The Sims 4's latest expansion, Life & Death, has blown both critics and fans out of the water thanks to its wealth of new content, features, and gameplay mechanics that feel as inspired as they are fun to play around with. Considering how rare it is for The Sims 4 to get something that's as weird as it is wonderful, it's great to see the folks over at Maxis create something so enjoyable. It's certainly proving to be a winner for fans of the more bizarre side of The Sims, although it's not pleasing everyone.

Life & Death's best mechanics have helped expand the game in impressive ways, which isn't particularly surprising considering it's a supernatural expansion pack. These have always fared the best when it comes to The Sims games and end up being the most memorable. It's great to see this trend continue, although it's heartbreaking to know that those who aren't as interested are being left out a little. While Life & Death proves that The Sims 4 still has what it takes to be goofy, it's a shame it also continues the series' worst trend.

Life & Death Is A Great Sims 4 Expansion

It Is One Of The Best Expansions In Recent Memory

Life & Death is yet another incredible Sims 4 expansion that delves deep into the game's more supernatural side. It's a wild and wacky expansion that adds some highly-requested features, such as woohooing death itself, of course, as well as some unexpected treats that drastically enhance the overall experience. Much like the many supernatural packs before it, Life & Death feels like an unbridled experiment in creativity, adding as many outlandish new features to the game as the developers could possibly think of.

While it's true that best life sims ever made.

Life & Death is the very first supernatural expansion pack for The Sims 4, despite there being 17 in total. In contrast, two of the 11 expansion packs of The Sims 3 were supernatural/fantasy-themed. The Sims 4 also has five supernatural and fantasy game packs, including Vampires, StrangerVille, Realm of Magic, Star Wars™: Journey to Batuu, and Werewolves. There are only two stuff packs, which include Spooky and Paranormal.

Of course, for those hoping for a more realistic expansion, Life & Death isn't really a must. However, for everyone else looking to spice up their playthrough and add some unexpected twists to their sims' lives, then it is the perfect expansion. It's the kind of expansion that has always made The Sims the unique and wild life sim that it is, disproving the notion that it's simply a game about watching characters go to work and constantly fix their leaking showers.

The Sims 4’s Supernatural Packs Are Often Its Best

They Feel Unrestricted In The Amount Of Fun They Add

The supernatural packs for The Sims 4, and its predecessors, are almost always the best and most memorable. They add the most unique content, feel the most unrestricted in their ambition, and inject the most amount of fun. Realm of Magic, Vampires, and Werewolves all added a number of goofy and fun gameplay mechanics that made The Sims 4 just that little bit more weird and wonderful.

Of course, generally, when ranking The Sims 4's best expansions and game packs, the more useful and practical ones come out on top. Those that add fundamental mechanics and expand upon the base game experience are often more popular simply due to how necessary they feel. However, that doesn't mean that when all is said and done, players will how much fun they had with them. Seasons and Get To Work, for example, are must-have expansion packs because of how much they add to the game, but they're not memorable in the same way that Life & Death is.

The supernatural packs enhance The Sims 4, whereas the realistic ones merely add what should have been there from the start.

That's because the supernatural packs enhance The Sims 4, whereas the realistic ones merely add what should have been there from the start. In many ways, the supernatural offerings like Life & Death and Realm of Magic feel like genuine expansions, ways of stepping out of the norm and experiencing something new within the iconic Sims framework. The more basic expansions just make the base experience better, not necessarily more unique or interesting. They help flesh out the original experience, not show alternative ways of enjoying it.

Realism In The Sims 4 Deserves Better

Its Realistic Packs Need To Be Better

Of course, while many are enjoying the Life & Death expansion for The Sims 4, those who enjoy the realistic side of the life sim aren't too happy. The recent expansions that have added more realistic aspects haven't been amazing, such as the messy Lovestruck expansion. Even when they are good, they never feel as impactful or memorable as the more outlandish expansions and game packs.

Now that fans know they'll never get The Sims 5, all the more realistic aspects they'd been hoping for may seem like a pipe dream, at least when it comes to the visual department. Of course, it's absolutely worth noting that the more supernatural packs don't tend to come around particularly often, and the majority of The Sims 4's expansions and game packs tend to skew more towards the realism side of the game. However, it sometimes feels like those realistic expansions don't have the same amount of inspired creativity as the supernatural ones.

It's hard not to feel like players who prefer the grounded elements of The Sims 4 are getting the short end of the stick when it comes to extra content. Sure, it's always great to see much-needed features added in, but when they feel like the absolute bare minimum, it can be a bit disappointing to see supernatural fans get innovative features. Ultimately, The Sims 4 is an ever-growing experience, one that will get even more expansions before the end of its life. Hopefully, those expansions will continue to bring both amazing supernatural and realistic features to The Sims 4.

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