With the Sims 4: Enchanted by Nature Expansion Pack, I was spellbound with its lush greens and magical focus to be my favorite pack yet. The pack welcomes players to Innisgreen that looks like it took a step out of “Tinkerbell”. When beginning a new game with this pack, there are many different things to take a look at, such as in Create A Sim, there are new hairstyles, clothes, accessories, traits, as well as making designs to wings if the Sim is fairy. The wings have different sizes and color presets, which of course can be changed as Simmers go, as well as skills and careers that boost Simmer’s creativity. I played over ten hours of this pack, although I think that is just the beginning of countless more hours, adding a sprinkle of fairy dust to the gameplay.
When building on a home lot, a few new items come up as well, in the theme of fairies and nature, such as it being more woodsy and having moss decorated items, such as beds, lights, bathroom, kitchen, and other rooms’ accessories. With certain items, such as televisions or sinks, fairy Sims can shrink themselves and play in water or in the television.
When a player looks at the fairy lessons by clicking on fairy points, there is a list of fairy lessons to understand this pack much more. The lessons describe how a fairy sim works, such as when baby sims are born and grow into teenagers, they will no longer have bladder and hunger needs, they will have emotional hunger instead and will get a reveal of their fairy form. They will need to regain emotional force by absorbing emotions of non-occult Sims. However, there is such a thing as absorbing too many emotions which will lead to overloading of the Sim.
Emotional force is a big part of a fairy life, since it substitutes for a hunger trait. Absorbing emotions from other Sims and Emotional potions help and regain Emotional Force if it is low. Too low of emotional force can lead to a Sim’s Emotional Force starvation. Too much Emotional Force can lead to overloading, much like overeating. If the moodlet says overloading of one of three kinds, a Fairy should stop absorbing emotions. Minor, Major, and Critical are the three words listed for overloading. Overloading can be caused by absorbing too many Hysterical emotions such as happiness, playfulness, and confidence. As well as too many Enraged emotions, such as anger, tension, and boredom. Lastly, overloading can be caused by taking in too many Mortified emotions such as sadness, embarrassment, and scarcity.
Although Fairy sims have needs, theirs look a little different. For Hygiene, they will still be able to use the shower, however, they can also shrink and be cleansed by a plant that’s watered as long as there are no bugs infesting it. In addition, while tending to their hygiene, they will drop fairy dust that can be collected and used to regain emotional force. For the Energy need, sims can sleep in all the same places non-occult sims can, but they can also shrink and sleep on dollhouses and pianos if they’re not broken. The Social need has one addition, which is when they are talking to others, they can flood them with laughter. Lastly, for the Fun need, sims can shrink and play with water in sinks as long as they are clean and they can shrink and play in certain objects such as TVs, toy and storage boxes, sofas, workout machines, and storage objects. Later on in a fairy sim’s life, Social and Fun needs will deplete faster than a non-occult sim does.
Ailments are slight illnesses contracted by Sims using a toilet away from home, going to work, or talking to people with an Ailment, as well as being imbalanced, like a typical illness. The best way to get a cure from an Ailment is by whipping up cures from the Apothecary table using the apothecary skill that creates cures for imbalances, Ailments, and cures for needs and emotions., By visiting a Naturopath by using the phone under home, can help cure an Ailment, imbalance and emotional or physical distress. A friendly fairy can cure the Ailment too, or else waiting it out for a few days will work too, with no lasting effects on the Sim.
Natural Living is all about getting Sim’s needs met by nature. Sims can sleep on the ground, bathe in outdoor water, forage for resources, and take a sponge bath in public restrooms. At first, needs won’t be fully met and sims will seem to get dirtier, Sims will be able to get their needs met faster and able to grant them.
While gardening stays the same, Fairy Sims can sprinkle fairy dust onto plants to take care of watering, bugs, and weeding. It will also help keep growing plants that aren’t in season (via Seasons Expansion Pack). Three new plants are added as well: Aura Blossom, Lightning Root, and Moody Shrub. Aura petals from the Aura Blossom, Lightning Root, and Emotion Potions from the Moody Shrub can be used in the Apothecary skill to help make cures. The Emotion Potions can be fed to babies and can change the mood of the Moody Shrub itself. The Lightning Root can also be hooked up to a Sim’s house’s power grid to lower electricity bills. Lastly, the Aura blossoms can be used to change the Aura of sims and plants.
In this pack, Luck is added to sims, and it can change due to career progression and digression or cooking outcomes. A Garden Pal can be found in Sprucederry Grove to help change the luck of Sims. Sims can also purchase the Freezer Bunny Foot for better luck or Cowplant Horn for worse luck.
Fables are acquired by Sims living in Innisgreen called Fabulists. They will give a task of delivering things or engaging in riddles. Rewards to finishing a Fabulist’s task is by getting Simoleons, lore for notebooks, and/or enchanted items. The career panel can track the progress of Fables, bringing players back to finish their tasks from Fabulists. It keeps players thinking through the riddles being given through Fables.
Enchanted by Nature Expansion Pack is a favorable pack. It adds a large amount of creativity all up to Simmers. The pack carries a lot of dimension to fairies, giving them the grounds to all be different and have different experiences. Being able to build with all the new items, clothing, and accessories brought much more imagination to make fairies come alive. I really liked this pack since I enjoy fairies across all types of media, including part of a tattoo I have, and this pack captured it in a perfect way by adding lots of new nature items. Not even just fairies, but the quests and career choices are what I would have thought of for fairies or natural livers. Something I would have liked to see is more fairy interaction with pets (via Cats and Dogs). I feel like it would have been so fun to have fairy pets as well. Although, the pack is very fun to play with and the Cottage Living pack pairs well with it.
An EA app code was provided in advance by the publisher for review purposes
