There’s been quite a bit of controversy in the past few weeks in The Sims 4 community. Between the announcement of the Star Wars: Journey to Batuu game pack, the accidental leak on EA’s part that made an unnamed stuff pack available for pre-order, and a subsequent message to Simmers from The Sims team saying the fans are being heard, it’s been quite a busy time. Since fans are being heard, it’s time to talk about the lack of lore in The Sims 4.
Comparatively speaking, The Sims 4 has the weakest story line of any Sims game by far. The Sims franchise, by design, allows players to create their own families and story lines and see how they play out. This customization also exists alongside random hilarity that makes game play slightly unpredictable, like a Sim getting abducted by aliens when using a telescope. However, when Sims players may lack creativity, that’s where pre-made families and existing lore help improve gameplay. Simmers have the ability to continue the story line that’s already been set up in the game’s design, or they can tear it apart completely. That’s the beauty (or horror) of The Sims and the many ways it can be played.
In all fairness, it seems as though The Sims 4 was not designed with lore in mind. The Sims franchise, up until its fourth installment, has existed on a timeline, although it wasn’t released in order. Chronologically, the games are as follows: The Sims 3, The Sims, The Sims 2. This timeline can be tracked through many different families that appear in different life stages throughout the three games.
One of the most famous examples of lore is thanks to the Goth family. Originally just Bella and Mortimer Goth in The Sims, they have two children together, Alexander and Cassandra, by the events of The Sims 2. That’s not what makes this family so well-known though—it’s Bella’s abduction by aliens, subsequent disappearance, and connection to Don Lothario that makes her and her family so interesting.
The Goths do make an appearance in The Sims 4, along with other sims from previous games. Because of their appearance in the game as a nuclear household, The Sims 4 is confirmed to be on an alternate timeline and separate from the events of the other Sims games. With this alternate timeline in mind, it makes sense there is a lack of lore within The Sims 4.
From its debut six years ago to now, many Sims fans have noted this lack of backstory hurts the game overall. While this can be true, especially compared to the memory systems of The Sims 2, The Sims 4 wasn’t released or made to continue on the timeline that the franchise already established. At its very core function, The Sims 4 has a unique take on world setup where any sim can visit any neighborhood—completely different from the “one neighborhood only” setup of the other Sims games.
If The Sims team had tried to carry over all the existing lore of previous games into its fourth installment, it wouldn’t have worked. Many families who never knew each other would suddenly need reasons to interact because of this new world setup, and it would have been disastrous. This defense, however, doesn’t excuse the way the few existing story lines in The Sims 4 have been treated. Johnny Zest’s bio says he is Geoffrey and Nancy Landgraab’s son who has been disowned, yet when players load the household, he doesn’t have any existing relationships, including the parents mentioned in his bio. That’s too much of an oversight, especially compared to previous Sims games.
With The Sims team reassuring Simmers that their wishes are being heard and noted, hopefully they realize how many people relied on in game lore for their gameplay and utilize it in The Sims 5. Having established backstories and lore gives players a sense of each sim’s individual personality and helps them better shape (or destroy) the life they want to give the character. Plus, for the less creative players, it gives a foundation and pre-made family to jump right into. The Sims 5 could implement lore in a meaningful way and further the timeline in one of two ways.
First, The Sims 5 could exist as a prequel to the events of The Sims 3. Players could have families based on Bella and Mortimer’s parents or The Sims team could go even further back in time—just not as far as the medieval period, as players have already seen that game with The Sims: Medieval. It would be interesting to see what kind of previous lineage could be explored in this kind of Sims setting. Nefarious romancer Don Lothario’s ancestors could have been highly monogamous instead, so a prequel may not be a bad way to go in terms of lore and pre-existing households.
On the other hand, The Sims 5 could take place after the events of The Sims 2 as a sequel. Not a direct sequel though, more like a few generations have gone by and there’s a clean slate to work from, without the need for Sims 4‘s many mods. Cassandra Goth and her brother Alexander could have each gotten married and had children by this time, and the game could pick up after their children have had children. The point being: it would be refreshing to see new sims with new relationships and backstories while still having that tie to their roots in the form of a long lineage.
The Sims 4 is guaranteed to have content released through 2021, but with six years already gone by it’s highly unlikely the development team will start adding lore into future expansion, game, and stuff packs. With so little time left to the inevitable release of The Sims 5, it doesn’t make sense for them to start implementing it now, either. For now, Sims 4 players should enjoy the future content coming to the game and just hope that The Sims 5 intertwines lore into the very fabric of its game play.
The Sims 5 is in development.
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