The Sims franchise strives to imitate real life in almost every aspect of its gameplay, primarily feeding its fan base with a bevy of construction tools for house design and incorporating a host of other day-to-day components, like physically going to work through the Get to Work expansion in The Sims 4. More recently, The Sims 4's Neighborhood Stories pack added some much-needed nuances and backstories to NPC Sims' lives, and all these elements have been brought in to further character complexity in the series. Likewise, since every human being has goals and longstanding aspirations they dream of achieving over a lifetime, Maxis implemented a system in The Sims 4 to challenge players with different ambitions, and completing each milestone gives a substantial reward in satisfaction points.

Settling on an ambition is sometimes far from the easiest choice in the world, and unlike The Sims 3's restrictive Lifetime Wishes, Maxis allows players to switch through aspirations at any given time in The Sims 4. Players often have an idea of the type of life they want their Sim avatars to experience, and completing long-term aspirations gives complementary Reward Traits that aren't available in the Create A Sim section, along with a helping of satisfaction points. These points have a variety of uses, from purchasing additional traits to mood-influencing potions, and gaining them in substantial amounts can be a full day's job.

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Aspirations Add Some Complexity to The Sims 4

Aspirations are a big part of The Sims 4's allure, as players seek to complete different focuses to craft the perfect life for their Sims. The base game has 14 Aspiration categories for gamers to choose from, and additional ambitions have been introduced through expansions like Star Wars: Journey to Batuu. These aspirations are broken into smaller milestones, each containing unique requirements. Completing a milestone yields a number of satisfaction points as a form of encouragement, and finishing every milestone in an aspiration can give up to 4,000 reward points and a boost in related activities.

For instance, the Fortune Aspiration category in The Sims 4 has two aspirations: Fabulously Wealthy and Mansion Baron. The Fabulously Wealthy line, like most others, has four milestones players must complete to gain the Shrewd reward trait -- which allows players to earn up to 5% interest on their household funds. The first milestone is Going for Not Broke, and it requires a Sim to earn five thousand Simoleons and have 10,000 in reserve to proceed to the next challenge. Completing these goals yields 50 and 75 Satisfaction Points respectively, and while this doesn't seem like much in the grand scheme of things, the points add up quickly. As players progress in an aspiration line, the objectives get harder to complete, and the reward points gained on each satisfied requirement skyrocket.

The final milestone in the Fabulously Wealthy aspiration gives Sims two tasks; earning 200,000 Simoleons and having 50,000 in their bank accounts. Considering the average remuneration in Sims' professions, this is no mean feat, and this milestone demands players to rise to the top of their careers to reach the requirements. However, the reward is worth the painstaking effort, as both objectives give 1,500 Satisfaction Points, which can be spent at the Sims 4 Rewards Store on things like the Connections trait, which lets Sims start careers several levels ahead.

The timeframe to complete entire aspirations depends on the complexity of the tasks required, and it's not uncommon for players to spend weeks pushing Sims up the ladders of Fortune without using Sims 4 money cheats, Family, or even Love, depending on the gamer's preference. No endeavor is simpler to complete than the other, but the healthy reward system of aspirations keeps players hunting for the next objective.

The Sims 4 is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

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