The Sims 4 Star Wars DLC: Is It Just An Advertisement For Disney Or A New World?
On August 27, EA announced a new DLC pack for the Sims 4, and the reaction they got might not have been what they expected. Many fans were anticipating updates and changes to the base game when they tuned in to Gamescom: Opening Night Live last week, but what they got instead was a virtual trip to the Galaxy's Edge attraction at both Disneyland and Disney World.
The DLC in question is none other than the infamous Star Wars: Journey to Batuu pack for the Sims. Much like the other DLC packs for the Sims 4, such as Jungle Adventure, Batuu is a place your Sim can visit. To get to Batuu, a player must find the "travel" option on their Sim's phone. The location will show up where other Vacation Spots in the Sims do, and from there, the player will be teleported directly to Black Spire Outpost.
Click to enlargeThe only catch to this Vacation Spot is that Sims cannot live on Batuu, they can only visit. Upon entering the Star Wars world, players are provided with a small room in a building called The Dwelling, where their Sim can sleep, change, and WooHoo. This room, much like a hotel, does not belong to the Sim and cannot be customised.
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The Sims' take on Batuu is pretty much a perfect recreation of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, featuring all of the iconic venues within the Black Spire Outpost. From Ronto's Roasters to Dok-Ondar's Den of Antiquities, there are many buildings and points of interest to travel to. The only catch is that most of these buildings are off-limits to your Sim and much of the action in this world is experienced through menus and pop-up dialogue.
There are a few places that your Sim is able to enter, however, which is where most of the excitement in Batuu takes place. The most notable of these places is Oga's Cantina, where you can listen to music, order food and drinks for your Sim, and talk to NPCs. This is the only large structure that your Sim can enter, for the most part, which makes it a definite highlight in the DLC pack.
Click to enlargeAfter exploring the Outpost, the player will learn that there are actually factions within this Vacation Spot. This differentiates the Star Wars pack from other vacation DLCs for the Sims 4, giving the pack a slight RPG feel. The three factions that a Sim can join are the Resistance, the First Order, and the Scoundrels. Each faction has missions associated with it, and can be further supported by recruiting more Sims. The player can also purchase a droid, which will help them on their faction-related endeavours. Droids, along with items obtained in Batuu, can be taken back to a Sim's home.
Click to enlargeThe crowning achievement for any Sim in the world of Batuu is obtaining a lightsaber. Like a droid companion, a Sim's lightsaber can be taken home and shown off. The lightsaber can also help the player complete their many quests and missions in whichever faction they choose.
Click to enlargeOnce the faction's goals have been met, however, there is not a lot to do in Batuu, other than purchasing food and products with Galactic Credits. Simoleons, the usual currency in the Sims can't buy anything in this world, which encourages the player to complete tasks and missions in order to make money in the new world. Most players, however, just seem to be cheating their way to riches, in typical Sims fashion.
Due to the relatively bare-bones structure of Batuu and the overly-lacking base game, the internet was not too happy at the arrival of this new DLC pack. Many of them took to social media to voice their concerns for the game.
Players argued that the game needed major fixes before EA and Maxis should be prioritising optional DLC. Many features of the game, such as aspirations and traits, raising a baby, using vehicles, and selecting skin colour, are unfinished. Players wanted to see these unfinished aspects of the game fixed, but instead, they got a marketing tie-in with Star Wars.
Many fans of the franchise were also upset that the game was essentially a glorified trip to Disney World, as they wished that the DLC would have taken some risks, rather than being so bare-bones in its presentation. Sims fans believe that the only reason that the DLC exists is to allow players to travel to Disney World, despite the coronavirus quarantine. Other than that, the DLC is just a virtual tour to Galaxy's Edge, with the option to talk to NPCs and take home some souvenirs.
Popular Sims YouTuber Plumbella went through the DLC to show her fans just how few of the buildings and areas could actually be explored. Only major buildings, such as Oga's Cantina and The Dwelling, could be entered and even some of the outdoor areas, such as the part of the map with a waterfall, were blocked off by invisible walls.
Additionally, Plumbella went through some of the missions to show just how many of them were text-dumps that didn't mean much to someone who wasn't entirely familiar with the Star Wars franchise. By the end of the video, she was wholly confused, as she stated many of the missions expect the player to know the lore beforehand, rather than walking them through it.
The DLC has only been released to YouTubers and game journalists via early access keys. It is slotted for a September 8 release, but many claim that they will not support it. The Sims fandom is attempting to boycott this DLC pack until the Sims 4 receives its much-needed updates. Additionally, with an asking price of $19.99, many are passing up the DLC regardless. For such a limited amount of content, the asking price is a bit too steep for most players.
Despite the fact that Journey to Batuu has not yet been released, it has already been panned by the Sims community and gamers alike. EA and Maxis have not responded to the criticism as of the writing of this article, and it is uncertain if they ever will. Until then, Sims fans will continue to boycott the new DLC pack- at least until the base game receives its much-needed updates.
Images via EA
