Simmers had mixed feelings about the last new pack for The Sims 4. Although Businesses & Hobbies had its strong suits, many felt it didn’t quite add much content. So, the bar was high when EA revealed the Enchanted By Nature expansion. This pack finally adds fairies to The Sims 4, something fans have been asking for for quite some time. But that’s not all the new pack includes. It brings in a new world, a new career, and the new Natural Living skill that lets your Sims fulfill needs in the great outdoors.
Going into this pack, I knew I’d be checking out everything that Fairy Sim life has to offer. What I didn’t expect was just how much else this expansion adds to the game. Compared to some other recent expansions, Enchanted by Nature feels massive, in a good way. I feel like I’ll be discovering new bits and pieces with this one for a while, even after putting in a ton of time for this review.
Let’s start with the new world added with the Enchanted by Nature pack. Innisgreen definitely leans into the enchanted, mystical theme. It features the standard three neighborhoods, each with its own theme. I was impressed with the number of residential lots in this world compared with the previous ones. There are options to move into a fairy-themed house of your dreams or squat on an empty lot to put that new Natural Living skill to use. In total, there are 5 residential lots, with at least one option in each Innisgreen neighborhood.
Of course, before I moved my Sims into their new enchanted home, I had to create them. When reviewing packs, I try to build my Sims with mostly the new Create a Sim options from that specific pack. The new clothes, makeup, and jewelry are definitely pretty heavily focused on fairy vibes. There aren’t a ton of new additions, but they do work well if you’re creating a Fairy Sim. Her Naturopath sister had fewer options to work with, so whether you enjoy the new clothes and accessories will largely be a matter of taste. If you want to build Tinkerbell, you’re going to be happy. Otherwise, it can be a bit lackluster.
When designing your Sim’s fairy form, you can choose from several different wing shapes, plus a couple of options for horns. I was hoping for a bit more to choose from here, but it’s a decent selection. The color customization will go a long way for those who like to sink hours into Create a Sim.
With my new Sim siblings all moved in, it came time to check out the new career path and new skills. I’ll admit, I love a new career path. The Naturopath career is a fun one, as it goes well with the new Apothecary skill. It’s not quite as involved as some careers, particularly not in the earlier tiers. But you do get some fun new interactions where you can help improve the motives of Sims around you using your natural healing knowledge, which I liked. This career offers the work-from-home option, and you can even see patients at home once you reach higher tiers. So it’s not quite “go along to work” but still gets fairly involved.
As for the new Apothecary skill, this is a ton of fun. You can craft elixirs and cures for the newly added Ailments, and it integrates well with the Natural Living Skill. The forage option lets you find Apothecary ingredients in the wild, and I was loving living my best Mamao life a la The Apothecary Diaries doing this. I will say, it does feel like EA might’ve leaned a little too heavy on that ailments button. My non-fairy Sim is constantly coming down with different ailments, which can be a bit frustrating. But, at least she knows how to brew up a cure!
Natural Living is fairly in-depth and definitely feels rewarding to level up, as your Sim gets better at fulfilling their motives as the skill increases. You can summon a privy bush to relieve your Sim outdoors, sleep on the ground, and forage for food, among other things. That said, Innisgreen has few good places to actually bathe in nature, which made it a smidge tricky to fulfill my Sim’s aspirations.
Now, let’s talk Fairies. The Fairy Sims are a pretty fun occult with a solid skill tree and good options. You can help your plants grow, enchant them so they stay well cared for, and use them to fulfill your hygiene needs. Fairy Sims have to recharge their Emotional Force or they will literally die, and I found that this seemed to drain pretty quickly. So, that got a bit frustrating as I was constantly sending her to her little fairy house to recharge. But, the skills offer a lot of options for kind Fairy Sim or mischief chaos vibes. You can absorb and influence emotions, generate Fairy Dust, and even create seeds from scratch.
There is a whole Fairy Council to explore, and Innisgreen is full of Fairy Sim NPCs. So, Enchanted By Nature feels like a nice, fully developed world with interactions and personalities to uncover.
There are also ambiently wandering Plant Sims, which add a nice extra layer of magic. You can ask Plant Sims for the magical fruit that will (temporarily) transform your Sim, as well. If you’ve been waiting for the return of the Plant Sim, this feels like a pretty solid representation, if a little bit of an afterthought compared to the Fairy Sims. You can’t create a new Plant Sim in Create a Sim mode, but if you’re in Innisgreen, it’s very easy to get the fruit you need for the transformation.
In all, Enchanted by Nature feels like a robust pack that truly delivers a lot of new stuff for Simmers to explore. I didn’t run into any new bugs that seemed pack-specific, so the added content appears to be working mostly as intended. There are some great little details, like how Fairy Sims “go for a fly” instead of a run, and how they can shrink down to play in various household items. The world really sticks to its theme, offering a magical place for Fairy Sims to hang out. This is probably one of the bigger, more involved new The Sims 4 expansion packs we’ve seen lately. If you enjoy the magical, natural living side of things, Enchanted by Nature is probably going to deliver.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
The Sims 4 Enchanted by Nature was reviewed on PC via the EA App. A review copy was provided by the publisher in advance for the purpose of this review.
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