@filipomel Thanks :)
I absolutely agree concerning the necklace and things like that, in terms of that it looks flat, but I don't quite see how that adresses art style inconsistency. That's comparable to that ball pit or the fruit bowl in Sims 4, or the awfully designed small animals. And most recently the flat hamster habitat tubes that appear to be painted on the wall, totally flat as well. As for the hairstyles, nothing wrong with the first one imo, but the second and the third one are just really poorly done.
Your 'on the verge of realism' isn't on the verge of realism at all.
http://i64.tinypic.com/2ql8q5d.jpg
This is on the verge of realism:
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/de/ec/a4/deeca4149d4272e104c16ac6c1545fd8.jpg
Sims 3 is just more detailed than this:
http://s1.postimg.org/5xl5z5lfz/09_12_14_4_48_PM.png
(for me there's inconsistency between that grass and those 3D flowers by the way)
And Sims 2's grass has in fact the same quality as Sims 3 grass if not more (as do rocks for that matter). The statement "some items are fully modelled 3D items, while others are just flat textures, and for some reason these flat textures all look fuzzy around the edges" actually can be said for Sims 4 as well. The lighting looks realistic, the graphics often are quite sharp, but then there's that ball pit, or the squirrel, or those flat tubes, or the fruit bowl.
https://i.imgur.com/TA5CdxM.png
Some clothes are done well, where other clothes suddenly look rushed and poor quality. Sims 4's art style is consistent where it comes to appearance (it all looks like everything's made of rubber and I think that's a deliberate choice). I prefer a stylized look that makes wood look like wood however, rock like rock, skin like skin, fabric like fabric myself but always loyal to the art style. I honestly think that's what you might be confusing here. But again: that's no different for Sims 2. Sims 2's and 3's art styles are very similar, I often confuse them even seeing pictures.
ETA: I think the sim in your example looks more 'stylized' (in terms of low realism) than necessary in the game by the way.
https://i.imgur.com/Qvd9SZF.png
