisting of meters for responsibility , conflict resolution , empathy , emotional control and manners .

While this sounds like a list of the most boring elective classes ever , it really is just a way to categorize the actions of younger Sims , for example , farting on someone while they sleep is considered bad manners , recklessly scattering chocolate syrup and flour all over the floor is considered irresponsible and throwing a tantrum over someone disagreeing with your choice in pop music is considered a lack of emotional control .

And as such , these actions will decrease their associated value , use in their character on the flip side , doing the opposite will increase your Sims character value .

And when they age up , those values will translate into either positive or negative traits .

So yeah , it's pretty similar to learning motor skills and getting good grades and stuff like that in the sense that it affects trait inheritance later on .

But it applies the idea to practically every action younger Sims make plus several of their actions will apply to the all adult skills later in life , which means they'll have a leg up skill wise on Sims that you've created directly in a later life state .

Adolescent Sims are more unpredictable than ever too , going through phases and mood swings and acne and hormones that make their emotions go wild to a degree that they often can't really control .

And if there's more than one kid in the house , oh man , watch out because sibling rivalries are a thing and competition between friends has increased by a lot goading about interests , teasing about crushes , arguing about arguing , sneaking a peek at each other's private journals .

It's all here and it gets loud .

The effect is that growing older becomes more of an impactful process of learning unlearning and experimenting with life rather than just a bunch of times , plots to fill up with random activity until it's time to blow out some birthday cake candles .

Younger Sims will learn to love , to hate , to hug , to create , to fight , to make up , to make out , to make the best of their current situation or to give up and give in to the mopier side of existence .

In short , it's a lot like life and I really appreciate the effort that went into making each interaction a bit more meaningful to their development .

It's not completely game changing .

Exactly .

I mean , they're still inching forward to the same goals and life choices that await any sim in the game later on .

But the journey has been augmented in such a way that helps you as the player feel more invested in them .

And that's just from the kids' point of view .

Character values are also important from the caregivers side of things because they now have a new skill called parenting .

This works like a normal skill and that it increases the more you use it , but it holds a bit more weight and that it directly affects the future lives of other younger Sims .

Each of those interactions a child makes can be scolded , encouraged , reprimanded or otherwise commented on by Sims with the parenting skill .

You can pretty much guess how it goes .

Stop splashing in the pea filled toilet water .

Do your homework before bedtime , come set the table before dinner .

Don't talk to me in that tone of voice .

Don't fart in my face while I sleep that kind of thing .

And if they continually screw up , you can choose from a variety of sumptuous grounding options , like taking away tech and limiting access to friends , which in turn leads to a variety of sneaky stuff for kids to skirt around them .

Yes .

Stealthy Booger jokes .

That's the name of my next band .

There are also new activities to enjoy alongside your kids if you so desire like building non lego lego kits and assembling class projects that can and will affect their educational future as well as the relationship ships with whoever they're building with .

And sometimes younglings will approach parents for help with problems in life like solving arguments with friends , seeking out beauty tips and dealing with inferiority complexes .

Each one presented as a learning opportunity question with multiple answers .

They've also introduced volunteering your time into the game which can be done as a family as yet another learning opportunity .

It's sadly just kind of a rabbit hole situation where Sims choose what they want to do .

Disappear for a bit .

You click text box , question or two and then they return with altered character values .

Kind of a neat idea , I suppose , but it's about the least engaging way to alter a kid's character values , it's pretty hands off .

But regardless of the methods you use , it's up to caregivers to provide all sorts of feedback and moral support to help younger Sims grow up in a way that best fits societal norms .

Since each response you make to them will result in one of their character values .

Increasing or decreasing .

This in turn leads to the child growing up more or less how you desire .

And yes , that means that you can also be a real jerk to them and kind of ruin their lives .

Well , to a degree , you can't abuse them so much as you can mislead them and just generally get up in their face and shouting and yelling and swearing , which is a thing Sims can do .

Now , especially if your Sim has traits like evil or hates kids , you can also just mess with them like convincing them that monsters are out to get them or science is a fraud and the earth is actually just flat .

Just be careful with that last one .

Life is stranger than fiction .

These is all this to say that whether you're good to the kids are really bad to the kids playing as the adult in this pack gives you a lot of power .

I haven't played through to see what would happen if you don't influence them at all .

But the influence that you do have is pretty absolute .

Now , if you're like me , you might be thinking that this isn't all how parenting actually works .

Parents interactions are definitely not the only thing guiding a child's development in real life .

But in the parenthood pack , that's pretty much how it goes .

It's downright simplistic approach when you think about it .

I mean , where are the outside forces at play ?

What about the local environment , socioeconomic status and the kids' mental or physical predispositions ?

And even when your Sims do turn out quote unquote badly , it's in the same lighthearted silly way that you always get in the Sims for where Sims with negative traits simply act a little kooky but otherwise live a normal prosperous life with the same exact opportunities as everyone else .

Almost none of the heavier outcomes of bad parenting or uncontrollable external influences on children's development that are touched on here .

And that's not exactly a negative point .

It's just something I noticed .

If anything , it's a credit to the parenthood Pac that it made me think about caring for the development of a young human and the multiple forces at play that seek to thwart that whether directly or indirectly , it's just a fun little pack , doing some fun little things .

And that's ok even if I still personally desire a few more wrenches thrown into my gameplay here and there to challenge my own carefully laid plans because otherwise it can get a little boring and predictable yet it still makes the life changes leading up to adulthood and the Sims measurably more engaging and worth playing through something that's been long awaited by many simmers .

Indeed .

And for good reason , there's a lot of you that play families .

So if you're really into the idea of enhanced parenting possibilities and the tertiary interactions and objects and stuff that comes with it , Parenthood is a solid $20 edition in my book .

And you know what come to think of it ?

Why weren't there bunk beds in this pack ?

Doesn't it seem like a kind of a perfect pack for bunk beds ?

I don't know , I just like bunk beds , I guess .

Anyway , I hope you enjoyed this video .

And if you did , there are plenty more with new ones coming out every Monday and Friday here on LG .

And as always , thank you very much for watching .