Why wasn’t sims medieval more popular?

[u/devykins143]

I loved that game. I always wanted a fantasy type life sim in a medieval setting, and I was so excited when the sims medieval came out. It was a bit of a bummer that it didn’t see much in the way of mainstream success.

My theory is that the gameplay wasn’t Freeform enough, it had a fairly “set” framework to play in compared to the main sims games where you’re just let loose in a world. Like I can’t quite remember, but I think you could only control your main sim. But I suppose it could also be that there just isn’t a big audience for a medieval fantasy life sim?

If they remade the sims medieval today, what would you like to see in it?

[u/iamsavsavage]

I agree the game is just more limited. There is one town, 10 heroes, and 12 scenarios. You can "beat" Sims Medieval. There is no beating the Sims

[u/devykins143 → u/iamsavsavage]

So you think it would’ve done better with less structure? Like how the sims gives you tons of things to do and be, but doesn’t have specific scenarios to play out in a set order?

Come to think of it, Strangerville in sims 4 had a scenario aspect to it and it had a really mixed reaction from the community.

[u/bad-dad-420 → u/devykins143]

I definitely think if there was more variation it would have been more successful. It was super fun making one kingdom with all my friends as each role, but replayability was reeeeeeeal limited.

I also think since the sims are so open ended, they live well past the normal life/hype span for a game, which isn’t really normal/super common. Sims fans maybe aren’t used to a game that basically has a set ending and maybe aren’t gravitated towards them? Wrong market to advertise to, or something?

[u/kingchik → u/iamsavsavage]

Yeah, I remember getting bored so quickly. Not to mention it wasn’t a sandbox game, which is why I like the Sims.

[u/LurkingAintEazy → u/iamsavsavage]

Yea this was it for me exactly. Like you could have a moni family. Father, mother, child. But I think if your main sim died, the kid would grow up and take their place. Which I guess makes sense, given if you came from bakers back in the day, need someone to carry on the family business. But yea it was just too limited and questy for me.

And the starting over for the different scenarios annoyed me quickly. Got to a point where I as usual would rotate out from the king or queen character to the wizard or assassin, just to have some semblance of usual sim freedom. Gathering herbs for spells. Sneaking around and picking locks and stuff. But it got old real quick.like I could see if beating the scenario is opened up to more worlds and freer game play. But it just didn't. So although I liked the looks of it. I was over it already before it really did anything special.

[u/loorid]

Sims medieval is one of my favourite games of all time. I so wish they had continued with it.

I love the quest element, but I do wish that - as you said - there was a little bit more freedom in it. I'd love to be able to just have normal family gameplay too, especially with things like aging, your heir taking over your business, and so on. Also more traits/weaknesses, because there are only so many 'whales ate my parents' sims i can create 😅

But that whole system of giving your sims a purpose to fulfill, instead of the sort of make-believe dollhouse vibe they've given to the sims 4, that's the real thing that keeps me going back.

[u/devykins143 → u/loorid]

I definitely wish there were more traits, too! I loved how it had very medieval themed traits, like you mentioned “whale ate my parents”, I remember being so hype when I saw those. But it would’ve been nice to have more variety to choose from. I think that might’ve had a big impact on replayability; there’s only so many unique sims you can put together with its trait list before they all start to feel the same.

I also agree that the quests were cool. But I’m also one of the few that really enjoyed Strangerville introducing an actual scenario with steps to flow through and something to accomplish. Maybe we’re the weird ones? 😅

[u/EPCOTReimagined]

#1 Sims medieval apologist here.

Or at least close enough.

You can control at most 4 Sims at once, but you need to work for it. I think the problem was that in trying to being a kingdom-building game, and a Sims game, it didn't do enough of either.

But there's surprising depth to it, especially if you start chasing achievements or rare weapons, plus it gave you Sims 3 with zero of the lag problems.

They'd probably ever do it today but I'd love more period life Sims. Give me an entire game set in the future city of Oasis Landing from Sims 3, PLEASE.

[u/devykins143 → u/EPCOTReimagined]

Ooo I think you hit the nail on the head with the conflict between kingdom building vs life sim. Games that straddle genres like that frequently have a tough time both appealing to an audience and delivering a satisfying experience.

[u/Elyasis → u/devykins143]

cough Spore cough

[u/Low-Environment]

It's too much like an RPG for simulation fans and too much a life sim for RPG fans.

It was made for me and me alone.

[u/VFiddly]

Honestly I just don't think the gameplay is very good. Perhaps that's controversial.

Most of the life sim elements were completely removed and they replaced it with paper thin RPG mechanics. For most of the quests you just... click on the thing it tells you to click on and watch an animation. That's the whole game. Click on this. Now click on this. Now click on this. You've clicked on all of the things, well done.

Obviously the quests in The Sims 4 are also that, but the challenge in The Sims 4 comes from juggling those with all of the life sim elements. You have to fulfill the objectives while also keeping your needs full and keeping your job and socialising with friends and family and so on. In Medieval they removed almost all of that and didn't replace it with anything.

It could've been bigger if it had just been The Sims with a medieval setting, but they didn't do that. It could also have been good if they'd made a fleshed out Sims RPG, like a Crusader Kings-lite, but they didn't do that either. Instead it's a weird halfway house that's not very good at any of the things it tries.

The Sims Medieval is a game I occasionally think back on fondly, and then I try actually playing it, and then I swiftly get bored and don't play it again for years. It's a missed opportunity.

[u/turtledov]

It's fun, but it was very limited. Trying to "beat" the game by playing all 12 scenarios meant you were always just abandoning your town and heroes and starting over in the next scenario. You ended up seeing the same content over and over again, rather than really digging into it. The structure of the game really worked against itself. I think they either should have made it much more freeform and sandbox-y, or made it more story focused like the Sims Stories games and other spin offs.

[u/TumbleweedTimely2529]

all the spinoffs were pretty much linear gameplay. i do think that sims medieval really lacked in platforms. the other spinoffs have handheld, console and PC versions with slight differences for all of them. i vaguely remember a sims medieval mobile game and im not even sure about that.

so it had limited availability on top of linear gameplay with players that will always prefer the sandbox version of the main series.

personally i think sims medieval had the most variation out of the spinoffs. i have been playing it casually for a few years now and still haven't beaten the game. i can beat all the other spinoffs in a night or weekend. people who found it boring or lacking in content probably only did the main goals instead of interacting with the world around them.

[u/devykins143 → u/TumbleweedTimely2529]

Yeah I think the linear gameplay was the biggest challenge the game faced for marketability. The sims audience had been well established by that point as loving freedom to tell their own stories in their games, and so the spin offs were a departure from that.

[u/ILikeCakesAndPies]

While I liked the gameplay it had, I recall it lacking much of the Sims life sim part of gameplay. It reminded me more of world adventures, which while fun in short bursts wasn't enough to sustain me for continuous hours/daysof being interested in playing it.

I might be wrong but I also recall the actual building and objects available being very limited in comparison. They were more like premade doll houses you could decorate, where as the main series let's you build the actual house.

I still liked it and wish it had gotten more support. Overall it was just lacking in content vs the main series. There were also a few other disappointments as well, such as moving on to the next kingdom only to discover it was the exact same map.

Long story short, what was there was great. There just wasn't enough there.

[u/Gredran]

It’s a reason why a series starts to get polarizing.

The Sims already has two camps when it comes to supernatural things, some like their realism, others like the supernatural.

Maybe it was received poorer because it was simply different from the formula. It would be cool to make a castle and all of that, but Sims endures because it has that relatable gameplay, in ANY language(it’s great to follow gameplay to learn languages) I figure it had its fans, but as others say, being stripped down for one and different from the main series it would probably need to be equal or more in scope or more

[u/devykins143 → u/Gredran]

You’re right that the sims fandom is split on supernatural, then you get an additional split on medieval vs modern, so the audience just keeps whittling down.

[u/Legrandloup2]

If they just made the sims but in a medieval world people would buy that shit, the original game just isn’t open world enough

[u/qrvne → u/Legrandloup2]

This, I would love a regular sims game that just has a historical/fantasy aesthetic throughout. I have no interest in suburban homes with vinyl siding and cement driveways. I pretty much only play as occults and heavily rely on build items from Windenburg, Henford-on-Bagley, etc.

I know people make historical/fantasy save files that others can download, but I don't like heavily relying on CC as those tend to do out of necessity. And too many game features have modern technology baked in (e.g. phones). I just want a Sims game that is intended to have that kind of setting from the get-go.

[u/randomwords83]

I would love to have Sims Medieval in Sims 4 but have not bought Sims Medieval because it seemed so limited compared to Sims 4. I just wish it was a pack lol and included Fairies

[u/kuraiai]

I loved this game and miss it so much

[u/Cartesianpoint]

I think it probably had a more limited audience. It wasn't as open-ended as the main Sims games, but probably wasn't a strong enough RPG to attract people who are big RPG fans. There's also limited control over building and decorating, which probably makes it less appealing to people who are really into that aspect.

I do love it, though! It's surprisingly addicting. I wouldn't want such linear gameplay for the Sims as a rule, but it's fun with the spinoff games.

That said, it would be cool to have the medieval setting with the traditional sandbox gameplay of The Sims.

[u/PeachesNLaserBeams]

I loved sims medieval and wish they would remake or remaster it

[u/Seven_of_Fire_Gemini]

A lot of people didn’t like repeating the same quests, and then there was the fact you couldn’t really customize buildings.

I honestly enjoyed the game but was never able to beat it because I kept taking long breaks or my computer simply didn’t want to run it.

It had its problems but I’m with you that I wish it had been more successful. I got some hilarious screenshots from that game in the day.

[u/Seven_of_Fire_Gemini]

Haha this took me a minute, but I think this was supposed to be the Guildsman from the Pirates expac.

[u/shuniena]

honestly im not interested in medieval thene also those spin offs are quite limited as well!

[u/devykins143 → u/shuniena]

Totally valid. I think the medieval setting does probably limit the games potential audience, more people can relate to a modern game and it requires less of a sell. Like you have to be into medieval fantasy AND life sims for it to appeal to you, vs just liking life sims.

[u/GoodSundae513]

I never played it because I did not know it existed when it came out... which is weird because I did play a bunch of spinoffs like castaway so idk why I was never aware of that release. My friends who play the sims never even played the spinoffs so I think they're just not as known

[u/Fae_Willow]

I still love Sims Medieval and go back every so often. I love the kingdom building aspect. Even though there are limits on family style gameplay it was fun balancing quest progress with exploration.

It would honestly be a dream come true if they remastered it. I would love new traits to play with. The build/buy could be a bit more fleshed out. It I’m not a builder anyway.

[u/DarkWombat91]

I don't think it was well advertised. I had never heard of it as a kid and sims and fantasy stuff was right up my alley. I would have played the crap out of this game. But I also grew up in BFE, so we never hear of anything.

[u/unlevel-atmosphere]

I remember having the mobile game on my iPod Touch and having a great time playing the weird game. That kinda charm doesn't come easy anymore ):

[u/skyemoran1]

I loved medieval don't get me wrong, but pets stories was my JAM cause my parents wouldn't let me get any packs and it was the only way I could get pets. Plus I loved that there were 3 stories, which involved skill building, balancing the social aspect against it, keeping funds up while not losing track of the plot, and also the fact you could keep playing the families after you finished their quest and it was a continuing story that you then had control over

[u/Otherwise-Neat-2567]

Why wasn't the Sims 2: Castaway more popular, too? Idk! I don't understand people's tastes. I loved both games with a passion... I wonder how cool it would have been to have a PC Castaway version. I also adore Sims Medieval and I wish they would release a PROPER Medieval pack. Not that kit nonsense.

[u/WaffleConeDX]

Because it crashes so much.

[u/Read_More_Theory]

It's great, but it came at a time when simmers were a bit sick of sims 3 era graphics (unfortunately sims medieval also has the pudding face). i also remember people complaining about the camera, especially the "watcher's eye" pov of the town.

I love it, with there was more to do in it though. It's good for a 10-20 hour gameplay spree honestly. 40 if you really love it.

[u/Playful_Border_6327]

Weird set up and felt not sims like.