The Sims Medieval

 PC
User Score
6.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 176 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 67 out of 176
  2. Mixed: 60 out of 176
  3. Negative: 49 out of 176
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  1. OneVoice
    Nov 20, 2012
    5
    I don't actually like this game, yet somehow or another I find myself playing it every once in awhile, and can't convince myself to uninstall it. It has an addictive quality to it that pulls me back in every now and then. But after finally playing through an 'ambition', the game basically restarts itself from scratch as you go on to the next 'ambition'. There are some interesting 'quests'I don't actually like this game, yet somehow or another I find myself playing it every once in awhile, and can't convince myself to uninstall it. It has an addictive quality to it that pulls me back in every now and then. But after finally playing through an 'ambition', the game basically restarts itself from scratch as you go on to the next 'ambition'. There are some interesting 'quests' here and there, but there is very little to do, and no incentive to do anything, outside following the exact step-by-step quest requirements, which are invariably ridiculously easy. The concept of the game actually has some really interesting potential. If the world could be made more interesting and immersive, if the quests went along with some interesting overarching storyline (that had good storytelling and some depth- like a good medieval fantasy novel or something), if there was a more diverse range of interesting locations to visit and explore, if they brought in more interesting and diverse paths for skill development, and if they made it so that there was more of a need to use your mind sometimes, this game could be made into something really good. I'd be interested to see if on an future expansion packs, or if there is ever a second version, they bring in some of these elements. If so, I'd probably enjoy this game.… Expand
  2. Levardos
    Mar 26, 2011
    7
    This game is sure something different than the other series. And that's what at first disappointed me. I was expecting a normal life simulator in medieval ages, but this game is more like an RPG in which you rule your kingdom. We only control the character(s) which we need for the mission we're doing. We create our "heroes". King/Queen, smith, medic, bard, trader, magician, rogue, knight,This game is sure something different than the other series. And that's what at first disappointed me. I was expecting a normal life simulator in medieval ages, but this game is more like an RPG in which you rule your kingdom. We only control the character(s) which we need for the mission we're doing. We create our "heroes". King/Queen, smith, medic, bard, trader, magician, rogue, knight, priest.. I don't know if I missed any. When we choose which quest/mission we want to do, we then choose one of few available ways we want to accomplish it, and then the hero/heroes we want to use. And we only control them at a time.. It's not really a life simulator anymore. Sure, you can do plenty of activities, even marry someone and have kids. But the only things you pretty much need to look after besides doing the quest you picked, is making sure your sim isn't hungry, and gets enough of sleep. We also have to do two tasks per day, like forging a sword and delivering it to someone, and so on. It affects our sim's mood. The happier our sim is, the higher chance of accomplishing things. That's how it looks. Finishing quests affects our kingdom's culture, defence, and so on. Huge flaw is that we can't build.. Well, not like in previous series. We choose if we want to build a smithy, wizard tower, and what not, but we cannot build walls as in previous The Sims series. We still though, are able to buy things and set them up the way we like to. But it is somewhat annoying that we aren't able to expand our living space. Especially if our sim has babies, and they need to sleep in the same room. Overall, the game is quite enjoyable, but not if you are looking for a life simulator similar to previous series. This is more like an RPG strategy game. The music is okay. But the controls were slightly annoying for first hour of the game, then I simply got used to it. Time for a summary.

    Pros:
    -Finally something different.
    -Fantasy atmosphere just seems fitting for The Sims.
    -Plenty of quests.
    -Variety of types of heroes we get to play as.

    Cons:
    -It's not really a life simulator anymore.
    -Camera controls are slightly annoying until we get used to it.
    -We aren't able to build walls and our own buildings the way we would like them.    … Expand
  3. RealSystem
    Mar 27, 2011
    6
    Ah, The Sims Medieval. A great concept. Play as a King and rule your lands. Will you be a cruel King or a benign King of the People... er.. Sims. Perhaps instead you want to be a wizard! Scrying your crystal ball high in your wizards tower. Cursing those who insult you! Well, with this instalment that is the general idea. You start off by making your monarch and doing the tutorialAh, The Sims Medieval. A great concept. Play as a King and rule your lands. Will you be a cruel King or a benign King of the People... er.. Sims. Perhaps instead you want to be a wizard! Scrying your crystal ball high in your wizards tower. Cursing those who insult you! Well, with this instalment that is the general idea. You start off by making your monarch and doing the tutorial mission, which you cannot skip unfortunately. The game really has a sense of "Go Here, Do This, Do That". Sometimes i didn't feel like a King at all. Just a fat old man with a crown bumbling through the village.

    As The Sims franchise has gotten quite stale, with all the expansions, DLC's and the SimStore, which i am quite sure will end up incorporating Medieval into it, the game has alot of potential, but i couldn't help but feel that it tried to do too much and took away part of what we loved about the Sims in the first place. I didn't feel a connection to the Sims i made. Not being able to build your own castle was an immense let down and the fact that we still don't have an option to change our keybinds infuriates me!

    I'm sure with more expansions/DLCs etc they will get there but until then, meh.    … Expand
  4. AmyFreed
    Mar 25, 2011
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I got the Sims Medieval and was really excited for a sims game that was in the past. But once I got it, I found my self disappointed. It may have had the word sims in the title, but I didn't find much of the real sims we all love in the game. You barely get to control anything. Sure you can chose to avoid the quest and do your own thing, but then your sims gets all "unfocused". Not to mention the fact that the graphics for the sims characters are not what would be expected of the sims. Plus everything is locked so you have to do all these boring quests before you can get to the stuff they advertised in the trailer. If you take the trailer literally, then you will be disappointed to find it is not what is portrayed. I wish I could say that The Sims Medieval was really fun, but it only was for a little while.… Expand
  5. Caelistas
    Mar 24, 2011
    7
    I've already played a couple of hours (6 buildings -settlement stage) and i find the game pretty enjoyable although it does has a couple of flaws.

    1. Camera: although for the most part it "works", there's room for improvement, sometimes i want to adjust a specific angle or zoom in onto someone's face while meanwhile the camera is doing it's own thing. 2. No free-play mode: I don't know    I've already played a couple of hours (6 buildings -settlement stage) and i find the game pretty enjoyable although it does has a couple of flaws.

    1. Camera: although for the most part it "works", there's room for improvement, sometimes i want to adjust a specific angle or zoom in onto someone's face while meanwhile the camera is doing it's own thing.

    2. No free-play mode: I don't know if i'm missing something, but it seems i'm only able to use & control my created Heroes doing quests... Why did they exclude this? I know you can take as much time as you want during quests but the longer you wait during quests, the less points you get. And the constant pop-ups are just annoying. Sometimes i just want to walk around& talk with people, without any reminders like:" Go talk to ..... and bring him ..... afterwards go talk to..... and do .....".

    All in all, it's still one of the better Sims games out there.    … Expand
  6. LB1900
    Apr 9, 2011
    5
    I'm sorry, but this game is just not engaging when you get past the first level. The real issue for me is just the lack of depth that previous sims games had. The inability to build houses or whatnot really detracts from what could have been good game play. The focus on quests is nice, but unfortunately means that you spend a lot of time just going from point a to point b and then you endI'm sorry, but this game is just not engaging when you get past the first level. The real issue for me is just the lack of depth that previous sims games had. The inability to build houses or whatnot really detracts from what could have been good game play. The focus on quests is nice, but unfortunately means that you spend a lot of time just going from point a to point b and then you end up not really having accomplished much. There is not real attachment to your characters as you are constantly switching between em for different quests. I applaud the game's attempts, but sadly it doesn't get there. I recommend if you need some mindless entertainment, but this doesn't hold my interest and is not worth 50 dollars anyway you cut it. Wait till it drops.… Expand
  7. giskard
    Jun 19, 2011
    5
    Whilst this game seems to be voted down for not being the Sims 3, which is perhaps unfair on Maxis who made their name making Sim Earth, Sim Ant and Simcity long before the Sims ever appeared. I am afraid I must agree with the low user scores given to this game. The camera is locked in various views denying a free roaming style we all expected, that means you have 1 view of all buildings,Whilst this game seems to be voted down for not being the Sims 3, which is perhaps unfair on Maxis who made their name making Sim Earth, Sim Ant and Simcity long before the Sims ever appeared. I am afraid I must agree with the low user scores given to this game. The camera is locked in various views denying a free roaming style we all expected, that means you have 1 view of all buildings, and that makes decorating them a little half arsed yet that is clearly supposed to be a major part of the game experience....shame the view kills it dead. Then you have fact that the entire game is basically 1 giant goffa quest that starts with the mysterious question, how I am supposed to do that, and from there you go and do it. There is little or no point to the game outside of those goffa quests other than selecting a building to add to your kingdom which in turn adds an NPC which then adds more quests. It really is one long series of boring quests that often make no sense at all in the context of the quest line you have chosen to play.

    So despite being a long term maxis fan, I cannot recommend this game to other maxis fans. Unless your under 13, in which case this may be fun for you.    … Expand
  8. DWlubu1998
    Jul 20, 2011
    7
    This can be a really great game i meen a bunch of different classes, be good or evil, do quest, and basicly live the life you cant have now a days. The only problem is that its very glitchy I dont know if it just me but i can never complete a quest because i cant figure out how to do something but other people have had similar problems so i dont know otherwise its a great game.
  9. Chard
    Jul 19, 2011
    6
    Very good for the first level (about 12 hours), then you can either start again with a new acheivement and do the exact same thing again from scratch or play on with your current save except they dont let you do quests and your sims dont have ambitions anymore. The freedom mode would be perfect for developing your town except you NEED the quests and ambitions in order to level up, a veryVery good for the first level (about 12 hours), then you can either start again with a new acheivement and do the exact same thing again from scratch or play on with your current save except they dont let you do quests and your sims dont have ambitions anymore. The freedom mode would be perfect for developing your town except you NEED the quests and ambitions in order to level up, a very simple mechanism completely missed there.
    This could have been improved with new towns to explore and develop, how about conquering and expanding those neighbouring towns?    … Expand
  10. Envoid
    Jun 1, 2011
    6
    The Sims Medieval isn't all too bad of a Sims game. However, if you've played the rest of the series (Which I have since the first) it doesn't feel all too much different. The demands of things you must do can be rather annoying. I didn't feel like there was much free roam involved unlike the other Sim games. There isn't really much to say considering how similar it is to it's series, soThe Sims Medieval isn't all too bad of a Sims game. However, if you've played the rest of the series (Which I have since the first) it doesn't feel all too much different. The demands of things you must do can be rather annoying. I didn't feel like there was much free roam involved unlike the other Sim games. There isn't really much to say considering how similar it is to it's series, so I'll leave it at this: If you really love every concept about The Sims, pick it up. If you've never played the Sims before, pick it up. If you're starting to get tired of the same old Sims, and feel this game is a big change to the series, DON'T pick it up...… Expand
  11. kazerniel
    Sep 17, 2011
    6
    It was first a good, then a bad surprise for me.

    The good: Finally something different, I was hell bored with the original Sims series. There is character development, stories, quests, professions, medieval furniture & clothes, fun and chinchillas D: The bad: They designed the whole game concept really badly, you lose your kingdom AND characters after EACH ambition. This nullifies any    It was first a good, then a bad surprise for me.

    The good: Finally something different, I was hell bored with the original Sims series. There is character development, stories, quests, professions, medieval furniture & clothes, fun and chinchillas D:

    The bad: They designed the whole game concept really badly, you lose your kingdom AND characters after EACH ambition. This nullifies any attachment you would feel to your characters and kingdom. I was so disappointed with this, that I stopped playing after finishing the first ambition. I just couldn't care to start characters and kingdom from 0 over and over again... This messes the whole reason in a rpg.

    Another downside is that the game explains really small amount, when starting a new profession I frequently 'lost' responsibilities because the game didn't tell how should I solve them (like trading with foreign countries, mining cruddium with no cruddium ore, etc).

    As a conclusion: Sims and casual rpg fans should try it, it's a refreshing hybrid, but you will likely get disappointed after losing your kingdom progress and all your characters after each ambitions.    … Collapse
  12. PinkPony
    Apr 28, 2012
    7
    Personally, I highly anticipated this game. I've been hooked on the Sims since age 13 and as a fan of everything historical, this was going to be just awesome! However, it is nothing like the Sims 3. The quests and responsibilities greatly control your gameplay. This combined with the hours of walking to and from locations leaves little for personal freeplay. Especially, since taking toPersonally, I highly anticipated this game. I've been hooked on the Sims since age 13 and as a fan of everything historical, this was going to be just awesome! However, it is nothing like the Sims 3. The quests and responsibilities greatly control your gameplay. This combined with the hours of walking to and from locations leaves little for personal freeplay. Especially, since taking to long to do the next quest step influences your mood and gets you arrested.
    Suggestion: If you want to play with Medieval Sims (or Renaissance, Victorian etc..) just download downloadable content to your regular Sims 3.    … Expand
  13. itchipod
    Jun 1, 2016
    7
    A lot of things to do and customize. This is different compared to the original sims. I enjoy being a monarch, yet this game is only interesting during the first ambition or the first 8 hours. After you have explored all jobs, it gets repetitive and boring.
  14. kazerniel
    Sep 17, 2011
    6
    It was first a good, then a bad surprise for me.

    The good: Finally something different, I was hell bored with the original Sims series. There is character development, stories, quests, professions, medieval furniture & clothes, fun and chinchillas D: The bad: They designed the whole game concept really badly, you lose your kingdom AND characters after EACH ambition. This nullifies any    It was first a good, then a bad surprise for me.

    The good: Finally something different, I was hell bored with the original Sims series. There is character development, stories, quests, professions, medieval furniture & clothes, fun and chinchillas D:

    The bad: They designed the whole game concept really badly, you lose your kingdom AND characters after EACH ambition. This nullifies any attachment you would feel to your characters and kingdom. I was so disappointed with this, that I stopped playing after finishing the first ambition. I just couldn't care to start characters and kingdom from 0 over and over again... This messes the whole reason in a rpg.

    Another downside is that the game explains really small amount, when starting a new profession I frequently 'lost' responsibilities because the game didn't tell how should I solve them (like trading with foreign countries, mining cruddium with no cruddium ore, etc).

    As a conclusion: Sims and casual rpg fans should try it, it's a refreshing hybrid, but you will likely get disappointed after losing your kingdom progress and all your characters after each ambitions.    … Collapse

Awards & Rankings

66
#66 Best PC Game of 2011
78
#78 Most Discussed PC Game of 2011
61
#61 Most Shared PC Game of 2011

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
77

Generally favorable reviews - based on 56 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 35 out of 56
  2. Mixed: 21 out of 56
  3. Negative: 0 out of 56
  1. Everyeye.it
    Sep 7, 2011
    75
    This new incarnation of The Sims has a simplier gameplay but a more interesting setting and tasks to achieve. A good diversion overall.
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  2. PC PowerPlay
    Jun 9, 2011
    70
    A charming, multi-genre-hybrid experience, that will appeal to those who don't mind the sometimes tedious underlying gameplay. [July 2011, p.75]
  3. PALGN
    May 29, 2011
    75
    Friendly enough to for the non-Sims-enthusiasts among us and something fresh for players that have been around the block before, The Sims Medieval shows that there's still some life in this franchise yet.
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