Honestly, I think the issues remain in the base game, not necessarily the packs. While a lot of the EPs have felt "lesser" to me than they used to be, I think they've gone into some better depth lately. And I say that as someone who hasn't even liked the last two EP themes.
If the base game had the mechanics of previous games, the EPs would show their value better. I think that's what's confusing and frustrating about DLC. We're always expecting the next one to fill the empty hole and it really doesn't. Sims still have the same erratic behavior, shallow personalities, and lack of balanced emotions. There's only so much that a pack is capable of fulfilling if the base game doesn't allow it.
But I also think that some of the development choices have been weird. Sometimes, instead of an intuitive and cohesive theme, it seem like the devs change something for the sake of change. It's like they're purposely avoiding tropes or common expectations just to switch things up. For example, a snowy pack would be expected to be in Switzerland or somewhere else known to have snow sports. And while the Japanese world is nice, it almost feels like a forced union when they could have gone all in with the activities and environment and, yes, resorts. That's what makes the packs start to feel "split" and why players still feel like there's so much more that the game needs. Themes aren't always quite as focused as they used to be, or as "expansive". For instance, the Conservation career in Island Living. It feels like it was just thrown into the mix, yet we didn't get underwater diving gameplay or a larger variety of water sports. And to put it another way, we got Mermaids but no underwater swimming. The conservation career would have gone much better with Eco Lifestyle. Why wasn't all of this environmental stuff released together in one integrated pack so that packs like Island Living could have had more of its actual theme catered to?
Anyway, to sum it up, I don't think all of the EPs are equal in value and I think they do feel more full lately, but I also think they would feel more complete if the base game was improved a lot more and the themes were more solid and consistent.
