The Sims 4's latest expansion is a strange one to discuss. It's a release that takes a similar approach to last year's Growing Together, which was mostly successful in fleshing out and adding to existing core gameplay. While that pack focused on family dynamics to expand on storytelling possibilities, Lovestruck is all about romance.
Lovestruck's features definitely make dating and romantic relationships more interesting. It's a welcome shake-up, and I plan to continue using many of the new systems in my saves going forwards.
However, I also came away from my extensive time with the expansion feeling like the overall impact was a little lacking, falling short of what Growing Together and certainly Seasons were able to achieve.
In the base game, romance gameplay can feel monotonous. There's very little challenge, and very little reason for your Sim to diverge from using the same moves and interactions on each love interest.
What Lovestruck does is emphasise each Sim's individual qualities and preferences. There's a larger focus on compatibility and the process of getting to know each other.
A new attraction 'turn-ons and turn-offs' system, based on the existing likes and dislikes feature, plays a fairly significant part in making Sims react in different ways. From hair colour and fashion style to personality traits and ways of life, different elements can influence how attracted a Sim is to another on a basic level.
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That's not to say it's impossible for a Sim who is turned off by multiple aspects of another Sim to fall in love with them. It just requires more work.
Romance styles and satisfaction work with attraction in a positive way. Sims will respond differently to different romance styles such as flirting, affection, gift-giving, physical intimacy, and WooHoo, while two Sims in a relationship will have independent romance satisfaction indicating how happy they are in the relationship, something which can change depending on their interactions with each other.
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There are also different romance dynamics that alter how two Sims autonomously behave with each other. 'Wholesome' couples will probably be the most common, but 'strained' and 'unpredictable' – which sees Sims acting occasionally hostile towards each other – offer some variety. To complement this, couples can even go to relationship counselling to have their dynamic changed.
All of this added nuance makes romance relationships rather enjoyable to navigate. There is more to consider, and there is more to respond to.
There's no doubt this is an improvement over the existing systems, but I think one thing that holds the final result back is that some aspects can feel a little formulaic over time.
For example, when your Sim asks their love interest about their preferences, you're hit with a pop-up that lists off several turn-ons and turn-offs at once. It's moments like these that make romance feel 'gamey' and a bit more predictable.
On the opposite end, the expansion's best moments are when things play out more organically. I really like how after an innocuous conversation, a Sim's attraction towards their partner can change as they learn something new about them.
It's a balance that the expansion tries to get right, and to be fair, a large part of it will depend on each individual player and their preferred style of playing.
This is also one of the reasons why the new 'create a date' feature didn't do much for me. There is some flexibility to planning your romantic date. You can choose a number of activities to do – the list is fairly extensive, ranging from drinks and stargazing to options that allow Sims to 'Netflix and chill' – and that forms the basis of what is essentially an evolving to-do list you are expected to do to make the date a success.
But it felt a little too rigid for my liking. There's a lack of incentive to be a little more free-form, and dates can feel rather predictable as a result. It doesn't really help that they feel like a re-tread of My Wedding Stories' events.
I appreciated touches like your Sim's love interest asking to extend the date if it's going well, and the dates feature probably would have benefitted from more of that, at least with how I like to play.
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There are a bunch of other smaller features, but they're not particularly notable and their existence is more serve to flesh out the theme of the expansion.
Your Sim can now go on blind dates, while an in-game dating app – though fairly basic – is a fun diversion and a new way to meet Sims.
The new traits, aspirations, Romance skill, and romance consultant career aren't the most interesting, but the Mexico City-inspired world of Ciudad Enamorada is very pretty and one of the stronger aspects of the pack outside of the core features. It offers fresh locations where singletons can hang out and couples can meet up.
Just don't be surprised when you see the seedy motel is actually just a rabbit-hole location.
The expansion's biggest selling point is not everything around the edges, but rather its attempt at reinvigorating core gameplay systems. If it's successful at that, then the enjoyment and the replayability that comes from it would make the whole thing worthwhile.
While I would argue that Lovestruck is guilty of some missed opportunities, it is an expansion that both deepens and freshens up romance-based gameplay and I did find plenty of enjoyment playing out my Sims' romantic (mis)adventures.
It's a cohesive (and pretty saucy by the game's standards) expansion that doesn't quite nail all of its ideas.
We all know that The Sims 4 as a whole is an incredibly expensive game, and with that in mind, you might be better off waiting for a sale if you're interested.
Platform reviewed on: PC
The Sims 4 Lovestruck is out now on PC, Mac, PlayStation, and Xbox.
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