If we are starting to juxtapose sims 2, sims 3 doesn't come close either. None of the store restaurant/bakery content for sims 3 compare to the sims 2 OFB; so even bringing that up as a slight against 4 is disingenuous, you couldn't even work in the sims 3 restaurants.
Watch the animations you posted, watch the difference between the sims 2 and the sims 3 for cooking - the sims from 3 just pull a bowl, cookware and utensils out of thin air; the sims from sims 2 opens the cupboards/draws and retrieves bowls, cooking utensils, cookware. The sims 3 cracks eggs onto a cutting board? The sims 3 money is taken from wallet if you don't have the ingredients, sims 2 you have to shop for your food.
Watch the animations of a sim in the sims 2 getting into a car vs the sims 3 getting into a car and ask how they managed to simplify them to such a degree, if they reused the same animations anyway. In the sims 2 they open the door, get in and close door, back out and drive away - in the sims 3 they magically appear in their car on the road.
The sims 2 had hair physics, a game from 2004, has moving hair that 2 newer games, working with better software and still couldn't manage. Those little touches - sims 2 children crying if they see their parents fighting which the parents could then console, you can dance with your children on your feet, cuddle on the couch; the interactions between sims, in sims 2 is much more complex and nuanced.
Fears, wants, personality, chemistry all replaced with moodlets in the sims 3, which only added to their robotic demeanor and lack of unique personalities. Sims in 2 were actually impacted by their personality traits and their memories, if a sim grew up bad it would affect their life; if people had opposite personalities "playful/serious" or "grumpy/nice" it was incredibly hard to make them friends. Sims 2 personality system would impact how a sim approached everything, down to showering. Sims 3 you gave them 5 traits which made most sims act interchangeably (unless it was something like evil) and they barely react to their experiences.
The sims 3 left out so many amazing aspects from the sims 2 that made the sims what it is, it barely qualifies for me. Comparing sims 3 to sims 2 is like comparing a turd to a pearl, sims 3 isn't in the same league.
