Well, they obviously weren't going for realistic with sims 4, so why compare the two in that aspect. People prefer different games' aesthetics because people are different. Realistic isn't necessarily better then cartoony, they are just different
Sims 4 because I love how sleek the art style is, although sometimes it looks a little too clean. I personally loved the realistic graphics from TS3, but as soon as TS4 dropped the game aged 10 years graphically for me - at times I can't stand playing because of how ugly the sims look compared to TS4. It looks more realistic though, and that's because they went for the realistic look. but I imagine it will age the worst out of all the Sims games as a result.
I say TS3 is more realistic. We have the open world which makes the game feel more alive. I can go to any part of the map and not have to worry about the fake backdrops that TS4 has. To me, that is not realistic, it's like watching a play on stage with pretty backdrops that you have to wait for them to change between scenes. Open world is like watching a movie as the background is constantly moving and changing with the time and you don't have to have loading screens to go from one lot to and another as the Sims in TS3 can walk/run/ drive/bicycle/take a cab to another lot and you can watch as the scenery goes by. The whole comparing a movie to a play was someone else's opinion but I have never thought of it until that person made the comparison but it pretty much sums up the differences between the 2. TS3=movie while TS4=stage play.
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