I remember feeling sad while being bullied at school for wearing my hair as Yugi from Yu-Gi-Oh. Getting home and playing some Mysims to cheer me up was the only comfort I had. To this day the series remains a childhood favorite of mine because of all the memories I made here.
This game series is special not only because it was my comfort from bullying, however, it was also a game my grandma randomly picked up for me before she passed when we finally got a Wii, and that same copy sits proudly on my shelf right now. It inspires me even today in all my stories and art, and seeing it be brought up back and rereleased at all makes me wanna cry. I loved roleplaying that I was a part of the MySims Kingdom world as a child (and locking myself in prison in Cowboy Junction for some reason?) And so I invested a lot of time into Kingdom and ended up finishing it, I didn't finish many games as a kid so that made it even more special to me.
MySims Kingdom is more storyline driven. You complete different tasks to advance in your quest, some of which include building stuff for people. The customization is more limited in Kingdom, but it’s still very enjoyable to play. Also it goes without saying that Kingdom is set in a less modern environment, you’re in a kingdom after all. There’s also not as much characters in MySims Kingdom, so chances are some of your favorite Sims from MySims probably aren’t in the game. What I loved the most about MyKingdoms though is the opportunity to keep going back and editing. As I got more building supplies, when I went back to past builds, I would get MORE quests from the people (that were more personalized) and I really liked that!
Now this is one of my favorite game of all time EVER, but it’s not for everyone. I'm going to be brutally honest. If you're not the type of person to have a strong imagination and make a lot out of a little then MySims probably isn't the series for you. l've been playing this series since I was younger and I'm almost 38, so it's stuck with me for years, but I feel like a lot of players now a days can't see themselves sticking with it (or just playing it once and never again). A lot of the MySims community is heavy on creating OCs and backstories for characters, building friendships with characters etc. Yes there is not much to "do" but the more you play, the more you can unlock new items and you can go back and remodel houses, areas, etc. But yeah, MySims and MySims Kingdom are rather linear and you really have to use your own imagination to get a lot out of the game.
Not to mention there are lots of secret things that you can find in Kingdom, such as hidden scrolls, outfits, etc that you can find by prospecting and fishing. There are typically 4-5 chests on each island which often hold outfits and scrolls. There are also some cheats that you can input to unlock a few extra outfits and in the original MySims there are some cheat codes for new outfits and furniture too. Considering this series has stuck with me for so many years, I personally never found myself getting bored with it but it’s not the same experience for everyone. Some ideas to make it more fun for you is create a character with a fleshed out backstory, start a new save and invite sims to your town that you wouldn't typically invite, remodel houses and areas, deck your own house out with a bunch of furniture (sims actually visit your home depending on the essences you use on furniture). Get really immersive with it!
The only thing I don't like is the controls, but as someone that grew up playing these games I still absolutely love them, it feels so nostalgic and cute and I can see how kids today could end up playing it for hours on end like I did back in the day. Overall, it's pretty good for a port and I recommend it, just be mindful of what you’re getting yourself into. Objectively it’s a 7/10 at best, but in my heart it’s 20/10. My childhood!
