What. The. Hell.

I can't help posting about this. I really can't. After watching the videos a million times over I'm still in complete and utter shock. My game looks worse than before, my build tools have been downgraded to a box, and my Sims are now moody. Great. That was my initial reaction anyways. I'm slowly beginning to calm down and really take a good look at The Sims 4. Don't get me wrong, I'm still so, so disappointed, but maybe there's a few good things coming out of this after all.

So the graphics aren't exactly the most amazing thing I've ever seen. There's absolutely no arguing that. But if you can get past that image in your head of how it's supposed to look, it can be pretty in its own way. It is a game after all, and cartoony can be adorable. I guess a less-realistic world is okay since I wouldn't want a super-realistic one. It'd be creepy if my Sims looked 100% real. With CC I'm sure those little things that really bother me, like those non-existent line eyelashes, could be fixed and made to look just a teensy bit more realistic. I guess my point is that we should try to get past the graphics and really see the game and how it has improved.

Some of those improvements are the new emotions and CAS. The emotions look like a lot of fun to play with. It's cute that my Sims' lips will quiver when they're really upset, or that their facial expressions really do have more that the standard happy and sad settings. Hopefully EA / Maxis hasn't over exaggerated a ton though. A little flair is great and makes the game fun to play since it has that little silly edge to it, but if my Sims are constantly in a completely over-the-top mood then I can see it getting really annoying really fast. Time will tell. And CAS looks amazing! Pulling at the body shape will make it so much easier to tweak my Sims. Instead of having to hunt through dozens of sliders and having to guess at which little detail each one changed, now you just click and drag whichever bit you want to change. We haven't seen the hair and clothing options yet though, or any other age groups for that matter which worries me, but at least this one thing seems so improved!

The build tools though! :( No more wall tool?! I don't want a box to click and drag! We can do that now but I hate building that way and never do. I'm hoping that the wall tool is still there and they were just emphasizing how easy it is to build houses for those players that don't like building. This is my biggest worry from the videos so far and I'm really gonna worry until I see build mode and can confirm for myself how it works.

The last thing has nothing to do with the videos. At this point in time you can only preorder a digital version of the game...I don't buy a game I can't have a physical copy of. And the company has seemed to hint that there may not be EPs any more but instead will sell new things online like with The Sims 3's store we have now. I will not buy The Sims 4 if there aren't physical copies. Digital copies don't stay forever. I want something I can keep and use years and years from now. This will be the deciding factor on if I move on to The Sims 4. I can handle the cartoony style, the possibly messed up build mode, and anything else but this...this would mean the end of The Sims for me. I guess everything rides on what they release about the game in the year to come.