I absolutely get the TS2 feeling with TS4. I didn't really like TS3. I tried to like it, but the sims themselves felt lacking. There was plenty to do with EPs, but the sims themselves had no personality, which is what I play the game for. And there was too much realism.
TS4 has gone back to its roots and I too believe that the 'charm' so many of us moaned about being missing from TS3 has returned. The sims are actually different and unique from each other now, and will respond to situations differently. The humour is back! And it runs lovely. My laptop that played Skyrim without a hiccup really did not like TS3, and the amount of mods I had to install and continually update just to stop the game from imploding upon itself was just too much work when all I really wanted to do was relax and play the game.
In my opinion, Sims 3 was an anomaly in the series, and Sims 4 has returned the series to where, in my opinion, it should be.
I'm 26, I've been playing the series since its inception in 2000; so many of my feelings and opinions are based on nostalgia. I have a feeling that newer players, those who began with TS3, may not take to this game as much. Which is fine! If everybody liked the same things then life would be boring.