The Sims 4 was a major letdown at launch, with many features that fans had loved from the previous titles completely missing - such as The Sims 3’s Create a Style option and building swimming pools. This lackluster release was quickly corrected through updates and expansion packs, but the game still misses out on many key features. Maxis will need to include a lot of these missing features while developing The Sims 5, while also improving the world design and making the overall game a bit more realistic.
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Better Life Stages
Life Stages in The Sims basically determine the age of the created characters and will allow sims to embark on new activities such as school and jobs. When The Sims 4 launched, sims would progress from a baby immediately to a child, entirely skipping over the toddler stage. This ruined the progression in The Sims 4 for many players, as it made the game much less realistic. Fortunately, the toddler feature was included in a post-launch update. The problem with the Life Stage system has plagued the series as a whole, though, and the developers continue to have a tough time finding the right balance for each stage.
The Sims 5 has an opportunity to revolutionize this aging system, and Maxis can take multiple paths to do this. Having a gradual aging system would make the entire game feel more lifelike and would bring about better development of a sim and their family. On the other hand, simply improving the existing life stage system would also fix the issue and make the game more enjoyable. Finding a good balance and ensuring that each stage has its own unique needs and habits, will help players better develop their sims as they play through the game.
Open World Design
One of the biggest letdowns in The Sims 4 was the poor and segmented open-world design that broke the map up into various lots. In contrast, The Sims 3 had a more explorable world, and with expansion packs, the world itself hid many items and activities. The Sims 4 restricted this freedom and removed any life that the cities and towns offered, not to mention still having the same issue as previous titles and including a lot of loading screens.
With current-gen games focusing more and more on removing the loading screens altogether, Maxis will need to find a way to correct this issue for The Sims 5. A seamless open-world design would not only make the game feel realistic and allow players to send their sims on various activities, but it would also help create a sense of community in each Sims neighborhood. Expanding the open world would also motivate players to explore and find new locations organically.
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Cars and Bikes
For any Sims title to be true to itself and offer players a life simulator, the game would need to feature every essential tool that modern humans have, and this includes vehicles. The Sims 4 did not feature any vehicles upon launch, which was a major problem since it impacted the realism and the need for garages while building a house. While having an empty garage is not a game-breaker, not having a vehicle also broke the immersion that the series has offered and removed a big luxury item that players could buy to show off their sim’s wealth.
The Sims 5 will need to include vehicles in the game at launch and will need to ensure that players have plenty of choices. Vehicles are more than just a part of the realism, as purchasing that one car the player has wanted since starting the game is a real accomplishment. For The Sims 5 to hold onto the fanbase the series has already generated, it would need to rectify many of the mistakes from The Sims 4, and this would mean including a variety of vehicles.
Create a Style Option
The Sims 3 is often hailed as one of the best games in the series thanks to the many new features that elevated the game above its predecessors. One of the most innovative features allowed players to customize nearly every item in the game to ensure that all their rooms match and their sims had their own unique style. The Create a Style tool was a simple feature that gave players the freedom to let their sims be themselves by dressing and decorating the part. However, this integral feature that seemed to be a part of the future of The Sims was not featured in The Sims 4, which seemed like a major step back.
Create a Style is even more crucial today with so many new styles and color combinations gaining popularity. The option also created a larger community, as players could upload their designs and share them with others. The Sims 5 should definitely include this feature, but it should also ensure that the customization options are a bit more refined to give players even more freedom when creating their sim’s personality and style.
The Sims 5 is going to be a huge game, and following the disappointment of The Sims 4, is a game that many fans have been eagerly waiting for. Fixing many of the issues that The Sims 4 had should be the primary objective for Maxis, but giving players a bigger and more immersive world is something that should not be neglected. As with any new installment in a series, The Sims 5 will be compared to the other games and should strive to gain the same level of appreciation as The Sims 3 did upon its release. Maxis and EA will need to give The Sims 5 the attention it deserves to make it not only a complete game at launch, but a great installment in the popular Sims series.
The Sims 5 is currently in development.
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