The Sims 4 Royalty & Legacy Grand DLC
Electronic Arts
Your Family, Your Legacy. Build up, prestige to maintain unity and be the powerhouse family everyone wants to keep up with but remember, elevated status means elevated drama. Shape your kingdom, best your rivals, and maybe woo a Noble Frog as you climb to the top. With an empty throne, the stage is set and the stories are yours to tell. Only one Sim can wear the crown!
The Sims 4 is constantly expanding, and the Royalty & Legacy expansion pack is the latest addition from developer Maxis. It brings a lot of new potential to the game and improves the long-term gameplay experience while also adding story-driven gameplay for a more exciting experience compared to the base game. Royalty & Legacy is one of the most complex expansions we’ve seen so far for the game, with emphasis on stories and some new overarching mechanics.
Royalty & Legacy introduces the new kingdom on Ondarion, a world with powerful Dynasties, rich history and an empty throne waiting to be claimed. There are three different nobel dynasties are spread across three unique neighbourhoods, which take inspiration from Africa, Portugal and Northern Italy. It also introduces the Noble career, which is very different to the other careers seen in the game since this is a 24/7 job and Sims must complete different things before they can even get this career. However, it’s possible to skip this by researching a Sim’s family genealogy with a new book that’s automatically added to all bookshelves.
The quest for nobility is a long one, but very entertaining with constant duties like replying to royal mail, taking naps, holding court and going out on noble ventures. It’s possible to appoint a royal advisor and make different choices that affect the kingdom. Players also have the option of trying to woo a member of the royal families to skip the otherwise long road to nobility. The Capps and Montys from The Sims 2 return with this expansion, and both Dynasty families are rivals.
Pros
Lots of story building opportunities
Scandals can be hilarious
Secret children
Inheritance and legacy systems
Sims 2 nostalgia
Cons
Limited story depth
No cut-throat options
Large frequency of bugs
Would of loved to see Asian royalty sets
High cost price on Steam (check Kinguin)
The standout new feature of this expansion is the family ideals & legacy system that ranks Dynasty members according to their alignment with family goals. It adds meaning to the inheritance systems and creates power struggles where Sims could be labeled as an “outcast”.
The systems work together to create unique stories where the Royal mechanics can create a new experience for every Sim. Scandals like forbidden love and secret children or even just wetting themselves in public, can cause sudden shifts in power with options to apologise, atone or deny the claims, which can lead to drastic power shifts within each Dynasty. Meanwhile, special events can cause drama and can be a great backdrop to the storytelling. Special events, scandals and secrets are quite simple but still a lot of fun.
Royalty & Legacy introduces a brilliant new secret children mechanic that reveals the true father of a child with questionable parentage. It gives the option to reveal who the father is or lie about it; the secret child will be given a spot on the family tree that shows both the real and fake father. It allows for a lot of drama that feels a lot like watching a movie unfold. There are also magical opportunities called “Power Shifts” that can suddenly put a Sim on the path to nobility by finding a secret magic mirror, kissing a frog or pulling a sword from a stone. Some of these are more difficult to achieve, but it adds some fairy tale magic to the world and is optional.
Personally, I’m just a fan of collection Sims 4’s extensive items, décor and Royalty & Legacy doesn’t disappoint with historical fashion to bring the period drama to life. It also comes with a super cute tea time kit with a beautiful tea set that’s functional and encourages good conversation and I had some hirlarious moments. on stream like deleting the doors and forcing a Sim to wet themselves so they need to hold a press conference apologising for it which could destroy their reputation… sorry I couldn’t help myself.
There’s a lot of content in Royalty & Legacy with plenty to explore and experience. However, keep in mind this is still an Electronic Arts product so it can feel a little over priced for the amount of glitches and bugs in the game. There are only two thrones, which is a little disappointing and I would of loved to see Japanese royalty décor added too. If you’re on the search to beat the high price I highly recommend checking out Kinguin’s discount where you can save around £10 / $15 to make this expansion feel more worth while but overall its an amazing DLC!
If you’ve got a moment feel free to enter into our giveaway with Kinguin where we’re giving you 8 chances to win yourself a copy of Royalty & Legacy expansion DLC!
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