The Sims 4's latest expansion is a vibrant, magical adventure
Since a young age, I have played The Sims. In actual fact, The Sims was my first ever step into the gaming world and I remember having to recruit the help of my older cousin to help me install it on my PC and luckily, he taught me about the ‘rosebud’ money cheat at the same time.
From making my family in Create-A-Sim, and then being left heartbroken when I accidentally let my grandfather drown in a pool, to still diving into The Sims 4’s latest expansions, I have grown up alongside the EA franchise.
The Sims 4 was the first in the series which I bought with my own money and since it was first released back in 2014, I have tried to keep up-to-date with all of its various expansions and kits.
That is why I was over the moon when I was offered the chance to try out The Sims 4: Enchanted by Nature expansion pack which was finally released earlier this week.
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Set in the magical town of Innisgreen, the Enchanted by Nature expansion pack allows your Sims to become fairies, learn the Natural Living skill, take part in the Fairy Stories Aspiration, and even come to terms with ailments which can affect your Sim if they have prolonged exposure to negative emotions.
So, of course, I dove into Create-A-Sim and made my first ever Sims 4 fairy and luckily, you have 181 cosmetics, clothing, tattoos and accessories to choose between thanks to the new expansion pack.
My fairy is blonde, with leaves in her hair due to the Natural Living skill I will be giving her, she has pastel eyeshadow, freckles, and glowing tattoos which adorn her arms and legs. She looks both magical and a child of Mother Nature herself as I dive into gameplay, first choosing one of the preset homes that can be located in Innisgreen.
My house is a cottage-core dream with flowers framing the exterior, vines climbing up the bricked mossy walls and trees cast speckled light over the low roof.
On the inside, the outside has crept in and I do my best to make use of the 163 new build-mode items to add mushrooms, a whole lot of plants, glowing branches and furniture that is often framed with moss and flowers.
I must admit, I follow the same The Sims technique as many other fans: I will play constantly for a week or two and then not pick the game up for months. The latter was the case this time around and so after finally getting to grips with The Sims 4 camera, I got stuck in.
First, my Sim, who I had called Willow, needed a job and luckily, Enchanted by Nature comes alongside the brand-new Naturopath career.
Linked to the Apothecary Skill (which is also new), your Sims can use the Apothecary Table to research and craft elixirs which, in turn, can be used to treat ailments. Ailments work as illnesses and must be treated or they will curse your Sim with a negative moodlet.
Luckily, improving your Apothecary skill will allow you to craft up to 14 cures for the eight ailments that can plague your Sim at any time.
Honing your skills will quickly see you race through the Naturopath career which you will be able to do from home if you don’t fancy going to work. If you work from home, you will be able to see patients and administer a series of tests in order to diagnose their ailment and prescribe them the right cure.
Of course, my first patient was none other than Don Lothario who ended up being diagnosed with Burning Passion after partaking in a series of tests. After breathing fire over my brand-new bookshelf, I gave him a cure and kicked him out to no doubt go and impregnate the nearest female Sim.
As well as levelling up your Apothecary Skill, The Sims 4: Enchanted by Nature also introduces Natural Living which will allow your Sim to quite literally live off the land. By levelling this skill up, you will be able to sleep soundly outside, bathe in nearby bonds and forage for food, ingredients and crystals.
This skill will be perfect for those who take part in the beloved Rags to Riches Sims challenge as you will not have to splash the Simoleons on household items.
Of course, the main selling point of The Sims 4: Enchanted by Nature is the ability to turn your Sim into a fairy, join a fairy community (there are a lot of them), and even take part in the Fairy Stories Aspiration which can see you choose between Harmonious and Discordant Fairy Paths.
This means that you can be a pesky little fairy who flies around, adjusting Sim’s emotions and moods or you can choose to help others by lifting their spirits, regulating their emotions, and even reading their aura to see how they are feeling.
The new Fairy class comes alongside a skill tree which you can use to decide which path you will take and this will definitely help with some of the unique needs that fairies have.
Unlike human Sims, Fairy Sims do not need to eat or use the toilet but instead, they have their own unique bar that must be kept full or else they will die.
(They are quite literally Tinkerbell and will die without attention).
This bar can be kept full by using your Fairy abilities on other Sims or even using the Fairy Houses to regulate your emotions. It is in these new build-mode items that you will also be able to sleep, bathe, and even throw fairy parties and invite all of the nearby winged creatures.
It is safe to say that The Sims 4: Enchanted by Nature is truly, well, expansive.
The world of Innisgreen is beautiful and the true epitome of magic. The world is full of colour and yet maintains an almost-invisible glow which makes you feel as though magic and fairy dust is truly in the air.
There is a whole new Career to advance, skills to learn, Sims to meet, locations to discover, and fairy dust to collect. Inspired by stories such as Shakespeare’s A Midsummer's Night Dream (and even featuring some well-known characters), it is clear that EA captured the magic of the fantasy genre and I truly felt enchanted by nature in this brand-new The Sims 4 expansion pack.