The Sims 4 Royalty & Legacy Expansion Pack gameplay trailer: everything we learned

Will you make a royal success story, or a royal scandal?

A gameplay trailer for the latest The Sims 4 expansion pack, Royalty & Legacy, has offered fans new insight into how the upcoming DLC's nobility mechanics will function. In the multi-themed world filled with three royal families fighting for control, players will be able to take advantage of the new mechanics to put who they deem worthy on the throne — whether it's an existing royal or their own Sim who rises to power is up to the player. Another trailer focused on the DLC's Dynasty system will release Jan. 29.

First revealed in early January, the teaser trailer for The Sims 4: Royalty & Legacy touched on several features, such as new family tree dynamics, swordsmanship, and, of course, the introduction of nobility. Slated for release Feb. 12 on, the DLC introduces the world of Ondarion to the game, which has three distinct neighborhoods, each controlled by a different dynasty. The trailer briefly showed things like noble prestige, unity, and a new system centered around scandals and drama, but we didn't see much about the day-to-day powers nobles will wield.

Nobility as an active career in The Sims 4

Nobility isn't a separate system like fame in Get Famous, but rather a new active career where players can rise from a humble Noble Newcomer to Kingdom Leader. The responsibilities of a noble are multifaceted: They must perform the duties expected of them, like replying to royal mail and giving speeches, while also maintaining their status and reputation among both commoners and royals. Sims can rise through the ranks by performing said duties, but can also achieve a bump in status through activities like hosting a grand ball. Being a noble comes with certain benefits, including special traits like Regal Romancer and Blue Blood (though it's unclear from the trailer exactly what these do).

Any existing world in the game can become a kingdom filled with nobles if players so choose. The trailer showed examples like a fairy queen in Enchanted by Nature's Innisgreen, and a cowboy king ruling over the world from Horse Ranch, Chestnut Ridge.

Currying the favor of the people

If Sims are going to be successful as nobles, having people in favor of their leadership is key. Unlike the reputation system of Get Famous, which simply deals with a scale of bad to good, the favor of the people focuses on what population the noble Sim is serving more. If they make decisions that help commoners, favor will swing in that direction, while the opposite is true if they support the interests of fellow royals. An example of this was shown in the trailer, where a Sim was holding court and a noble Sim complained that someone's bicycle kept blocking their mailbox. Players can choose to either favor royalty and punish the offenders, or let it slide.

Scandal, power shifts, and a new death

Scandals and drama are a huge part of this DLC, and can either be used to help Sims get ahead, or serve as a major setback. The trailer used a noble Sim wetting his pants in public as an example — another Sim who saw the incident confronted the embarrassed noble and used the secret to extort him for Simoleons. It's currently unclear from the trailer, but some players have speculated these scandals could be used in other ways to get ahead beyond extortion. Noble Sims who have their own secrets discovered may have to hold a very awkward press conference, or abdicate the throne entirely.

Scandals aren't the only way to sow drama in Royalty & Legacy. A new swordsmanship skill is a key way noble Sims can flex their power, challenging other Sims to duels as a way to raise their nobility ranking. The trailer also introduced five fairy tale-esque events called Power Shifts, which can drastically alter a noble Sim's rank and favor. Some were more straightforward, like The Legend of Simcalibur, which seems to necessitate pulling a sword from a stone, or The Noble Frog, where Sims could potentially meet the love of their life through an amphibious kiss. The other three featured — Crystal Slippers, Anansi's Trials, and The Enchanted Mirror — were a bit less clear on what they entail.

These power shifts don't always have a good outcome for Sims, however — if a Sim runs around kissing frogs trying to find royal romance, for example, it could very easily become a scandal. Speaking of bad outcomes, there also seems to be a new death in the DLC, with a sabotaged cuckoo clock knocking a Sim out cold in the trailer. With so much contention for the throne, it's important for Sims to set up who their heir will be before they pass.

The nobility system as a whole has the potential to be incredibly robust, and The Sims 4 has recently had a solid run of high-quality DLC. Fans will have to wait until the next trailer to see how these features intertwine with the new Dynasty system, but the life of a noble seems to be a wonderful new conduit for storytelling. It's just too bad there aren't any dragons.