It’s just generally really shallow. The emotional states was a good idea, but they didn’t actually do anything interesting with it. A lot of the strides they made in asset customization in 3 were left behind in favor of… nothing, i guess? You have a hundred different interactions between sims, and they can all effect the tone of the conversation… but that doesn’t actually matter at all (To be fair, they did introduce lingering sentiments from conversations later, which was a good idea that just needed expansion).

Build mode is alright, but the furniture is a linear progression system which is annoying. You might want a modern looking bed to go with your big city apartment, but the numbers say you actually should want a wooden Princess Cordellia bed. Maybe you want metal stools for your bar? Nope, Princess Cordelia. But what about your dining chairs? Say it with me. Princess Cordellia. You can just ignore the numbers if you want, but there’s not much else to spend money on.

At the end of the day, it feels like you’re just giving up a lot in exchange for half-baked, overpriced, and uninteresting additions.