What Is The Sims 4: Life and Death?
The Sims 4: Life and Death is an expansion pack for the Sims 4 base game. A popular life simulation game, The Sims franchise allows players to play the life of people known as the “Sims.” In this newest expansion, death is only the beginning. After having not completed bucket list items, Sims may pass on or become a playable ghost with lots of new abilities and the chance to complete unfinished business. There are two new careers: Grim Reaper and Mortician. Cemeteries are back at long last with a new World to explore in Ravenwood. Sims can make wills and even plan funerals. Some lucky Sims will get to be Reborn as a new Sim carrying on some traits of their past. A variety of new items and clothing also become available with this expansion.
What Rating Is The Sims 4: Life and Death?
The Sims 4: Life and Death is rated T by ERSB for Crude Humor, Sexual Themes, and Violence. As noted in Common Sense Media’s breakdown of the base game, the Sexual Themes and Violence are the bigger causes of the rating. Teen Sims can “mess around,” adult Sims can “woohoo” or “try for baby,” but none of these acts are shown explicitly and occur behind other objects. When Sims are unclothed (such as in a shower) they are blurred. Some clothing items are more revealing than others. Sims can die in a variety of ways other than old age and can get into very cartoonish “fights” with other Sims. These types of actions carry over into this newest expansion as well. Be aware one of the bucket list categories is “I want to get busy” and one of the festivals at nighttime in Ravenwood has Sims running around in their birthday suits (still behind blurred pixels, of course). The rating is just about right.
Can I Watch the Trailer for The Sims 4: Life and Death?
Yes, you can watch it below:
What Formats Is The Sims 4: Life and Death Available In?
The Sims 4: Life and Death is available on PC/Mac, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, and PlayStation 5. The expansion costs $39.99.
Gameplay and Verdict
So the first thing I did was pull up one of my houses with an Elder Sim who was not going to be blessed with a super long life due to Athletic and Long-Lived traits. My Sim was Venessa from my review on Sims 4: Get Famous. (I rotate households so it takes a long time for my Sims to get to Elder state.) My goal was to try to get her to complete her Bucket List items so that she might be able to be reborn later. I let her create and update a will and designate some heirloom items including for an adult child who lives in another household. skills in
Bucket List items are kind of fun. You can randomly write one, pick from a category, or even erase the list if you want new choices. Some were things like reconnecting with a family or reaching level 10 in a skill and admiring your skills in some way. Traveling to a place requires you to stay a full 24 hours there to count. Other options can come up on their own too. Some line up with Aspirations as well, which really helps you earn progress faster. Completing Bucket List items, Aspirations, and even Resolutions and Wants will add to your Soul Journey meter giving you bonuses along the way. You need more work to complete it if you start it at Elder, but completing an Aspiration or two and a few Bucket List items when the feature becomes available at Young Adult is very doable.
I was so pleased to unlock Dreams Fulfilled. Venessa will eventually live on in another household!
With that part played, I decided to switch households and explore Ravenwood and the Grim Reaper career. I switched over to Reid DaSilva, a Young Adult needing a career, and let him join the Grim Reaper career as well as move into a home in Ravenwood.
For starters, Ravenwood is a super fun World to explore. There are numerous events that occur during the week, hidden lore that you can learn through mini-quests, and even a Mysterious Merchant. There are a lot more Ghosts hanging around too (although it’s super alarming when townies you didn’t realize had died turn up as Ghosts). New collectibles include Tarot cards that you can find in a variety of ways including doing quests for Townies.
The Grim Reaper career is really fun as it’s a career where you can join a Sim. You might have to deal with things at Headquarters, travel to places to fix tears and find lost souls, and sometimes go investigate the death of a Sim and collect their soul. These dead Sims appear to come from a banked collection, so don’t worry that you’ll kill all of your Townies off if you pursue this career. I will admit arriving at a scene where there were, like, 4 dead sims on the floor (they died of Laughter) was kind of unnerving, though.
Build and Clothing items will match up well if you have any of the other supernatural-based expansions.
I feel like I’ve played quite a few hours and only just tapped into the possibilities, especially as I will have to wait for a Sim to die before I venture more into being reborn or playing as a Ghost. Although, you can temporarily turn into a Ghost by swimming in the bog and play with the new Ghost powers (it’s similar to the Werewolf power tree or Celebrity benefits). Overall, if you are on the fence about buying this expansion, it’s absolutely worth it especially if you like supernatural stuff. The expansion retails for $39.99 and requires the base game to play, but the base game is now free to download!
What System Specifications Will I Need to Play on PC/Mac?
*The Sims 4: Life and Death is an expansion, so players must have The Sims 4 base game to play.
The following system advice is recommended by Electronic Arts for PC/Mac users:
