Sims Medieval Is Underrated And Deserves Better

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Speak Up Sesh

Before we begin today’s newsletter, I’d like to introduce you to The Archives of Trevosa! As a disclaimer, this and my previous blurb on Psycho-Sleuth are not paid promotions or anything. They’re just new games with cool concepts. The game has a planned release date of 2027, but there is a playtest that you can join right now!

The Archives of Trevosa is like a combination of The Roottrees are Dead, The Incident at Galley House (Type Help), and Homicipher. It’s a text and language-based mystery game in which you must decipher Trevosa’s secret history and discover the true heir to the throne. Like any old monarch family, the family tree is sprawling in a way that not even the Roottrees can compare to, and the addition of having to translate a fictional and foreign language is another layer to the challenge. I think that if you’re looking for a new and challenging Obre Dinn-like (I personally wouldn’t categorize this as one, but I can imagine some would), this might have enough mysteries for you to sink your teeth into.

I actually recently learned of another one that has a more detective noir vibe. It’s called The Red Pearls of Borneo, and it’s set in our history. According to the Steam description, you have to “jump between time and locations to uncover motives and discover what truly happened in the Goodwill tobacco plantation that fateful night on the eve of the WW2 Japanese invasion.” This feels a bit closer to The Golden Idol for me based on that, but hey, at the end of the day, that, too, was an Obre Dinn-like. Like Trevosa, you can play this for free, though it seems to be the full game.

Today, I want to talk about The Sims. It’s kind of the only game I play when I’m in Deadline Hell for translation work because it’s like a cozy distraction for when my concentration gets shot and need to look at something that isn’t my word processor for a bit.

Specifically, I’d like to talk about The Sims Medieval. Now, younger players who aren’t into the retro (ow) games might have forgotten that each Sims generation had spin-offs. This may be console versions of the PC game (like The Sims 3: Pets for PS3, 3DS, and Xbox 360) or more story-focused titles like The Sims 2: Castaway or The Sims Stories. Nowadays, EA is more focused on releasing kits and kits, packs and packs for its cash cow, The Sims 4 (though there is a mobile game that came out in 2017). There’s not much budget or manpower for these more story-focused spin-offs or console games, I suppose.

It’s too bad, though, because these spin-offs were pretty charming in rounding out each numbered “generation” in the franchise. As someone who had been around since the beginning, I remember when Machinima videos for The Sims 2 became a popular way to tell stories with original characters, existing Sims characters, or Sim versions of book/show/anime characters. It maybe stands to reason, then, that there were so many story-focused Sims spinoffs.

The Sims Medieval is set in a medieval version of the Sims world, of course. But unlike the more open-ended mainline games where you can make whatever you want and do whatever you please, Medieval has set “quests” that you must complete, as well as two daily opportunities that you must finish every day. These quests and opportunities differ for each Sim. A Monarch Sim might have to hold an audience and listen to the people’s worries, and a quest might have them making an heir. A Physician Sim may need to collect leeches for their daily opportunity, and their story quest may focus on a plague ripping through the kingdom. This was a tad more mature than the mainline The Sims 3, with overt references to alcohol and death, and your Sim can even kill others (something that could only be done with mods).

Aside from the more “mature” themes and aspects of The Sims Medieval, I personally found the intertwined “lore” of the kingdom a bit more interesting. If you play as a Monarch, you could also forge alliances and such with other territories or annex them. It adds a more strategic aspect to a life sim, and the stories/quests for each Sim can make you focus more if you’re the type who eventually gets bored with the openness of these games. That being said, the life sim part is pretty limited and dull, and you can’t spend a few days just for yourself and your relationships. If you slack off too much on your quest, you get fewer rewards, and your Sim gets a negative moodlet.

Unfortunately, and I’m only learning this now as I type these words… The Sims Medieval is not available on digital storefronts anymore. Uh, what? So the EA website doesn’t even list this game anymore. I’m seeing a 404 page. It’s not on Steam either. So I guess the only official way to get it (if you didn’t buy it already when it was available) is to find a physical version of it and also have one of those CD-drive readers if your PC (like mine) doesn’t come with one naturally. Luckily, pre-owned copies on sites like eBay are fairly cheap.

If all gaming companies want to shift to digital yet they can arbitrarily remove games from people’s libraries (PT demo being the most infamous example; too bad for us people who removed it and expected to be able to redownload it later) or the storefront, this really is a bad sign for game preservation. And it’s not as if physical versions are that accessible either. In the case of Sims Medieval, people are selling used copies, and you can just buy a separate piece of hardware if your PC doesn’t have a CD drive. But what about games that never saw an international release? Or rare games with a limited run?

Well, life finds a way…

Top 10 Stories of the Past Week

1. BioWare and Mass Effect Both Deserved a Better Fate - As a Canadian who doesn’t even play BioWare games, I genuinely agree with Avi Lewis (NDP leader) on how the government should step in and help BioWare employees out for many reasons, including economic.

2. Pokemon Legends: Z-A Gets Free Shiny Xerneas and Yveltal - You’ll have until early 2027 to claim both. Xerneas is available now.

3. Studios Shouldn’t Balk at Keeping Friction in ‘Frustrating’ Games - I wrote this obviously right after the Silent Hill: Townfall patch, but I’m hearing that the Ocarina of Time remake was pretty sanded down from the original…?

4. First Final Fantasy Tubbz Rubber Ducks Come From FFXIV - You can get options inspired by G’raha Tia, Krile Maya Baldesion, and Tataru.

5. Switch and Switch 2 eShop Game Gifting Arrives in November 2026 - It’ll launch on November 17, 2026.

6. Bandai Namco Worked on Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - It worked on elements like the UI and animation.

7. New Dragon Quest RPG Mobile Game Announcement Dated - Here’s the trailer for it, and you can also apply for the beta test before November 23, 2026.

8. Interview: Returning to Aladiss in Atelier Karia - Interview is with Gust Head and Producer Junzo Hosoi, as well as Director Taiki Fukui.

9. Ratchet & Clank: Ranger Rumble Mobile Game Will Shut Down - The servers will close on May 1, 2027.

10. Preview: Attack on Titan 3 Offers a New Perspective on the Anime - Say what you will about Koei Tecmo, but they generally don’t drop the ball when it comes to collaboration games.

Upcoming Releases

• Grand Theft Auto VI - PS5, Xbox Series X (November 19, 2026)

• The Great Villainess: Strategy of Lily - PS5, Switch (December 2, 2026)

• Rayman Legends Retold - Switch 2, Xbox Series X (December 3, 2026)

• Xenoblade Chronicles 3 - Switch 2 (December 3, 2026)

• Edge of Memories - Xbox Series X, PC (December 3, 2026)

• Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World - Switch, Switch 2 (December 3, 2026)