In my opinion Cassandra is the one who deserves the book worm trait (instead of genious) and Alexander deserves creativity. I can remember him playing the piano all the time in the Goth house.

The fact that they updated Katrina without renaming her Nighat will never stop bothering me

This is another example of why we should have been given five traits for Sims 4, and not just three. Dina should have been materialist, goofball, lazy, flirty, AND a slob. It sucks we have to sacrifice half these characters' personalities all the time. Don should have been able to be non-committed as well as the others you picked (remember him freaking out about marrying Cassandra Goth and leaving her at the alter? Romance Sims always feared marriage).

I love changing Dina’s dress being a black Bella dress. It’s like a reference to Dina and Mortimer’s relationship in Sims 2.

Also, I think they made Dina ambitious because her bio in The Sims 2 says “dreams of making it big”

The one thing you didn't check is how Alexander looks like as an adult. Every kid made by EA after release of Sims 4 is made as a kid, so when they grow up, they look horrible. New Alexander is victim of it. Also I think that personality of Cassandra is very good in sims 4. I really like this musical turn for her, especially that Goths always play on this piano on the 1st floor in Sims 2.

I noticed you said you’ve been feeling self conscious about your natural hair but I like it. Just thought I’d mention that since you haven’t been wearing your wig as much lately. You look great!

18:11 personally, I feel like they tried updating Don's appearance, which I can appreciate. He might not look like TS2 Don, but he looks better then Original TS4 Don.

The funniest thing is that if you just change Don's eyes to some other presets that don't droop sideways like the ones they gave him and slightly mess with the way his face is set he looks perfect. I also tend to always go to the trouble of replacing the Caliente family with one that has Katrina as Flamenco's sister and then kill Flamenco and Nighat so Katrina is their aunt. 😅

So happy you’re back Cindy! I always replace them with townie remakes on the gallery with people that actually understand the lore.

I actually really like the remakes they made, considering the new lore they gave Katrina. The only things that make me sad are Cassie's traits (i really believe she only became gloomy after the Don marriage fiasco and music lover simply doesn't make sense) and Nina's aspiration. Whenever I play Nina, she's super nice, independent and shy. About Don... I actually think he looks even more handsome in this version. I'm brazilian and he looks like some of our classic latino telenovela hunks. I think that really fits him!

I actually enjoyed the little detail of Cassandra wearing shorts for a swimsuit. This is entirely my headcanon, but I always imagined Cassandra being not entirely comfortable with herself, and not wanting to show off her body fits that. Notice that her TS2 dress is much more conservative than her mother’s outfit, for example.

I think they picked party animal for Bella because she likes to throw fancy dinner parties, maybe? And they probably thought that Bella already found her soulmate, Mortimer.

this is really random to share on this video but this is the perfect channel to do so and i have no one else to tell so yeah. i was 10 years old when the sims 4 released, so my introduction to the franchise was the sims 4. i had no clue about any other sims game at all. but some time in 2020 i came across your channel and i went into a complete sims 2 and sims 3 video binge on your channel and to say it blatantly, it blew me out of the park. after watching countless sims 3 videos by you and some other simmers i was absolutely certain that i needed to go back and play the sims 3. i had been feeling burned out and bored by the sims 4 for a while at this point. so i bought the sims 3 and all the packs for really cheap one day and was stoked to finally get to play a sims game that offers actual gameplay. but the thing was, no matter what i did, tried or changed i just couldn’t get the sims 3 to run. i tried every fix and every mod available on the internet but it was in vain. my computer just couldn’t run the game. i've owned the sims 3 for about 3 and a half years at this point but only had a total of about 10 hours played because it didn’t work. i completely abandoned the sims for months at this point and not even kept up with new packs and releases for the sims 4. but then a little bit after new years you popped back up on my feed and something in me wanted to get back into the sims. i just wanted to play the sims somehow and so i then decided to wipe my whole game library and reinstalled the sims 3. and it works. IT WORKS 😭 it’s been about a week since i reinstalled the game and applied the smooth patch and the game runs fine. it has completely taken over my life at this point and for days now the only thing i do is play the sims 3 all day long. i don’t even notice how quickly time passes when i play. i can’t get over how much fun this game is. i haven’t felt bored even once even after playing all day everyday for a week. the sims 4 could neveeeeeer. sorry this turned into such a rant. long story short: thank you for making sims videos and showing me this amazing game and thank the algorithm gods for putting a video of yours on my feed again. i‘m so glad you are back and making videos again and i hope you’re well :))

About Katrina, in a somewhat recent episode of Behind The Sims, it is heavily implied that Katrina is a clone made by Nina and Dina to represent their mother.

I love new Don Lothario he has a very Italian face and his nose shape is authentic and different which is something we couldn’t get in the other Sims games so seems unfair to judge based on that. I love your ideas though.

What i really dislike about EA creating sims is that they completely neglect children. Like, almost every child looks hideous after they grow up. And Alexander somehow became even worse than he was before. The worst case is Christie Sigworth from Strangerville though. If they were genetically correct, it could've fixed everything! (That's why i already enjoy your version of Pleasantview where the kids are genetically correct ❤) As for Don, the refreshed version doesn't work for me either. He looks nicely done but not like Don Lothario 😅

A note about Katrina, in one of the behind the sims livestreams, it’s heavily implied that Katrina is an alien clone of Nighat, which i feel makes a little bit of sense.

I've been waiting for this! Justice for Alexander 😂

i personally think don is quite attractive after the townie refresh but that’s just my opinion lmao so happy you’re back in the sims community, cindy! 😄

I like that they gave hot-headed to Nina in the Sims 4. In the Sims 2, she was so often cranky and in a bad mood with my sims.

ea don with the strong nose: fixes your sink, eats beaver your don: wears tightie whities and hates the homeless

While I agree that Katrina being Nighat instead would’ve been far cooler, they have explained this discrepency. Allegedly, Katrina is not their actual mom and is instead a clone made by Nina and Dina so she’s not Nighat, she’s not really anyone. Would be cool if that was represented in-game but whatya gonna do, it’s the Sims 4 where lore goes to die.

When this happened, I wanted to know your thoughts on this family so thank you for making this vid! Lol, also I think you fixed their traits, etc perfectly I love the rant on Nina

I'm fine with the traits they chose for the Goths because a lot of them are references to some Sims game. Mortimer's bio in The Sims and The Sims 2 state he is "outgoing and cheerful" and he's artistic in The Sims 3, Cassandra could be gloomy and a musical lover because of SimGolf (she loves death and rock and roll), Alexander could be a bookworm because he wrote two books in The Sims 3. The traits aren't bad, the problem is that 3 traits (or 2 or 1) aren't enough to represent their whole personality.

Great vid! We need more of your infectious original Sims 1-3 passion, in the Sims 4 timeline! Keep up the awesome work on "Sims 4 Pleasantview!" I cannot wait to see it, and try it out (if you post it) once it is complete!

I love that you use Raul Julia for Gomez Addams. I feel like Mortimer is a house flipper for high-end real estate

I actually think the red hair for Nighat was correct. I swear there's a TS2 base game picture of her and child Nina dancing together, and Dina is pouting.

Wish you had looked at Alexander's teen stage, because pre-update that was a horror show! But for me, I always just went into CAS and made Katrina a toddler and made her the daughter of Nina and Don, because I believe in Nighat supremacy.

I recently saw a theory that Katrina Caliente is actually Flamenco Caliente who turned out to be trans in the Sims 2, because not only do the genetics match like the hair color but the facial features as well. Also it should be noted that in the Sims 2 Nina and Dinas mother Nighat died when they were children.

idk 😕 personally as a arab/mediterranean person, i heavily identified with nina, dina and bella since i was young and it kinda baffles me that the skintones in the sims 2 were less offensive than the ones they now have in ts4. like, i’m sorry why are they grey? and what are those horrendous facial features they gave nina? and why does bella’s lipstick look almost black? its because her classic red lipstick now greys her out. and then they brownwashed alex for the hell of it

I think the Caliente sisters' personalities were updated more based on how everyone in the community portrayed them in their sims 2 walkthroughs and fan art. Dina's personality was more in line with what I imagined, with her ambitious trait. I also missed Nina's active trait, and I think the hot-headed trait also came from those fan-art cases when she was arguing with Dina about money and her behavior.

Ok honestly, this was incredible to watch--as someone who loves the sims but has lost track of all of the sims lore, seeing an n depth rating of Maxis' versions of the characters was top notch. Do you think you'd ever be interested in doing a series of this for people trying to make their own true to Sims 2 saves who are going through the Maxis library? I'm especially keen on seeing how to tweak the Strangetown crew to be accurate to lore. Either ay, this was really helpful and i def took notes! Thank you!

I think gloomy is a fair trait for Cassandra. She’s a pretty grouchy sim.

You’re back! You look a lot healthier! I’ve been working hard on getting fit and eating a lot healthier too since I got into some really bad habits during the pandemic 😅

I'm so glad to see you again Cindy❤

I gave my Goth family traits that fit them from Sims 2 but also took into account the different universe. So Cassandra has bookworm and jealous (hinting at her alternate universe relationship with Don) and a high school years aspiration because she's still a teen but then I give her big happy family when she ages up, Alexander has genius, Bella has romantic and family oriented and paranoid (which came with strangerville) and I give her the strangerville aspiration so she can go investigate, and my Mortimer is essentially the same as yours. For the Calientes, I made Katrina unrelated to Dina and Nina and moved then into their own home. Don is still with Katrina. I also made Dina and Nina actual aliens for some fun alien gameplay.

It boggles the mind that they added a dress to the game with the sole purpose of being Bella's dress and then *remove it from Bella*

Did the Sims ever say why they randomly changed some Sims names? They did the same to Ophelias last name, giving her Olive's instead

So I went through the Goths and changed Bella back to looking like Bella with hair and clothes, putting the new outfit on her for formal wear. I did change Mortimer into preppy everyday clothes, more inline with Sims 1/2, I did change the mustache as I liked the original better. Cassandra, I think I just adjusted her makeup a bit and made the clothing more purple and black rather than red and black, as I always thought she was born Goth and Bella married into it so she didn't keep Bella's colors but went with her own. Now, Alexander, I always thought of him as the "normal" one so gave him more regular clothing, keeping with red based on the shoes, and not so preppy hair. I'll be honest, I never played them that much, just saw them so I didn't update their traits. Based on your superior knowledge, I will do that though. The Caliente's I have no real opinion on. I just moved out Don Lothario as I don't feel like he would move in with someone and be their boy-toy, he'd have a phat bachelor pad to bring in his nightly conquests, so he lives in San Myshuno.

its baffling to me how simmers can create better refreshes than the developers. like you said in a previous video i think the process is unnecessary and they could just edit the sims via cas. i absolutely agree with all your points i think mortimer is definitely the best. 100% agree with you on alexanders skin tone it was something i didnt see much people talking about but i thought it was wrong from the get go. katrina is a sim that i always feel like shouldnt exist and i think dina and ninas faces were good but the clothes were horrible. dons eyes are really what does it for me he looks so bad lmfao

Hi!! I missed you so much! Glad to see you upload and I hope you’re doing well❤️

9:05 Wait until you see Alexander when he grows up. He's honestly terrifying imo

Omg just realized you're back❤

Oh my goodness! I can't wait to play your Pleasantview!

Whenever I played 4, I would fix the Caliente sisters and the Goths. Fans of 4 complained, but I think its their sense of nostalgia- bc the skintone issue really bothered me (also the sims had such wide faces that werent correct and also a little strange for me)

i absolutely love your changes! they are so true to the originals! and your don looks so much more like him and not that thing what ea put out. I torally agree with your opinion on it 💜

I LOVE the new Don! I don't understand why people hate on him so much 😂

"don's uglier cousin" is bang on

I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THISSSS LET'S GOOOOOO

Mortimer was an artistic child in the Sims 3. He was not a genius, so the creative trait is perfectly fine. I don't agree with the outgoing trait though.

unpopular opinion: i love don’s new appearance

I swear every time I watch your videos you say something that completely cracks me up because of the way you say it when it is frequently just a normal thing to say

You would be the best person EVER to work at ea to correct the sims 4 lol 😂

I like to give Nina the dance machine trait; since I used to have her work the dance career. Clubbing and partying also seems like a great fit for her to have her romantic adventures and it's still something to embody physical activity

i'm so happy you're back and you're glowing you literally look half your age like how

I personally think villainous valentine works for Nina because I could totally see her going around town breaking up couples and having affairs with married dudes!

I made the new Don his younger brother Juan in my game

Oh my... I might go back to TS4 with your save file!

I think the Don thing is definitely personal preference. The refreshed Don Lothario to be looks like a kind of sultry attractive Latino man, and your Don looks like a mid tan white guy with a goatee haha (no hate to you, but just saying). I haven't played the earlier sims games, only seen a few clips and vids about them, so idk what he's intended to look like. But if he's supposed to be hot I'd say the sims team did a better job. He has less white/eurocentric features

Bella and Mortimer were actually the only OG sims I felt were done right on release (aside from Bella's skintone which should be darker, but in a warm, not grey tone like they did in the remake). And I was sad when I saw they changed them so much, when I already had their "Sims 4 look" established in my head.

You made this family A+ in my opinion

I love how they updated the Goths to their original Sims 2 self/Sims one. Just like you I haven’t played in like over two years back when they were talking about refreshing all the original Sims. I think Bella and Cassandra are a lot better when I play them I usually change Cassandra sheet from gloomy to genius, cause I feel like she’s the type of Sim to make her parents proud and overachieve. I always change Bella‘s aspiration to the one romance aspiration cause it definitely suits her personality. As far as the Calientes, I still feel like they are as close as their original selves, but I always make the changes like you did changing the mom‘s name and appearance, as well as changing Don‘s facial features and personality traits when it comes to the Caliente sisters, I like to modify them into aliens since they have the alien gene and I like to believe that in the Sims two they they were keeping themselves hidden. Keeping to the lore possible. i’m slowly getting back into the groove of Sims four. I’m glad that they changed most of the OG Sims to their lore selves and not some outrageous crap.

I can’t believe it took them this long to not whitewash Bella. It baffles me. Why would you whitewash her in the first place? What were they thinking?

Alexander ages up soooo bad. I had to give him a makeover when he became a teen ( I usually only change their hair if needed, a lot of my sims turn out bald for whatever reason, and give sims a big YA makeover. Alex got plastic surgery as a teen.) bc I just couldn't see Mortimer and Bella making such an ugly baby. Ugly Sims have their place in the game, but the Goths are like the main characters lol. They even had another kid and she turned out cute! So Idek what happened with Alex. I like the refresh personally :) I think the vibes are pretty similar to their Sims 2 counterparts. I also think Don is pretty handsome! Nice to see you come back to KZfaq!

You can take the shoes off now in game with a shoes rack in the base game ❤

Don's aside, I'm so glad they changed the girls. They're supposed to be spicy Latinas with some Middle Eastern roots, yet they looked like the whitest of soccer moms imaginable in their original Sims 4 incarnation.

i love your don! although, I would put the hair EA has for the refresh though!

Katrina being a clone would only make sense in sims 2/sims 3. Dina and nina are mysterious alien descendants. In sims 4, theyre just random women. How have these two random women got cloning tech

Your Don is so accurate! Like him so much

I think they gave him red shoes to match the red theme with the rest of the family and yes i agree with you

Really want to see your thoughts on AnotherPlumbob's uberhood 2 to 4 conversation.

Disagree on Don's part, but other than that, great video, glad you're back❤

During one of the sims announcement streams they dropped this random lore piece, implying that Katrina might not be their mother and is an alien or something. Looked like a way to justify their original mess-up with this character overall.

I actually commend the team for how they balanced the legacy players' concerns as well as those who have only played TS4. I see a lot of compromise between what TS4 players are used to and the wider fandom. For my taste Don's brow is a bit flat, but I think the facial sculpt is better. I think they basically randomized a son for Bella and Morty and gave him bookworm and the knowledge aspiration and called it a day.

I always change the standart sims in my games. I'm actually currently recreating all classic sims and families from sims 1,2, and 3, in the sims 4. I'm making dina and Nina half aliens, and making Mortimer older than bella, and giving him the black hair with graying, Instead, for example.

I don't like sisters' make up, but Nighat has very interesting unique nose, I don't know how to replicate that forked tip, very cute.

In one of sims team video they said that Katrina is a CLONE so wow

@PleasantSims I agree partially about how you think their traits should be changed, but as I personally like to run with ThePancake1's More Traits mod. I Leave their Existing traits and add a few that are somewhat like what you picked (like Mortimer being a Genius) I see no issue with Mortimer being Genius, or Outgoing, and I too have played for a very long time (Since I was a little child lol), I do see why you like TS2's personalities, but as I (even though I love Sims 2) see TS4 as a different game, I let them keep Most of their Original Traits, plus one or two extra (Depending on the sim's age), Certain Sims with Very Disagreeable traits (I.E Traits that cause major problems, Gloomy Isn't one of them, I'll remove), And I do prefer their new looks, All of them, even Don, the complete smuck he is. XD

The Sims team hinted at some lore about Dina and Nina making some kind of clone-mother which is Katrina

You look great! 😊

Katrina isn't the sisters' actual mom, they did talk about this bit of sims lore in a "behind the sims summit" in the "s'more lore" segment, if I remember correctly. Something about Katrina maybe being created by the sisters?? I think???

ts4 feels like bad fan fiction written by someone who isn't really a fan

I for the most part agree. They do look a lot better. I think with some outfits I can be more lenient on and interpret it as modernized and more in-style versions!

Don was a hate crime, but so excited for your version!!!

Overall I am pleased with the TS4 update though I'd like to see a little more lore. If they refresh the Landgraabs, they HAVE to update the family tree with Malcolm.

So good to have you back! You’re the best when it comes to sims lore, I really love what you do. I hope you the best for the future. 😊❤

U LOOK SO GOOD GIRL

I think the main reason why the Goths slant more Creative than Genius in The Sims 4 is to reference the Elixir of Life. There isn't a scientific career that prolongs life or reverses death in the TS4 base game, but there is the ability to create a Book of Life if you have a high Writing skill and complete the Bestselling Author aspiration. Mortimer does not have this aspiration, but he does have the writing career and is supposed to be an author according to the family bio, so I think this is a reference to his creating the Elixir in his career as a scientist in previous games. Edit to add: This game is confirmed to take place on an alternate timeline to previous games, and I've seen some theorize that the timeline was altered specifically because of clues left in the past regarding Bella's disappearance. Whether or not you believe that the Caliente sisters actually caused Bella's disappearance, an in-character interview with Bella that the devs did years ago says that the Elixir is the motive for why the Calientes tried to drive a wedge between Mortimer and Bella. And some of the most important things left in the past that may or may not have altered the timeline were books, which makes them even more important to the Goth family's history.

I personally like to make Katrina their aunt and simply add their actual mom, I also always move Don out anyways

For me dina looks like a landgraab 😂

I understand why they put Cassandra as gloomy as named after the pessimistic daughter of the King of Troy. The Sims 1 Cassandra was mysterious. I would've made her glasses round as looks more vintage as the current square ones make her look Hipster.

I think they changed Katrina's name to avoid any "unfortunate mistake" if players mispronounced Nighat... Either that or Katrina could be a different character because sims 4 doesn't care about other games lore.

I LOVE YOUR NATURAL HAIR, idk why .. i just do, I guess im into natural stuff

Are you planning to get the Gothic and castle kits?

I tried recreating Strangetown and they wouldn't let me use the last name Nigmos for Ophelia because of a certain three letter combination in that name, so thats probably why they can't go back to the name Nighat. (I know that its in their power to change that naming blacklist but I understand why they have it)

I never got to play the sims 2 but I liked the refresh for the most part. I think most of the sims 4 needs a refresh of some kind. I loved the sims 3 and I don’t think 4 will ever compare to the previous games.

I have always liked the improvement of the two households. The Calinte household to me is alot better but I did change not only their looks and traits but also their story and their relations to each other. I made Katrina their aunt instead of the girl's mother 😅. Katrina being their aunt that both Dina and Nina didnt know about til their mother's passing makes their story more interesting! Love the vids and can't wait to watch more!!! 😊😊

Honestly I am super critical of Sims families from Sims 2. I think they could've done a better job and had someone design them more accurate. They're just OK. They seem kind of lazy and thrown together. I spend majority of my time in CAS and base game would still pull a better result that what they made. I would grade them about a D. I think they just know people are going to change them regardless, so what's the point of trying to get them exact. Overall better than nothing!

I personally don't like Alexander's causual clothing both before and after refresh. I prefer him in the shorts and knee-socks he has in Sims 2. However, there's hardly any shorts in basegame for the look I want for Alexander. But in Vampires pack, there's just the right outfit for him. Especially in the black and red swatch that easilly fits the overall colour scheme for the Goth family. Pair that with basegame knee-socks in beige colour (because the white swatch is way too bright) and some fitting shoes and that's just the right Alexander for me. But what I really hate is the hot weather outfit they gave him in the refresh. Say what you want, but Alexander just isn't the guy for singlet, beach shorts and flipflops. Those flipflops are especially blasphemy on him. And the sunglasses aren't good either. Even in base game there are better and more fitting options for him. But not limiting to basegame, the perfect outfit I imagine for him in hot weather is the vest with T-shirt from First Fits Kit, longest shorts from Growing Together, paired with shoes from First Fits Kit again and basegame long-rimmed sunglasses, all in appropriate colours. But, as you said, that's nitpicky. Still, I can't help but consider the hot weather choices from Maxis for Alexander blasphemy. That's just not right for him. On top of that, I am also swittching his aspiration to Creative Genius from Growing Together and his trait to Creeative. Also, I am always giving all Goths dislike for R&B and HipHop music styles and like for Baroque music style, because that's what I imagine the family would go with. Oh, and yes, I feel the same way about those stupid bunny slippers. Whenever I see them on Sims, I have to edit them to remove those slippers. It's just... ewww.