I have always loved Island Paradise. It was one of the two reasons I became a simmer (the other was World Adventures). But I am also loving Island Living. I just genuinely can't stop playing it, because real life seems so boring and grey compared to it!
@ClarionOfJoy , you have made a list of things IP has that IL doesn't have, but there are also things in IL that IP doesn't have:
- the conservationist career, which is an open career like lifeguard is in IP. I'm playing it now and so far I'm enjoying it more that IP lifeguards because the tasks seem more varied, but I've only been working for three or four sim days so it's early to tell
- dolphins
- an active volcano
- the ability to enter the sea directly from the deck of a house built above the sea
- tanning with tan lines from clothes or sunscreen
- "off the grid" lots where life is cheaper, but there is no plumbing and electricity; also the ability to make nudist lots
- elemental spirits
- events that pop up, like a pit barbecue, a fire dance of baby turtles hatching
- features of Polynesian culture like outrigger canoes and the kava ceremony.
All together I would say there is much more gameplay in Island Paradise, but if you don't view Island Living as a replacement for Island Paradise but as a tropical expansion of a completely different game, it's very, very enjoyable.
