The Sims 4 Create-A-Sim Demo Review

Let me start this off by acknowledging that I'm one of the privileged few who got the demo early and I feel really grateful to have received it. Many are upset because they didn't and I'm very sorry for that. A few more weeks and you too will join in the CAS fun.

This is a post stating my views on The Sims 4 CAS demo. This is by no means an overview of the content. For that there are heaps of youtube channels and websites for you to check out. I give the best and the worst of the demo. Hope you enjoy!

my finished product, Rocco Da Vinci (twitter avatar)

The Best...

•  The first thing I noticed was the speed and smooth running of the demo. On opening the game this was immediately evident. The game runs exceptionally well on my old machine. This is such a relief and such a huge contrast to the super slow Sims 3 CAS. I do, however, realise that the base game and subsequent expansions will have tons more content and it may slow it down but I don't think by very much.

• The amount of clothing, accessories, hairstyles, traits and everything else. The amount of content is insane. For a base game it's pretty good and this isn't even all that we're getting. The only downside to this is the lack of colour sliders/wheels to customise this wide variety (more on that later). 

The style of the clothing truly is awesome for a base game. 

The hairstyles for both males and females amazed me.

accessories, hairstyles and makeup galore for those aspiring stylists.

Glad this t-shirt and scarf combo from the Sims 3: Late Night is included.

• The filters! These are amazing and allow you to filter out the type of clothing, hairstyle, accessories and more that you want! I'm really excited about this. Want only short hair options? Go ahead. Want to only display long sleeved shirts? You can! The filters are also present for the different clothing categories. For example, when you click on formal wear then only the formal wear filtered clothes will display but you can change this by removing it from the top filter bar. This means that you can finally wear sleepwear or everyday wear or anything else for any outfit category. It's finally possible to wear a speedo as formal wear!
  
  

  

  The side filter bar and top filter bar. Gives you endless options.

  
  
  • The fact that boots fit over any pants now! Thank the simming heavens (and the creators) for that! 
  
  
  
  
  
  •  The traits. So many interesting ones to choose from. I loved the fact that insanity, loner and many more sims 3 favourites are back. There aren't that many (and maybe more will be added) but the ones there have the same sims charm as they always do. 

  

  hobby traits

  
  

  

  emotional traits

  
  

  

  lifestyle traits

  
  

  

  My favourite trait, Bro, in the social trait category.

  
  
  
  • The animation. Smooth animations and some are so hilarious. The movements of the sim look very lifelike without losing that Sims signature ridiculousness. The animations seem effortless and the facial expressions let the sim come very much alive. The body shapes and way the sim stands also seem quite natural. Although some walk styles are a little exaggerated, I think most are very cool. This makes me very excited to see the sims in action in the actual game.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  One of the many walk styles. Hilarious

  • Another major thing I liked about the CAS demo is that IT WAS FREE and going to still be free for those who haven't got it yet. The Sims 3 CAS demo was sold here back in the day for almost as much as the actual game. I'm glad they realise most of us are on a budget and saving for the actual game when it comes out. This is also a great way for them to promote the game so I'm really happy they decided to give it for free on Origin thus promoting Origin as well. 
  
  
   
  • The unique-never-before-seen features. Like the bro trait (hilarious), the new aspirations, new hairstyles, the fact that hats can be worn with any hairstyle, the background music, the simplicity of the background, the personality of the sim already shining through, the addition of a "party outfit" category,  the fact that you can randomise any outfit and many many more. This game looks very promising and the only thing this demo succeeded in doing is make me even more excited for The Sims 4. 
    
  
  
  
  
  
  • The superb organisation of accessories. The head and body accessories are seperate. I never thought this would ever work but it does and I don't know why they didn't do this for Sims 3. It makes it so easy to choose specific hairstyles, accessories (earrings etc.) and then arm bands or socks for different outfits and then still be able to filter out certain styles makes it very easy to get what you're looking for. It's well designed and I love it. 

    

    head accessories (with a glasses filter)

    
    

    

    Arm accessories and socks.

    • And lastly, The Gallery. I thought it would be such a useless addition to the game but from here I can add sims directly to game and, when the full game comes out, lots and many more. It runs so smoothly and is a great way for players to showcase their work and for lazy players like me to download other player houses. It's such a huge step in the right direction and looks amazing. I love checking out what other players are doing and this provides such an easy platform to do so. For now there are only sims but I can't wait for the other possible items to be here once the game is released.
    
    
    
    
    
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    The not so good things.... 
    
    
    • The adjusting and "moulding" of the Sim's body. It's very awkwardly done. It's also not as easy as it seems on videos and screens. It's very easy to end up with disproportionate features. I hope this becomes smoother when the game is released. I rather chose the set body types. Much easier.  I do, however, like the fact that you can adjust the Sim's body muscle tone and shape while choosing clothes for your sim. Johnny Sim's outfit makes him look fat? No problem, make him thinner!
    
    
    
    
    •  The realisation that the sim you thought was unique is not really. When going to the gallery I was so confident that I had uploaded my "unique" sim but I soon realised that there were already about 10 very similar looking ones. This is due to having no real variation in terms of colour (skin colour, hair colour and eye colour) and no real difference in design. I usually make ridiculous designs on my Sim's clothes and even customise my plumbots to be totally unique. This is a feature that I never realised was so important until it was gone. The create-a-style set Sims 3 apart from the previous 2 series. I always assumed it was a success and would never be gone. It's the most disappointing thing in the whole CAS demo. 
    
    Hair colour is restricted to... 
    
    
    
    
    Eye colour is restricted to... 
    
    
    
    
    Skin colour is restricted to...
    
    

    

    They tried by adding green skin and blue skin but what if I wanted a sim with yellow skin?

    And clothing items have different designs with specific colours limited to each...
    
    
    
    • The Styled Looks. It's an excellent idea on paper but with little customization, Sims will all end up looking the same. This makes the feature redundant. You can change a top or bottom and add this and that to it but what's the point if there are no endless design opportunities...
    
    
     
    
    
    
    
    • Every sim is beautiful . This doesn't sound like it should be on the worst list but it becomes annoying when trying to make a normal sim. Every sim ends up looking like a supermodel and while it's useful in some cases it's going to be hard for those players who love creating stories with their sims. Every sim looks like they have freakin' eye make up on. 
    
    
    
    
    •  The way the lifetime goals are organised by aspiration. This brings together Sims 2 and Sims 3. For example, if you choose the food aspiration there are 2 goals for you to chose from. I find this very limiting and will struggle to create different sims. What if I want a sim who loves food but wants to be a friend to the world? Or a creative but diabolical sim? What I did like was that by choosing a certain aspiration you got a trait unique to that specific aspiration.
    
    
    
    
    Thankfully there is nothing much else bad about the game. It's very well put together over all and the most important thing: It never lost the classic Sims charm.
    
    
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    Now for my favourite feature: 
    
    The filters! Again, this is an excellent way to sort stuff out and quickly reduce lag by getting to what you want.
    
    
    
    
     Worst part of the demo has to be the lack of create-a-style options. I really miss it and really hope it comes back soon! Even in the above picture. The highlights are not even customisable!
    
    
     Overall thoughts : The game is very well set out, the animations very well carried out and the Sims are awesome. I love all the content and this sets the tone that the Sims 4 is going to be a killer game. Some minor improvements can be made but overall it's really fun and I still haven't become bored. Congrats Sims 4 team.
    
    
    
    
    
    Note: no rating yet because it's not the finished product and is a test run.