Step inside the lush green landscapes of Innisgreen and join me in unpacking the inspiration behind this fantastical world from The Sims 4 Enchanted by Nature.
If you’re looking for a classic Sims Community World Overview, head on over to Bonehilda’s amazing article outlining all the new neighborhoods, lots, and hidden treasures in Innisgreen.
This article is going to be a little different… I want to review Innsigreen and start a conversation about cultural representation in The Sims 4. Obviously this is entirely subjective, Innisgreen is not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, some people will hate it, and some will absolutely love it. Personally, I’m leaning more positively towards Innisgreen. I don’t tend to prefer supernatural or fantasy elements in The Sims 4, but I am really enjoying the aesthetic and visual elements fairies and Innisgreen have brought to The Sims.
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Innisgreen… in New Zealand?
In the lead up to the announcement of Enchanted by Nature, the Sims team did something a little different and leaked elements of the pack on a teaser website. There were certainly mixed feelings towards these teasers, but they undeniably created buzz around Enchanted by Nature. After the first sneak peek, Simmers began speculating where in the world Enchanted by Nature had taken inspiration from. Initially, it was rumoured to be inspired by rural New Zealand. These rumours were quickly squashed after the name of the world and its neighborhoods were revealed. As a Kiwi, I was very excited by the prospect of a New Zealand inspired world in The Sims 4, so I wanted to take this opportunity to unpack where the Sims team got their inspiration from and review the representation.
A lot of the initial speculation that Innsigreen was inspired by New Zealand comes from the Enchanted by Nature trailer revealing ‘Hobbit Houses.’ Enchanted by Nature added grass roofs! The new feature allows Simmers to plant on roofs and create homes that resemble hobbit houses. Although Hobbiton was set in Middle Earth, the Lord of the Rings films were filmed in New Zealand and you can visit a replica of the set in Matamata, New Zealand. Although this feature does not truly represent New Zealand, it led to speculation that the Sims team had taken inspiration from New Zealand for the fantasy world.
Rumours grew when Simmers noticed how central ferns were in the teasers. The somethingisgrowing.com website included a fern front and centre on the landing page. The logo for the Enchanted by Nature expansion pack is also a fern! Ferns are an iconic part of New Zealand. A fern is used as the logo for a number of sports teams including the All Blacks and the Silver Ferns. The ponga, or silver fern, is a species of tree fern native to New Zealand and has been a symbol of New Zealand’s national identity since the 1880’s. So it is no surprise Simmers quickly made the connection to New Zealand from the ferns in Innisgreen. The ties to New Zealand pretty much end there; however, with far more connections found to Ireland and Celtic culture.
Fairies in Irish Folklore
Fairies are deeply rooted in Irish folklore, making Ireland a perfect point of inspiration for a fairy-themed expansion pack. According to Irish folklore, offending the fairies could result in “bad luck and illness.” The Sims 4 fairies can use their Fairy Abilities Apply Ailments or Shift Another’s Luck, which feel potentially inspired by the Irish beliefs surrounding fairies, as opposed to the narrative in pop culture that fairies grant blessings or serve as a companion for lost boys in Neverland…
The Emerald Isle
In EA’s news article about Enchanted by Nature, the Sims team stated:
The neighborhoods of Innisgreen not only draw on nature and fantasy elements, but they also take some inspiration from the architecture and aesthetics of Ireland and Celtic artistry.
Become One With the Natural World in The Sims 4 Enchanted by Nature
The landscape of Innisgreen is also heavily inspired by the lush green rolling hills and rocky coastlines found in Ireland. The rocks in the Coast of Adhmor resemble the stones from Giant’s Causeway. Ireland is nicknamed Emerald Isle for its natural beauty. Due to the wet climate and numerous lakes, plants flourish in Ireland.
I personally think Innisgreen is one of the most simply beautiful worlds in The Sims 4 for its natural landscape, glistening waterfalls, and chain of lakes. Ireland is home to a diverse selection of native and imported plants including many species of fern, moss, ivy, and trees. I think this is well-represented in Innisgreen which has an abundance of greenery.
*I am focusing on the Coast of Adhmor and Sprucederry Grove for the greenery, as Everdew is a fantasy world and not derived from real life.
Spruce Almighty
The Sprucederry neighbourhood in Innisgreen is said to be named after Spruce Almighty, “the community’s loving Garden Pal.” The name Sprucederry is likely inspired by the city, Londonderry, in Northern Ireland. The name ‘Derry’ is derived from doire, meaning ‘oak grove,’ which Sprucederry is known for.
The Spruce Almighty character can be found inside the Glaswood Tree in Sprucederry. This feature potentially symbolises Derg Corra, a character from ‘Finn and the man in the tree,’ an Irish text. The ‘Man in the Tree’ or ‘The Green Man’ is a myth connected to many cultures in Western Europe. The Green Man is often represented in architecture, particularly in churches in Britain. While this is not a unique character to Ireland, it contributes to the Irish folklore the Sims team may have drawn from when designing Innisgreen and the Spruce Almighty Sim.
Celtic Artistry
The Celtic artistry they’re likely referring to is the interlaced symbol featured across Innisgreen. This repeated symbol resembles Celtic knots which are often associated with Ireland and the Celts. There are many different styles of Celtic knots which are also historically connected to European and Scandinavian countries. Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be other connections to Celtic artistry or Ireland within the world itself. The four creators who contributed to building lots for Innisgreen do draw inspiration from Irish architecture and traditional English architecture. The creators all paid a lot of attention to detail and created beautiful whimsical builds, be sure to check out all the lots in Innisgreen!
Lucky Clovers
Finally, I wanted to point out the Gnome sculpture on the Coast of Adhmor. The sign depicts a gnome on top of a four-leaf clover under a Simlish sign. This sign could be compared to a shamrock, which is considered the national flower of Ireland and is often used to symbolise Ireland. However, shamrocks are significant to Ireland for having three leaves, not four. Shamrocks are often mistaken for four-leaf clovers, but they are not the same. This sculpture in Innisgreen is likely representing the luck system introduced with Enchanted by Nature and drawing a connection to the neighbourhood’s name, Adhmor. Adhmor is likely derived from the words ádh mór, which directly translates to ‘big luck’ in Gaelic.
Cultural Representation
In my opinion, Innisgreen is a wonderful and beautiful world in The Sims 4 and positively contributes to the rest of the game. It may not be my absolute favourite world in The Sims 4, but it’s certainly up there with the sheer amount of gorgeous landscapes.
I think it is clear that Innisgreen was inspired by Ireland, and there are a number of features in the Enchanted by Nature expansion pack which support this. Although, Innisgreen is in no means a direct representation of Ireland and there are many more tales from Irish folklore or Celtic symbols and art that could have been included. The Sims 4 is, however, a fantasy game meant to simulate real life, not replicate it. I do not think Innisgreen, or any world in The Sims 4, should be a replica of any countries.
Other Sims 4 expansion packs have taken direct inspiration from countries around the world, such as The Sims 4 Businesses and Hobbies which drew inspiration from Northern Europe and Scandinavia in Nordhaven, The Sims 4 Snowy Escape draws direct inspiration from Japan for Mount Komorebi, and Henford-on-Bagley from The Sims 4 Cottage Living takes inspiration from British Countryside. While it is great to see The Sims 4 expanding and improving cultural representation, Sims players have felt misrepresented in The Sims for decades and there is still a lot of room for further improvement in The Sims franchise.
Now that we’ve all had time to familiarise ourselves with The Sims 4 Enchanted by Nature and Innisgreen, what are your thoughts about the world? Do you think the Sims team has done enough to claim Innisgreen was inspired by ‘Celtic artistry’? What would you have liked to see included? Is there a world or culture you’d love to see included in The Sims 4 next?
Sorry, I’m going to be very critical of this world, what I feel is boredom, on the Adhmor coast, there is absolutely nothing to do there, it’s very small, there is never anyone, there are no festivals like in Ravenwood, or even meetings like in Nordhaven, no, a museum that serves no purpose, you can just look at the ocean, there are roads but there are not even any cars driving around, order a coffee or an apple pie, and that’s it, it’s a mixture of Willow Creek and Brindrelton Bay. Sprucederry Grove is just a copy of Henford-on-Bagley but in an empty version, with some fables to make it look like a sublime place, like for everdew, it lacks glitter, stars, it’s just roads with plants and water, I don’t feel any story, no depth, no immersion, it’s something that is told, that we are sold, I only feel emptiness with a mixture of already seen to which we have stuck some unfinished artifices, even ravewood is 1000 times better worked and more alive for a supernatural world, the ocean occupies a good part of the map, but it is useless, we can find it beautiful, cultural but all this cruelly lacks life and soul. A world is not made just to look pretty, if you don’t put real animated depth into it, it just becomes basic, it is one of the worst worlds of the sims 4 for me.
FIX THE SAVE FUNCTION ON CONSOLES THAT DELETED MY PROGRESS OF 2 YEARS BECAUSE OF THIS UPDATE. Smh it’s like you’re refusing to listen to people. I have a series x. My file is like 34mb, this shouldn’t have happened. Error code 34 every time we play and try to save. Next day the whole file is gone. I own every expansion pack, stuff pack, and kit – never had an issue until this last update with this expansion pack. Game is unplayable.
Go complain on EA APP FORUM; this is not the right place, this is not a support service, stop saying that the game is unplayable, you obviously asked the question there, if you did not get any answers, you will not get any here either, only EA can answer you, you harass them for an answer, but obviously, they do not know, what do you want us to answer you, this is not a frequent or general problem.
i agree with Michel
what are you trying to reach here?
go to the EA forum or EA help to complain your issues there rather than here
I am from Northern Ireland, I wish they had added just a little bit more of the folklore we have here to the faeries, just to expand on them a bit. I flew through that skill tree so fast, and the aspirations were a wee bit lacking. As for the world, my one wish was for them to incorporate some more Irish names into it, I would have loved to see some official townies with Irish names. But I do love having the giants causeway and all in the game. It makes it a little bit more special for me personally.