The most recent expansion pack for The Sims 4, High School Years, was announced in late June ahead of its July 2022 release. This DLC primarily focuses on the teenage years, particularly throughout a Sim’s high school experience. While it’s always been possible for teenagers to do homework, work on school projects, and even participate in field trips throughout The Sims series, The Sims 4‘s High School Years expansion marks the first time that high school will be a fully playable experience akin to universities from previous Sims updates. The Sims 4 could finally be taking steps to resolve some of the issues that have been present since the onset of the series.
There are around a dozen expansion packs for The Sims 4, not counting all of the smaller Game and Stuff Packs released since the game came out in 2014. Although it can be costly to buy every expansion in The Sims 4, they do a great deal in terms of fleshing out the base game. The Sims 4 was heavily criticized upon initial release. Many features that had been staples of older titles like The Sims 2 and 3 were removed from the latest entry in the series. Although eight years of updates and DLC have brought back much of what players had missed initially, there are still improvements to be made. Luckily, EA doesn’t seem to be abandoning The Sims 4 any time soon, as The Sims 5 has yet to be hinted at, much less confirmed.
High School Years is simply the latest attempt at improving upon and refreshing The Sims 4 for both long-time Sims fans and newcomers to the franchise. The trailer showcases after-school hangouts, football, and cheerleading, among a host of other activities and items. New date and hangout venues, social interactions, and even fashion choices will give players a way to develop their Sims before they hit young adulthood. Now that high school is a fully playable experience rather than a rabbit hole, they also have the chance to spend more time actively playing as their Sims before they age up. In The Sims 4, the early years are essential when it comes to shaping a Sims’ personality, especially for roleplayers. It’s only fitting that high school shouldn’t be an exception to that.
High School Was A Rabbit Hole In Past Sims Games
School has been a feature since the very first Sims game, but there have been slight changes to it across each iteration. In both The Sims and The Sims 2, school buildings for all children and teenagers were located off-screen. Sims would leave to them much as they would a job, but players wouldn’t be able to actually see or interact with the building. The Sims 3 still made its schools a rabbit hole, but the buildings were at least located on the map. “Rabbit holes” refer to locations in The Sims where players can’t venture. Sims go in, complete off-screen tasks for a set amount of time, and return to a playable state when finished. The Sims 4 has drawn criticism for making most of its jobs rabbit holes, resulting in long gaps of time in which players can’t actually interact with their Sims and the world around them.
Luckily, throughout the course of the series, various careers have been added that can be actively participated in rather than just serving as rabbit holes. However, the first real example of a non-rabbit hole schooling experience came with The Sims 2: University, the first major DLC for the game. In The Sims’ University expansion pack, Sims could attend college and actively work to gain skills in order to graduate. There are also plenty of social opportunities that players previously couldn’t take advantage of. The Sims 3 and The Sims 4 each later added their own version of a university-themed expansion. Up until now, though, there’s been no such equivalent for high school. Outside of assisting Sims with homework and projects, and occasionally hanging out with classmates after school, Sims 4 players had very little to do throughout much of a Sims’ teenage years.
How High School Works In The New Sims 4 DLC
The High School Years expansion will not only add schools back into the game as actual buildings, much like The Sims 3, but it will also allow players to enter those buildings and actively play as their Sims. The Sims 4 High School Years trailer showcases Sims walking through the halls, participating in sports out on the field, and sitting in class taking tests. While Sims 4 fans will have to wait until July 28 to actually see how many of these features play out in the game itself, the concept is at least promising in terms of interactive gameplay. Locker customization, playing pranks on other students and attending an end-of-the-year graduation ceremony also helps to add flavor to the schooling experience. The school will even hold prom.
A few other features are also coming to the game, and while, arguably, none are more exciting to long-time Sims 4 players than the opportunity to actually take Sims to school, everything in The Sims 4‘s High School Years seems to add quite a bit of complexity to the game. After-school activities like the chess club and the computer club make it easier for teenage Sims to make new friends, something that was previously challenging given that so much of their time was spent in the rabbit hole of high school. At-home study sessions are being fleshed-out, and Sims can utilize new interactions such as pillow fighting, something that was included in previous Sims games but has been absent from The Sims 4 until now. Sims can design and sell their own clothing with the High School Years DLC, and teenage Sims will now go through puberty. Body hair will be coming to the base game as well as the newest Sims 4 expansion pack when it drops in late July.
Of course, there are plenty of other weak areas in The Sims 4 that could stand to be strengthened moving forward. While it’s unlikely that an open world, which was featured in The Sims 3, will be re-introduced to the series any time soon, there could be more open neighborhoods and other large areas for Sims to walk through. More non-rabbit hole careers would also be beneficial for those players who have gotten tired of everything The Sims 4 currently has to offer. Further customization options, perhaps more akin to the color wheel from The Sims 3, could be introduced. However, for the time being, High School Years working to fix such a longstanding problem in The Sims could indicate future attempts from EA to improve some of the most widely-criticized aspects of the franchise.