The Sims 4 Live and Let Die learn some important lessons from My Wedding Story’s rocky launch

The Sims 4 Life and Death The expansion is launching on Halloween, which is all well and good for an add-on that gives playable ghosts a long-awaited overhaul. But while these weird trappings aren’t out of place for the DLC, and reintroduce the oft-requested ability to bone the Grim Reaper, I can’t help but feel that it undersells the pack’s most revolutionary feature: the For the first time in the series, you’ll be able to say goodbye to your beloved Sims with a formal funeral.

It’s a more sensitive and down-to-earth approach to life and death than the expansion’s other major features, but despite this, long-time Sims are understandably a bit wary of the subject matter gathered for such an event. The My Wedding Story game pack, which launched in February 2022, is probably the closest comparison point The Sims 4 players have to The Funeral, and it’s safe to say that the add-on is notorious for all the wrong reasons – especially the almost Three years later, the wedding event itself was still only what it was advertised to be.

Upon reflection, the L&D team discovered that the main problem with My Wedding Story was that it tried to impose a strict structure on the anarchic melee that would occur whenever a group of Sims got together, especially when one of them When a lot of people don’t get together. Be part of an active family and therefore completely computer controlled.

The infamous image of a tuxedo-clad neighbor doing push-ups in the aisle as the bridal procession tried to walk down the aisle is sure to linger in the My Wedding Story pack for years to come—although your opinion on whether it ruined the wedding may be There is a difference. A big day, or just a hilarious case of The Sims in The Sims.

As a result, funeral events in Dead and Alive will be more “liberal,” said lead producer Morgan and lead designer Jessica, who created a virtual preview of the pack for press last week. This means that funerals will be more like other events that appear in the game – dates, parties, holidays, etc. – with a series of objectives for the player to oversee before the timer runs out, but without having everyone involved doing the same thing at the same time Happened, it was catastrophic for “My Wedding Story”. We also conduct rigorous testing to ensure guests adhere to any dress code you choose to set – another common pain point for players who are tired of seeing NPCs showing up for life-defining moments in questionable outfits .

Of course, there is a view that weddings and funerals yes It’s more linear and structured than a family gathering, and loses some of the real-world ritual weight by essentially sidestepping the important shared moments of a funeral. But all video games are built around technological limitations, and My Wedding Story’s core mistake is to transcend them. Instead, Dead and Alive seems to be taking a more hands-on approach, working creatively within those constraints to deliver the experience players want in a way that’s still recognizably (and achievable) The Sims.

There are other reasons to be optimistic about the release status of “Live and Let Die.” The virtual preview I attended showcased all the additional add-on content expansion packs The Sims 4 has installed, taking the opportunity to showcase cross-pack interactivity and stability, factors that were conspicuously missing from the discussion surrounding previous versions of the game at launch. Before.

With the recent announcement that The Sims 4 will be an ongoing legacy game, and therefore not making way for The Sims 5 anytime in the foreseeable future as previously predicted, it appears that EA is looking to rebuild The Sims playerbase Some kindness from the group.

The game’s current state isn’t without controversy in other ways: Now, the free Halloween event is once again a hot button, both for players who don’t want the limited-time content in The Sims and for those who enjoy playing The Sims. As long as it actually works reliably, I don’t mind. But judging from July’s critically acclaimed overhaul of Lovestruck EP and what we’ve seen of Life & Death so far, it looks like the series’ key expansion is finally back on track.