The Sims™ 4 Island Living Review Summary

Beautiful tropical setting, gorgeous mermaid tails, and useful pack items are let down by underwhelming mermaids, thin content, and technical bugs that undermine the value.

Beach and island setting enjoyable: The beach setting, seaside scenery, and island vibe are frequently highlighted as charming and enjoyable. Players love the tropical atmosphere and the visual beauty of the world.

Mermaid tails are gorgeous: Players consistently praise the visual appeal of mermaid tails and the mermaid character design, calling them beautiful and cool. This positive reception spans multiple clusters, indicating a strong aesthetic appreciation.

Pack includes many useful items: The pack is praised for its large amount of good CAS and build/buy items, which are useful even in other worlds. Players appreciate the variety and quality of the content.

DLC is complete and fun: The DLC is described as the most complete one The Sims 4 has made, offering vacation, sunbathing, swimming, diving, and nature conservation activities. It is highly praised for its content volume.

Sulani is a beautiful world: Sulani is repeatedly praised as one of the most beautiful worlds in the game, with amazing lighting and a gorgeous map. It is a favorite among players.

DLC lacks content and value: Reviewers consistently state the pack has very little to do, with minimal content compared to other packs, and is not worth its full price. The world offers only swimming and diving, with few build lots and facilities, making the experience feel shallow and overpriced.

Mermaids are underwhelming and weak: Multiple reviews describe mermaids as the least interesting occult type, lacking depth, powers, and meaningful gameplay compared to vampires or other occult sims. Their abilities like singing, weather control, and dolphin interaction are considered useless, and they are forced to stay wet, making them boring and disappointing.

Technical bugs and performance issues: The pack is plagued by numerous bugs, including lag, FPS drops, unresponsive controls, and glitches that make the game unplayable even on new computers. Specific issues include slow click response in Sulani, fishing bugs, and problems with lot placement and object placement.

Support and refund issues: There is no easy way to contact support, and technical issues are not resolved or responded to by moderators. Some players report being unable to get refunds from Steam, and the game fails to start due to launcher or network problems, leading to wasted time and money.

Missing features from predecessor: Players note the absence of features that existed in The Sims 3's Island Paradise, such as house boats, diving, surfing, and speed boats. The pack feels like a downgrade, lacking the variety and depth of the earlier version, which disappoints long-time fans.

Pack includes tropical island world: The expansion adds a tropical island world called Sulani, which is described as Hawaii-like with beaches, ocean views, and a peaceful atmosphere. This world is a major selling point of the pack.

Mermaids are an occult life state: Multiple reviews highlight that mermaids are introduced as an occult life state, but some note that they lack deep gameplay compared to other occults. The mermaid occult is a central feature of the pack.

Beach activities and water sports: The DLC includes beach settings with activities like sunbathing, swimming, diving, jet skiing, and sailing. These water-based activities are frequently mentioned as key features.

Mermaids have unique abilities: Mermaids can change weather, call dolphins, swim with a tail, and have a hydration mechanic instead of hygiene. They can also be created or become mermaids through gameplay, and can have mermaid children.

Building and create-a-sim items: The pack includes construction and create-a-sim items, such as building houses by the sea, over water, and in low water. This expands creative options for players.

Performance issues and lag: Multiple clusters report severe lag and unplayable performance even on new computers, with FPS dropping to 5-10 during vacations and long delays when interacting with objects like the fridge. These issues significantly impact gameplay experience.

Game fails to start: The game either does not work for the reviewer or stopped starting properly after the launch switched to EAGames. This indicates a critical compatibility or launcher issue preventing access to the game.

Minor bugs present: One cluster mentions minor bugs, which are less severe but still contribute to a less polished experience. These are not as impactful as the performance and startup issues.

Positive experience on Deck: One cluster highlights that the game can be played for a long time on the Steam Deck with beautiful blue transparent sea graphics settings, indicating a positive experience on that platform.

Buy on sale only: Many reviewers advise purchasing the pack only during a sale, often at half price or with a discount, to reduce regret. They suggest waiting for promotions or buying in bundles for extra savings.

Not worth full price: Reviewers frequently state that the pack is not worth its full price, with some saying it is not worth the money even on sale. They recommend skipping it unless heavily discounted.

Do not buy DLC: Some reviewers strongly advise against buying this DLC, telling players not to give the developers money for this pack. They express strong negative sentiment toward the purchase.

Recommended for summer lovers: Positive reviews recommend the pack for players who enjoy summer activities, beach fun, and relaxing in a southern island setting. They highlight the vacation-like experience it offers.

Skip if not interested: Some reviewers say the pack can be safely skipped if island living is not your thing, and that it should only be bought if you are desperate or have spare money. They suggest thinking of it as a vacation DLC rather than a dedicated world.

Community fair range: $5.00 - $15.00.

Game completion: 0.5h.

Value-Conscious Buyer: Waits for sales, buys bundles, and compares the value of different packs before committing. Motivation: Getting the most content for the lowest price, avoiding buyer's remorse from overpaying for DLC. Stance: sale.

Occult Gameplay Enthusiast: Focuses on playing as occult sims, testing their powers, and comparing them to other supernatural packs. Motivation: Experiencing rich, well-designed supernatural life states and abilities in The Sims. Stance: sale.

Creative Builder & CAS Enthusiast: Spends time in build mode and Create-a-Sim, using new items to design lots and sims. Motivation: Expanding their creative toolkit with new build and CAS items to enhance their creations. Stance: sale.

Monetization: The user reviews for The Sims 4 Island Living DLC focus on the expansion's high price and missing expected features, but contain no evidence of microtransactions, gacha, pay-to-win, or other predatory monetization. The only monetization is the one-time purchase price of the DLC, which is a standard expansion model.

Overpriced at full price: Multiple reviewers state the DLC is overpriced at full price and suggest waiting for a sale. The value is considered poor relative to the content offered.

Comparison to Sims 3 Island Paradise: Reviewers compare this pack unfavorably to Sims 3's Island Paradise, which had more homes, houseboats, and deep-water diving. The Sims 4 version is seen as a downgrade.

Decent content amount: The DLC is noted to have a decent amount of content, with some saying it has more than any other game pack. However, this is tempered by price concerns.

Expansion pack with CAS/BB: The pack is identified as an expansion pack that includes Create-a-Sim and Build/Buy items, which is typical for the series.

Mods improve experience: Reviewers suggest mods to remove annoying dolphin sounds and enhance mermaid gameplay, indicating base game shortcomings.