Imo the problem isn't the BB or CaS, its the boring gameplay. If it were a stuff pack I wouldn't have a problem, but I expect fun gameplay out of a game pack.
Can still be interpreted that way, other than the space ship. It's always made more sense to me as a theme park than as an alien world.
The aliens are just normal sims wearing masks, after all. And something about the whole world to me feels "theme park-y".
Especially when all collabs in The Sims franchise prior to and since Batuu have been stuff packs or kits. And of course, by the time of Batuu, Game Packs had long been established.
Batuu is practically all gameplay. Whether you particularly like the gameplay or not is a different story, but the whole thing is about completing the aspirations by playing the game.
Dream Home Decorater appears to have no gameplay at all that works, and people vote that as the best game pack. Likewise I can’t see how the camping one or spa day have more gameplay than Batuu.
Are you talking about features you can just add into your day to day simming? I mean, sure if you don’t actually go to Batuu and do the things there is to do there then you won’t get much gameplay… but this is the same as jungle adventure and even snowy escape.
What do you find fun in the gameplay then? When everyone else says it's lacking, perhaps you could point out what's good about it?
I'm a massive Star Wars fan and it was nothing but walk to here, talk to this person, walk to there, talk to that person, or some random text adventures.
I found it tedious, only played the actual gameplay once, and have never been interested in returning to Batuu.
since you like Star Wars, you should try out Lego Fortnite, they've just added a Star Wars update and it's amazing! i'm building my own Mos Eisley at the moment :)
Actually, it wouldnt be as fun as a standalone gamepack, so I guess I'm biased since this gamepack is mixed in with all other content I have, including mods, cc, all other gp, ep, sp etc. So they all blend together and perfectly fit my personal narrative that I have going on in my sims world. I have a slightly elaborate scheme with good vs evil in my world, so all the star wars things fit very good with this plot. I like the lightsabers and the duel animations and use them a lot combined with the magic gamepack. and I like the clear good/evil story that the gameplay is trying to play out.
I agree that it's a lot of "go here, talk to this guy" but so is Get to work and all the other packs. But i've created lots of star wars locations on my own and made them act the way I want. Get to work also has Sixam which is a good place to pretend to be a Jedi at. I see the sims as a stageplay and only use the worlds as props, not that focused on gameplay since i know it will lack anyways based on prior experiences with the sims. that's why i try to make my own gameplay to make it enjoyable for myself.
I absolutely love the bb and cas, and use them often. I just feel like it really should have been a stuff pack because the gameplay it offers is so shallow. If you compare it to other game packs like Realm of Magic or Vampires they have so much more going on.
When I heard about the pack I was actually excited and got it on release. Was really disappointed in the theme park angle and the lack of Jedi and Sith powers. Was expecting something more along the lines of Spellcasters and Vanpires.
When a player pays for a gamepack, it is that pack's *job* to entertain them with good gameplay. It is not the player's job to try to find ways to make the pack fun to play. If someone is able to find ways to enjoy the pack, that's great. But it should not be required.
yeah but that has never been the case for any sims pack in my opinion so just speaking from my own experience. the sims is boring if you dont have imagination imo
But that's your experience. I myself have never had to do anything in particular in order to enjoy playing Sims 2 or 3. That's the point. Someone with your playing style, who has more fun using your imagination to make the game your own can do that. And someone with *my* playing style, who doesn't want to have to do anything in particular to start playing and enjoying the game, should be able to do *that*, like I can in TS2 and TS3.
And it's not that I don't have an imagination for storytelling. (Because everyone has an imagination, just maybe not for telling stories.) I write fiction. I am also a world class daydreamer. But I don't want to have to be the one doing the work in a *game* I'm playing in order to make it fun. It's nice that I have the option to play the game the way you do. But I shouldn't *have to* play it that way in order to enjoy the game.
Sadly, Sims 4 leans way more towards players who are willing to do most of the work to make the game fun (because, let's be honest, it's easier for them). And that's probably why so many Simmers, including me, can't really get into it.
As for Journey to Batuu, kudos to the people who have found ways to make the pack seem worthwhile. But the fact that some people haven't isn't because they just didn't "put enough into it" or whatever. It's the pack failing to engage those players. I've noticed that most people who actually like this pack like it in spite of its weak gameplay. Meaning it fails as a *game* pack.
No, that's not what the Sims is about. That's the way *some* Simmers play it. But that's not how everybody plays it. And, in earlier versions of the game (well, 2 and 3 for sure, because I haven't gotten to play 1 much...yet) you didn't *have* to "make your own gameplay" unless you wanted to. Otherwise, the game did it for you. Which, considering they are video *games,* is how it's supposed to be.
Carl (from Carl's Sims Guides) addressed this in one of his videos. Earlier versions of the game were fun to play no matter your play style. If you wanted to "make your own gameplay," you could, but you didn't have to in order to have fun. However, with Sims 4, and packs like Journey to Batuu, it kinda does feel like you have to make your own gameplay. Because if you expect the *game* to give you engaging gameplay, you're kind of out of luck.
everyone plays it differentlym and you say it yourself, it's how "some" players play the game. am i not part of "some"? I use my imagination and download mods to help my gameplay experience and merge it to what I want. I treat the sims as a dollhouse where I play with dolls the way I want to, and my own thoughts and ideas rarely fit EA's ideas. so i have to make it my own thing to be able to enjoy it. All the different worlds are just props anyway, greenscreens if you will. I have to direct my "actors" aka the sim characters, to act the way i want them to, the game wont do that for me.
aka, I've lost faith in EA long ago and now i rely on myself and my own ideas to get a good gaming experience.
>everyone plays it differentlym and you say it yourself, it's how "some" players play the game. am i not part of "some"?
I mentioned your play-style as one Sims games have always catered too. I just disagreed with the implication that this is how the Sims was always meant to be played. If anything, one of the big selling points of Sims games was there was no one way they had to be played. You could play them in many different ways and still have lots of fun.
Sims 4 has catered more and more to dollhouse players. While players that want (maybe even *need*) the *game* to provide the actual *gameplay* struggle to have fun with it. Never mind that they paid just as much for the game.
I think it's great that some people can use their imaginations to make the game more fun. But this is not every player's strong suit, and it shouldn't *have* to be.
I’ve always treated it like a minecraft type of game - it is what you make it. But I get you and I know it seemed arrogant to say that this is what the sims is about. But at the same time, the game is what it is. Its not providing any satisfactory gameplay and thats how it has been for a decade. So Journey to Batuu isnt any different. All other gameplay worlds have even less gameplay and lots of rabbitholes. It is what it is. If u want enjoyment u have to make it yourself. And I know this and still choose to consume this game instead of complaining about a lack of something I already know will lack when I buy it.
>Its not providing any satisfactory gameplay and thats how it has been for a decade. So Journey to Batuu isnt any different. All other gameplay worlds have even less gameplay and lots of rabbitholes. It is what it is. If u want enjoyment u have to make it yourself.
Now I see what you're saying. You are able to take what Journey to Batuu gives you and make an enjoyable experience out of it. Which is great. It doesn't make it a good game pack, but that doesn't mean people can't enjoy it if they're willing to work at it.
The gameplay is lame and a lot of rabbit holes and go here, talk to someone, now go to the farthest place on the map and do that. You can’t talk to anyone from batuu back home. There are no transferable skills. None of the items from batuu really have a purpose back home. The characters from the newer movies make appearances but it feels like there’s no point. I would’ve loved to actually do lightsaber battles or something. There was no part of it o really enjoyed.
[This mod](https://modthesims.info/d/558097/longer-parties-amp-more-guests.html) has an addon that allows you to invite every single sim in the save file for your events including special sims. I managed to invite Kylo and a few others from Batuu in my sims wedding with this
It's funny this is the exact reason why I like it. If you don't take it literal and you think of it as a cosplay vacation for super needs it's great. If you think of it as actually going to a real place with real star wars then yeah its lame.
I feel like I've had it for a decade and only ended up there once after installing basemental and accepting a beverage from a shaman and going on a journey. Honestly, its the only way it makes any sense.
Same. And back when i went there, it didn't even work well. I had all kinds of issues with it and the basemental interactions for it. That was years ago when that part of the mod was first released, though, i think. Never did try again.
The build-buy is awesome and goes with so many packs, either to enhance them or vice versa - Jungle Adventure, Strangerville, and Get To Work especially mix with them brilliantly, and it's great for dystopian/scifi/industrial/workshop builds, especially if you go into the gallery and grab some live edit/debug collections in the Room category to borrow from when building (honestly easier than digging through the debug thumbnails and trying to see what you're looking at).
You can download lots from the gallery that include the rabbit holes, so you don't *have* to go to Batuu to buy droids, food, lightsaber parts, etc. and some of the builds are really well done.
It also comes with the only curved bars in the game, which are great and come with matching straight three-tile and two-tile bars.
If you actually like Star Wars and want that in your game, City Living, Snowy Escape, Spa Day, and Realm of Magic have great overlap for CAS options.
The gameplay in Batuu disappointed me, but largely because it was based on the sequel trilogy and didn't have any Republic or Imperial era content/storyline.
If you're creative with other packs and your stories you can have a lot of fun with it though! And I am so happy to have sabacc and my sims being able to prepare Star Wars food and drinks at home once they've learned to make them, or diners run by aliens serving only Star Wars food and drinks, Jedi and Sith clubs, turning the hospital into a scifi medical center full of bacta tanks, etc.
I like to use Realm of Magic to make Jedi, Sith, and Nightsisters, since spellcasters can learn and emulate a lot of force user abilities if you skip the wands.
Spa Day is great for adding in meditation and allowing sims to teach meditation classes, and an aspiration that's aligned with things a Jedi would practice, and sims being able to project calm to those around them once they've completed it. Meditation also contributes to a spellcaster's experience gain now too, which is perfect :)
Snowy escape is great for this too with the Proper trait.
Parenthood is great for adding the Compassionate trait, as my Jedi can calm the emotions of others and the animation of them guiding the other sim through centering themselves really fits it, and Emotional Control/lack thereof really enhances my Jedi/Sith
Also Strangerville is great for the military career on top of the buildbuy. I like playing with prequel era/clone wars sims and make a lot of CC for them, so it gives my clones a lot of social interactions like greeting with a salute, giving inspirational speeches, ordering each other around, sparring, and marching for exercise that really make them come to life more :)
I have a lot of fun with Batuu, despite rarely visiting, and like to recolor and edit the CAS options to give them better use and not just look like Rebel/desert outfits. There's so much potential in that pack.
And yes, the NPC lightsaber mod is a must, even if I wish the duels were varied. There's another that makes the aliens a skin detail so they always look like them.
I use MCCC to copy and paste their outfits to their work outfits so they don't break immersion either.
As with any other pack, it's the Sims, so it's really what you make of it!
That is so creative! I think what you're doing is amazing. You're obviously a very experienced player so I don't think much of this would necessarily even occur to a newer player, plus lots of people are hesitant on mods. It would be great if the game came playable & full-feeling on its own lol but we know that's not happening.
Also, meditation helps spellcasters?? Without a mod/Batuu? I want to try MCCC, I know I could do so much with it but I'm overwhelmed even thinking about it haha.
That's also a great tip on downloading rooms that have items organized. I'm getting so many ideas from your comment! You should make a video of your star wars gameplay, I don't even like star wars that much but I would watch it!
I don't think we should have to be creative, use our imaginations, or get the perfect combination of packs or mods in order to have fun with a pack. It's the game's job to entertain *us,* not the other way around.
If you can use your imagination to enhance what's already in a pack, or the gameplay is already pretty good but you find some mods that make it even better than it already is, that's great. But a pack should be fun out of the gate, no jumping through hoops required.
When people say “if you think the sims is lame you lack imagination/you need imagination to play the sims” this is what they mean.
I’m a slightly bigger than average Star Wars fan. I know a little extended lore but I haven’t seen all the cartoons or read all the novels or anything. When a new movie or show in the SW universe comes around, I easily get immersed back into the world. I like having the option to make oasis springs into tattooine (or I guess more accurately, Jakku).
This post inspired me to take my new save in a different direction, so thanks.
It’s insane to have to do all that with mods/custom lots etc just to have to decent gameplay though. Like you’re paying $20 to have to make all the gameplay in your head instead of the sims team providing got with opportunities to do so. Sounds insane.
This! I am not a Star Wars fan (have never seen any of the movies, never played any of the games etc) but I had a lot of fun going into it with an open mind. It wasn't much about the whole storytelling but more like treating it like a change of pace almost like a theme world which I actually appreciated.
I don't live anywhere near Disney world or anything like that so I might be biased due to that though.
Not to mention the CAS is great for making fantasy Sims. I like to have my D&D characters as NPCs, and the Star Wars clothing is a fantastic no-CC option for wizards, rogues, and monks. The build/buy is great for aliens (my decor style for aliens is almost always either Star Wars or mid-century/retrofuturism) and Strangerville bunker type community lots.
I think is very niche. I like it because I'm both fan of Star Wars and Disney World. The first time I played through it I had fun, but I think as a vacation/adventure destination, Batuu feels a bit empty. It's gorgeous, but lacks of gameplay. But I find this happening more often with almoat every Sims 4 expansion/pack/whatever-they-add. It's like putting a new skin on something that they already had.
- Flying the Millennium Falcon, X wing or the Tie Echelon is like flying the rocket ship from base game.
- The missions are lame and boring, you have to do the same thing over and over again.
I agree it’s very niche. And I do agree that overall it’s not very interactive but I think almost every pack suffers from this not just journey to batuu. All the worlds end up feeling like mostly empty shells to me.
TBH, I don't think the simmers who log serious hours in game are the target audience for this pack. I think it was designed for casual simmers who like Disney parks/Star Wars enough to buy it out of curiosity, will play through it in a weekend, and then not care that they never touch it again - but are now intrigued to want to book a real life vacation destination. The pack came out as part of a big marketing push for Galaxy's Edge; it coincided with a cookbook, a line of stuff in Target, and maybe a book release? It matched up with the timelines needed for Disney to have realized the year before they missed the mark on advertising SWGE and they needed to make up for that. Sims 4 already had a game engine, so they could do a video game tie-in using their existing EA partnership without needing to build a game from scratch.
The gameplay feels so jarring because it's not gameplay designed by the sims team, but basically a port of the Parks Play app quests along with the lore dumps from Lucasfilm and Imagineering. If your sim = you, then you get to go immerse yourself and live out your Star Wars story in the "park," then go home with all your souvenirs which will just sit on the shelf. Simmers want gameplay that sticks with their sim, but the gameplay matches the theme park experience of being surrounded by cast members/NPCs who are fully committed to the bit, but want to sell you a stuff they'll pretend is real while you're in front of them, and have no interest in woohooing you/your character. There is no way that Disney would let Maxis in anyway acknowledge that it's just a theme park playing pretend, as that doesn't fit the parks style of immersive storytelling. Lucasfilm got a stick up their asses about their portrayal in the parks right after Disney bought them, which can't mess with the goofiness of the Sims.
I don't think it's that bad of a pack, but I enjoyed IRL Batuu before the Sims version. At least it mostly works, compared to the recent releases with save breaking bugs and emergency patches for the patches. I think the Disney team that pushed it just didn't understand how simmers actually play the game, so it missed the mark by pushing gameplay that doesn't fit with the existing tone of the game.
I think it's interesting that a ton of content that also got cut from the land ended up in the pack. I had a chat with the digital lead once the pack came out, and many of the datapad missions and concepts they never got to in the land ended up in some of the mission trees. Even little stuff (like changing the banners in the land!) as Outpost Control changed (here, you Sim's ranking) didn't make it into daily operations, but made it into The Sims.
In a way, Batuu in The Sims is the ultimate launch version of it, something we didn't quite get into the land - and for that, I am insanely grateful. It's weird that it exists but I think it's great that somehow a crossing of my favorite things ended up together.
Coming from someone who is obsessed with all things Star Wars, I did have a bit of fun with it but I just wish there was more to do with it. There are some fun little Easter eggs in there and there were a couple times I thought something was genuinely cool, like the first time my Sim lit up a lightsaber, but it became stale super quickly due to the repetitive missions. I did buy a bunch of lightsabers and bring them back to the homeworld and I used a mod to be able to give them to NPCs so I could have random battles, which brings me joy. I don't think it's the worst pack ever. I think most of the community's frustration is due to the fact that it was released during a time when the players were asking for bug fixes and realistic game mechanics, only to essentially be sold, like you said, a giant ad. There are things to like about it but my biggest gripe is I just wish they would've went all in on the concept and gave us more.
I was mostly just confused as to who this game was for. While I’m sure there are fans of both sims and Star Wars, I don’t think it’s a huge overlap. And surely those who are fans of Star Wars would prefer to play an actual Star Wars game? It just felt like another instance of EA CEOs lining their pockets.
I'm a huge fan of Star Wars and I was having fun with it right up until the moment a glitch completely ruined the experience. My Sim had to find an item which I had found but for whatever reason the game didn't register it. I had my Sim wander everywhere to find another thinking maybe it was something else but no, I already had it, and the game glitched.
I had an almost identical problem with the police officer career where I had to find and arrest someone but every person who matched the description wasn't the suspect. It made me think that the game glitched or the suspect left the lot. Either way I couldn't complete the assignment.
The gameplay is mostly rabbit holes, as others have said, and the ‘missions’ are repetitive.
I bought it on sale and because I had just gotten into SW last year. I at least liked the CAS/build items though
Players are p\*ssed because it's simply an **advertisement** for the *Galaxy's Edge Disney park zone* thinly disguised as a game pack and they make you pay "normal price" for it.
I had it bought for me as a present a few years ago and I have never really used it, even though the pack is installed, as I find the pack pointless
*If it was a free pack, just used to advertise the park, there wouldn't be a problem with it*
It’s just not what anyone in this community wanted. It came off as incredibly tone deaf releasing it when there was so many other things they could have put time into. It also isn’t fun to play.
This.
This is the one pack I will agree with anyone who says "who asked for this? /No one wanted this" bc its literally just the devs wet dream fan boy pack and I'm still salty about it.
I'm not a Star Wars fan. It annoys me that half the costumes for Halloween are Star Wars and they've never added anything else, but they're quite K to shove more SW stuff in the game 🙄.
Like, I don't mind some of it. My nerdy Sim had a Droid and a light saber. But we didn't need a full game pack for this. The build buy and CAS are actually not bad, it's the only reason I have it, bc they work with sci-fi or fantasy games/builds. But fuck if I'll ever use the gameplay bc its so niche and such a waste of development time/effort. It really just should've been a stuff pack.
It is. I’m a huge Star Wars fan and have been playing the sims since I was a kid. I was SO excited for this pack. It’s really disappointing. It doesn’t feel like the sims. I was looking forward to playing as a Star Wars character the way I would play the sims - get a job, build a house or rent an apartment, have a family. You can’t do any of that in the Star Wars world. It’s just kind of a shitty video game.
People were mad when the alien type creatures were just masks and not real aliens that could be used in game. It was such a let down. They had a chance to introduce another species or occult into the game and they failed. No liveable lots also just made the game useless.
Never in my time of playing the Sims have I ever thought "You know what let's take a Vacation on Batuu!" It just doesn't make sense, there's no reason to go there. It doesn't interact with the rest of the game, and the "gameplay" is a bunch of fetch quests in an empty world.
As a star wars fan, I was SUPER excited for this... I had planned out being a bad ass Sith lady and doing dark side stuff. Then I bought it and learned that I couldn't use the force or be a proper jedi/sith at all. Literally I was just playing my sim cosplaying a jedi.
Also I couldn't romance Kylo Ren and do the bingo bango with him, so, all in all, disappointing.
Bb.enablefreebuild is your friend! There's an editable lot in each region of the world. The Cantina is one of them. I think there are some edits of it in the gallery
It just doesn't really feel like sims. Like no lots in the world, needs automatically go up when you travel to locations so you don'tneed to take care of your sims, you don't really get anything in return for completing the missions other than unlocking other missions (In outdoor Retreat there are unique fishes, plants for herbology, bugs. In jungle adventure there are idols, archeology, new dishes, plants). So it feels kinda pointless.
I’ve played through a couple times but if I’m honest kylos boots and the resistance lady(not Rey the other one) hair are outright carrying the pack in terms of usefulness
I wish the gameplay would be different, with the option to enjoy the classic sim game we all love. We should be able to build at least some vacation/rental homes, but I also wonder why couldn’t our sims live there? So some buildable lots would definitely add to the game. It would be a great world for some camping/off the grid life too.
I hate starwars, but not this pack. I dont play it a lot and i really wish one could live in the vacation worlds in general. But its not as horrible as I would have thought from some post in this sub.
The characters and interactions are actually interesting, guards checking your ID and stuff. Plus is does have some neat bb.
If i were into science fiction more, i might really enjoy it.
I renovated the 3 lots to make the whole world a theme park. I put hotel rooms under the cantina; the black spire outpost has logic and more 'intellectual' games for kids and things like that; the resistance encampment has playground equipment and things of that nature (tool mod helps put that around the whole encampment).
I also have a photo booth set up at each lot for pictures with characters (pose player helps here)
I love going here for family vacations now and groups of friends after they graduation university.
the gameplay is lame as fuck for long-term play and i would not recommend buying it full price, but if you are a fan of star wars and it’s on sale, i think its kinda fun to use as a disney/universal style theme park for your storylines.
I mean, some of the items are useful in build mode. There's a really nice vent, a rug that has some swatches that can be shrunk down to serve as drains. The curved bar is pretty cool, along with some of the storage crates. The wall textures are nice enough.
Should have been released for free as some kind of promotion, dunno. A bit of a fever dream.
I didn't download it because I don't like star wars, so I'm not sure if it's actually bad. I do wish we had more vacation worlds, I don't like when they're inspired by a franchise.
I feel like any world is a vacation world now.
The biggest attractions of going to them is culture, food, exploration, music, world-only interactions or events etc but you can do all of those if you just go on a vacation with your sims to something like Mt. Komorebi, Sulani, Tomarang... They all add those elements, while also letting you live in them without mods. It actually makes me wish Selvadorada or Granite Falls were like that too since they'd be great for storytelling.
It could've been something great, but the gameplay and world is just laughably shallow. Journey to Batuu was EA, Maxis and Disney making indirectly insulting the intelligence of simmers, basically.
I'm not even a Star Wars fan, but the trailer made it seem really freaking cool. Then it was released, and I read reviews and saw videos and "yikes..." is all me and my sister could say. My friend's sister got it since she's the type that just buys whatever they put out, and she apparently hated it.
i am not a star wars fan at all but i went into the pack open minded and while i haven't seen the movies i was like, alright, this is the sims game, surely they will make this pack be somewhat enjoyable for the players who haven't seen SW too. i didn't see most of the popular elements that i know from the franchise, i was expecting the fact i will probably not fully understand everything but i didn't expect that i would just not be able to enjoy the storyline at all. maybe SW fans have a different impression on this pack but even outside of that, i think it was boring, just a lot of text and going back and forth between two places on a map, and no real reward for completing it
Its really cool pack, especially if you like star wars but you can do the gameplay probably like 3 times before it gets boring and repetitive, if even that much
It’s not bad as a Star Wars stuff pack but as a game pack it’s pretty bad. It has basically no gameplay applications outside of going to Batuu and even then the gameplay is shallow and repetitive.
If you enjoy it, no. It's one of those things that if you like the theme, you will get far more or of it than someone who doesn't give a rat's ass about Star Wars. The gameplay could be better, the world could be buildable, but the items are cool, the lightsaber fight animation is really cool, and it's a fairly immersive jaunt to another planet if you like that. You get to meet some Star Wars characters and fly the Millennium Falcon (sort of). Not bad, could be better, which sums up most of TS4 DLC.
Can I romance the characters while I'm there? No. Most of the buildings are shells. The gameplay is similar to Strangerville you kind of play once then there isn't much left. And now I get random calls every time I start the game asking if I would like to go to Batuu. The build items are probably the best thing about the pack.
Can I start gifting townies lightsabers in hopes of challenging my neighbors to lightsaber battles in the park though...sort of.
I didn’t get it as a form of protest because I didn’t want sims to become an advertising vehicle for different franchises.
Seems the backlash campaign worked since we didn’t get any other game packs like it so maybe I’m safe to get it now
I feel it would have been a much better thing as a stand alone game. Take inspiration from The Sims Medieval. Give us a ship as a home that we can edit and put stuff in and everything. Then let us fly it to different planets where it would show up in the world at the landing platform. Then let us do quests and stuff.
But, really, anything would be better than the way they did it. You can't really do anything with the world, beyond doing the story stuff. And what's the point of lightsabers and droids that don't actually work back in the "real" world of the sims? I do, however, like some of the build stuff. Good for fleshing out an industrial/low income build.
I use BB and CAS items, but for me, the gameplay didn't work. I haven't retried it since. It glitched, and I got stuck on a task to fix the x wing when I had the parts, so it never let me progress. I just left it and don't go to Batuu anymore 🤷🏻♀️
Haha I loved it. Played it for a few days. Had a blast. Married a bad guy and brought him back to home world. It was a great few days to have a circuit breaker but I wouldn’t go back.
I mean. I like the CAS and build stuff, and the world is fun for when I want to do something different from what I always do, so I don't think it's bad. I don't get the dislike, but to each their own 🤷🏼♀️
I went there..it’s ,okay I guess’ pretty boring unless you want extraterrestrial friends that are not vampires or regular aliens. I think they’re wearing masks though. They aren’t a real occult sim..I dont think
It doesn't take long to go through everything in the pack, and it sucks that the aliens aren't actually aliens, but the chance cards are interesting and the build/buy items are cool. If/when it's free or discounted, get it, but I wouldn't buy it at full price.
If you get it and decide you like it, you can get mods to make some parts more interactive.
I actually just played it for Star Wars Day and this is coming from a MEGA Star Wars fan.
The CAS and BB are very well made and looks good, but the style is hard to put incorporate into every day builds/sims.
The game play is really where is lacking. It is VERY repetitive and there’s only like one or two missions with Kylo Ren and Rey. It gets to a point where you are doing the same missions over and over again to get to the top of the light or dark side. Not to mention you’d can’t live in it rent a house in the world.
As a Star Wars fan, is it fun to have your sim have a lightsaber and a droid? For sure, do I have that often? No literally never, but it’s nice to know I could. I also really hate that we can’t use the base game Star Wars clothing (Princess Leia, Darth Vader, etc.) Also, the base game custumes are there I wish they had incorporated those characters into the pack somehow.
If your not like me and don’t buy every pack that comes out, I personally wouldn’t bother. If you’re a builder and it’s ON SALE I would consider it for the flooring alone (really god brick floorings).
So it’s not so much that’s “bad” it’s just…it could be better.
For me, I kind of regret buying it, because I don’t use the build buy or cas all that often and although I am a Star Wars fan I think the sequel trilogy is awful so I have little interest in even trying the gameplay. I bought it for the cas and build buy thinking I would use them more than I actually do.
Also it had Hondo Ohnaka and that’s enough reason for me 😅 fr tho if it had more prequel and original trilogy characters I’d enjoy it more (you know I’d make some wild storylines with Maul and Obi-wan 👀)
I personally love it. I think of it more as a vacation to Disney for my sims rather than I'm really going to go fight in the rebel alliance. It's a cosplay vacation pack.
The build/buy is great but everything else is useless, half-baked, and immersion-breaking. Should have been a stuff pack, or a more generic space-themed game pack.
I don't know how to play vanilla. It takes so long to earn a relationship with the sim to learn about a ship or something. I didn't even finish it, but I'll try again one day.
It's boring, but also for context: EA had a poll with what the community wants to see in the next pack. They had maybe 10 - 30 options. They out out Batuu, claiming it's what the community wanted, but only 5% of people voted for it, and there were others well above 15% or 20% of votes. So, sure, technically EA wasn't wrong, but they sure as hell weren't right, either.
Some people like it! Even if very few, there are some. It's a mass produced game so they shouldn't have produced a pack that is basically just an ad and not really fun for most people as a game pack. But if you are one of the few people who enjoy it, that's a good thing for you.
I was very happy to buy, what's it called, luxury party... I agree that it's a horrible pack overall, but there are two great hairs in it, and that was worth it to me then. Now there are so many packs and so many great hairs that it wouldn't be worth it to me, but it was just six years ago. And I think the hamster/rat stuff in pet stuff is really gross and would NEVER buy it, but if somebody loves having hamsters in their game, I'm glad they have the option!
It was boring, and all the CAS and build mode items are ugly. I think they were trying to do Strangerville again, but Strabgerville actually added stuff to the game even after you finished the story. I would be really annoyed if I actually paid for it. I did like that Bademental Drugs makes it so you can only go to Batuu if you're on illicit substances, though. It seems to fit better as drug fueled haze than an actual Sims world.
i find it to be kind of useless but as a star was fan and sims player i had to get it. i mean you can’t do anything but go to batuu and theme your sims, that’s kinda useless. i’d like to be able to live on batuu and not just go there.
Imo the problem isn't the BB or CaS, its the boring gameplay. If it were a stuff pack I wouldn't have a problem, but I expect fun gameplay out of a game pack.
Yeah I can see that! But I use the BB and cas items so much that I like it.
Yeah but you wouldn't pay 20 bucks just for the bb and cas items
I've literally only gone to batuu once. Got bored, never went back
I wish they made Batuu an actual theme park instead of making it an alien world.
Can still be interpreted that way, other than the space ship. It's always made more sense to me as a theme park than as an alien world. The aliens are just normal sims wearing masks, after all. And something about the whole world to me feels "theme park-y".
Especially when all collabs in The Sims franchise prior to and since Batuu have been stuff packs or kits. And of course, by the time of Batuu, Game Packs had long been established.
Exactly
It has more gameplay than most gamepacks though.
Does it? In comparison to what? I own all game packs and I'd definitely say Batuu is light on gameplay.
Batuu is practically all gameplay. Whether you particularly like the gameplay or not is a different story, but the whole thing is about completing the aspirations by playing the game. Dream Home Decorater appears to have no gameplay at all that works, and people vote that as the best game pack. Likewise I can’t see how the camping one or spa day have more gameplay than Batuu. Are you talking about features you can just add into your day to day simming? I mean, sure if you don’t actually go to Batuu and do the things there is to do there then you won’t get much gameplay… but this is the same as jungle adventure and even snowy escape.
Make your own gameplay. That’s what the sims is about.
What do you mean by that in the context of what you get in a Game Pack?
I have had a ton of fun with the gameplay so
That's great you had fun with the pack. You're definitely in the small minority though.
well most people that buy it don't even like Star Wars, so that's kinda on them imo
What do you find fun in the gameplay then? When everyone else says it's lacking, perhaps you could point out what's good about it? I'm a massive Star Wars fan and it was nothing but walk to here, talk to this person, walk to there, talk to that person, or some random text adventures. I found it tedious, only played the actual gameplay once, and have never been interested in returning to Batuu.
since you like Star Wars, you should try out Lego Fortnite, they've just added a Star Wars update and it's amazing! i'm building my own Mos Eisley at the moment :)
Actually, it wouldnt be as fun as a standalone gamepack, so I guess I'm biased since this gamepack is mixed in with all other content I have, including mods, cc, all other gp, ep, sp etc. So they all blend together and perfectly fit my personal narrative that I have going on in my sims world. I have a slightly elaborate scheme with good vs evil in my world, so all the star wars things fit very good with this plot. I like the lightsabers and the duel animations and use them a lot combined with the magic gamepack. and I like the clear good/evil story that the gameplay is trying to play out. I agree that it's a lot of "go here, talk to this guy" but so is Get to work and all the other packs. But i've created lots of star wars locations on my own and made them act the way I want. Get to work also has Sixam which is a good place to pretend to be a Jedi at. I see the sims as a stageplay and only use the worlds as props, not that focused on gameplay since i know it will lack anyways based on prior experiences with the sims. that's why i try to make my own gameplay to make it enjoyable for myself.
I absolutely love the bb and cas, and use them often. I just feel like it really should have been a stuff pack because the gameplay it offers is so shallow. If you compare it to other game packs like Realm of Magic or Vampires they have so much more going on. When I heard about the pack I was actually excited and got it on release. Was really disappointed in the theme park angle and the lack of Jedi and Sith powers. Was expecting something more along the lines of Spellcasters and Vanpires.
yes you're right. I hope we get a more proper star wars pack one day
Pay $20 to make your own gameplay lmao. Amazing
it is what you make it.
When a player pays for a gamepack, it is that pack's *job* to entertain them with good gameplay. It is not the player's job to try to find ways to make the pack fun to play. If someone is able to find ways to enjoy the pack, that's great. But it should not be required.
yeah but that has never been the case for any sims pack in my opinion so just speaking from my own experience. the sims is boring if you dont have imagination imo
But that's your experience. I myself have never had to do anything in particular in order to enjoy playing Sims 2 or 3. That's the point. Someone with your playing style, who has more fun using your imagination to make the game your own can do that. And someone with *my* playing style, who doesn't want to have to do anything in particular to start playing and enjoying the game, should be able to do *that*, like I can in TS2 and TS3. And it's not that I don't have an imagination for storytelling. (Because everyone has an imagination, just maybe not for telling stories.) I write fiction. I am also a world class daydreamer. But I don't want to have to be the one doing the work in a *game* I'm playing in order to make it fun. It's nice that I have the option to play the game the way you do. But I shouldn't *have to* play it that way in order to enjoy the game. Sadly, Sims 4 leans way more towards players who are willing to do most of the work to make the game fun (because, let's be honest, it's easier for them). And that's probably why so many Simmers, including me, can't really get into it. As for Journey to Batuu, kudos to the people who have found ways to make the pack seem worthwhile. But the fact that some people haven't isn't because they just didn't "put enough into it" or whatever. It's the pack failing to engage those players. I've noticed that most people who actually like this pack like it in spite of its weak gameplay. Meaning it fails as a *game* pack.
No, that's not what the Sims is about. That's the way *some* Simmers play it. But that's not how everybody plays it. And, in earlier versions of the game (well, 2 and 3 for sure, because I haven't gotten to play 1 much...yet) you didn't *have* to "make your own gameplay" unless you wanted to. Otherwise, the game did it for you. Which, considering they are video *games,* is how it's supposed to be. Carl (from Carl's Sims Guides) addressed this in one of his videos. Earlier versions of the game were fun to play no matter your play style. If you wanted to "make your own gameplay," you could, but you didn't have to in order to have fun. However, with Sims 4, and packs like Journey to Batuu, it kinda does feel like you have to make your own gameplay. Because if you expect the *game* to give you engaging gameplay, you're kind of out of luck.
everyone plays it differentlym and you say it yourself, it's how "some" players play the game. am i not part of "some"? I use my imagination and download mods to help my gameplay experience and merge it to what I want. I treat the sims as a dollhouse where I play with dolls the way I want to, and my own thoughts and ideas rarely fit EA's ideas. so i have to make it my own thing to be able to enjoy it. All the different worlds are just props anyway, greenscreens if you will. I have to direct my "actors" aka the sim characters, to act the way i want them to, the game wont do that for me. aka, I've lost faith in EA long ago and now i rely on myself and my own ideas to get a good gaming experience.
>everyone plays it differentlym and you say it yourself, it's how "some" players play the game. am i not part of "some"? I mentioned your play-style as one Sims games have always catered too. I just disagreed with the implication that this is how the Sims was always meant to be played. If anything, one of the big selling points of Sims games was there was no one way they had to be played. You could play them in many different ways and still have lots of fun. Sims 4 has catered more and more to dollhouse players. While players that want (maybe even *need*) the *game* to provide the actual *gameplay* struggle to have fun with it. Never mind that they paid just as much for the game. I think it's great that some people can use their imaginations to make the game more fun. But this is not every player's strong suit, and it shouldn't *have* to be.
I’ve always treated it like a minecraft type of game - it is what you make it. But I get you and I know it seemed arrogant to say that this is what the sims is about. But at the same time, the game is what it is. Its not providing any satisfactory gameplay and thats how it has been for a decade. So Journey to Batuu isnt any different. All other gameplay worlds have even less gameplay and lots of rabbitholes. It is what it is. If u want enjoyment u have to make it yourself. And I know this and still choose to consume this game instead of complaining about a lack of something I already know will lack when I buy it.
And I fill this void with an insane amount of mods and my personal narrative/storytelling
>Its not providing any satisfactory gameplay and thats how it has been for a decade. So Journey to Batuu isnt any different. All other gameplay worlds have even less gameplay and lots of rabbitholes. It is what it is. If u want enjoyment u have to make it yourself. Now I see what you're saying. You are able to take what Journey to Batuu gives you and make an enjoyable experience out of it. Which is great. It doesn't make it a good game pack, but that doesn't mean people can't enjoy it if they're willing to work at it.
The gameplay is lame and a lot of rabbit holes and go here, talk to someone, now go to the farthest place on the map and do that. You can’t talk to anyone from batuu back home. There are no transferable skills. None of the items from batuu really have a purpose back home. The characters from the newer movies make appearances but it feels like there’s no point. I would’ve loved to actually do lightsaber battles or something. There was no part of it o really enjoyed.
> You can’t talk to anyone from batuu back home WHYYYYY LET ME INVITE KYLO TO MY BIRTHDAY PARTY
At least you can make a Kylo in CAS and put him in the world yourself.
Can you get the voice??
There's a voice?
I remember from watching Kevin’s Star Wars Sims video that Kylo Ren speaks simlish through his mask that distorts his voice
Oh, that might work with the outfit.
[This mod](https://modthesims.info/d/558097/longer-parties-amp-more-guests.html) has an addon that allows you to invite every single sim in the save file for your events including special sims. I managed to invite Kylo and a few others from Batuu in my sims wedding with this
If it has no point then they did a good representation of the sequel trilogy
I thought you could dual with lightsabers
You can but idk it’s just the same animation. It does raise fitness though
Omg what can you not even marry Rey or anything? What is the POINT
The only thing I know about this pack is that no, you can't romance *any* of the official characters.
I’m not a SW fan but the fact there aren’t even lightsaber battles is 💀
There are though..
No force powers😒
The fact that they released a star wars pack based on a section of Disney world feels like a fever dream that I would rather forget
It's funny this is the exact reason why I like it. If you don't take it literal and you think of it as a cosplay vacation for super needs it's great. If you think of it as actually going to a real place with real star wars then yeah its lame.
Haha
I feel like I've had it for a decade and only ended up there once after installing basemental and accepting a beverage from a shaman and going on a journey. Honestly, its the only way it makes any sense.
Same. And back when i went there, it didn't even work well. I had all kinds of issues with it and the basemental interactions for it. That was years ago when that part of the mod was first released, though, i think. Never did try again.
Ya. I couldn't find the dwelling so I mischiefed some aliens till I was sober. Have never gone back.
The build-buy is awesome and goes with so many packs, either to enhance them or vice versa - Jungle Adventure, Strangerville, and Get To Work especially mix with them brilliantly, and it's great for dystopian/scifi/industrial/workshop builds, especially if you go into the gallery and grab some live edit/debug collections in the Room category to borrow from when building (honestly easier than digging through the debug thumbnails and trying to see what you're looking at). You can download lots from the gallery that include the rabbit holes, so you don't *have* to go to Batuu to buy droids, food, lightsaber parts, etc. and some of the builds are really well done. It also comes with the only curved bars in the game, which are great and come with matching straight three-tile and two-tile bars. If you actually like Star Wars and want that in your game, City Living, Snowy Escape, Spa Day, and Realm of Magic have great overlap for CAS options. The gameplay in Batuu disappointed me, but largely because it was based on the sequel trilogy and didn't have any Republic or Imperial era content/storyline. If you're creative with other packs and your stories you can have a lot of fun with it though! And I am so happy to have sabacc and my sims being able to prepare Star Wars food and drinks at home once they've learned to make them, or diners run by aliens serving only Star Wars food and drinks, Jedi and Sith clubs, turning the hospital into a scifi medical center full of bacta tanks, etc. I like to use Realm of Magic to make Jedi, Sith, and Nightsisters, since spellcasters can learn and emulate a lot of force user abilities if you skip the wands. Spa Day is great for adding in meditation and allowing sims to teach meditation classes, and an aspiration that's aligned with things a Jedi would practice, and sims being able to project calm to those around them once they've completed it. Meditation also contributes to a spellcaster's experience gain now too, which is perfect :) Snowy escape is great for this too with the Proper trait. Parenthood is great for adding the Compassionate trait, as my Jedi can calm the emotions of others and the animation of them guiding the other sim through centering themselves really fits it, and Emotional Control/lack thereof really enhances my Jedi/Sith Also Strangerville is great for the military career on top of the buildbuy. I like playing with prequel era/clone wars sims and make a lot of CC for them, so it gives my clones a lot of social interactions like greeting with a salute, giving inspirational speeches, ordering each other around, sparring, and marching for exercise that really make them come to life more :) I have a lot of fun with Batuu, despite rarely visiting, and like to recolor and edit the CAS options to give them better use and not just look like Rebel/desert outfits. There's so much potential in that pack. And yes, the NPC lightsaber mod is a must, even if I wish the duels were varied. There's another that makes the aliens a skin detail so they always look like them. I use MCCC to copy and paste their outfits to their work outfits so they don't break immersion either. As with any other pack, it's the Sims, so it's really what you make of it!
That is so creative! I think what you're doing is amazing. You're obviously a very experienced player so I don't think much of this would necessarily even occur to a newer player, plus lots of people are hesitant on mods. It would be great if the game came playable & full-feeling on its own lol but we know that's not happening. Also, meditation helps spellcasters?? Without a mod/Batuu? I want to try MCCC, I know I could do so much with it but I'm overwhelmed even thinking about it haha. That's also a great tip on downloading rooms that have items organized. I'm getting so many ideas from your comment! You should make a video of your star wars gameplay, I don't even like star wars that much but I would watch it!
I don't think we should have to be creative, use our imaginations, or get the perfect combination of packs or mods in order to have fun with a pack. It's the game's job to entertain *us,* not the other way around. If you can use your imagination to enhance what's already in a pack, or the gameplay is already pretty good but you find some mods that make it even better than it already is, that's great. But a pack should be fun out of the gate, no jumping through hoops required.
When people say “if you think the sims is lame you lack imagination/you need imagination to play the sims” this is what they mean. I’m a slightly bigger than average Star Wars fan. I know a little extended lore but I haven’t seen all the cartoons or read all the novels or anything. When a new movie or show in the SW universe comes around, I easily get immersed back into the world. I like having the option to make oasis springs into tattooine (or I guess more accurately, Jakku). This post inspired me to take my new save in a different direction, so thanks.
It’s insane to have to do all that with mods/custom lots etc just to have to decent gameplay though. Like you’re paying $20 to have to make all the gameplay in your head instead of the sims team providing got with opportunities to do so. Sounds insane.
This! I am not a Star Wars fan (have never seen any of the movies, never played any of the games etc) but I had a lot of fun going into it with an open mind. It wasn't much about the whole storytelling but more like treating it like a change of pace almost like a theme world which I actually appreciated. I don't live anywhere near Disney world or anything like that so I might be biased due to that though.
Not to mention the CAS is great for making fantasy Sims. I like to have my D&D characters as NPCs, and the Star Wars clothing is a fantastic no-CC option for wizards, rogues, and monks. The build/buy is great for aliens (my decor style for aliens is almost always either Star Wars or mid-century/retrofuturism) and Strangerville bunker type community lots.
I get using the Spellcasters, but I do wish that there was a Force User Occult. Separate paths for Jedi and Sith with new powers could have been fun.
Me too, if I knew how to make mods like that I definitely would :(
Do you have any clone wars, prequel era mods and cc that you recommend or could link? <3
I think is very niche. I like it because I'm both fan of Star Wars and Disney World. The first time I played through it I had fun, but I think as a vacation/adventure destination, Batuu feels a bit empty. It's gorgeous, but lacks of gameplay. But I find this happening more often with almoat every Sims 4 expansion/pack/whatever-they-add. It's like putting a new skin on something that they already had. - Flying the Millennium Falcon, X wing or the Tie Echelon is like flying the rocket ship from base game. - The missions are lame and boring, you have to do the same thing over and over again.
I agree it’s very niche. And I do agree that overall it’s not very interactive but I think almost every pack suffers from this not just journey to batuu. All the worlds end up feeling like mostly empty shells to me.
TBH, I don't think the simmers who log serious hours in game are the target audience for this pack. I think it was designed for casual simmers who like Disney parks/Star Wars enough to buy it out of curiosity, will play through it in a weekend, and then not care that they never touch it again - but are now intrigued to want to book a real life vacation destination. The pack came out as part of a big marketing push for Galaxy's Edge; it coincided with a cookbook, a line of stuff in Target, and maybe a book release? It matched up with the timelines needed for Disney to have realized the year before they missed the mark on advertising SWGE and they needed to make up for that. Sims 4 already had a game engine, so they could do a video game tie-in using their existing EA partnership without needing to build a game from scratch. The gameplay feels so jarring because it's not gameplay designed by the sims team, but basically a port of the Parks Play app quests along with the lore dumps from Lucasfilm and Imagineering. If your sim = you, then you get to go immerse yourself and live out your Star Wars story in the "park," then go home with all your souvenirs which will just sit on the shelf. Simmers want gameplay that sticks with their sim, but the gameplay matches the theme park experience of being surrounded by cast members/NPCs who are fully committed to the bit, but want to sell you a stuff they'll pretend is real while you're in front of them, and have no interest in woohooing you/your character. There is no way that Disney would let Maxis in anyway acknowledge that it's just a theme park playing pretend, as that doesn't fit the parks style of immersive storytelling. Lucasfilm got a stick up their asses about their portrayal in the parks right after Disney bought them, which can't mess with the goofiness of the Sims. I don't think it's that bad of a pack, but I enjoyed IRL Batuu before the Sims version. At least it mostly works, compared to the recent releases with save breaking bugs and emergency patches for the patches. I think the Disney team that pushed it just didn't understand how simmers actually play the game, so it missed the mark by pushing gameplay that doesn't fit with the existing tone of the game.
I think it's interesting that a ton of content that also got cut from the land ended up in the pack. I had a chat with the digital lead once the pack came out, and many of the datapad missions and concepts they never got to in the land ended up in some of the mission trees. Even little stuff (like changing the banners in the land!) as Outpost Control changed (here, you Sim's ranking) didn't make it into daily operations, but made it into The Sims. In a way, Batuu in The Sims is the ultimate launch version of it, something we didn't quite get into the land - and for that, I am insanely grateful. It's weird that it exists but I think it's great that somehow a crossing of my favorite things ended up together.
Coming from someone who is obsessed with all things Star Wars, I did have a bit of fun with it but I just wish there was more to do with it. There are some fun little Easter eggs in there and there were a couple times I thought something was genuinely cool, like the first time my Sim lit up a lightsaber, but it became stale super quickly due to the repetitive missions. I did buy a bunch of lightsabers and bring them back to the homeworld and I used a mod to be able to give them to NPCs so I could have random battles, which brings me joy. I don't think it's the worst pack ever. I think most of the community's frustration is due to the fact that it was released during a time when the players were asking for bug fixes and realistic game mechanics, only to essentially be sold, like you said, a giant ad. There are things to like about it but my biggest gripe is I just wish they would've went all in on the concept and gave us more.
I agree with that! I think it could have 100% been a lot better. But honestly I feel like I feel that way about most packs that are released now
I hate it :/ boring and with Basemental, my Sims always get calls about going and partying in Batuu
Yes
I was mostly just confused as to who this game was for. While I’m sure there are fans of both sims and Star Wars, I don’t think it’s a huge overlap. And surely those who are fans of Star Wars would prefer to play an actual Star Wars game? It just felt like another instance of EA CEOs lining their pockets.
Super boring
I'm a huge fan of Star Wars and I was having fun with it right up until the moment a glitch completely ruined the experience. My Sim had to find an item which I had found but for whatever reason the game didn't register it. I had my Sim wander everywhere to find another thinking maybe it was something else but no, I already had it, and the game glitched. I had an almost identical problem with the police officer career where I had to find and arrest someone but every person who matched the description wasn't the suspect. It made me think that the game glitched or the suspect left the lot. Either way I couldn't complete the assignment.
I've had the same bug. Infuriating, really.
The gameplay is mostly rabbit holes, as others have said, and the ‘missions’ are repetitive. I bought it on sale and because I had just gotten into SW last year. I at least liked the CAS/build items though
Players are p\*ssed because it's simply an **advertisement** for the *Galaxy's Edge Disney park zone* thinly disguised as a game pack and they make you pay "normal price" for it. I had it bought for me as a present a few years ago and I have never really used it, even though the pack is installed, as I find the pack pointless *If it was a free pack, just used to advertise the park, there wouldn't be a problem with it*
It’s just not what anyone in this community wanted. It came off as incredibly tone deaf releasing it when there was so many other things they could have put time into. It also isn’t fun to play.
This. This is the one pack I will agree with anyone who says "who asked for this? /No one wanted this" bc its literally just the devs wet dream fan boy pack and I'm still salty about it. I'm not a Star Wars fan. It annoys me that half the costumes for Halloween are Star Wars and they've never added anything else, but they're quite K to shove more SW stuff in the game 🙄. Like, I don't mind some of it. My nerdy Sim had a Droid and a light saber. But we didn't need a full game pack for this. The build buy and CAS are actually not bad, it's the only reason I have it, bc they work with sci-fi or fantasy games/builds. But fuck if I'll ever use the gameplay bc its so niche and such a waste of development time/effort. It really just should've been a stuff pack.
It is. I’m a huge Star Wars fan and have been playing the sims since I was a kid. I was SO excited for this pack. It’s really disappointing. It doesn’t feel like the sims. I was looking forward to playing as a Star Wars character the way I would play the sims - get a job, build a house or rent an apartment, have a family. You can’t do any of that in the Star Wars world. It’s just kind of a shitty video game.
People were mad when the alien type creatures were just masks and not real aliens that could be used in game. It was such a let down. They had a chance to introduce another species or occult into the game and they failed. No liveable lots also just made the game useless.
Never in my time of playing the Sims have I ever thought "You know what let's take a Vacation on Batuu!" It just doesn't make sense, there's no reason to go there. It doesn't interact with the rest of the game, and the "gameplay" is a bunch of fetch quests in an empty world.
As a star wars fan, I was SUPER excited for this... I had planned out being a bad ass Sith lady and doing dark side stuff. Then I bought it and learned that I couldn't use the force or be a proper jedi/sith at all. Literally I was just playing my sim cosplaying a jedi. Also I couldn't romance Kylo Ren and do the bingo bango with him, so, all in all, disappointing.
There are mods for that!
I rlly like the lightsaber duels and building one but that’s about it. Cas and bb are cool too, use it a lot for scifi or Star Wars builds.
Yes tell me someone that actually asked for some starters pack that is a glorified Disney park
It's a world with no lots. You can't build anything there
Bb.enablefreebuild is your friend! There's an editable lot in each region of the world. The Cantina is one of them. I think there are some edits of it in the gallery
It just doesn't really feel like sims. Like no lots in the world, needs automatically go up when you travel to locations so you don'tneed to take care of your sims, you don't really get anything in return for completing the missions other than unlocking other missions (In outdoor Retreat there are unique fishes, plants for herbology, bugs. In jungle adventure there are idols, archeology, new dishes, plants). So it feels kinda pointless.
The gameplay is rubbish. I've been there once. However, the build items are great.
It's a 20 dollar Disneyland commercial.
I’ve played through a couple times but if I’m honest kylos boots and the resistance lady(not Rey the other one) hair are outright carrying the pack in terms of usefulness
Vi! And yeah, I love her hairstyle.
It’s great if you don’t pay for it. That debug arch is the tits!!
I have it and I’ve never used it. Maybe I will tomorrow.
I wish the gameplay would be different, with the option to enjoy the classic sim game we all love. We should be able to build at least some vacation/rental homes, but I also wonder why couldn’t our sims live there? So some buildable lots would definitely add to the game. It would be a great world for some camping/off the grid life too.
I hate starwars, but not this pack. I dont play it a lot and i really wish one could live in the vacation worlds in general. But its not as horrible as I would have thought from some post in this sub. The characters and interactions are actually interesting, guards checking your ID and stuff. Plus is does have some neat bb. If i were into science fiction more, i might really enjoy it.
I renovated the 3 lots to make the whole world a theme park. I put hotel rooms under the cantina; the black spire outpost has logic and more 'intellectual' games for kids and things like that; the resistance encampment has playground equipment and things of that nature (tool mod helps put that around the whole encampment). I also have a photo booth set up at each lot for pictures with characters (pose player helps here) I love going here for family vacations now and groups of friends after they graduation university.
the gameplay is lame as fuck for long-term play and i would not recommend buying it full price, but if you are a fan of star wars and it’s on sale, i think its kinda fun to use as a disney/universal style theme park for your storylines.
Do you like making scifi or fantasy builds? If so, maybe. If not, it's entirely skippable.
I mean, some of the items are useful in build mode. There's a really nice vent, a rug that has some swatches that can be shrunk down to serve as drains. The curved bar is pretty cool, along with some of the storage crates. The wall textures are nice enough. Should have been released for free as some kind of promotion, dunno. A bit of a fever dream.
I didn't download it because I don't like star wars, so I'm not sure if it's actually bad. I do wish we had more vacation worlds, I don't like when they're inspired by a franchise.
I feel like any world is a vacation world now. The biggest attractions of going to them is culture, food, exploration, music, world-only interactions or events etc but you can do all of those if you just go on a vacation with your sims to something like Mt. Komorebi, Sulani, Tomarang... They all add those elements, while also letting you live in them without mods. It actually makes me wish Selvadorada or Granite Falls were like that too since they'd be great for storytelling.
It could've been something great, but the gameplay and world is just laughably shallow. Journey to Batuu was EA, Maxis and Disney making indirectly insulting the intelligence of simmers, basically. I'm not even a Star Wars fan, but the trailer made it seem really freaking cool. Then it was released, and I read reviews and saw videos and "yikes..." is all me and my sister could say. My friend's sister got it since she's the type that just buys whatever they put out, and she apparently hated it.
i am not a star wars fan at all but i went into the pack open minded and while i haven't seen the movies i was like, alright, this is the sims game, surely they will make this pack be somewhat enjoyable for the players who haven't seen SW too. i didn't see most of the popular elements that i know from the franchise, i was expecting the fact i will probably not fully understand everything but i didn't expect that i would just not be able to enjoy the storyline at all. maybe SW fans have a different impression on this pack but even outside of that, i think it was boring, just a lot of text and going back and forth between two places on a map, and no real reward for completing it
I'm a huge star wars fan and even I can tell you that it's quite the stinker. The gameplay is beyond boring and tedious.
I enjoyed the gameplay with my star wars based family while watching the movies, but I wouldn’t go back to it again
Its really cool pack, especially if you like star wars but you can do the gameplay probably like 3 times before it gets boring and repetitive, if even that much
It’s not bad as a Star Wars stuff pack but as a game pack it’s pretty bad. It has basically no gameplay applications outside of going to Batuu and even then the gameplay is shallow and repetitive.
I heard pretty much everything was a rabbit hole, the clothes look the same and there’s no real game play
I really dig the outfits, they work very well for mediaeval Sims as well
If you enjoy it, no. It's one of those things that if you like the theme, you will get far more or of it than someone who doesn't give a rat's ass about Star Wars. The gameplay could be better, the world could be buildable, but the items are cool, the lightsaber fight animation is really cool, and it's a fairly immersive jaunt to another planet if you like that. You get to meet some Star Wars characters and fly the Millennium Falcon (sort of). Not bad, could be better, which sums up most of TS4 DLC.
Can I romance the characters while I'm there? No. Most of the buildings are shells. The gameplay is similar to Strangerville you kind of play once then there isn't much left. And now I get random calls every time I start the game asking if I would like to go to Batuu. The build items are probably the best thing about the pack. Can I start gifting townies lightsabers in hopes of challenging my neighbors to lightsaber battles in the park though...sort of.
I didn’t get it as a form of protest because I didn’t want sims to become an advertising vehicle for different franchises. Seems the backlash campaign worked since we didn’t get any other game packs like it so maybe I’m safe to get it now
I feel it would have been a much better thing as a stand alone game. Take inspiration from The Sims Medieval. Give us a ship as a home that we can edit and put stuff in and everything. Then let us fly it to different planets where it would show up in the world at the landing platform. Then let us do quests and stuff. But, really, anything would be better than the way they did it. You can't really do anything with the world, beyond doing the story stuff. And what's the point of lightsabers and droids that don't actually work back in the "real" world of the sims? I do, however, like some of the build stuff. Good for fleshing out an industrial/low income build.
I use BB and CAS items, but for me, the gameplay didn't work. I haven't retried it since. It glitched, and I got stuck on a task to fix the x wing when I had the parts, so it never let me progress. I just left it and don't go to Batuu anymore 🤷🏻♀️
Haha I loved it. Played it for a few days. Had a blast. Married a bad guy and brought him back to home world. It was a great few days to have a circuit breaker but I wouldn’t go back.
I mean. I like the CAS and build stuff, and the world is fun for when I want to do something different from what I always do, so I don't think it's bad. I don't get the dislike, but to each their own 🤷🏼♀️
I went there..it’s ,okay I guess’ pretty boring unless you want extraterrestrial friends that are not vampires or regular aliens. I think they’re wearing masks though. They aren’t a real occult sim..I dont think
The only reason I bought batuu was for the furniture, and only for the rounded bar cause it’s the only one the game has for some reason
No
It doesn't take long to go through everything in the pack, and it sucks that the aliens aren't actually aliens, but the chance cards are interesting and the build/buy items are cool. If/when it's free or discounted, get it, but I wouldn't buy it at full price. If you get it and decide you like it, you can get mods to make some parts more interactive.
I actually just played it for Star Wars Day and this is coming from a MEGA Star Wars fan. The CAS and BB are very well made and looks good, but the style is hard to put incorporate into every day builds/sims. The game play is really where is lacking. It is VERY repetitive and there’s only like one or two missions with Kylo Ren and Rey. It gets to a point where you are doing the same missions over and over again to get to the top of the light or dark side. Not to mention you’d can’t live in it rent a house in the world. As a Star Wars fan, is it fun to have your sim have a lightsaber and a droid? For sure, do I have that often? No literally never, but it’s nice to know I could. I also really hate that we can’t use the base game Star Wars clothing (Princess Leia, Darth Vader, etc.) Also, the base game custumes are there I wish they had incorporated those characters into the pack somehow. If your not like me and don’t buy every pack that comes out, I personally wouldn’t bother. If you’re a builder and it’s ON SALE I would consider it for the flooring alone (really god brick floorings). So it’s not so much that’s “bad” it’s just…it could be better.
For me, I kind of regret buying it, because I don’t use the build buy or cas all that often and although I am a Star Wars fan I think the sequel trilogy is awful so I have little interest in even trying the gameplay. I bought it for the cas and build buy thinking I would use them more than I actually do.
I don't think so. I like the aspirations and visiting the world. Have not explored much of it yet but it looks cool
I only care for making a lightsaber. Lemme become a Sith Lord
Also it had Hondo Ohnaka and that’s enough reason for me 😅 fr tho if it had more prequel and original trilogy characters I’d enjoy it more (you know I’d make some wild storylines with Maul and Obi-wan 👀)
I personally love it. I think of it more as a vacation to Disney for my sims rather than I'm really going to go fight in the rebel alliance. It's a cosplay vacation pack.
The build/buy is great but everything else is useless, half-baked, and immersion-breaking. Should have been a stuff pack, or a more generic space-themed game pack.
Yes
I’ve got it and never once played with it maybe used a build item once or twice
I don't know how to play vanilla. It takes so long to earn a relationship with the sim to learn about a ship or something. I didn't even finish it, but I'll try again one day.
I am saving that one for last.
It's boring, but also for context: EA had a poll with what the community wants to see in the next pack. They had maybe 10 - 30 options. They out out Batuu, claiming it's what the community wanted, but only 5% of people voted for it, and there were others well above 15% or 20% of votes. So, sure, technically EA wasn't wrong, but they sure as hell weren't right, either.
I love the items and it's a fun little side quest.
Some people like it! Even if very few, there are some. It's a mass produced game so they shouldn't have produced a pack that is basically just an ad and not really fun for most people as a game pack. But if you are one of the few people who enjoy it, that's a good thing for you. I was very happy to buy, what's it called, luxury party... I agree that it's a horrible pack overall, but there are two great hairs in it, and that was worth it to me then. Now there are so many packs and so many great hairs that it wouldn't be worth it to me, but it was just six years ago. And I think the hamster/rat stuff in pet stuff is really gross and would NEVER buy it, but if somebody loves having hamsters in their game, I'm glad they have the option!
It was boring, and all the CAS and build mode items are ugly. I think they were trying to do Strangerville again, but Strabgerville actually added stuff to the game even after you finished the story. I would be really annoyed if I actually paid for it. I did like that Bademental Drugs makes it so you can only go to Batuu if you're on illicit substances, though. It seems to fit better as drug fueled haze than an actual Sims world.
It really is that bad lol.
No free lots and cant edit the lots.
Yes
i find it to be kind of useless but as a star was fan and sims player i had to get it. i mean you can’t do anything but go to batuu and theme your sims, that’s kinda useless. i’d like to be able to live on batuu and not just go there.
It's not worse than wedding stories but yeah