The simplified focus system works well considering the gameplay shift to mini stories through quests.Įach quest stars one of your hero Sims. The whole challenge (if you can call it that) of the game is to keep the Sims focus up as it accomplishes tasks.
They lose focus by neglecting daily responsibilities – two random tasks that your Sim should complete every day – or through bad things happening like losing a friend or being mauled by a bear. Sims gain focus by eating, sleeping and following your traits.
The Sims Medieval further refines the eight status bars (comfort, bladder, etc.) in standard Sims play to just hunger and energy, but these are really only important in how they impact each Sim’s focus bar. Distilling a person’s personality into three characteristics is usually pretty tough, but the system provided enough variety to make most Sims feel unique. The first king I created was dedicated but licentious, meaning he might have more responsibilities and suffers a lack of focus if he hasn’t kissed another Sim in a while. Is he a fat, gluttonous pig? A beautiful but sensitive Queen? Similar to The Sims 3, each Sim under your control has two traits and one flaw and these determine how it goes about its business. That’s not to say you don’t get to make choices or personalize your experience. Dedicated Sims players may miss the open-ended-ness, but I found the structure satisfying. You have simple stories and quests that you must complete, or your Sim will eventually die. Your Sim interacts with the environment and other Sims by clicking a series of radial menus, and you still must manage each Sim’s mood as dictated by its idiosyncrasies, but merely inhabiting the simulation is no longer the point. If you’re familiar with how to give commands in The Sims, you won’t need much of a tutorial here. None of that would matter if The Sims Medieval didn’t deliver something fun to do with those clicks, which, thankfully, it does. I loved the weird meta-ness of it all, that you the player are a part of the fictional world which you are controlling with mouse clicks and keystrokes. When the priests of your kingdom reflect on the Watcher, they raise their hands and look directly at you, the player. The Sims series has always been considered a derivative of god games but this latest installment is the first to actually deify the player. You are god, and the Sims that populate the countryside pay homage to you, praying that you will lead them out of misery. “You are the Watcher,” says Patrick Stewart in the opening cinematic of The Sims Medieval, establishing you as the ultimate power in the universe.
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