I think it is fair game to compare each of the games, they all have something different that they offer. The ultimate idea here I think that was being presented was quality and quantity that changed greatly from Sims 3 to Sims 4. I love each one for its quirks and unique capabilities.
The Sims
Prior to The Sims I was an avid Sims City 2000 player, and still get nostalgic thinking about it. When The Sims was released I bought it immediately, I loved all aspects and possibilities with the game. For me it was the first of its kind and was the only type of game that I really enjoyed on any platform of that time. It was the beginning and in every right it was perfect, because it was the start and there was nothing to compare to at the time.
The Sims 2
This era of the game really was my favorite for a lot of reasons. It was credibly a true enhancement of the game. It took the game into 3D. It had ingenuity and precision detailing. I owned every single thing that came out for The Sims 2. Every expansion blended well with each other and truly brought a whole new level of game play quality. There were new ideas and the additional content was new. The Community at the time was very close knit everyone uplifted each other. It was fun to mod and recolor things in the game, Building was fun, and I distinctly remember working with another blogger about garden design. Again it was really hard to compare this to its predecessor because it really was an enhancement of the game.
The Sims 3
This Era of the game lasted the longest for me. I simply loved the open world format and the detail was divine to me. I loved that it brought with it many of the things I loved from The Sims 2. I enjoyed all of the collecting and some of the new expansions ideas like into the Future, which was one of my favorites and a legacy one of my children continues. The hardest thing about The Sims 3 was the operating system and lagging issues I experienced. To really be able to play for a long time you had to really be selective in which expansions you were going to play with. I mean the game was huge and I was never going to afford a computer that might possibly play the game. The loading screens were daunting and compared to The Sims 2 were much worse.
The Sims 4
This Era took me the longest to get into. Many of the initial reviews did not paint a good picture for the game. It was buggy and stark, seemingly stripped of the Sims Essence. I always intended to get it, I would just give it time to develop more. I have been playing since last Christmas and I have to say, I do like it, but there are things that are very obvious and concerning about it. I love that it plays well on my computer and has an option for laptop. It definitely has limitations, possibly from the underlying operating design that I really have little knowledge about. Other will. For me it was an upgrade from The Sims 3 in the ability to play without lagging or crashing. It has the open neighborhood and I actually am happy with that. I like for what it is. If you compare it graphically to The Sims 3 it certainly cannot compare, but in its own right still beautiful. I miss the quirkiness of the Sims. They seemed more lively in the preceding games. I also wish the story progression would happen. It took me a while to get the hang of build mode, it feels a little rigid to me.
The thing is in many ways the quality of the product is not as great as it once was, I would take quality over quantity at this point. I never really liked the stuff pack content idea, in Sims 3 the stuff packs did lend to the game play. In Sims 4 I feel while a few did bring something to the game, many should have just been included with the expansion they mirror, and others well, they look pretty but the interaction feels lacking. I am overall disappointed with what the Stuff packs for Sims 4 brought and did not bring to the game. I could go on, but I will stop here.
Remember , these are my thoughts and opinions from my experiences with the game alone. I love all the games for their Unique contribution to the franchise.
Cheers!
