Why build whatever you want on your own plot of land when you can live in a block of flats? The EA Maxis team asked this question, because the main attraction of the City Living expansion pack is the ability to rent an apartment. I see a certain paradox in this because, in a series in which many fans spend a lot of time creating impressive buildings, the prospect of settling into a small apartment and dealing with neighbours seems very appealing. Want to check it out for yourself? Download The Sims 4 City Living from us for free.
Welcome to San Myshuno, a city of rental opportunities!
This expansion pack takes us to San Myshuno, a city full of apartment buildings modelled on those in San Francisco and Tokyo, among others. There aren’t many vacant lots here, as most of the land is occupied by skyscrapers where you can rent an apartment.
Paradoxically, this is a good option as the rent and bills are relatively low. However, we pay for this with limited freedom in terms of expansion. This is true for ordinary apartments, which can be freely remodelled inside, but the exterior walls cannot be moved. The situation is different for penthouses. Here, we are limited only by the size of the ‘plot’.
Ambivalent neighbourhood
It’s important to note that the type of plot we choose affects not only the building process, but also the overall gaming experience. Penthouses lack any social environment, whereas in ordinary apartments, we are surrounded by neighbours, with whom, as in real life, things can vary.
In theory, you can befriend them, but one night, they knocked on the door not to pay a friendly visit, but to complain about the constant music. They retaliated with notorious parties and night-time howling (animated hearts appear on their doors – does anyone know what that’s about?).
I must admit that I don’t see the point of maintaining good relations with neighbours. Visiting them is annoying because you have to wait for the loading screen, even though your apartments are in the same building. You also have to be careful not to make noise at night. It’s much easier to simply ignore your neighbour banging on the door.
City life to the fullest!
Another new feature, festivals, is much better. Five events are held regularly in San Myshuno: the Enthusiasts’ Rally, the Festival of Flavours, the Festival of Humour and Pranks, the Festival of Love and the Flea Market. Each offers a range of unique interactions, such as gaming and hacking competitions at the Enthusiasts’ Rally, or a curry challenge at the Festival of Flavours. We receive various rewards for participating in and sometimes winning them. Each event has a pleasant and unique atmosphere that encourages visitors to attend.
City Living places a strong emphasis on the social aspect. All available apartments are located near one of the festival venues, so if an event is taking place right outside our window, we can simply walk there without any loading screens.
Even outside festival season, there are plenty of attractions – karaoke bars to practise our singing, places to paint murals, basketball courts, street musicians and numerous food stalls whose dishes we can recreate at home.
It’s worth mentioning that you should only attempt to make nigiri from puffball mushrooms if you have the appropriate cooking skills. If prepared incorrectly, it can be deadly (but a fish will swim in the spirit of the unfortunate victim!).
Aspiring careerists
There is certainly a lot going on socially here. In fact, the constant invitations to go out together distracted me so much that I couldn’t fulfil the Native’s new aspiration – which was quite tedious due to the need to develop singing skills to the maximum, and was rewarded only with discounts at fairs – or advance through the ranks of three new careers: politician, critic and social media expert. Each of these jobs is interesting because they are strongly linked to the social aspect of city living.
A career in social media reflects this the least because it focuses on gaining followers on computers, but as a politician or critic, we have to interact with people in person, whether that’s evaluating the dishes served in restaurants or convincing residents of San Myshuno of our views and winning their votes.
Reaching the maximum level in all three jobs is hard work, but you’ll be rewarded with a good salary and a number of special interactions, such as a politician asking you for a bribe.
City Living focuses on an idea that is somewhat contrary to the concept of The Sims, but it nevertheless proves once again that there is method in this madness.
Download The Sims 4 City Living now by clicking below!
- Here is the link to purchase the game: The Sims 4 City Living
- Genre: Simulator Games
- Supported languages: ES/ENG/MULTi
The Sims 4 City Living system requirements
Minimum:
- OS: 64 Bit Required. Windows 7
- Processor: 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, AMD Athlon 64 Dual-Core 4000+ or equivalent
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: 128 MB of Video RAM and support for Pixel Shader 3.0. Supported Video Cards: NVIDIA GeForce 6600 or better, ATI Radeon X1300 or better, Intel GMA X4500 or better.
- DirectX: Version 9.0c
- Network: Broadban Internet connection
- Storage: 3 GB available space
Recommended:
- OS: 64 Bit Windows 7, 8, 8.1, or 10
- Processor: Intel core i5 or faster, AMD Athlon X4
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 650 or better
- DirectX: Version 9.0c
- Storage: 18 GB available space