While by now any gamer worth their salt is well aware of EA's shady money-grabbing practises, there was still a certain level of hope that The Sims 4 would find a way to reinvigorate the insanely successful franchise. As it turns out, The Sims 4 is the most effortlessly piecemeal of the bunch, presenting flash new graphics, an excellent character creator, solid multi-tasking abilities, interesting emotional directives for the Sims, and...not much else. More than anything, it's clear that EA have deliberately held back a large portion of material in order to sell it to addicted gamers later down the line in the form of DLC. Elements believed to be standard in the Sims experience (like open world play) are mysteriously absent, and it as such makes The Sims 4 feel like less of a game than pretty much any of the core titles that came before it, which is embarrassing to say the least. That Maxis and EA felt comfortable shipping such a lacklustre final product is mere testament to how little respect they have for their fans, something that you absolutely shouldn't be rewarding. Of course, though, the game was a commercial success and still sold like hotcakes.