Honestly, The Sims 2 console game had more life to it than The Sims 2 PC.
The Sims 2 PC did so many things right, but as a package it did feel like a bunch of different teams working on different things.
The artstyle was inconsistent, the voice acting was all over the place (they would have different voices sometimes for the same Sim. One of my Sims had the Sims 1 voice artist, and then would switch to another new one), and the attention to detail was amazing in some places, and then bland and uninspired in others.
It's still my favorite, but it's a game that feels like a bunch of different ideas. Credit where Credit is due, while The Sims 3 isn't stable, it's more consistent and everything feels connected.
This isn't meant to be a troll post or a rude one, It's just a legit question I have; I don't see what's so amazing about The Sims 2.
I may be a bit biased, but The Sims 3 was my first Sims game. I'd never played a simulation game and I thought it was the funnest thing. I started purchasing expansion packs, trying out families, trying to learn different skills for my sims and trying to create all sorts of new sims! My friend who got me into the Sims eventually started to talk about the Sims 2 and I got interested; The simlish pop artist trailers and watching a few episodes of let's plays got me really interested, so I bought The Sims 2 double Deluxe on Origin, along with Seasons, Tried to play it.. and, well... I found the game extremely boring. After hearing about the release of the Sims 2 Ultimate, thought I'd give it another try; same results except now I had prettier hair and some better outfits.
Starting with the Sims themselves, I feel like I have no real control over their life. I tried my best to work around the odd CAS (Probably technology restrictions, pass) and thought the personality system was neat. Chose an aspiration and began. Then I come to find out I only vaguely picked a personality for my sim; The game chose from a random roster of lifetime aspirations categorized by the one I chose and randomized their interests. I know you don't have to follow their aspiration, but it's what most of their aspirations are tailored towards. Also, their needs! Jeeeesus Christ, their needs. It seems like they need to shower about 3 times a day and eating 3 times a day seems to be a light snack to them, not to mention they take like 4 in-game hours to eat because they're too busy staring at eachother and gesturing at the table. Or falling asleep in their food because their energy need is low because you went out to a community lot that day.
The gameplay? It's.... it's extremely bland to me for some reason. Between constantly making sure your sim has a nice comfy couch to sit on you can't afford and managing their aspirations, it's extremely unfun. Want to go out with your friends? Sorry, you missed your third shower that day! It's unbelievable how fast their needs drop; I've seen the hunger bar drop quite a bit just while they were eating, and like I said before, you seem to be rushing to fill your Sims' every whim; you have to meet their needs. They're a semi-random personality you gave a face and a few likes to and have barely any control over. It's not about how you want to play, it's how they want you to play with them.
I see people talking about how lively sims seemed to be in this but they seem so empty and dead to me. Their animations are sticky, robotic, and unlife-like (Probably due to the time, not sure...) They always have an extremely blank face and their interactions with eachother are very.. odd.
I will admit I haven't really tried a family from birth, but by the time I usually get a sim pregnant, I'm so bored of the game. I'll probably have to force myself to see how the family dynamic works compared to the Sims 3, though I really have no doubt it's better (Doesn't make gameplay more fun for me.)
Despite the whole rant, I do have a few things I ACTUALLY enjoy about the game! I'm a complete and total sucker for small details and this game sure has a few of them; I love how the Sims use the counters when cooking and actually serve the meal their cooking. They even place the plate down smoother than the Sims 3! And the graphics of the furniture and build objects are extremely great. Most of them are actually really high-poly, most even higher quality than The Sims 3's objects. Eating out in restaurants is pretty cool too, even though my waiter / waitress usually forgets about serving me.
Perhaps I just have to force myself to play this game and deal with it's plum for me to like it, but I just don't think this game is for me and I fail to see how people say it Trumps the Sims 3; The open world is amazing and traits add so much more diversity among my Sims. That said, I don't think The Sims 2 is really that awful and certainty think nothing bad of those who DO enjoy the Sims 2. Apologizes for the really unorganized rant and Happy Simming. :shock:
I barely skimmed your post, sorry, not much time today to read it all, I will try to get to it later.
This is about like asking what's so great about 'The Sims'. If you don't know I can't go into it, nor have the time. TS3 catered to a different genre of players, and though many love it, it's still a different genre player. Not saying it's a horrible game, because open world was the right direction of the game eventually. But if you don't know what's so great about the formula of The Sims and why TS2 magnified that a hundred times more, then you wouldn't accept the answer, anyway.
"Games Are Not The Place To Tell Stories, Games Are Meant To Let People Tell Their Own Stories"...Will Wright.
I just use the boolprop cheat to tweak the motives. I like the sims 2 for the challenge if everything is too easy in a game I get bored, this game also requires a bit of imagination.
If your biased to the Sims 3, it's going to be difficult for you to enjoy any other game.
I just prefer Sims 2 because of detailed animations and other small details, the challenging gameplay, adorable babies, bathing toddlers, the more sensual romances, more interactions (that I like), the sims' cartoony nature, the unpredictability, the AI, the attraction system, the setting down plates for groups of Sims (no modding needed for this!), and so much more*.
(I grew up with Sims 1 and 2. Sims 3 feels different from both, so I have my own biases, just like you have your own about sims 3.)
*ETA: Plus, for me, in my game, it has no lag, more lively lots, and I need much less mods for it.
To OP: I might be bias that I haven't notice or got use to it since I started playing Sims 2 from get go, but I never did find that their needs drastically fall down. I'll have to check again, but I only have my sims take a shower one time a day
What do you mean by " random roster of lifetime aspirations"? You can already pick up a lifetime aspiration yourself out of 6/7: romance, pleasure, fortune, knowledge, ect.
Even though, your sims get randomize interest points and what you not, you can change them by increasing specific one via reading magazines which in turn decreases another one. Interest do have some effect on their lifes, to be precise - what they like to socialize with other sims or not.
Now regarding what I myself at least like about the TS2...
I like how quirky it is with its humor, unpredictable events, and much more that create drama. You have things like social bunny that pops in once your social drops to red (as if your going delusional, seeing the bunny in your mind), the Mrs. CrumbleButtom that smacks the poop out of your sims with her purse for doing romantic interactions with another sim in downtown, and the therapist that appears that make the sim act like a chicken - these are the things that put the funny spirit of the game which makes it appreciated to my eye
Also the details put into game: sims don't teleport in cars and the vehicles themselves don't teleport out of place. Sims actuallly open up the doors and get in them, as well park in and out of their driveway with the garage door closing and opening. Also - you can actually interact with the cars other than driving (turning on radio, just sitting in it, installing alarm system, woohooing, ect.). Took too much stuff from the fridge? Well, in this game you don't pay the fridge to restock it with something - you either move your *ss and call a cab to pick you up and sent you of to the grocery store you can purchase food or you order the delivery through the phone and wait patiently until it arrives. Also - the need to save up money to purchase clothes at the clothing store (your dresser doesn't have all the clothes at the start). Details like this make the game more fun. Oh and I forgot to mention - teens get pimples over time and get rid of them by the "use acne cream" in the mirrow. Also, social interactions are still intriguing than in others later game I had played: like teens can noogie other kids, sims can play red hands, and my favourite one "Punch u - Punch me" xD Also, sims really do make a huge deal out of "rock paper and scissors" - they get so triggered if they loose... sorry got carried away.
There are other stuff that are a whole lot interesting - just can't recall right now. If I do remember, I'll try to post them in this thread once I remember something that I forgot to list.
Oh and I remember one thing - the memory system. It is actually pretty great thing in that game and it's a shame that later iterations didn't bother keeping or returning it. Sims in TS2 actually do remember what happened through all their life time AND will react to it once recalling one. Unlike with the Sims 3, you get each new notification that a memory was saved for... with every earned one skill point for every thing? That was more annoying than fascinating, as it got repeative and imo was done poorly which is why every simmer hates that system. In sims 2, your sim will cry by remembering negative memories, a lot over time when it lead his/her life in a chain of misfortune. Overall, I like that TS2 gave memories for my SIMS, rather to ME and my irl friends (which I don't have btw) with the whole share-it-on-media crap.
I think why I love the game so much, and still play it to this day, is because the Sims in the game seem so much more intelligent. When their spouse walks by, they do a cat call. If someone they don't like passes them, they give them a nasty look. The memory system is something that is also so cool!
My sim started to be in a relationship with another sims, who was married, but I didn't know that. The other sim's wife eventually found out and broke up with him. Naturally my sim got mad at his ex and they started to brawl. And I didn't even task them to do that! They just hated each other and did it themselves. Then for days afterwards, the ex would come to my house and kick over my garbage can.... THAT got annoying.
Its the fact that the sims in TS2 are so much more aware of their surroundings, which is something I have always loved
I think why I love the game so much, and still play it to this day, is because the Sims in the game seem so much more intelligent. When their spouse walks by, they do a cat call. If someone they don't like passes them, they give them a nasty look. The memory system is something that is also so cool!
My sim started to be in a relationship with another sims, who was married, but I didn't know that. The other sim's wife eventually found out and broke up with him. Naturally my sim got mad at his ex and they started to brawl. And I didn't even task them to do that! They just hated each other and did it themselves. Then for days afterwards, the ex would come to my house and kick over my garbage can.... THAT got annoying.
Its the fact that the sims in TS2 are so much more aware of their surroundings, which is something I have always loved
Yeah, that's what I happens. If you have a negative relationship or are enemies with someone - they will constantly do that or steal a newspaper everyday until you finally fix the relationship between the two sims.
Like what @Cinebar said, the sims 2 represents what was great about the original sims: the quirkiness, weird humor, getting attached to these little people and their lives, no matter how mundane they are. There is a charm in the original sims and the sims 2 that is missing from sims 3 and 4. I guess starting with the sims 3, you probably wouldn't see it. The sims was revolutionary for its time--there was not another game like it. And the sims 2 took that wonderful game and ran wild with it, expanding it in ways that no one ever imagined.
I love the sims 3 and 4, don't get me wrong. But as others said, in many ways, they are different games entirely from the earlier ones in the franchise; they took a different direction and different spin on a beloved game. And there is nothing wrong with that.
This isn't meant to be a troll post or a rude one, It's just a legit question I have; I don't see what's so amazing about The Sims 2.
I may be a bit biased, but The Sims 3 was my first Sims game. I'd never played a simulation game and I thought it was the funnest thing. I started purchasing expansion packs, trying out families, trying to learn different skills for my sims and trying to create all sorts of new sims! My friend who got me into the Sims eventually started to talk about the Sims 2 and I got interested; The simlish pop artist trailers and watching a few episodes of let's plays got me really interested, so I bought The Sims 2 double Deluxe on Origin, along with Seasons, Tried to play it.. and, well... I found the game extremely boring. After hearing about the release of the Sims 2 Ultimate, thought I'd give it another try; same results except now I had prettier hair and some better outfits.
Starting with the Sims themselves, I feel like I have no real control over their life. I tried my best to work around the odd CAS (Probably technology restrictions, pass) and thought the personality system was neat. Chose an aspiration and began. Then I come to find out I only vaguely picked a personality for my sim; The game chose from a random roster of lifetime aspirations categorized by the one I chose and randomized their interests. I know you don't have to follow their aspiration, but it's what most of their aspirations are tailored towards. Also, their needs! Jeeeesus Christ, their needs. It seems like they need to shower about 3 times a day and eating 3 times a day seems to be a light snack to them, not to mention they take like 4 in-game hours to eat because they're too busy staring at eachother and gesturing at the table. Or falling asleep in their food because their energy need is low because you went out to a community lot that day.
The gameplay? It's.... it's extremely bland to me for some reason. Between constantly making sure your sim has a nice comfy couch to sit on you can't afford and managing their aspirations, it's extremely unfun. Want to go out with your friends? Sorry, you missed your third shower that day! It's unbelievable how fast their needs drop; I've seen the hunger bar drop quite a bit just while they were eating, and like I said before, you seem to be rushing to fill your Sims' every whim; you have to meet their needs. They're a semi-random personality you gave a face and a few likes to and have barely any control over. It's not about how you want to play, it's how they want you to play with them.
I see people talking about how lively sims seemed to be in this but they seem so empty and dead to me. Their animations are sticky, robotic, and unlife-like (Probably due to the time, not sure...) They always have an extremely blank face and their interactions with eachother are very.. odd.
I will admit I haven't really tried a family from birth, but by the time I usually get a sim pregnant, I'm so bored of the game. I'll probably have to force myself to see how the family dynamic works compared to the Sims 3, though I really have no doubt it's better (Doesn't make gameplay more fun for me.)
Despite the whole rant, I do have a few things I ACTUALLY enjoy about the game! I'm a complete and total sucker for small details and this game sure has a few of them; I love how the Sims use the counters when cooking and actually serve the meal their cooking. They even place the plate down smoother than the Sims 3! And the graphics of the furniture and build objects are extremely great. Most of them are actually really high-poly, most even higher quality than The Sims 3's objects. Eating out in restaurants is pretty cool too, even though my waiter / waitress usually forgets about serving me.
Perhaps I just have to force myself to play this game and deal with it's plum for me to like it, but I just don't think this game is for me and I fail to see how people say it Trumps the Sims 3; The open world is amazing and traits add so much more diversity among my Sims. That said, I don't think The Sims 2 is really that awful and certainty think nothing bad of those who DO enjoy the Sims 2. Apologizes for the really unorganized rant and Happy Simming. :shock:
TS3 is a very different game from TS2, so it's obvious that if your idea of the "The Sims" started with TS3, then you'd have this opinion--this is why so many TS2 players don't play TS3, it's a different game. As a TS3 first player, you lose your Open World, you lose your customisation, and you lose your rich content... those could easily be deal breakers (just look at TS4 )
This is why TS2 Rocks (compared to my 100% subjective experience with TS3)
1. TS2 sims are better looking (TS3 sims are nightmare fodder--they are 🐸🐸🐸🐸 ugly ::shudders::) I don't to play with creepy dolls, and I don't want to play with creepy sims.
2. TS2 sims interactions and animations are far more thought out than in TS3 where every sim has a Doraemon-pocket butt (where everything just *pops* out... need a car? lemme just pull it out of bum... wtheck?!) This means that sims actually use the enviroment they are designed to be in so there is actual "life simulation" in the sims 2. When a sim prepares dinner, they actually touch all of the objects required in this process right down to setting down the plates. If you didn't experience this at the start... then it's not like it would matter to you when you roll back to TS2 (slot popping is a HUGE annoyance for me)
3. TS2 sims have more personality than TS3 sims when left alone; their wants and fears and aspirations drive them. TS3 sims are pretty robotic and aspirations mean nothing they just get another aspiration. It doesn't affect their life. In TS2, fulling their wants and keeping their aspirations high literally determines their happiness throughout their life stage and their manner of death (I haven't played TS3 enough to determine if this is the same)
4. You can actually play TS2. TS3 loading screens are the equivalent of the BSoD. I stopped playing when my loading screens from WA hit 30 minutes from World to Home
Again, TS3 can hold its own as a game and improved on a LOT of TS2 game play (the way a sequel should) but it took a different direction where open world and customisation was what drove the game--moreso than the sims. For players, this was what we all wanted for TS2 along with the content that TS3 spewed out (type 3t2 conversion and you'll see that for years, TS2 players who refused to jump ship were breathing new life in their game with TS3 content!) For those of us who thrived on the life simulation aspects of TS2, TS3 is lacking (even though after experiencing TS4 I gotta say my harsh opinion of the AI has softened immensely). Also, TS2 had/has an amazing community of modders. To be fair, Pescado and other modders for TS2 improved the game's AI so much that players [like me] who play with these mods forget that things like not being able to choose your own aspiration is part of the game default. I take for granted that sims can choose their own aspirations because I've been using a mod for it for so many years, and even if I lost the mod I could just brute force their aspiration, their personality, and their DNA in SimPE (created by modders).
With everyone relying on TSR's Workshop to get things done, the ability to customise to low levels in the game was lost and perhaps required additional software (like SimPE3)--again for TS3 non-issue because the developers were on top of that and customisation was part of their vision. For TS4 and future games, this is an issue because players will have to learn how to code and that takes time away from creation. The modding community is vital to gameplay, and TS2 had the best and most diverse modding community.
BTW: TS4 sims are gorgeous... why does the game suck so much and why are the sims so dumb?! I really really want to play with these pixels
This. Wish I could have TS4 looks and graphics with more TS2 and TS3 game play.
In regards to the thread, I like TS2 based a lot off of nostalgia, admittedly. I played it at a time when I was really vulnerable and kind of absorbed into it. There's little details I like though, like how I never knew what I would come back to if I left the computer for a minute.
I've played the series from the beginning and I must say TS2 and TS3 are the best, IMO. I really do not like TS4. It just seems so... boring? I agree with @Zany102 It would have been awesome if they had implemented the best from all the games. But, alas...
I do not have any + and - to provide for the OP, but I just wanted to take the time to say thanks to all the people who voiced their opinions. It was such a fun and nostalgic read that I decided to redownload my TS2UC back to my PC Thank you!
I've played the series from the beginning and I must say TS2 and TS3 are the best, IMO. I really do not like TS4. It just seems so... boring? I agree with @Zany102 It would have been awesome if they had implemented the best from all the games. But, alas...
I do not have any + and - to provide for the OP, but I just wanted to take the time to say thanks to all the people who voiced their opinions. It was such a fun and nostalgic read that I decided to redownload my TS2UC back to my PC Thank you!
Sims 2 my fav. I still remember the first baby "born" and i swear a tear came to my eye. LOL It was an incredible Awwww moment for sure.
I seriously can't remember anything i didn't like about it.
I so wish they could have added my horses to it.
I do have all the series still installed and try to play them all when i get time.
In 4 my sims do seem more alive? I guess but 2 still to me have the personalities that i remember. It was such a huge upgrade from the first one and I don't think they will ever repeat that.
Having horses & open world never gave me that same feeling of Awww like that first plumb bob baby.
"Every child matters. If we fail our children, we are bound to fail our present, our future, faith, cultures, and civilizations as well."
Fot me, TS2 was amazing because it was a major change from TS1. A bunch of new gameplay and a broader CAS. It was just so different at the time. I haven't had that feeling since then. TS3 was great, but not as different from TS2, besides open-world.
In my opinion, what makes Sims 2 so amazing are the Sims themselves. Each Sims felt like a different character. Even if they had the same personality, their different interests made them unique. I also loved how I could change their interest on the fly by buying a magazine. To add to their uniqueness was the turn ons\offs. Each Sim literally had three layers of uniqueness..personality, interests and attraction. It is why sometimes you could see two Sims who should be triple bolt attraction end up double bolt because their interests don't line up.
It makes me sad that random emotions and pointless traits have killed off the individuality of each sim. It is why some people playing Sims 4 tend to get bored because the Sims are pretty much the same no matter what trait they have.
I love the memory system in the sims 2, that's still one of my favorite things. when sims 3 first came out, I could barely play it, it lagged so much on my computer=/ so I stuck with sims 2 for another 3 years before I decided to giv sims 3 a try again. plus I felt attached to sims 2 bc I'd had so much fun with it over the years. Now I hav a lot of great sims 3 memories too. But each game has a completely different vibe.
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I am playing TS2 (and TS4). I keep going back to TS2 because of the EP University. I tried TS3 Uni and never even tried sending my Sim to college in that game because I read that the college experience only lasts 2 Sim weeks instead of the 8 semesters in TS2. Playing the YA life stage in TS2 separately from the base neighborhood feels like an entirely different game to me. Most of the Sims I create and play meet their significant other while in college. Hopefully, there will be a University pack for TS4 that will return this gameplay to the game for me.
I feel that I don't have that extra time for dating, etc in Sims 4 right now due to the extremely slow nature of relationship building. I feel that taking care of their needs is better in TS2 than TS3 or 4. They automatically socialize and raise their Fun need without me telling them to.
The other reason I play TS2 and TS4 is that the Sims just look better. In TS3 they looked like clay (and ended up looking the same in game) to me.
I think what you'll end up taking away is that for those of us that started with TS1, the sequel was a quantum leap forward.
Since you started with TS3 it apparantly felt like a step backwards for you.
Final Fantasy fans who have been there from the begining will tell you that the NES games were the best of the serires.
Folks that started with FF7 for PS1 beg to differ.
Some Star Wars fans who grew up in the era they were originally released bash the prequels mercilessly. yet many folks that grew up with them think they are actually better than the originals.
It's only natural that people will tend to favor the iteration they started with in any franchise.
This is the list of Sims games I played in order:
My Sims
The Sims: Bustin' Out (PS2)
The Sims 2 (PS2)
The Sims 3 PS3 then PC right after
The Sims 2 (PC)
Then Sims 4
The Sims Medieval
I've played a good majority of them tbh and I can tell you to this day I still play 5 of these games listed and the one I play most is 2 on PC. I don't feel nostalgia with it because I first played it in 2014 but I just really enjoy it because like @Chimark said, I see them totally different games rather than upgrades. It's the little things I enjoyed like birdwatching, having a cleaning skill, having to purchase clothing at a store, having to buy a cellphone rather than already having one, opening my own restaurant, having an animation for your car pulling out of the driveway. You can even bathe your toddler in a sink and when changing their diapers you have to dispose of the used one. I just feel that EA put a lot more effort in making that game fun rather than making it look pretty and having an open world. Don't get me wrong, I have hundreds of hours in TS3 but the Sims in that one feel so slow to me. Sorry for the large post I don't think I got every point across that I wanted but you get the idea happy simming everyone!
PS: Custom Content for Sims 2 is so good IMO
(Edit: Added PS)
Later expansion packs (notably Free Time) help a lot in the motives and aspiration managing department, as does plain experience. Unhappy (low aspiration) sims have motives that drop faster, and of course there are a lot of us that type ctrl+shift+c "maxmotives" at 6 AM every sim day. You don't have to worry too much about needs until they get lower than half, which took me a while to learn.
Personally I like the genetics and the sheer variety of interactions and possibilities, and my main barrier to getting into TS3 was the need to stick with one family while the game married off the rest of the neighborhood and made them have babies at random. That and the constant side-quests of delivering hot dogs to some neighbor I'd never heard of.
I think sims 2 is an amazing game because its always surprising me. It has great neighbourhood back stories and there seems to be just enough premade characters to get really involved with. I miss the chemistry lightening bolts and the memory system and blind dates from sims 2 that are not in later games. The careers perk were something you really wanted to work for and I loved the hidden lots. The Tricou family was a nice little mystery to get involved with and with a population of I think up to 32,000 the possibilities were endless. I sometimes play sims 3 now I have a better computer and it is fun but with sims randomly disappearing when you play rotational play its hard for me to get really immersed into.
I've been playing the Sims since day one of Sims1, all the way to TS4. As others have said, Sims was revolutionary in its day, and that is what made it great for me. Sims2 came along and took that revolution to unprecedented and unimaginable heights. To say what I like about the game would require repeating what so many here have so eloquently said. In short, everything. Yes, there are annoyances and periodic glitches, but overall the game is outstanding. It is my absolutely favorite game, period, living at present on 3 computers - including a high end windows 10 machine. I can't count the number of now deceased computers it was on. It just keeps on giving, whether in gameplay, story telling, creativity, or just plain fun. I've tried TS3, several times, but just can't get into it. While the open world idea is good, there are too many downers for me (all sims look alike, absence of story telling capability, restriction to 1 sim/family per game save, restriction to a couple of packs per game session) for it to be a viable option. TS4 has potential and some really great features, but it's like putting Cessna engines on a 747 and expecting it to fly. So, I keep going back to TS2 for all the reasons its fans have given, and however many more.
I can attest to everything everyone has said here. I keep coming back to TS2 over and over when TS4 gets boring. I have lost count of the number of laptops this game has been played on (at least 5 LOL). It offers great family play so I can at least get thru 3 generations of one family (currently playing a Legacy Challenge now). University, to me, is the perfect starting point for family building. Relationship building is so easy. Also, toddlers in that series are adorable. I am able to teach them all of their skills on a Normal lifespan.
Comments
Honestly, The Sims 2 console game had more life to it than The Sims 2 PC.
The Sims 2 PC did so many things right, but as a package it did feel like a bunch of different teams working on different things.
The artstyle was inconsistent, the voice acting was all over the place (they would have different voices sometimes for the same Sim. One of my Sims had the Sims 1 voice artist, and then would switch to another new one), and the attention to detail was amazing in some places, and then bland and uninspired in others.
It's still my favorite, but it's a game that feels like a bunch of different ideas. Credit where Credit is due, while The Sims 3 isn't stable, it's more consistent and everything feels connected.
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I barely skimmed your post, sorry, not much time today to read it all, I will try to get to it later.
This is about like asking what's so great about 'The Sims'. If you don't know I can't go into it, nor have the time. TS3 catered to a different genre of players, and though many love it, it's still a different genre player. Not saying it's a horrible game, because open world was the right direction of the game eventually. But if you don't know what's so great about the formula of The Sims and why TS2 magnified that a hundred times more, then you wouldn't accept the answer, anyway.
If your biased to the Sims 3, it's going to be difficult for you to enjoy any other game.
(I grew up with Sims 1 and 2. Sims 3 feels different from both, so I have my own biases, just like you have your own about sims 3.)
*ETA: Plus, for me, in my game, it has no lag, more lively lots, and I need much less mods for it.
(She/her)
What do you mean by " random roster of lifetime aspirations"? You can already pick up a lifetime aspiration yourself out of 6/7: romance, pleasure, fortune, knowledge, ect.
Even though, your sims get randomize interest points and what you not, you can change them by increasing specific one via reading magazines which in turn decreases another one. Interest do have some effect on their lifes, to be precise - what they like to socialize with other sims or not.
Now regarding what I myself at least like about the TS2...
I like how quirky it is with its humor, unpredictable events, and much more that create drama. You have things like social bunny that pops in once your social drops to red (as if your going delusional, seeing the bunny in your mind), the Mrs. CrumbleButtom that smacks the poop out of your sims with her purse for doing romantic interactions with another sim in downtown, and the therapist that appears that make the sim act like a chicken - these are the things that put the funny spirit of the game which makes it appreciated to my eye
Also the details put into game: sims don't teleport in cars and the vehicles themselves don't teleport out of place. Sims actuallly open up the doors and get in them, as well park in and out of their driveway with the garage door closing and opening. Also - you can actually interact with the cars other than driving (turning on radio, just sitting in it, installing alarm system, woohooing, ect.). Took too much stuff from the fridge? Well, in this game you don't pay the fridge to restock it with something - you either move your *ss and call a cab to pick you up and sent you of to the grocery store you can purchase food or you order the delivery through the phone and wait patiently until it arrives. Also - the need to save up money to purchase clothes at the clothing store (your dresser doesn't have all the clothes at the start). Details like this make the game more fun. Oh and I forgot to mention - teens get pimples over time and get rid of them by the "use acne cream" in the mirrow. Also, social interactions are still intriguing than in others later game I had played: like teens can noogie other kids, sims can play red hands, and my favourite one "Punch u - Punch me" xD Also, sims really do make a huge deal out of "rock paper and scissors" - they get so triggered if they loose... sorry got carried away.
There are other stuff that are a whole lot interesting - just can't recall right now. If I do remember, I'll try to post them in this thread once I remember something that I forgot to list.
My sim started to be in a relationship with another sims, who was married, but I didn't know that. The other sim's wife eventually found out and broke up with him. Naturally my sim got mad at his ex and they started to brawl. And I didn't even task them to do that! They just hated each other and did it themselves. Then for days afterwards, the ex would come to my house and kick over my garbage can.... THAT got annoying.
Its the fact that the sims in TS2 are so much more aware of their surroundings, which is something I have always loved
Yeah, that's what I happens. If you have a negative relationship or are enemies with someone - they will constantly do that or steal a newspaper everyday until you finally fix the relationship between the two sims.
I love the sims 3 and 4, don't get me wrong. But as others said, in many ways, they are different games entirely from the earlier ones in the franchise; they took a different direction and different spin on a beloved game. And there is nothing wrong with that.
TS3 is a very different game from TS2, so it's obvious that if your idea of the "The Sims" started with TS3, then you'd have this opinion--this is why so many TS2 players don't play TS3, it's a different game. As a TS3 first player, you lose your Open World, you lose your customisation, and you lose your rich content... those could easily be deal breakers (just look at TS4
This is why TS2 Rocks (compared to my 100% subjective experience with TS3)
1. TS2 sims are better looking (TS3 sims are nightmare fodder--they are 🐸🐸🐸🐸 ugly ::shudders::) I don't to play with creepy dolls, and I don't want to play with creepy sims.
2. TS2 sims interactions and animations are far more thought out than in TS3 where every sim has a Doraemon-pocket butt (where everything just *pops* out... need a car? lemme just pull it out of bum... wtheck?!) This means that sims actually use the enviroment they are designed to be in so there is actual "life simulation" in the sims 2. When a sim prepares dinner, they actually touch all of the objects required in this process right down to setting down the plates. If you didn't experience this at the start... then it's not like it would matter to you when you roll back to TS2 (slot popping is a HUGE annoyance for me)
3. TS2 sims have more personality than TS3 sims when left alone; their wants and fears and aspirations drive them. TS3 sims are pretty robotic and aspirations mean nothing they just get another aspiration. It doesn't affect their life. In TS2, fulling their wants and keeping their aspirations high literally determines their happiness throughout their life stage and their manner of death (I haven't played TS3 enough to determine if this is the same)
4. You can actually play TS2. TS3 loading screens are the equivalent of the BSoD. I stopped playing when my loading screens from WA hit 30 minutes from World to Home
Again, TS3 can hold its own as a game and improved on a LOT of TS2 game play (the way a sequel should) but it took a different direction where open world and customisation was what drove the game--moreso than the sims. For players, this was what we all wanted for TS2 along with the content that TS3 spewed out (type 3t2 conversion and you'll see that for years, TS2 players who refused to jump ship were breathing new life in their game with TS3 content!) For those of us who thrived on the life simulation aspects of TS2, TS3 is lacking (even though after experiencing TS4 I gotta say my harsh opinion of the AI has softened immensely). Also, TS2 had/has an amazing community of modders. To be fair, Pescado and other modders for TS2 improved the game's AI so much that players [like me] who play with these mods forget that things like not being able to choose your own aspiration is part of the game default. I take for granted that sims can choose their own aspirations because I've been using a mod for it for so many years, and even if I lost the mod I could just brute force their aspiration, their personality, and their DNA in SimPE (created by modders).
With everyone relying on TSR's Workshop to get things done, the ability to customise to low levels in the game was lost and perhaps required additional software (like SimPE3)--again for TS3 non-issue because the developers were on top of that and customisation was part of their vision. For TS4 and future games, this is an issue because players will have to learn how to code and that takes time away from creation. The modding community is vital to gameplay, and TS2 had the best and most diverse modding community.
This. Wish I could have TS4 looks and graphics with more TS2 and TS3 game play.
In regards to the thread, I like TS2 based a lot off of nostalgia, admittedly. I played it at a time when I was really vulnerable and kind of absorbed into it. There's little details I like though, like how I never knew what I would come back to if I left the computer for a minute.
I do not have any + and - to provide for the OP, but I just wanted to take the time to say thanks to all the people who voiced their opinions. It was such a fun and nostalgic read that I decided to redownload my TS2UC back to my PC
@Animaag - Happy Simming!
I seriously can't remember anything i didn't like about it.
I so wish they could have added my horses to it.
I do have all the series still installed and try to play them all when i get time.
In 4 my sims do seem more alive? I guess but 2 still to me have the personalities that i remember. It was such a huge upgrade from the first one and I don't think they will ever repeat that.
Having horses & open world never gave me that same feeling of Awww like that first plumb bob baby.
AHQ Champion
It makes me sad that random emotions and pointless traits have killed off the individuality of each sim. It is why some people playing Sims 4 tend to get bored because the Sims are pretty much the same no matter what trait they have.
LIKE my page on FACEBOOK. @jm.violetsims14
I feel that I don't have that extra time for dating, etc in Sims 4 right now due to the extremely slow nature of relationship building. I feel that taking care of their needs is better in TS2 than TS3 or 4. They automatically socialize and raise their Fun need without me telling them to.
The other reason I play TS2 and TS4 is that the Sims just look better. In TS3 they looked like clay (and ended up looking the same in game) to me.
Since you started with TS3 it apparantly felt like a step backwards for you.
Final Fantasy fans who have been there from the begining will tell you that the NES games were the best of the serires.
Folks that started with FF7 for PS1 beg to differ.
Some Star Wars fans who grew up in the era they were originally released bash the prequels mercilessly. yet many folks that grew up with them think they are actually better than the originals.
It's only natural that people will tend to favor the iteration they started with in any franchise.
My Sims
The Sims: Bustin' Out (PS2)
The Sims 2 (PS2)
The Sims 3 PS3 then PC right after
The Sims 2 (PC)
Then Sims 4
The Sims Medieval
I've played a good majority of them tbh and I can tell you to this day I still play 5 of these games listed and the one I play most is 2 on PC. I don't feel nostalgia with it because I first played it in 2014 but I just really enjoy it because like @Chimark said, I see them totally different games rather than upgrades. It's the little things I enjoyed like birdwatching, having a cleaning skill, having to purchase clothing at a store, having to buy a cellphone rather than already having one, opening my own restaurant, having an animation for your car pulling out of the driveway. You can even bathe your toddler in a sink and when changing their diapers you have to dispose of the used one. I just feel that EA put a lot more effort in making that game fun rather than making it look pretty and having an open world. Don't get me wrong, I have hundreds of hours in TS3 but the Sims in that one feel so slow to me. Sorry for the large post I don't think I got every point across that I wanted but you get the idea
PS: Custom Content for Sims 2 is so good IMO
(Edit: Added PS)
Personally I like the genetics and the sheer variety of interactions and possibilities, and my main barrier to getting into TS3 was the need to stick with one family while the game married off the rest of the neighborhood and made them have babies at random. That and the constant side-quests of delivering hot dogs to some neighbor I'd never heard of.
TS2 Graphics Fix Tutorial]