LGR - The Sims 4 Island Living Review

Greetings and welcome to the 177th Sims four pack review on L G R .

This time it's island paradise or Island living .

Dang it .

I do that every time if I may speak 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 .

Actually .

Wait , what ?

It's a $40 expansion , not a $20 game pack , right .

That alters expectations a bit seems we've got the seventh Sims four expansion pack in our hands here .

So let's cannonball into the crystal clear blue waters of content .

Beginning with the island itself .

Solani 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 bunch of things around that may be a bit hazardous .

And while you can't freely roam between each neighborhood without 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 shader used in Solani 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 in Stranger 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 Solani culture , customs and folklore by attending barbecues , talking to locals and comming with island spirits .

But there's no straightforward way of learning about the world's history like you could with the Salvadorean culture skill and jungle adventure or even the other worldly conspiracy story line in Stranger instead it's all down to you to explore appropriate and interpret for yourself .

The items offered by Solani 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 creative m items .

And again , it's all following a SIM 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 come on .

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 .

Three's island paradise in island living though one becomes a mermaid by in testing medic kelp or straight up by designing one through create a SIM .

Once you've mermaid , your decision to become a med 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 breeding 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 merman for that matter .

Unlike other Sims , four 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 aromatic mediocrity .

What else is there ?

Well , how about 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 three .

Instead here you simply send your SIM out of sight during work hours to go and perform CPR and slow motion beach running scenes off camera in parts unknown .

You're 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 in 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 and those SIMS can take underwater photos .

The resulting images are nothing but a handful of predetermined low res picks 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 let down of the pack for me .

Even if we couldn't interact directly underwater .

I'd still loved to have seen some depiction of sub surface scenery .

But oh , well , at least the conservationist career is more involved in terms of player interaction and effects on Solani 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 ecoconscious 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 got to say it's pretty rewarding to actually see your Sims 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 Biffin's Hill Valley or something .

I don't know .

Surprise me , Sim's 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 Sims home lot and it works well for the premade off the grid lots with blank beaches and old ship wrecks all lacking outside resource connections and providing ample survivalist role play opportunities .

Now all you need is a bunch of washed up shipping boxes filled with ice skates V H S tapes and Wilson sports equipment .

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 , that's exactly why I enjoy it , removing stuff like microwaves TV , S ovens , computers , stereos , bathtubs , sinks and anything else that requires either power or plumbing means that you really have to rethink your entire simm strategy .

And man at this point , anything that shakes up the Sims four status quo and forces me to get creative .

I greet with open arms though .

I found that off the grid .

Objects are inconsistent at best .

Like you can't use sinks because you have no running water .

Ok .

But why are these toilets still working ?

And there's a gas stove top 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 .

Oh What about that amazing waterfall around the corner ?

The one you can use is 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 can use some tweak 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 in 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 house boats from the Sims three 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 sun burned 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 cherry chairs .

Two of those happen to be lounge chairs , something which has only now been added to the Sims with an additional one coming with the newest patch .

How thoughtful and yeah , that's about it for the Sims Four Island Living expansion .

Once again , it costs $40 and well , that's about 20 more than makes sense .

In my opinion , it's a beautiful looking world without question .

But contrary to its oceanic theme , the game play can be bizarrely shallow .

Mermaids are a quick distraction at best .

Scuba diving is downright dull and there's no mystery to unravel a 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 four 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 solani 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 .

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 L G R regardless though .

Thank you for watching .