The Sims 4: Paranormal Stuff Pack Review

There's something about Bonehilda.

A new Stuff Pack for The Sims 4 is always cause for celebration, but in the case of the Paranormal Stuff Pack, that celebration is doubling up as a séance. The Paranormal Stuff Pack promises all the usual new Build Mode and CAS items, along with whims, a career path, activities, a new skill, and three new(ish) characters.

I was prepared for all of that and maybe a few scares here and there. I was not, however, prepared for the sheer horniness of this update!

To understand the Paranormal Stuff Pack, we need to talk about Bonehilda.

If you’re anything like me, you’ve been mourning the loss of Bonehilda since the previous game, and hoping beyond hope that she would make a return. Lo and behold, the Maxis gods have heard our cries and fulfilled our Aspiration, bringing the bony babe back at last. She’s a sweet yet tragic character, a skeleton maid whose only Aspiration is to have a family. An efficient worker that one assumes less of a health and safety concern than those with skin, she will spruce up your home for free with very little downside.

Some of the less tolerant Sims may find her presence a little disturbing, having an animated skeleton wandering around in a maid outfit is probably not all that common, and it may give them a negative Moodlet, but her interactions with my Sims more than made up for this.

In order to summon Bonehilda, one must first reach higher levels of the Medium skill by interacting with the Séance Table. Once called forth, she will be fully able to interact with your Sims (although you can only add her to your household using cheats).

From the moment she arrived, Bonehilda was overwhelmingly in the Flirty Moodlet. She was aggressively pursuing all three of my Sims, doing everything from making flirty jokes to jumping into their arms. Within a single night she had managed to woo my male Sim into bed, and was well in the pink with both of the female Sims.

Alright, fair enough. I did make some pretty top-rate Sims and they literally live in a castle, so flirt away Bone-H. But then, Guidry appeared.

Claude René Duplantier Guidry is a new character, a ghost who appears after a few nights of staying in a Haunted House Lot. He’s a friendly chap, a Paranormal Investigator who can unlock an entire career path if you so choose. Ghosts, as you may know, change colour based on their current Mood. Guidry, from the moment he appeared… was Flirty Pink.

Now I don’t know if this was a fluke, but at this point I basically had a house full of the horny undead. I had love triangles spinning off in every direction, my Sims were Woo-Hoo-ing with ghosts and skeletons whenever they could, bypassing their basic needs to impress them. I ended up cheating and adding them both to the family simply because I felt like a terrible person for keeping them apart!

Between all this endless Woo-Hoo and smooching, my Sims did just about manage to enjoy the new items and activities added with the Paranormal Pack. Inspired by the rich colours and detailed textures of the new house items, I decided to create a ridiculous castle for my family to inhabit, complete with a stony study and a visitors café. Paired with items from the Realm of Magic Game Pack and a few from Vampires, you can make a pretty convincing gothic castle, even if the roofing is still less than optimal.

The rivalry between Guidry and Temperance (another ghost) is entertaining to watch and – spoiler alert – if you cheat and add her to your family she will sit and sulk in the bathtub in an Angry Mood for days on end. It can be challenging to keep up with everything that goes on, especially during the night if your Sim is a natural early-bird. Evenings can consist of haunted objects appearing, Specters popping up and needing to be appeased, Guidry and Temperance fighting over household items, and Sims waking up with Terrified Moodlets on an alarmingly frequent basis.

It would be advisable to have your Haunted House as a really focused game. Maybe consider the Paranormal Investigator Career Path and keep their outside interactions to a minimum to really enjoy the details in this Pack.

As with all Sims Packs this one leads to some pretty ridiculous situations, but conducting a Séance in a towel with a Vampire in the top floor of a castle after Woo-Hoo-ing with a skeleton maid is certainly up there with the most unusual activities available.

Summary
The Sims 4: Paranormal Stuff is a great example of a Pack, it includes some classic Sims dark humour, and increases the challenge of the game by a fair bit if you let it. It doesn’t come cheap, but for the amount of content and the sheer silliness introduced it may just be worth it. The items are maybe my favourite so far with their witchy charm, and the return of Bonehilda is a welcome one. It is a lot of fun, but may be best suited to spooky Sims with a high libido…
Good
  • Amazing new item set for Build Mode
  • Unrelentingly saucy
  • Plenty of new content
Bad
  • Pricey, as with all Sims Packs
  • Can clutter the game if you’re trying to pursue other storylines
8