Five years and 11 expansion packs later The Sims 4 has finally arrived. Character customization, moods, and building an ideal home have taken a small strides forward over the previous games but the absence of key features that had once been available is disconcerting – for every step forward the Sims 4 takes another step back. Character customization is better than ever. Thanks to an intuitive interface; clicking and dragging the mouse can adjust the size and shape nearly every aspect of your character and the options feel limitless. You can then assign them an aspiration in life and give them three unique traits. These then tied directly to the new character emotions which sounds great in theory. For example a Sim is happy they'll be more sociable and if they're focused they will perform more efficiently at work. Unfortunately, the emotions never amount to anything significant whether they're happy or sad focused or cranky the impact emotions have in the outcome of tasks or interactions almost always feels inconsequential. Moods, however, specifically social are much improved. Previously, you were heavily penalized for not socializing with neighbors or friends even going to work where natural interaction with coworkers happens would move the meter. Now, when the mood gets into the danger zone it can easily be recharged by engaging in an online chat or briefly hanging out with someone. There's also a loner trait that reduces the degradation of the meter for those who just want to focus on building up their skills and fortune up. Even though there are no true objectives in the Sims, creating a dream home has always been one of the primary goals. It's now easier than ever with the ability to directly drop pre-made rooms anywhere in the house one of the features that is carried over from the Sims 3; if a custom pat is more your style, the options to design each room is still there but now with more precision. Similar to creating a character the mouse can easily mold rooms into a multitude of shapes and sizes simply by dragging them to the desired location. Furniture will automatically rearrange itself depending on the change of dimensions and in multi-storey buildings each individual floor can have a custom height. Foundations can even be added in later instead of having to tear the entire house down like in previous games. It's a rewarding sensation amassing a fortune and seeing the results in the form of an ever-expanding mansion. Unfortunately the stiff and cumbersome camera has not received the same treatment. Zooming in with the mouse will never seem to get the proper vantage point. Toggling off the visibility of walls alleviates some other problem but it still remains a constant annoyance. Although, the Sims are supposed to be smarter than ever they still do inexplicable things without constant supervision. For instance, despite being happily married, a wife may sleep in her son's bed forcing the father and son sleep together. The same son might even decide to play chess alone outside until three in the morning. Even more frustrating however is when a Sim needs to use the bathroom or sleep to regain energy but fails to do so. Many times they'll read a book instead of using the bathroom or not eat before going to work. Managing an entire household is difficult. All these behavioral inconsistencies add up to make the Sims 4 feel like mindless puppet on a string. Well, there are certainly some things to like about the Sims 4 such as building a custom mansion or being visited by the Grim Reaper. The entire experience feels like a starter kit for bigger things in the future. If you have the Sims 3 and its multiple expansions The Sims 4 will feel stripped-down. If you've never played a Sims game, it might be a better option to hold off until the Sims 4 blooms into a more complete package. visit site to download sims 4