Hello everyone.
The Sims 4 Spa Day game pack released on July 14th. This is the second game pack for The Sims 4. Like the first game pack, Outdoor Retreat, Spa Day has some new features and objects. I'm excited to show you all the new features and share my thoughts with you! Hope you all enjoy my review.
I've divided this review into a few sections:
- Information about Spa Day
- The four new lots
- Features and new objects
- CAS assets
- Buy/Build mode
- Styled rooms
- My overall thoughts
After installing Spa Day, the game will prompt you to place a spa in your neighborhood. If you don't want to place one at that time, simply go to the Library and there you will find four new lots, all of them are designed and decorated with Spa Day objects. Out of the four lots, two of them are spas, one gym and one built specifically for yoga. The lots are beautiful and really has the modern touch in them. I really like to have modern stuff in my game and If you're really into objects with an elegant touch, you'll love this game pack. Remember the bath robe and wrapped towel from The Sims 2 Kitchen and Bath Stuff? They are back! There are not so much clothing included as this was not the main aspect of this game pack. On another note, when your Sims enter a Spa lot, they will immediately change into their bath robe. Not only would your Sims spin into their bath robe but other Sims will too! This really sets the environment and may give you the feeling that you're already at a spa! Then your Sims can relax by having a mud bath, get a massage or just chill with their friends at a sauna. This is just a summary of how Spa Day works. You may notice these changes after installing the game.
In short, there are so any features with this pack. In my opinion, although we did not get a new world, there are many more objects and features than Outdoor Retreat. I was really hoping for a secret lot where Sims could go after advancing the Wellness skill. Wellness skill is a new type of skill that comes with Spa Day. Your Sims can improve their Wellness Skill by taking part in yoga, reading wellness books, massage or meditation. The higher wellness skill they have, the more yoga poses Sims will be able to unlock! Oops, I've discussed a lot here! Will be showing you all the things in-depth soon.
THE FOUR NEW LOTS
As mentioned above, four lots come with this game pack and is equipped with different spa activities. The lots will be available in your Library and you will be able to place them in any world. Here are them below:
Aha Ashram Yoga Studio
Perfect Balance Spa
Center of Center Massage
Luxe Health Club
I really like the Center of Center Massage lot. I love how the roof is decorated with bushes and pretty flowers, really gives the spa feeling! The Yoga Studio is also decorated nicely. The windows and doors with Spa Day gave a unique touch to the lots. There's also a lighted column you can see in the lots. It can be added to the exterior to indicate that the lot is a spa. There's also a huge pillar you can see in the first lot. The pillar is not resized and is pretty useful when building a lot.
FEATURES AND NEW OBJECTS
Aquariums
I'm excited to share my thoughts about all the new objects and features. Ranging from aquariums to wall fountains, they are splendid! First things first, aquariums are back! There are two types of aquariums with this pack. Your Sims can restock the aquarium or they can fill the aquarium with fish from their inventory. A nice way to show all you Sim's rare fishes! Your Sim can only keep 6 fishes in the aquarium. Here are the interactions:
Your Sim can keep fishes by selecting the "Open" option. I really wanted a "Feed Fishes" option but unfortunately It wasn't there. One good thing I'm glad It wasn't included is that the fishes die If you don't feed them for a long time.
There's also an option to set the colour and intensity of the light of the fish tank. Here's Yogi bear just watching the fishes:
Body Soaks and Mud Bath
There's also a new incense that can change your Sim's mood! The incense has different types of scent and each of them will give your Sim different mood. Here are all of the scent:
Your Sims can also take bath with soaks at their home! Like the incense, It can give your Sim different moods and It's quite nice to watch them relaxing. All Sims, including children can enjoy this. There are six types of body soaks.
My favourite soak is the lavender foam. It's so pretty when they take a bath with those! Lavender foam soak can make your Sims happy
Your Sims can also take a mud bath. I love that children can also take mud bath. Some Sims may feel uncomfortable after taking a mud bath while others may feel relaxed. This will allow your Sim to relieve tension. They can take mud bath either in home or at a spa. I love that Sims don't have to go to the spa just to take a mud bath or to take a bath with soaks. The option is attached with every bathtubs once you have Spa Day.
Saunas
Your Sims, including children can enjoy the sauna. I really like the fact that they included children in most of the spa activities; there is no shortage. Relaxing in the sauna can boost Sims' happiness.
An interesting thing is once Sims reach level five of the Mischief skill, they can sabotage the sauna with sulfur which can lead to Sims feeling uncomfortable for an hour! Here's Yogi, messing things up again:
It will release a rotten egg smell and can make the steam yellowish. Here's an end to relaxing!
Be careful, don't stay too long in the sauna! Your sims can die of overheating in the sauna. I feel sad to kill my Sim's husband. Once your Sims get the Superfluous Steaming feeling, It's best to keep them out. If they stay in the sauna, they may die.
Yoga
Yoga is another way by which your Sim can increase their Wellness Skill. There are several types of yoga poses and your Sim will be able to unlock more poses as they build up their Wellness and Athletic Skill. It's really fun to watch Sims doing yoga and the yoga pose fails are hilarious to watch too! Your Sim will need a yoga mat to perform yoga which can be bought via buy mode. It can be performed anywhere! Your Sim can either practice yoga by themselves or attend a yoga class. Yoga class will be conducted by a yoga instructor. You can identify them by this sign above their head:
There are three types of yoga class: !) Energy Centering Routine 2) Brain Boosting Routine 3) Mind Concentrating Routine. The first routine will provide +1 Energy. The second routine will provide +1 Inspired. The third routine will provide +1 Focused. Sims have to ask the instructor to join their class and select one of the mats to begin. It takes 110 simoleons to join the class. Here are my Sims at a yoga class:
You may see some bears creeping but don't be surprised, just testing stuff. In my opinion, I'm surprised that so many other Sims join the yoga class. If this was The Sims 3, only 1-2 Sims would join the class including the instructor.
On a different note, there are a lot of yoga poses! I really love to see my Sims doing yoga. Am I the only one who feels relaxed when my Sims do yoga? My Sim reached level 10 of Wellness Skill and unlocked all the poses. Here are they:
Tree Pose
Lord of The Dance
Half Moon Pose
Boat Pose
Corpse Pose (Of course)
Greeting Pose
Bridge Pose
Handstand
Warrior Pose
Side Plank
Which pose is your favorite? I really like the Lord Of The Dance Pose! I think the animations are wonderful. Keep in mind that not all of the poses are available at first. Your Sims will need to build up their skill.
Massage
Teens to older Sims can give massage or receive massage. You can even place the massage chair at your Sim's home and one of the household members can receive/give massage. At a Spa lot, there will usually be a Reflexologist. The sim receiving or giving the massage can even talk to each other and boost their friendship levels. With a massage chair, your Sim can get/give either foot or hand massage
Sims can get this moodlet after a foot massage:
One thing I like the most in the pack is that you can actually hire a Massage Therapist at your home! How cool is that? Keep in mind that you need a massage table to hire them and you can hire them for free! Yay!
Looks like my Sim is having the time of his life! No pain, no gain buddy.
There are six types of massages. Sims will get a negative moodlet when they receive massage from strangers. Once Sims' wellness skill improves, they will learn different massages to perform on other Sims. Comparing to TS3, there were no NPCs to perform the massage but I'm glad there is in The Sims 4.
The six different massages are:
Fertility massage will also give your Sims +1 moodlet. It's really relaxing to see Sims getting a massage. The sound effects are extremely soothing and pleasant. It feels like you are having a spa day! I really love seeing how they perform the stone massage and move their hands slowly, kinda makes me exhilarated.
Meditation
Meditation is another way to increase your Sim's Wellness Skill. Once Sims reach a high level of Wellness Skill, they can levitate! Meditation also freeze motive decay so that Sims can meditate peacefully without the needs slowing down. Meditation also enables Sims to improve their relationship with others, forgive their enemies etc. Recently, my Sim had forgiven her enemy and it was really shocking but nice at the same time. It would have been boring to see them just meditating but these little things just made this seem more interesting. Keep in mind that only Sims with a high Wellness skill can freeze their motive decay, levitate or teleport.
Teleportation is quite fun to watch. Sims can teleport anywhere just by clicking the ground or they can teleport from their meditation stool.
It's not like the normal teleport when you type "testingcheats true" This one takes a little time but is more realistic to watch rather than just 'disappearing'
CAS ASSETS
There are not so many CAS items with Spa Day as they focused very much on spa activities but I must say that I'm happy to have the bath robe and wrapped towel back. There are also some hairstyles included with this pack. In my opinion, I have no words for the female hairstyles. I really like the braid which is perfect for both casual and formal wear. On the other hands, most of the outfits are unisex. One of my favourite hairstyles is this:
But I wish we could customize the headband, it would be nice to get this in different colours. I'm sure modders can find a way to do this. We don't usually get athletic wear but this pack is bursting with amazing athletic outfits! They are perfect both for yoga and gym. I'm starting to like the things they are putting into CAS. Dressing my Sims has never been so much fun. I don't want to sound rude but in The Sims 3 CAS, sometimes we used to get Store content that we won't actually use. For example, we got some crazy hairstyles for male and female Sims with some Store sets. In The Sims 4 CAS, we are getting design and quantity in the right amount and plus, It seems to fit well with the theme.
The Styled Looks are pretty neat too. I don't really like to choose Athletic wear for my Sims sometimes so these looks can be handy. The colour combination seems to match perfectly. Here are all the CAS items:
Styled looks
BUY/BUILD MODE OBJECTS
The buy/build mode objects are beyond words. Comparing to previous packs, Spa Day has the best objects If I do say so myself. The objects are modern, sleek and these are those objects you are really going to use in your game, trust me. I usually complain a lot about the shortage and the lack on objects in buy/build mode but this time I don't find anything to complain about. First things first, the new lighting that comes with this game pack are much-needed in your game. There's a huge spiral lighting that comes with this game pack and it's absolutely bright and beautiful. On the other hand, there are also glowing flor tiles and walls! Check them out:
It's like a disco in my game! They don't glow that much during the day but they do have that shiny effect. The windows and doors are like a builder's paradise! It would be nice to add the glowing floor tiles underneath a pool to release the glowing effect during night. I love the fact that they brought aquariums back. There's also fountain walls and It can enhance the look of pools. i love the dripping sound of those walls which reminds me that The Sims 4 Seasons (If they release) would be a great EP! There are no new gym equipment but they included new designs of the previous equipment which is pretty nice! Here are all the buy/build mode objects:
STYLED ROOMS
As always, the styled rooms are always on point. My praise goes out to the person who designs the styled rooms. I love how they designed the room with the massage table. The styled rooms usually help me when I try to build as I'm not so well at building. I also love the meditation spot! Rather than just plopping a meditation stool, It's nice to surround it with shrubs and that peaceful wall fountain!
MY OVERALL THOUGHTS
In my opinion, Spa Day is a wonderful game pack. All the objects ranging from CAS items to furniture are in proper amount and elegantly designed. We know that the previous game pack, Outdoor Retreat had a vacation world and a secret lot for your Sims to go to. Spa Day doesn't have one but comparing to Outdoor Retreat, this pack has more objects and activities added than the previous game pack. The animations of the activities are so wonderful and soothing to watch that It feels like not only your Sims but you are having a spa day too! The four new lots were enough for my Sims to go on a Spa Day and I'm really impressed by the interior and exterior design of those lots. As always, another great thing I liked about this pack are the description of buy/build mode objects! I rarely read those descriptions but I had to this time because they are always filled with great and funny puns! Kudos to those who wrote these. Plus, the new radio station, New Age is so pleasant to listen to. Do check it out! These are my positive thoughts so far. However, like everyone says, there are no new traits and aspirations with this pack. Outdoor Retreat came with a new trait but Spa Day doesn't have one. I was expecting to see at least one new trait as I like my Sims to have different personalities. As I said, I really don't find any lacking in this pack but If they included a trait and a few aspirations, this pack would have been flawless. I'm really hoping to see they add them to game packs in the future. I give Spa Day a score of 9/10
Thank you all for taking the time to read my review. For those who don't have Spa Day yet, I hope you were able to decide whether to buy this or not after reading this review. If you enjoyed reading, don't forget to comment or recommend!
Namaste.
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