My Brutally Honest Review Of The Sims 4 High School Years 

My stupid ass didn’t realise the drama club was not a part of this pack (LOL)

I swear to god if male sims get one more swoopy-toothpaste hairstyle I will scream

Its funny how in the trailer, the highschool looks amazing and it's filled with so many decorations, but ahhhh pshhhhh, in the game, its absolutely empty and super ugly honestly 🤣

By now my motto with The Sims is "I didn’t expect anything but I’m disappointed anyway". Literally, it's even written on my forehead probably.

i really wish they had included truth or dare, spin the bottle, and other teen party games that teens could have played at home & other places around the world. also if they're going to have lookout places, then they need makeout actions & more private seating options. like logs, crates, boulders amongst the trees (with fireflies and dragonflies) where teens could makeout. also teen vandalism options around the world for the troublemaker teens.

Thank goodness there are still honest reviewers like you. I’m tired of others glossing over bugs and hyping half baked gameplay

I wish instead of rabbit holes, we had some sort of cut scene (at least). How cool would it be to have a cut scene of you and your sibling or SO riding the Farris wheel with you. That way you could take screenshots. It would just feel more real. Same thing with the love booth and haunted house. I want it to feel like they actually did something.

I feel like the sims team needs to go back and play the sims 2 and 3 to understand why people enjoy their games. They've lost the plot, this is basically a shell of the teen content we got in sims 3 generations. Prom was a rabbit hole then and it still felt more engaging that this, and their were consequences to skipping school and staying out late.

SimmerErin just did a video revealing the credits, confirming there were ONLY 6 QA employees on High School Years, which was the same as My Wedding Stories. For reference, she said that over 30 QA employees were assigned to City Living.

I hate that social awkward translates to "almost everyone dosn't likes you" xx. I'm super introverted and many people would call me socialy awkward(which i can totaly sign) and i was happy over this trait. But then i saw gameplay with this trait and it was just ... this is not was i personally think social awkwardnes means. All in all, the last updates, the werwolfe pack and now this pack. It all seems so shallow gameplay-wise, as always :/.

The Sims team literally gave up. I decided to stop buying the games for full price and thank god I didn't buy this immediately after the launch

I sort of wish they added stuff like (yes I have a list): -Councillor office (for stressed students) -Uniform -Science lab -woodworking/cooking/sewing(DT lessons) -different PE options like swimming, cricket, football track and field etc. -Actual OPTIONS on tests -Bigger/more decorated school -More students from the actual neighbourhood (as in any teen in that save who are enrolled appear regardless of whether you’re playing their household or not -More students from the actual neighbourhood (as in any teen in that save who are enrolled appear regardless of whether you’re playing their household or not -a year system for teens (don’t know exactly what the system is in a America but it’s like year1 year2 year 3 etc.) -Strikes on school record until expulsion (fighting or woohoo-ing are a no go) -Popular sims can feel stressed from suddenly turning unpopular -Popular snobby sims becoming awkward around unpopular sims -Unpopular sims becoming sad from being picked on (we all know the kids who make snipy comments) -Honor students -Whole year grade scores on a bulletin board -School trips! -school work experience (literally just a normal job but only for a day.) -Career fair interaction(whichever career you’re interested in decides your work experience job) -music lessons -trying to skip school through school nurse -fire drills a but no one does what the're meant to(y'know, like real life) -friendship groups - upset at friend stealing crush (drama) -If you do a prank and get caught, you have detention to rectify the damage caused (e.g pranked toilet so now you have to fix and clean the bathrooms after school) Low grades + multiple detentions =angry parent(s) Literally breaking bones because kids CAN do dumb stuff Wheelchairs? Like- please? Staff room restricted to only teachers Teacher gameplay to teach and mark tests If I think of more I might add them on

If they can make a werewolf frame, they can make a teen frame.

This is a kind of specific request, but on the topic of cross-pack compatibility, I feel like one consistently missed opportunity is adding more movie options. It would be cool if we got 1 or 2 new titles with expansion packs and game packs. I don’t want to watch Sims of the Dead again! Little details like that are a small add that go a long way and just show that they put thought into integrating the packs.

For me, the annoying thing about only being able to build the high school on the copperdale lot (and i guess the same thing applying to britechester for universities) is that you can't really simulate a high school experience set in other cultures/countries, because copperdale is just so... american i guess. Aside from that, mostly what i expected from the pack

This game feels more like a student project with every pack.

This pack feels more like a game pack than an expansion pack. Thus, I’m going to buy this pack when it’s 50% off.

Ok so from what ive seen from your review i think this pack should have been a game pack there is no reason people should be spending 40 bucks for high school tbh

This expansion just makes me more excited for Paralives.

I had high expectations for this pack but was let down because the gameplay is very shallow, at this point EA is just stealing money from us. DO NOT buy this pack full price you will definitely waste your money wait until half price if you decide to buy this pack

I agree about the men's hair. I've played Sims for many years and throughout the Sims history there have been less styles for men

The worst thing is that this could have been one of the best expansion packs, if they wouldn’t ruin it like this…. This is why everyone was so excited when we saw the trailer… I had so high hopes and a lot of ideas/gameplay like the list of “what could have been” I am deeply disappointed 😔 I don’t think the simmers have high exeptations we just want normal enjoyable content for our money not just a SHALLOW something. I still not understand how can they sell unfinished, buggy, glitchy content for the costumers whiteout any consequence… i play with this game since 2014, the thing I noticed is that the content is getting less and less with each pack like just look at get together maybe it’s club system is now kinda forgotten but they added so much big snd small gameplay and a totally new feature that was never seen before (they updated it and added more and more options too compatible with new pack).

I dont get why they even bother to create a highschool for the trailer that looks so good but end up using a completely different one ingame that just looks like shit… They do that with all the lots for packs they teased before. Everything is so misleading… They showed how sims were using the track around the football field for working out. I dont own the pack and I never will because this is just a cash grab. But I suppose that you CAN‘T use the track for running. I usually rarely complain because until now I was buying into all their bs. But I am really starting to get pissed. Early, I know.

Thanks for the review and showing off the gameplay! It really does feel like it tried to focus on teens, with the high school gameplay as an afterthought. Such a pity that there's so many rabbit holes. Also, I saw on Reddit that the QA team for this pack is a mere 6 people so... yeah.

Loved that you had to buy outfits in sims 2. I wish having to buy clothing in stores where it always changed was a regular thing in the sims. You should also have to go to a hairdresser to change your hairstyle or hair colour.

yikes. i preordered this pack but for some reason my payment didn’t go through. i’m glad i didn’t end up buying it. i feel like we got scammed into thinking this pack actually had depth. what a pity. if someone new to the sims was trying to decide on this pack or Get Together or University I would seriously tell them to get one of those instead

It's sad how lazy the sims team is now, I miss the days of Sims 2 when every pack had so much to do and they actually put care into them

Felt like more of a game pack. This was just a money grabber. Didn’t get enough items or enough cas items. This was a let down. But just my opinion.

I am Norwegian, and the Norwegian version of this pack is actully called Teenage life. After watching this review I understand why they chose to call it that and not High school years 😂 Love your videos! 😊

I would’ve gotten it if it wasn’t so freaking overpriced, should be 20 dollars instead of 40 dollars?! Like what, doesn’t seem worth it at ALL

People kept telling me I was being super pessimistic and cynical when I saw the trailer for this pack, and it's nice to see that my pessimism wasn't unwarranted. I knew the highschool pack wouldn't be as fleshed out as people wanted it to be, but whenever I try to point this out, I get bombarded by people telling me I'm always complaining and am never happy with them, even though the sims team has a history and is notorious for giving less fleshed out gameplay. I'm not even upset that this pack isn't fleshed out, at this point I just want the sims team or EA to just move on from this game and start from scratch. There are too many game breaking bugs for them to continue to release dlc. At this point they should pack it up, and hope that for the next game they get it right and don't release a half baked base game.

They make the trailers look absolutely amazing on purpose to get people hyped up and go buy the pack. I'm not even the slightest bit surprised about any of this. If we'd all think realistically before buying then we would know that in our games Sims don't interact like they do in the trailers, nothing is ever as lively as it is in the trailers, it's just not like that in the actual game. They're basically selling us wishes and hope. We all wish our games were like that and we really hope that the Sims team actually put that much effort into the pack, but in reality it's the same boring ass stuff we always get. CAS and BB look great like they usually do, but I'm still not paying full price for this. I know after the first few times I'm going to get bored with following them to school so after that's gone what will I have left? More CAS and BB and a world with almost nothing to do. Just like every other world. I know I sound extremely pessimistic, but I'm tired of these lackluster, buggy packs and game breaking updates. We need to demand that they do better, otherwise this is what we'll keep getting. I used to buy every pack on release because I'm always desperate for something more to do, but I can't do that anymore. I'm not buying whatever they hand out.

Thank you for your honest review. I was super hyped and bought the pack yesterday but omg… I am so disappointed. High school is super glitchy. My sim was stuck in the cafeteria doing absolutely NOTHING for 2 sim hours and then went to class after 3PM, when classes were technically over, then he missed his afterschool activity. By the way, even though there is nothing to do, I can’t do everything I want because of all the glitches. How am I supposed to train for football if my actions with other sims are canceled 80% of the time ? We should be able to train alone to avoid that. CAS and build mode are lovely, I also like PNJ autonomy (when it happens…) but I agree… being in high school is boring. Also my sim is supposed to be the bad kid in school, yet he manages to have good grades… I swear I am trying very hard to get him bad grades. Well… I’m glad I had 30% off the pack on Instant Gaming cause it would be a shame to pay full price for a game that is half finished. (Also sorry for this long comment and please forgive me if I made some mistakes, English is not my native language)

My vampire father PROPOSED to his daughter WHILE I was playing in the household. I married them and it says “married” and “father-daughter” in their profiles.💀 Now I know where this dynamic came from

Sims 3 university showed that you can make classes intractable and fun, Idk why they didn't just add those same mechanics to classes.

Sydney asked my sims dad to prom💀 what is it with this boy and parents

So one thing that this pack has done is brought me to your channel. I am loving your reviews and your honest feedback because it’s so well balanced. I have seen a lot of people be so negative about the pack (understandable), to the point where they are accusing people of being dishonest about enjoying the pack. I’ve had a couple bugs but more or less it has worked for me and I enjoy it so far but will likely never buy another pack early again because EA has shown they don’t care about their customers. Your reviews talk about it the negatives but also highlight some features that people may enjoy which is equally important, so thank you.

The teen dating the mom killed me.

I really hope the sims team sees this. This is the best review I've seen thus far, honestly. Most of them are just extremely biased but this is the best most honest review ever. Thank you!

There should have been way more CAS and build options. I‘m not gonna buy this till it’s on sale.

I wish the Sims team reached out to Zerbu who created the Go to School mod YEARS AGO. Incorporating what he already created with a few added features and functionality from the Sims team would have made this pack so much better. Learning a different skill daily, interacting with teachers and staff. I don't want to hear about how hard the Sims team works when modders are making whole game improvements at home.

I find this pack less and less appealing, cas and bb looks fine and I also really like Trendi thing where you can buy your clothes, but other than that it is extremely lackluster: you can't build your own school in other worlds, you can't be a principal (also, if you want to paly as the existing principal it'll break the game and the new principal will spawn, saw this today in DrGluon video), there is nothing to do at school (at least in get to work the active jobs are super fun and unlock a lot of cool stuff), the world is as always empty with nothing to do in it, especially the football field (why not make tracks playable where you can send your sim running?), very little pack compatability. I'll wait untill it'll be on sale and only then buy it beacuse it's not worth the price. I still think this pack has some cool stuff and potential, but knowing Sims 4 it'll be forgotten by EA almost immediately. (btw, the "acting" after school activity is from Get Famous, not this pack, but they are still rabbit holes in this pack as well)

Sad about how female sims have 3x as much hair, but i am VERY happy about how many clothing options male sims are getting!!!

Best breakdown I’ve seen on this pack so far. Everyone’s been sugarcoating the gameplay so I thank you for being truly honest. Thank you! 🙏🏾♥️

I don’t watch reviews because I find them boring and just not my thing but because I bought the pack and haven’t gotten to play it yet I decided to watch yours and I enjoyed it to no end. You’re hilarious and everything you said is dead on. Thanks for uploading. Will be looking out for your future reviews.

Omg I loved your brutally honest review and your accent made it 10x better ❤️ lmaoo thank you! I’m definitely in no rush to buy this!

I’ve always thought that it was so weird that regardless of where your sim lives, every single child goes to the same school and every teen goes to the same school. (I’m basing this off of the homework books they’re given). I would’ve LOVED a very shallow-ish version of university given to the kids and teens. What I mean is this: when your toddler ages up you have to actually register them in a school (like when your sims call to get a job), from there you’re given a basic menu with some different options for schools. They can choose between a generic average school, a prestigious one, and they can come up with some different options and even give certain packs their own schools if the theme calls for it. I think at base game just having different schools would be nice as different schools would focus on different skills for your children to learn (AND FOR THE LOVE OF GOD GIVE ME DIFFERENT HOMEWORK BOOKS 😭😭). But depending on where your child attended the school could potentially give you an easier time going into uni? Idk I get that university isn’t that hard to get into in the sims 4 but when the university pack was announced I assumed some overhaul towards the education system would appear too

Honestly the high school gameplay should have incuded more pop-ups i would have enjoyed more that way. I also think that it is a bit wierd that we hav social bunny as an app altough we still have simstagram i feel like smth the sims team just adds some things and then just abandons them. I also experienced an issue where i'd have 2 teen sims the'd finnish school and then both of them had to go to after-school stuff yet still ony one of them went and the other one's timetable just reseted. is that normal? How can i fix that?

GOOOD MORNING, I'll buy this expansion pack based on what you say because I feel like you're always right

I was having trouble finding complete info on the high school lots. Thank you for this.

Literally in the sims3 university you had multiple interactions with your sims in class the fact EA couldn’t replicate that in the sims4 shows just how lazy they are I’m saving my money and I’m not buying this pack

You know, I have to say, even in Sims 1 you could build your own rollercoaster in Making Magic and watch them have a blast riding it. It's a little sad when Sims 1 did it better. I just got this one for Christmas so watching the review now. Have to say, first thing I did was get rid of that monstrosity of a library.

Thank you for your honesty. I really appreciate it.

I've always liked the idea of having to buy clothes. I mean there would always be money cheats there to use if you prefer it the other way, but in the terms of realism and immersion, it makes sense for Sims to have to buy clothes. This is why I like to download clothing retail shops and send my Sims there to buy stuff, why I use the lot trait that requires ordering from the grocery store, etc. I like that you can rebuild the lot but am I the only one who feels like the lot is way too big? Takes my Sim almost a Sim-hour to walk from the cafeteria to cheerleading practice lol. I liked the idea of social bunny/bunny social, whatever but I didn't expect that there would only be like 8 messages they all send over and over (including to themselves). You would think there'd be a couple dozen at least-- honestly, 100 different possible message options wouldn't be bad in this case. Also just like the snow festival when you try to go there and Sims keep running back to the Onsen, I find when you go to the carnival with other Sims they just run away back to the active lot and it's hard to get them to hang out together and go on rides.

i can't believe they're charging over £30 for this pack - it's genuinely shocking. side note: this is my first time watching this channel and i absolutely loved the structure and content of this review! i'll definitely keep watching your videos in the future to see whether any sims 4 packs will be worthwhile ever again lmao

I love all your videos. I love your honesty and your natural humor! You're funny without when trying. You are so on spot with everything I feel about the Sims too. I always thought it was just me! You even introduced me to wicked whims lol my gameplay has changed 😅

What disappoints me the most is that the packs aren’t connected. For example High School Years and parenthood would go so well together, but they aren’t connected. I think that’s the worst issue with ripping one big pack idea into separate pieces.

I've waited so long for someone to actually make an honest review. Every time I read "honest review about the sims 4 high school years" it always was how great this pack was so honestly thank you for speaking your mind and being actually honest about this.

Zerbu venue mod is the mod that made it so you can build the school anywhere and have club get togethers at the school

I think the whole go to work for a streamer is a good thing, sometimes there are streamers that rent out a place because their at home set up is inadequate. Like if their internet goes down, I find it good for story telling.

I know if there is one place I can come for an honest review it’s here! I truly appreciate you!

Can you do a comparison video between the features we can do in the sims 4 high school vs sims 3 generations. How are the proms different? What can you do as a teen in each one that makes them a unique life stage? I just really miss the sims 3 and love your take on the old content 🥰 hell maybe even how this amusement park compares to the one in the sims 3 store, at least in that one we can build our own roller coaster and watch the sims use it.

I really like how straight-forward you were with this video

love the honesty, as always c:

i watch you and as told by kenya for the brutal honesty.. thank you for always being so honest

Honestly, thank you very much for this video! Every now and then I get this sudden urge to come back to The Sims 4, tempted by the new expansions promising fun gameplay. And then I always feel like I hit the wall with the dull experience and bugs. Last expansion I bought (on sale, thankfully) was Discover University and I got bored in one day, even though I've heard it's one of the better ones and tried to give it a chance a few times later. So thanks for helping me save my money!

Thank you for putting up an honest review!

One thing I wish they’d done with social bunny is like add a couple things you could post as both a teen and adult. Like getting a job or going on vacation 😅

I completely agree! I just wanted to say that I'm SO glad you mention how annoying the window dressing in the worlds can be. It's hard to tell where you can and can't go so most of the time you don't even bother looking around. I also don't understand how they think it's ok to put a bunch of premade stuff but not leave anything but a tiny lot or 2 for us to build on (unless we want to delete the creator builds). I think every world should come with at least 1 small, 1 medium, and 1 large empty lot besides the ones they tend to include.. they could just throw them back at the edges with all the non-playable stuff they throw in.

Ooofff so glad I watched this before purchasing!! I was so excited for this pack too..

I feel like they’re killing my childhood every time a bad pack comes out, which is often now! So often I don’t even buy the new packs until like years after they come out sometimes, and that’s usually only because I’m EXTREMELY bored and want something to do. Playing the sims 4 is so boring and repetitive as it is compared to its predecessors, the last thing it needs is a bunch of glitches and expensive game packs with no real added gameplay. I feel like this was a cash grab, and the game is just for aesthetic

I look forward to see what the modders come out with to fix this pack lol. I love that one mod that allows you to put objects anywhere in the world.

I totally agree about how it's good to not have all clothes available straight away! I never thought about this before but it would be cool if they changed it up a bit

I think the reason why the male cas is lacking is basically what you said in one of your previous videos, the sims 4 is more geared to a female audience which is sad because I end up getting cc male items :(, But your def right they need to talk to a barber or a hair stylist ASAP !!!

I remember I always wanted to follow my kids at school, since the glourious times of The Sims 2. After 15 years, here we are

I would love to see a pack based around summer camps for child sims. We've got the uni pack for YA and now High School Years for Teens, so I'd like to see something around child sims, but not another school pack. I also actually preferred the lessons as rabbit holes in the university pack, rather than the active school day from HSY because I find it too automatic considering its an active school day, I ended up just watching the sim walk between classes and not really do anything active, and I find its not very clear which class is which. For the summer camp pack, it could work well with an outdoor retreat refresh and the introduction of horses and water sports like kayaking. It could also work well with tying in the scouts after school activity and having the scout sims do weekend trips with their squad to the camp. Other actvities could also include things like archery and hair braiding and have child sims be able to do basic wood carving and make friendship bracelets etc. There are so many possibilities with a pack like that, especially for it to tie in with other packs as well, and it would be good to have an age specific pack that isn't around education which would just be too repetitive after HSY and UL.

Thanks for the review! This was so helpful. Also, I think Drama Club and Scouts are base game (I believe), and they’ve always been rabbit holes. But football and cheerleading come with this pack and are more “active.”

wow thank you for your honesty I figure it would be because of all the other games they was bring out hasn't been great and messed up. And this still haven't fixed that but keep bring all these game out

Great honest review!! Thank you. 😊

Thanks for the REAL review 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

Although is missing many things and details, I personally loved this pack. The clothing and new furniture art deco style were so nice. As well as the shop and the boba tea.

I'm loving the new game play. I play at work so I have to play offline and I'm not experiencing a lot of what others say they are.

Im new here and actually like your review very straight forward but detailed, nice

this pack may get old quick, most of the reviews have said it was just a basic game pack.

What I dislike about the sims 4 is how every pack feels like the same gameplay in a new jacket. Work/party’s/dates and now school all work the same, which is just a bit of a dissappointment. It’s just never really gonna feel new and exciting. Depth and creative freedom missing once again. building your own school in whatever neighbourhood u wanted wouldve gone a LONG way.

The only thing I'm excited to do is to use Get Together to make active clubs. But yeah, it is a shame that the pack is so..... y'know... shallow

It would be a nice touch to the school if the running track was atleast usable, maybe for a PE class of sorts? Anyways I'm looking forward to editing the lot.

I adore the outfits and the social media thing. But I thought i would have more students: the school was so empty, and I had so many teens in my world. I wanted a cool crossover

This is by far the best review for this pack!!

My teen sim got tense cause I refused her wish to date her mom, then it glitched so she was tense all the time, despite moodlets being all positive. And yeah, what a gameplay, just watch how your sim stares at the board. 10/10

I really agree with you about having to buy clothing from a store, i've been looking for any mods to do that but no luck so far.

Thanks so much for the honesty! & again, disappointed but not surprised.

You have no idea how much I appreciate your honesty! Lol I’m most definitely not buying this pack and I will continue to do my high school gameplay my way lol. The trailer made me so excited…. What a shame?! Smh

I knew you would give it to us Raw! 😂😂😂 I also knew this pack would be a let down. I’ll end up getting it but probably won’t do anything HS. Maybe just go to the pier. I am excited about what the mod creators will do with it.

I agree what you said about the men's hair, I feel bad reusing hairs for my legacy guys and having my legacy girls always decked out 😂😂

I do wish they would spend more time on the worlds and being able to go into any building and have it be something different. I guess when im in my 80s ill see it maybe...just maybe

Excellent video. Thank you for your honest review. I am so glad I put a hold on buying this pack and probably never will buy it. I'm not surprised how lackluster and lazy it is.

I do like some of the exploitative mechanics tho.. taking photos of other sims to boost friendship is a good one! Also, sometimes I'll make a completely buff sim & I wanna get their athletic skill up fast, so I select "Dream Big" on the basketball hoop and voila, level 10 athletic skill in about 10 irl minutes

I like the CAS and the new Objects, but I'm disappointed from the Gameplay. Going to Highschool is super boring, and I'm especially disappointed of the Prom. It's boring, empty, there's nothing to do, it's full of bugs and it stops just after I started it. And why is there a prom EVERY WEEK?

I think this pack so far for me isn't too bad! I tend to enjoy a change in what I'm doing, I just get bored doing the same needs for my sims every day, and then I try and do things for my sim's aspiration or job but then when I want to do something fun, their needs are low again and it feels like a boring endless cycle. This pack for me splits things up and it's more interesting like, yeah, I want to go to school with my sim!