The Sims 4: Growing Together adds a ton of ways for players to impact how their Sims grow throughout their lives. The Sims isn’t a stranger to this kind of growth, as there have been plenty of legacy-themed expansions throughout the series’ history. It makes sense too, as players would expect that the events that play out would matter in a life simulator. Previous games even had some unique ways of tracking those major life events.
Memories were a mechanic first introduced in The Sims 2, later appearing in The Sims 3 in a similar form. These are essentially achievements for an individual Sim, allowing players to look back and see a basic overview of their Sim’s major life events. Memories are great for players that want the game to track significant events automatically, but they lack any real gameplay impact. However, the new milestones introduced in Growing Together have taken everything that players loved about memories and greatly improved on it.
How Memories Worked in Previous Sims Games
In The Sims 2, specific predefined events are registered as a memory after a Sim experiences them. The Sim in question’s personality could change how they thought of a certain memory, and Sims would also collect memories from their family members. Outside of tracking major events, memories could also be used as a topic of conversation between Sims, with recent memories having a higher chance of being discussed.
The memory system got a pretty major overhaul in The Sims 3. Whenever a Sim gained a new memory, players would be given the option to take a screenshot to save alongside it. These could be browsed in a photo album, and players could even capture custom memories. However, much like in The Sims 2, memories had no impact on the mood or life of a Sim — though they have been linked to performance issues.
Growing Together’s Milestones Change How a Sim Views the World
The big difference between The Sims 4‘s milestones and previous games’ memories is that milestones actually have gameplay impacts. Achieving a milestone can actually change a Sim’s mood to reflect what they accomplished. There are also some in-game memorabilia that can be unlocked by completing certain milestones. It’s a small incentive, but it’s still one that ties this system much more closely in with the gameplay.
This is most clear with the infant milestones. As players care for their infant Sims, the youngsters will gain milestones that impact how they grow. These are broken up into fine and gross motor milestones. Having more infant milestones grants rewards once they move on to the toddler life stage. The milestone mechanic is even compatible with the game’s many other expansions, giving this feature plenty of possibilities that make it a clear improvement over what came before.