This is when things get really maddening. Sometimes you seem to be forced to click through the entire set of tutorial sides for one system before you can try any of it out, but other times you do seem to be able to 'click' out of the tutorial box and access the game screen behind them. These are buggy, inconsistently controlled and bizarrely random in their appearance. These are difficult to read unless you sit no more than a couple of feet away from a reasonably large screen and offer only a vague description of the menu's intent. Tiny buttons bring up tiny text descriptors when 'hovered' over. Everything in their design feels almost intentionally frustrating and certainly leaves the impression that little effort was put into making any of it work comfortably on a controller.
This is an annoyance in any game, but in a simulator it can be a deal-breaker. The Sims 4 has one of the most obtuse and maddening graphical user interfaces seen from a major title on home consoles. However, first impressions only take you so far, and it’s not long before you have to start interacting with the menu systems. Even the first impressions of the character creation screen are warmly familiar. The worlds are as crisp and bright as ever, and the musical score has the same bombastic cheer. If it’s been a while since you last stepped into the world of The Sims, everything about the opening and loading screens will bring a nostalgic smile to your face.
