The Sims 4’s Jungle Adventure has a lot of potential, but little payoff, andThe Sims 5could make it worth the price of investment. After four main games inThe Simsseries and over two decades of advancement,The Sims 5should be able to expand on almost any element from the series' past. There are a lot of things thatThe Sims 5could revisit and make better than ever, butThe Sims 4’s Jungle Adventure stands at the top of the list due to how much unfulfilled potential a newSimsgame could unleash.
There is a long history ofexpansions inThe Simsgames, all of which are designed to bring something new.The Simswas actually a fairly early adopter of the concept, as while DLC is relatively common for many games now,The Simswas featuring expansions long before most. Since these expansions cost money, there is a general anticipation for them to be worth the extra effort and cost, adding something substantial to the base product. SomeSimsexpansions have done better than others, while others feel more superfluous. In some cases, they introduce something that feels like it should be in the base game.
RELATED:The Sims 4’s Free Bundles Are a Great Lesson For EA Ahead of The Sims 5
The Sims 5 Can Make The Sims 4’s Jungle Adventure Into a True Journey
One of the more interesting expansions wasThe Sims 4’s Jungle Adventure. True to what one would expect from the name, it introduced a new vacation destination, the jungle-themed Selvadorada, where players could explore ancient ruins and find treasure. Players were further encouraged to do this with the new Archeology skill, which governed the ability to find and identify valuable artifacts. In addition, Jungle Adventure added several new Create-a-Sim options, and even introduced a rather silly option to summon skeletons to perform household chores. Jungle Adventure had its own clear flavor, and had potential as one ofThe Sims 4’s many expansions.
Unfortunately, Jungle Adventure did not have a lot of longevity when it came toThe Sims 4’s evolving gameplay. While Selvadorada and its ruins were cool to explore, once the player has done it once, every subsequent trip feels like diminishing returns because the ruins never changed. When it comes down to it, most of the new mechanics revolved largely around Selvadorada and its ruins, including the Archeology skill. Simply put, in a game with lots of options likeThe Sims, most players won’t want to do the same thing over and over. Because Jungle Adventure’s titular adventure could be done so quickly, its appeal suffered as a result.
The Sims 5could have its own take on an improved Jungle Adventure. Much like otherelementsThe Sims 5can bring back, there is a lot of good at the heart of Jungle Adventure. The issue was that there wasn’t enough for players to do with it.The Sims 5could bring back the exploration mechanic and take it further, giving players more places to explore, and perhaps opening bigger, more complex ruins to more skilled adventurers. The game could have the chance to expand adventuring into a solid career opportunity for Sims, and the possibility may be too good to ignore.
Even thoughThe Sims 4didn’t do everything it could with Jungle Adventure,The Sims 5could certainly pick up the slack. After all,The Sims 5has the opportunity to evolve, and that includes advancing some of the past games' ideas. Jungle Adventure’s Archeology career and quests could expand from a vacation curiosity into something that could be made into something much bigger. There are a lot of ideas from the past that would do well to be fleshed out later. Thankfully, Jungle Adventure laid down a foundation thatThe Sims 5can build upon.
The Sims 5is in development.
MORE:The Sims 5 Already Has One Obvious Option For a Content Pack
