The tenth expansion for The Sims 4, Snowy Escape brings you a Japanese-inspired winter wonderland full of sporting activities and plenty of beautiful architecture. Mt. Komorebi is the first ever dual purpose world, housing both residential and rental lots, and the pack’s pre-launch patch brought this duality to other worlds as well.
While Snowy Escape is packed full of features and functionality, there are still a few things we’d like to have seen in a pack with this theme. Here we take a look at some of the stand out features of the pack as well as some ideas that didn’t make the cut.
10 Love: The Variety Of Winter Sports
Rather than just being a skiing pack, your Sim will have the option to ski, snowboard or sled down the slopes in Yukimatsu. They’ll also be able to climb the mountain and hike around the area.
As your Sim’s increase their skills they’ll also take different paths and perform tricks on the way down the slopes, with varying degrees of success. These tiny touches add a lot to the game, as does wearing climbing gear to increase your safety on the mountain.
9 Wanted: More Snow Based Activities
While we love the selection of sports, it’s disappointing that there aren’t more snow related activities, like snowball fights. You can build snowmen but mostly this is limited to the deeper snow on the mountain, unless the festival of snow is underway.
We really wanted proper deep snow with snowball fights and more family fun in the cold. Snowmen and snow angels are so near and yet still so far from the Sims 3: Seasons highlights of playing in the snow and igloo WooHoo.
8 Love: Japanese Inspired Build And Buy Items
The build and buy items have a Japanese flair and are incredibly comprehensive. You can build an entire house including doors, walls, floors, windows and furniture for pretty much every room.
All household staples are here including kitchen counters, sofas, tables, chairs, a bed, a wardrobe, a bookcase, a bathroom set and plenty of other items. These are complimented by Japanese-specific furniture items to add an authentic touch to your builds.
7 Wanted: Resort Hotels
While Mt. Komorebi is the first dual purpose world, containing both residential and rental lots, we were disappointed to discover that the rental lots are the same as those currently available.
Resort hotels are severely missed and when they weren’t part of Island Living, many hoped they would come with a winter-theme pack as well but sadly it was not to be.
6 Love: New Deaths And WooHoo Spots
Most Simmers love a new death and WooHoo spot and this pack has two of each. Sims who want to encounter Grim can do so after a tangle with the vending machines or by taking inadequate safety measures when climbing.
Those who want to enjoy some WooHoo in new places will be able to get cosy in the ice cave atop Mt. Komorebi itself, or in the tent or bushes along the way. Previously tent WooHoo was restricted to Outdoor Retreat, while bush WooHoo came with Get Together.
5 Wanted: More Interaction With Temples And Shrines
It’s enjoyable to hike to the temples and shrines in the area but we can’t help but wish there was something to do once we got there. While there are a couple of interactions they are very minor and don’t allow us to truly enjoy the cultural sights.
Even just a rabbithole feature for going into temples and a couple of buffs would have been a nice touch to make hikes feel more eventful. Although we do appreciate being able to join our Sims on the walk.
4 Love: The New Lifestyles
How Sims live their lives will now trigger lifestyles. These will then affect how Sims react to different situations and events. They’ll become happier engaging in behavior they enjoy and unhappy when they don’t.
Each lifestyle has different benefits and drawbacks and can affect behavior when Sims are in autonomous mode as well. Especially when combined with the new sentiments functionality it adds great depth to game play.
3 Wanted: More Variety In Create A Sim
There are some amazing new hairstyles in the create a sim selection as well as a few Japanese clothing items. However, when it comes down to it these are limited and the rest of the clothing is snowsuits and climbing gear.
While this is useful for Mt. Komorebi, the majority of clothing items have little use outside of this world.
2 Love: Kids Being Included
Often kids are overlooked in the game but Snowy Escape finally offers them something to do. Kids can enjoy sledding, skiing, and snowboarding and can also go for walks with the family. Even todders can join in, although they are limited to sledding with an older Sim.
There’s also a festival of youth which lets children go hunting for Voidcritters, dance with Yamachan and enjoy ice cream crepes. They can also color or do experiments on the science table.
1 Wanted: Martial Arts
One thing that could further increase the number of activities would be the return of martial arts. We’d love to see this activity make a come back and be suitable for all ages.
The Japanese theme would have perfectly fit in with the idea of introducing a martial arts skill and club and the new build and buy items would be perfect to create a martial arts studio. Maybe in a hobbies game pack? We’ll cross our fingers.
