It’s October 3rd, and you know what that means: it’s time for our first look at The Sims 4 Life And Death Expansion Pack coming out later this month!
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Today on The Sims’ Youtube Channel, we got our first look at the next EP coming to the game this Halloween: The Sims 4 Life and Death. If you missed the premiere, you can check it out below:
In The Sims 4 Life And Death trailer we follow a family of sims consisting of the Patriarch, his 3 children, and 2 grandchildren. They meet up at a neighborhood festival and the Patriarch’s youngest daughter Liv (the main focus of the trailer) can sense that her dad is feeling down, so she suggests that they have their fortunes read. Liv draws the Star and we know from our previous research that this card is a symbol of hope, healing, optimism, growth, and creativity, and our sim reacts favorably to her card. We don’t see what card is drawn for the Patriarch but his reaction indicates that he is thinking of death, suggesting he drew the Death card (although we know now that this card has deeper meaning than that). By the way, if you are looking for Life & Death Mods, head over to this post!
Not long after, the three children watch as their father the Patriarch passes away peacefully in bed. A funeral is held where friends and family visit to pay their respects in their own ways, and later we see the Liv looking over the Patriarch’s will with her siblings. It seems that whatever he left for his children was unsatisfactory, as the two older siblings and their families express frustration before getting into a fight!
After that, we follow Liv on her own journey of really living her life, having new experiences and eventually making peace with death. The trailer ends with her visiting the Patriarch’s gravestone after some time has passed, at which point his ghost appears, expresses thanks to her, and ascends. We see an interesting message to “Embrace What’s Next” as an Infant floats down the screen.
In a rare instance of non-Simlish being used in a trailer, as we fade out from the graveyard where we last saw Liv and the Patriarch we hear Grim remark the following, “Strange, thought he’d stay and master his Ghostly powers. He did complete his unfinished business, though. Oh well, back to work. Who’s next?”
The Sims 4 Life And Death Trailer Details
There’s a lot of exciting information that we gathered from this first look, and here are the highlights. Click on any of the images below to see a larger view!
The World
The newest world that will join Simlandia with this Expansion Pack definitely looks to be in Europe. It shares aesthetics with Windenburg and Henford-On-Bagley which we know are modeled after European countries, along with some Forgotten Hollow and the Magic Realm. The architecture appears to be very old and there are instances of broken, decaying buildings. Speaking of the Magic Realm, at one point in the teaser Liv can be seen practicing some sort of magic or magic-like Skill with what looks like a teleporter doorway, possibly leading “beyond the veil?”
There are a number of items coming with The Sims 4 Life And Death that enable us to create our own funerary spaces and graveyards, with lots of style options so you can create spaces that feel right for you and your sims.
We’ll likely get new lore with this world, what with it being all about the Soul and afterlife. Also, there’s a giant stone carving of someone’s face in the world that looks like a throwback to when Will Wright, inventor of The Sims, had his own head statue in The Sims 2 which could be found in Strangetown. Otherwise it might be the face of a legendary founder of the new world, with accompanying backstory/lore included.
There’s More To Life
A new gameplay mechanic that comes with The Sims 4 Life And Death is the Soul’s Journey which includes a Bucket List, which is a list of things a sim (or an IRL person) wants to do before they “kick the bucket.” There’s also an overarching theme of family strength throughout the trailer, as we see in the beginning that Liv’s family gather together to spend time with the Patriarch and one of her Bucket List goals is to “Reconnect With Family.”
Liv’s Bucket List includes a range of items, from spending a day outdoors to quitting a job to having an “otherworldy experience.”
There’s More To Death
When sims die, their passing now has a larger effect in the world around them. Those they’ve left behind can gather for a funerary event and honor the deceased through actions such as burning candles, paying respects, delivering a eulogy, or even pouring out some juice in honor of the decedent.
In the case of death, at least for Elder sims, things are going to change. It looks like sims will now have Souls, as represented by the little glint of gold that escapes the Patriarch’s lips as he exhales his last breath. Although he does end up having a Ghost form it’s not something we see until later, right before he ascends. Because of the Patriarch’s reaction and his thanks to Liv, it seems like her actions helped wrap up his “unfinished business” and he was then given the option to ascend instead of remaining a Ghost and mastering his powers. Perhaps one of his final wishes was that his children reconnect?
And of course there’s the biggest kicker—it looks like sims can be recruited to work for Grim, reaping souls on his behalf!
There’s An In-Between, A Beyond…And More
This trailer didn’t give us a whole lot in terms of the supposed afterlife, but we see several instances of items that look mystical and otherworldly that can’t necessarily be seen in the regular neighborhood view from earlier in the trailer.
There is a “wishing” well that Liv visits as part of her Bucket List called the Well of Longing and Regret which appears to conjure regretful Ghosts to air their grief, as well as a special lake that Liv swims in which temporarily turns her into a Ghost herself. There’s also a font of special water (maybe from this same lake) that appears in Grim’s room. Will it be possible to master Ghost skills before death by visiting this lake frequently?
In what might be the most intriguing bit of the trailer is that it closes with the message “Embrace What’s Next” as an Infant floats down the screen from above. This implicates that the Patriarch’s Soul, now that it has ascended, will return to earth in another sim as a form of reincarnation or spirit passing. This in itself could mean so much in terms of new lore, along with the way players tell their stories with pre-existing sims.
Full Gameplay Trailer Coming October 17
Although this was just a short tease, it left breadcrumbs of information on a wide variety of features we can expect to see in The Sims 4 Life And Death.
You can preorder The Sims 4 Life And Death Expansion Pack today and if you do, you unlock three preorder bonuses: the Lasting Legacy Family Portrait, the Mournful Melodies Music Box, and the Plumed Elegance Mask. These bonuses are available until 12 December.
Otherwise sit tight until 17 October where we’ll get the full gameplay trailer, and hopefully some answers to the questions this teaser has inspired. See you then!
UPDATE: More information and official images can be found here!