The Sims 4 Royalty & Legacy Review (PC)
Summary: Royalty & Legacy went from an underwhelming reveal to a Royal surprise. It's a more than fine pack for any Medieval Fantasy, swordfighting lover like myself. It's world is gorgeous and full of lore, and clear love and passion went in to it. It is not a must, but a welcome addition, and what it provides it does well.
4
A Royal Surprise
The beautiful world of Ondarion beckons in The Sims 4’s newest expansion, Royalty & Legacy. Promising court intrigue, swashbuckling swordfights, secrecy and blackmail, and the creation or interference with a dynasty of your own or another’s, this pack beckoned me as well with its Medieval atmosphere.
The Sims has, at one point in the Sims 3 era, released a spin-off game themed around Medieval life called The Sims: Medieval. Rather than relegating such a theme to an expansion, they built a brand new one on the foundation of The Sims 3, one I quite loved, mind you. It’s unfair to pit a full spin-off game against an expansion, which is why I was originally let down by Royalty & Legacy’s smaller scope. But after playing and experiencing the pack and what it had to offer myself, I was pleasantly surprised
A Kingdom to discover
Any royal needs a kingdom, and Royalty & Legacy’s new world of Ondarion brings you a fine option for one of those. Ondarion is split into three distinct neighbourhoods that feel like different worlds of their own, a play on three different cultures and styles of kingdoms:
- Bellacorde lays along the coastline, with vineyards sprawling behind its opulent halls and classy exteriors where the elite come to gather.
- The coastal district of Verdemar is built around a docking town, a bar for exchanging gossip and secrets, and a blacksmith who can forge any blade an aspiring swashbuckler or royal could need. Adventurers and nobles gather here to live life as they see fit.
- Lastly, Dambele, a fusion of several African cultures, is a warm and welcoming region of humility. A wealthy and well-faring region, the people here do not tend to flaunt their wealth, instead sharing it with community markets and gatherings.
These three distinct neighbourhoods provide a wide variety of cultures to find a fitting place for your new royal. But besides the new world, any existing Sims world can be considered a kingdom if a dynasty is to form there, including DLC. Perhaps Forgotten Hollow from the Vampires pack is in need of a Vampire Queen?
Court Intrigues
You may remember Erin Vatore from the Life & Death expansion review. A Master Vampire accustomed to sunlight by now, I had her set out to explore the regions of Ondarion, masquerading as a swordfighting stranger looking to make a name for themselves and, more importantly, to hide her fangs.
Arriving in the coastal district of Verdemar first, exploring around instantly had me run into a spar between the Grand Duchess of the region, Cordelia Thebe V, and her husband up on some cliffs near their estate overlooking the coasts. Cordelia’s dynasty had a history of seafaring and adventuring.
This region alone was beautiful, and all of Ondarion and its characters are steeped in lore. But another part of this pack lets you uncover and play around with even more of that. Court drama and secrets are able to be uncovered. Affairs and scandals can be used as blackmail or kept as secrets to gain loyalties, with some of these being pre-determined and quite layered. The Duchess might have a secret affair out there. If someone has a family tree lying around their estate, a few forgeries and adjustments could also reveal you as a long-lost family member and new heir to the dynasty.
Each region also has a place to participate in and join swordfighting tournaments. Raise your swordfighting skill to become the best in the land. There’s a variety of different swords available, and swords can also be found in treasure chests hidden around by “The Royal Robber”. It would’ve been nice if archery and jousting were also somehow included in this pack, having been a part of previous expansions, but swordfighting is an excellently executed new skill.
Living the Fantasy
A royal fantasy is incomplete without, well… fantasy. There are certain mystical artefacts to be found in Ondarion’s regions: a sword in the stone, a magical mirror, a mystical tree or well. Royalty & Legacy manages to cover the fairytale aspect of Medieval fantasy well, is all I wish to say.
Create A Sim has a wide variety of new clothes, mainly from different cultures. Gala dresses and more aren’t new, but the fact masquerades are a new event provides a lot of new mask and dress options for Sims. Build Mode works the same. There’s variety, but not too many new clothes or build items as a whole. Training dummies for swordfighting, an opulent corner hot tub, a throne or two and more provide accessories to builds, but nothing that’ll have you create a castle alone. Still, what’s there is lovely, especially this combination of armour and a dress fit for an aspiring vampire queen
The new Noble career and the way dynasties work is the main form of gameplay in this pack, but a little lacking. Anyone can become a noble quite easily and is required to do tasks, hold court and achieve certain goals to be promoted, eventually able to become the ruler of whatever world they reside in. Each world can only have one ruler, so especially when dealing with the newly added world, you’ll have to shift positions in some way. Blackmail? A swordfight to duel for the title or heart of the ruler? Existing worlds are most likely not going to have a ruler unless you place one there yourself for some spicy Sims drama.
Conclusion
There’s more to be said on dynasties, the world, lore and more, but Royalty & Legacy went from a letdown to a pleasant surprise. It’s no Sims: Medieval, and not a pack that is an eternal requirement going forward. Heck, it could’ve accomplished more to create a Medieval fantasy. But it’s not as lacking as most Sims expansions in recent years.
Royalty & Legacy makes strides to create a beautiful world steeped in history and court intrigue, adding masquerades, swordfighting, beautiful dresses and an array of original Sims and families instead of just one or two good new Sims, and was a delight to be thrown into.
If you’d like to visit a Medieval world offering beauty and fantasy, I can recommend the expansion wholeheartedly. If you’re a fan of Medieval fantasy then you’ll like this pack, but it’s not a must-buy, especially for anyone lacking an interest in fantasy. What is here, though, is executed with a certain level of passion and love I can appreciate.
About the Author
Lander Van Poucke Lander is a passionate gamer from Belgium with a flair for the dramatic. Valuing storytelling & narrative in games, he favours single-player games, RPG's & fighting games for their lore and vast array of characters.
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