From Agents to Kingdoms: a ranking of MySims games
The Cozy Bundle saw the re-release of Mysims, the first game in the series and its successor Mysims Kingdom. Here is a ranking of the original six games, from worst to best.
Number 6 - MySims SkyHeroes
This race and plane dogfight installment of the MySims franchise is the most forgettable game in the series. This final game feels empty in regards to its story. It follows the same story structure as its predecessors, having the players fight the franchise's recurring villain. SkyHeroes’ story is about an amnesiac pilot who gets hired by a rebel group to defeat Morbicus, the antagonist in many of the games, and his evil corporation.
The gameplay, similar to Racing, omits puzzles in favor of races and air fights. The customization expands to planes as well as the playable character. Despite there being over 40 missions to play, many of them feel very limited when it comes to the challenges and drag on for longer than they should have.
The lack of story and repetitive gameplay is the reason why SkyHeroes ranks the lowest in comparison to the rest of the series. While Racing suffers from the same issue of repetitive gameplay, other aspects of the game make it stand out over SkyHeroes
This party themed installment can be compared to the hit series Mario Party through the usage of minigames as its core concept. The difference comes in the execution of how the minigames are played out. Instead of following a board map, players live in a town and participate in festivals. Each festival has a different theme with minigames corresponding to each theme such as Dream, Delicious, and Horror. Every festival is hosted by a Sim who fits that theme based on personality traits or aesthetics.
The festivals are a collection of minigames where teams of four compete in minigames and try to get the highest number of points at the end. The player unlocks new characters and buildings to expand the town in which they live in, similar to the original MySims game but with less customization.
The minigames are basic at best. Most of them use minimal mechanics such as one or two buttons being mashed or only shaking the controller. While the minigames are easy to play, it can be easy to forget that the game is targeted towards a younger audience, the simplicity of the controls remind the player of this.
What makes this party game stand out from others is how each character has their own stats such as strength, speed, stamina, technique, power, and luck. As the festival advances characters slowly diminish their stats temporarily but you can bring them up by eating fruits, which power up the character in a specific stat.
Like the title suggests, MySims Party is an enjoyable party game but only for a few hours before it becomes repetitive due to its simple nature and low number of minigames compared to other party games.
The first racing game in the series holds a very strong resemblance to the Mario Kart series like many other third party games that copied the concept. MySims Racing stands out from Mario Kart as it allows car customization, from car upgrades to paint and accessories.
The game's story follows the pattern of most of the action games in the series as the player becomes the new person in a desolate town who races to become a champion to overthrow Morcubus, who plans to take over the town. Like SkyHeroes, the story is not an important part of the gameplay as the player is focused more on the racing aspect.
While there isn’t a wide variety of race tracks, each one is unique in their designs. The story is not strongly connected to the game mechanics but it is to the race tracks. The player starts at the racing school and makes their way across maps such as Tree Logger Trail and Misty Motorway. From racing through a forest to racing through a car wash, this game's maps are memorable.
Overall, it is the strongest action game from the franchise but does not go well against games with longer play times due to a more developed story.
Comparing it to other racing games, MySims Racing stands as a solid racing game to distract yourself with for a few hours.
The fifth installment of the MySims franchise gives the player the experience of a small-time detective's rise to becoming an agent as they are set on finding out why MorcuCorp, led by the corrupt CEO Morcubus who has been the main antagonist in many of the series’ games, is stealing from Sims' homes.
Features such as character customization and town creation take a backseat to the detective work with puzzles and character dialogue playing a bigger part in this game. The game's puzzles include challenges surrounding forensics, lock-picking, computer hacking and repair work, some of which take advantage of the Wii remote’s pointer functions.
Issues with this game come from the lack of customization. The most customizable is the headquarters, only allowing for furniture relocation through grids. Agents is a good game with a solid story but loses what makes the MySims franchise special, the customization. The story is highlighted instead of actual item creation which is one of the core elements of the MySims identity.
The first game in the franchise can be compared to Animal Crossing with its exploration of a small town that you help rebuild. You help restore the town to its former glory by moving Sims into town and building homes, businesses, and furniture.
The game starts very small, with only a few Sims to interact with, but as the game progresses, more Sims start moving in.
Building is one of the core aspects of the game. From building podiums to ovens, each character will ask for a different piece of equipment. The game provides a 3D blueprint to follow while allowing for some customization by painting each piece a different color.
There are a few differences to the original Sims franchise. Social experience is thrown out the window as interaction with the Sims is only used to get new assignments. The interaction mechanic is very minimal as you can be nice or mean to a Sim but the only thing that the player will receive is essences.
Essences are a unique component of the game, each acting a resource resembling items or concepts, such as emotions. These essences can be used to decorate items either through paint patterns or physical additions to the item being built. Through interactions or prospecting, these items can be hard to find at times.
The cute, colorful visual presentation makes this a very good game to start the franchise but the second installment of the franchise improves on many of the weak points of this game.
MySims Kingdom is the second installment in the MySims franchise and brings a lot of new content to the table that clearly outdoes the first game. Many of the major issues with MySims were fixed in the sequel such as improved graphics, better framerate and a more focused storyline.
The story starts with the character living in a run down kingdom run by King Roland, who is trying to restore it and bring happiness to the kingdom. The wand-equipped Sims that kept the town running, Wandoliers, have all retired and it's up to the player to fix the kingdom.
The fantasy theme works well with the expansion of map, allowing the player to explore more areas with differing regions.
Construction mode runs smoother than in the first game, allowing for creativity to run loose with less loading times. In addition to the regular stationary creations that can be made like tables and chairs, Kingdom incorporates more interactive items such as gears that power up items and pipes that supply water to plants. Figuring out how to build these items takes a little more brain power but pays off by ultimately being more enjoyable.
A clear improvement from the first game, MySims Kingdom provides a more focused story and improved gaming experience compared to its predecessor.
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