A new feature coming withe The Sims 4: Life & Death is the ability for sims to experience Rebirth. What is it, and how does it work?

With the Life & Death Expansion Pack releasing in just a few days, sims will gain the ability to pursue Rebirth as an option once their lives reach an end. Not every sim will be eligible though, and it’s up to them (and you!) to make sure they meet the requirements if you want them to have a chance.
What is Rebirth?

Rebirth is The Sims 4’s version of reincarnation, which is the belief that a soul can be reborn in a different body when the original passes away. The concept exists in both modern and ancient religions as well as other forms of spiritualism, and each has their own methods of becoming eligible for Rebirth.
In The Sims 4 every sim has the same process for determining their eligibility to be Reborn. Every sim alive in your game is on their own Soul’s Journey, with different milestones throughout their lives progressing that path. A sim who completes everything on their Soul’s Journey completes the first step to unlocking Rebirth, but it goes further than that!
Completing A Soul’s Journey

Your sims’ Soul’s Journey is a path that will follow them through their lives, advancing along as different milestones are reached. These milestones are related to different aspects of a sim’s life and include things like achieving their Aspirations, completing their Bucket List, and more.
If a sim dies before their Soul’s Journey is completed, anything your sim didn’t achieve will become part of their Unfinished Business. If you keep the sim around as a playable Ghost you can continue working on those incomplete steps until you’ve reached them all.
Go Beyond Rebirth With A Burning Soul

Whether or not your sim had Unfinished Business in life, there is more to their Soul’s Journey when they die. Sims who don’t move to The Great Beyond (or immediately into Rebirth) and instead stay around as Ghosts now have the ability to master Ghostly Powers and move further along in their journey, with the chance to gain the Burning Soul Trait when they’ve fulfilled everything.
Sims with the Burning Soul Trait not only get to be Reborn, but they can take some of their old selves with them! Milestones, Aspiration Traits, even their ability to “vibe” with a sim from their past life might carry over into their new one. Your sim will bring traces of who they used to be along with them as they move to a new chapter in their existence.
The Rebirth Experience

The biggest difference between Rebirth in The Sims 4 and reincarnation as we understand it in the real world is that here, a soul is only reincarnated as a brand new life. In The Sims 4 however you can start your sim’s Rebirth at any life stage, even as an Elder!
When a sim is Reborn, you get to choose where they return. They don’t have to stay in the same family, neighborhood, or even world if you want them to start over in a totally new place. By default, Reborn sims will be genetically coded to appear exactly as they did in their prior life however you have the option to change this and make them part of the genetics of the new family, or modify how they look completely freehand so you can make them as similar or as different to their past selves as you’d like! You can also make them part of an Occult with the new base game CAS update (including being another Ghost), no cheats needed!
The type of data your sim can bring with them when they’re Reborn will depend on the age you start them at.
More on SNOOTYSIMS: Did you miss the Official Developer Livestream that went over details such as the Rebirth mechanic? We’ve got your highlights here.

Conclusion
Now when your sim’s life ends, that doesn’t mean their story ends with them! They can hang around as a Ghost for as long as you wish, and if they had a fulfilling life and a fulfilling death you can play with them as long as possible regardless of the lifespan settings you have. Your favorite sim can live over and over again, collecting life stories like a mystical biographer each time they experience Rebirth.
Will they know they have this ability, or will your sim grow up feeling like everything is a little more familiar than it should be? It’s up to you to decide! Now go tell some amazing stories with your characters, have fun, and spooky simming!
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