I have to be honest, when The Sims 4 Royalty & Legacy Expansion Pack was announced, I perhaps didn’t feel as enthusiastic as I should have been. It’s not that I’m getting tired of The Sims 4, because I’m not, but Royalty & Legacy felt like one of those packs where if I didn’t write about video games for my job, I’d probably pass. I was worried the whole Dynasty system and ruling a kingdom and fighting for the crown might be overly complicated and tedious.
There were a few reasons I decided to try it out after all. The whole thing reminded me of Games of Thrones, and I had fond memories of The Sims Medieval. Plus, for a price of an Expansion Pack, you could get two bonus Kits if you got the pack before a certain date.
Initially sceptical and preparing to not enjoy it and grit my teeth through it, I was fast proven wrong. All my worries about disliking it quickly evaporated. And now, as I write this review, I can safely say that Royalty & Legacy not only exceeded expectations, but is probably one of the best Expansion Packs for The Sims 4 I’ve seen recently.
The Sims 4 Royalty & Legacy Expansion Pack is now available with the Grand Bundle for $39.99. You can get it on PC and Mac via EA App, Steam, and Epic Games Store, PlayStation 4 | 5, and Xbox One | Xbox Series X/S. If you get the Grand Bundle before March 15, 2026, you also get The Sims 4 Tea Time Solarium Kit, The Sims 4 Silver Screen Style Kit, and the Regal Treasures Digital Bonus Content, which includes 3 extra items.
Story – A Game of Thrones in a Gorgeous World
The Sims 4 Royalty & Legacy does feel a bit like Game of Thrones, where ultimately everyone is fighting for the crown. With practically everyone in the new Noble Career, only one Sim can be King or Queen (aka be Level 10 in the Noble Career).
However, unlike the books and TV show, there’s no gore, no deaths, no brutality. It can be seen as a fight to the throne, but it’s done differently. It’s still taken seriously, but in the traditional style of The Sims (and I don’t mean drowning all your competition in a pool with no ladder!)
The Opulent Oasis of Ondarion
To have such a scenario where multiple Sims are battling for the crown, you need a good setting, and boy, does Royalty & Legacy deliver on that. Ondarion, the new world that comes with this Expansion, is possibly one of the most attractive worlds in The Sims 4 (and there’s a lot of competition in this department, so I’m not saying this lightly!)
What’s especially enthralling about Ondarion is how diverse it is. It is made up of three totally different neighborhoods, each representing different countries around the world (the Mediterranean, Portugal, and West Africa, respectively). Every neighborhood feels like it’s offering something unique, its own culture and personality, its own backstory and history.
A Royal Cast of Sims
A good world in The Sims 4 also needs a good cast of residents occupying it. Ondarion comes with a whopping 8 pre-made households, all with their own stories, goals, and principles. Most of these have their own Dynasties and legacies, their own dramas, their own ambitions. What happens to them is down to you.
Which of these Sims will you help to get the crown – or will someone else snatch it from them? That’s what makes Royalty & Legacy all the more exciting. The story, as it always has been in The Sims, is ultimately told by you.
Ondarion features a mixture of luxurious mansions as well as more affordable homes for Sims starting out.
Gameplay – The Noble Life
The Sims 4 Royalty & Legacy Expansion is packed full of gameplay to help you work your way to the top and be the respected head of your Dynasty, as well as the King or Queen. The new gameplay succeeds at avoiding being overly complicated and confusing, while also being fun and engaging.
Embarking on a Noble Career
If you have your eyes set on the throne, or at least want to engage in a life of royalty, the new Noble Career has you covered.
A Different Line of Work
The Noble Career is very different to other careers in The Sims 4. It is predominantly an active career. The only rabbitholes are when you send your Sims on a Noble Venture, such as visiting a school, heritage site, or museum.
Also, you simply cannot sign up like any other career. There are three unique ways to join the Noble Career: requesting a knighthood from a high-ranking Noble, reading a specific book and then researching noble legacy, and using a throne to enrol. Although signing up is a bit of a faff, once you’re in, you’re on your way.
Joining the Noble Career is a little more complicated than just selecting it from a list of careers.
Celebrating Promotions
Another unique feature of the Noble Career is how you get promotions. Building up Work Performance isn’t difficult (doing promotional and daily tasks), but you don’t automatically get promoted after excelling at work. You must direct your Sim to a throne to receive a noble promotion. You can also organize a coronation ceremony upon reaching a certain level in your career.
Although you have to remember to get that promotion, there’s something very satisfying about sending your Sim to the throne for their next promotion. It feels very ceremonious, even without the ceremony, which is completely optional, and it feels good knowing you had to work hard and you’ve earned your new prestigious title and duties, getting one step closer to taking the crown.
Financially Rewarding
Another great aspect of the Noble Career is that it’s extremely well paid, probably one of the best of any career in The Sims 4. Even at the bottom you’re earning good money, several hundred Simoleons a day, and because of how the career functions, you get paid every single day!
The Noble Career is an excellent career to engage in, being rewarding and satisfying, and is up there as one of the best careers in The Sims 4. It’s also a high point for the Royalty & Legacy Expansion.
With your throne and royal duties, you’ll feel like a true Noble on your path to becoming a ruler.
Establishing a Dynasty
One thing about The Sims 4 Royalty & Legacy Expansion Pack that had me concerned was the new Dynasty system. With this, you can establish a proper legacy with your family, building Prestige, honoring your family’s name, and holding up their values and beliefs. I wasn’t sure how this would play out, and was worried it might be overcomplicated and difficult to grasp. Fortunately, as it turned out, this was far from the case.
Create Your Own Dynasty
Thanks to the useful Lessons and tooltips included, understanding the Dynasty system didn’t take long. Also, setting up your own Dynasty couldn’t be easier. Having a Dynasty works like a social organization, similar to a club, university society, or wolf pack. You give the Dynasty a name, then you can customize your own emblem (or randomize one), which is pretty cool.
You also need to assign your Dynasty’s ideals and skills. Basically how it works is that by assigning certain skills and ideals, these are followed by you and your fellow Dynasty members. Performing tasks that support these skills and values builds Prestige, which can lead to benefits. Failure to do by members can lead to them becoming Outcasts.
Although there are only these few options with customizing your Dynasty, these are plenty enough to give it an identity and set your place amongst the other pre-established Dynasties in Ondarion.
You can choose the skills and ideals that’ll shape your Dynasty.
The Dynasty system works brilliantly in the context of The Sims 4 Royalty & Legacy. It avoids making itself needlessly complicated and confusing, and the options you can assign allow you to create something that you can truly call your own.
I should also add that along with the new households and their Dynasties in Ondarion, Dynasties from two base game families have also been created with Royalty & Legacy: the Goths and Landgrabbs, which I thought was a nice touch and firmly cementing these family’s legacies.
Partaking in the Noble Art of Swordsmanship
Swordsmanship is the new Skill that comes with Royalty & Legacy. It seems fitting that with a Game of Thrones-type scenario, there needs to be a little sword fighting. It’s also a little reminiscent of The Sims Medieval.
Learning How to Sword Fight
To learn Swordsmanship, you need to find yourself a training dummy and get practicing. It’s a very practical and hands-on skill to learn, although you can learn from reading skill books as well.
It can take time to build the Swordsmanship Skill. You have to repeat the training with the dummy, as it’s not an infinite action. Also, your Sims can get tired out and refuse to train further if they’re sore and exhausted. After all, Swordsmanship is a physical skill, so you can wear your Sims out if you’re not careful, similar to overusing the punching bag, treadmill, or weight machine.
Practicing with a training dummy is a good way to build Swordsmanship Skill.
Tournaments
However, once you reach the second level, you can take part in Swordsmanship Tournaments, and they are worth doing. When you initiate a tournament, it works like an event. There’s no time limit, but you must compete against three components. You have a better chance of succeeding and getting the top prize if you have higher Swordsmanship Skill, your Sim is in a good mood, and a good sword.
The way tournaments work can be a bit confusing at first. You have to almost “force” the next round to start so you can begin your next duel. This is because between matches, you can take a break and perform optional tasks to improve your event score, or just prepare for the next duel. It’s nice that they’ve included this to give you a little breather and not feel too rushed or flustered.
Swordsmanship Tournaments are good fun to take part in and allow you to demonstrate your prowess. If you fail or don’t do so well, you know you just need a little more practice and experience. Even so, just taking part is great fun. Ultimately, Swordsmanship is a fun new skill to learn, as well as exciting to watch.
You must engage in several duels during a tournament.
Attending the Grandest of Grand Balls
A new event that’s worth mentioning in The Sims 4 Royalty & Legacy is the Grand Ball. These are like parties, but much grander and more regal. You just need a dance floor to do the waltz, a stereo that plays the new Waltz radio station, and away you go.
Grand Balls really are a grand affair. The main activity is dancing and waltzing. You can find a Sim to partner up with, and then you and the other partners can join together for a magnificent waltz. It’s a true sight to behold and makes hosting these events worthwhile.
The waltz is a beautiful scene.
Graphics & Audio – Regal and Refined
It’s difficult to discuss this section, as this is just an Expansion for The Sims 4, so there’s not really anything new graphics-wise. However, we can talk about new items, as well as the new world Ondarion.
Create-A-Sim
We’ll start with Create-A-Sim and what’s new there. I personally get excited to see what new clothes, hairstyles, accessories, Aspirations, and Traits are available whenever I get a new pack or Kit.
Something Missing?
I have to be completely honest; with Royalty & Legacy, while I love the diverse selection of new clothing, hairstyles, and other additions based on different cultures around the world, I couldn’t help feeling that something was lacking. On one hand, I like that several of the items have matching fabrics, but on the other hand, this did feel somewhat limiting. If they wanted to have matching outfits, that’s fine, but I felt they could have added more patterns. It didn’t feel like there was enough.
I was also expecting more outfits specifically for Sims in royalty, like more regal robes and suits. We do get these, but they too felt somewhat lacking. Perhaps I was expecting something like The Sims Medieval, but then Royalty & Legacy is meant to be set in the modern age, and you don’t exact see modern royalty wearing these garments everywhere, except for very special occasions.
I was also a bit disappointed that once again, the younger Sims seemed to get neglected with new items, namely Children, Toddlers, and Infants. It would have been nice to have given them some extra regal clothing to match the older Sims and their exquisite wear.
Some of the new CAS items.
Something For Most Occasions
Saying this, there was a lot about the new Create-A-Sim additions that I did like. I like that they include both regal wear as well as more casual wear, specifically tailored to fit the theme of Ondarion. I also liked the new regal nightwear in their rich colors of black, gold, green, blue, and red. It feels like almost every outfit category is covered. The selection of crowns, tiaras, and masquerade masks were also a highlight.
Build Mode
As well as new CAS items, we also got a collection of new objects and architecture items in Build Mode, all set to build your dream palaces and mansions. Most of the items have a regal theme, being very opulent but also very expensive, but this is understandable. If you don’t want to go for the gilded royal palace look, there is also a selection of items to match the exotic and rustic style of Ondarion.
My personal favorite aspects of the new Build Mode items were the beautiful wallpapers that you can get in various colors, looking opulent but also warm and welcoming. I also liked the color swatches that came with the new items, offering a variety of colors, from dark and regal to lighter and warmer. You can create some truly magical-looking places with these new items.
You’ll have everything you need to either build a beautiful palace, or a more humble abode in Ondarion.
Ondarion
I have previously discussed Ondarion in the Story section of this review, but I’ll quickly touch on it regarding its appearance. Ondarion is simply a stunning world, perhaps one of the most beautiful in The Sims 4. This game has once again outdone itself in creating a truly remarkable place to visit, providing a wonderful playground for this Expansion’s new gameplay.
What’s so great about it is that each neighborhood has its own unique identity, all of them very attractive and appealing. My personal favorite is probably Bellacorde, with its beautiful gardens and vineyards and lake and seaview. It’s like something out of a wonderful dream. The Sims 4 just keeps on giving with these incredible worlds to explore and play in.
Bellacorde, one of the beautiful neighborhoods in Ondarion.
New Music
I’ll just make a quick note about the new music that comes with Royalty & Legacy. I have yet to catch the new theme that plays when loading the game, although given past Expansions, I look forward to hearing what the Royalty & Legacy theme sounds like. I also enjoyed listening to the new Waltz music, which brings the dance and the Grand Balls to life. I also managed to catch some of the new CAS and Build Mode tunes, which was pleasing to listen to and fit the theme well.
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- Ondarion is made up of several Dynasties, but you might find some from the base game as well.
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- Royalty & Legacy is full of exciting and rich new gameplay.
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- Each neighborhood in Ondarion has its own identity and uniqueness.
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- You can literally duel for the crown.
The Sims 4 Royalty & Legacy Expansion Pack was played and reviewed on PC.
