I didn't expect to get a lot out of this pack, to be honest, even though I have been a Star Wars fan since the original film hit theaters in 1977. I was looking forward to planting a few moisture vaporators around Oasis Springs just for funsies, maybe. That's about it.
Ordinarily, I give new packs a good six weeks for hype to settle and patches to be released before I jump in. In this case, it was the vocal negativity, bordering on hostility, of alleged Sims "fans" that drove me to purchase it - that, and seeing things that did interest me, in the gameplay trailer.
Personally, I can't imagine ever wanting to play the game from the First Order perspective. I have villainous Sims, but their brand of antisocial behavior is more than adequately met by including Scoundrels as a neutral third faction. Truth be told, I usually play from the standpoint of the underworld, in Star Wars settings - I love that aspect of the franchise, and will generally go all in for smuggling, gambling, heists, highjinks and, you know, "Hutt stuff".
So when I took Lane Benton, my skilled, wealthy, established but non-occult singleton Sim to Batuu, I headed straight to the Cantina... or actually, not. Following a tip on the load screen, I searched out "The Dwelling" to customise his Batuu costume, from among the limited selection of clothing not gated by reputation, already eyeing headgear that called for a high rank in the Resistance - I knew then (though, my sympathies lying where they do, I had already suspected) that I'd be following up on my Scoundrel exploration by supporting the Good Guys.
Lane has a kind of Kanan Jarrus hairdo going on, that translates fine to Black Spire Outpost, and I actually like the clothes fairly well. For other outfits, I embraced both the historic camp of Star Wars hair styles and The Sims 4's freedom to bend gender to give him a couple of "space buns" on top of his head, but this is his basic look, along with his R5-series astromech droid (no one is suspicious when an R5 malfunctions - that bad motivator problem is well known).
The mix or match droid building options while limited do offer a fair range of choice, whether one wants to faithfully reproduce R2-D2, R5-D4, or BB-8, or make an anonymous beater like Lane's helper, here. What is a tad disappointing is the absence of C-series astromechs - I'd have really preferred to pay tribute to the crusty but loyal old bucket of bolts, C1-10P, aka Chopper, from Star Wars: Rebels. As an aside, I'd have preferred the Devoronian pirate, Vizago, as my Scoundrel contact to Hondo Ohnaka, whom I don't especially like.
Nor is he particularly easy to speak with. He is easy to find, in Oga's Cantina, the central hub for the Black Spire Outpost and the Scoundrel faction. But as atmospheric as the cantina undoubtedly is, the faithfulness of its design to the cantina in Disney's "Galaxy's Edge" theme park neighborhood is an uneasy mix for Sims 4 routing. Lane was frequently behind the bar, his faithful R5 droid trundling behind him, whenever he had occasion to speak to anyone seated to enjoy a drink.
Also, one lot per neighborhood aside, Batuu is awfully "rabbit-hole"-y. Oga's Cantina is Black Spire Outpost's sole interior. Most of Batuu is elaborate but non-interactive set-pieces, and the major structure of the cantina is itself a shell building, with limited amenities. The absence of beds, bathroom fixtures, counters, kitchen appliances and other Sims mainstays on Batuu means that the pack's Build/Buy menu has some unfortunate gaps in its offerings.
One's dining selections are limited to food vendors (three, in Black Spire Outpost) and the cantina bar. The upside is that once having eaten these Outer Rim delicacies, your Sim will be able to prepare them at home. The food and drink selection faithfully follows the comestibles offered to visitors to Galaxy's Edge, which frankly feels a bit gimmicky. This pack has a bad case of split identity, and cannot seem to decide whether it is a Star Wars adventure pack, or an advertisement for Disney's theme park attractions.
Hygiene, Bladder and Energy motives are all addressed by visiting the (rabbit-hole) "Dwelling", which is away in a corner and nearly cost Lane a bladder accident the first time I had to find it again after his initial visit. This location is sufficiently inconvenient that I resorted to routinely cheating needs, so as not to spend the moeity of my vacation time simply walking to where I could get food, or sleep, or get cleaned up, between undertaking missions and having the kind of adventures that Lane was, presumably, there to have.
And here we come to the real heart of the pack, as far as gameplay goes, and where in my opinion all the small disappointments are forgiven. Because I actually really, really enjoy the missions supporting the various factions. These are reminiscent of quests and daily responsibilities in The Sims Medieval, save that they are entirely elective. The number of missions available from each faction increases, as one earns a reputation within that faction, and many are repeatable although they can be played out along different choice paths.
The heart of the game, however, seems to be a chain of missions, one per faction, that string together to tell a coherent story arc. These are the most rigorously gated by reputation, sensibly enough - these folks aren't just going to let a stranger be privy to their schemes. I am only just part way through the Resistance story, and refuse to touch the First Order other than as antagonists. But the Scoundrel story goes where I want it to,
casing the casino on Canto Bight, assembling a crew, and staging a heist
in a way that was perhaps a bit superficial, but hit enough of the right notes for me to be satisfied.
I may have a leg up on satisfaction, however, insofar as Scoundrel is in fact my preferred role. While naturally, one can acquire and customize a lightsaber, and practice against a remote, and even spar with other Sims, otherwise there is no real path to exploring Force-powers. In fact, inventory limitations mean that one cannot even bring along one's own yoga mat or meditation stool so that one cannot (short of build/buy cheats) even use Wellness skill to feign Force development. Three separate starships - one per faction, naturally - do offer some rabbit-hole away missions, delivered by illustrated pop-up cards with some prompt to choose one's path. But if you were hoping to free fly in space, or master the mysteries of the Force, this pack will disappoint.
All in all, I'd grade Journey to Batuu a solid 3.5 out of 5 stars. It was worth the $20 price tag, to me. But do know what you are and are not getting before you decide to buy, and decide if it sounds worth it to you.
