A Downgraded version of Sims 3
Well, after playing Sims 3 and seeing how much you could do, having wide variety of characters with the ability of shaping them in many different ways, having them learn a lot of new skills, achieveing life goals, creating generations, and perhaps houses, shaping from the tiniest baby to the largest house, I expected Sims Medieval to add the element of quests and experience in addition to all that.
Sadly, I was wrong.
After going through the first number of missions I discovered how repetitive this game is, and as much as a lot of thought was put into it and there are a lot of activities you could do, it's just about keeping your Sims happy while making sure he achieves his mission goals, I will elaborate on this later on.
So first off, you begin by creating a Monarch, which is basically your first "Hero" sim, (In Sims Medieval, you can only control Hero Sims, even if you do mary an ordinary villager, it will not make it count as your own, as Hero sims have their role in this game) and you go through a tutorial that explains how to earn materials for each and every Hero Sim Class (For example, an Assassin, or a Physician will use Herbal ingridients, While a Blacksmith will gather Minerals.), Combat (Which is much like sparring in Sims 3's World Adventures, or if you want a more basic example, exercising using different methods on sims 3, with the addition of several skills which reduce stamina), and basic Sim communication and interractions.
After that you're introduced to this new mechanic, which enables you to build structures in your kingdom using RP (Resource Points) you've earned for sompleting a quest, which allows you to expand your kingdom's Culture, Knowledge, Defence, and Well-Being, These help you with enhancing your Sims with faster Experience Earning, Low Chance of Break-ins and robberies, Or Lowering Chance of Sickness.
So what makes Sims Medieval so horrible?
After playing Sims 3, seeing how much you could do, how many options you had, wether it's in shaping your character's looks and clothes, or designing a deep character with a lot of characteristics, I expected that from Medieval, but I got something completely different, small variety of traits, few costumization options (Some of which you have to unlock though finishing an ambition, which is the main goal of each game you play), the complete removal of almost everything that makes Sims what it is. Basically, it failed being a sims game, and tried to aim at being a strategic/social cimulation/rpg with not much options.
Not only that, while questing, your Sim almost can't have any break, for you may be behind quest advancement, and your "Quest rank" will fall, which makes it basically a constant fight to both making your Sim happy (and improving the quest rating) and fullfill the goals of your Sim, in other words.
I could sum Sims Medieval with these few tasks you perform and repeat the entire game.
1) Start a new Kingdom.
2) Use character creator to create dull characters with not much focus on either personalities nor looks.
3) Quest with characters, try to keep them happy while doing boring, repetitive tasks.
4) Finish all Quest Points available for this current mission.
5) Restart with a new character/Character from this campaign.
6) REPEAT.
Sims Medieval could be a success if it wasn't hoping to ride on the success of Sims 3 without adding much, or more like removing a lot, I just hope that the next one (And I guess there will be one) will combine between deep customization and a lot of activities, that are not plain boring.
Thanks for reading, and if there are too much typos know that I am writing this at 00:20 O'clock, knowing that I might not be here to write for a while.
Enjoy life :)
