I jumped straight from sims 1 to sims 4 with a lot of years of not playing between them. I really like how the worlds work once I got used to how quickly I can move from world to world. I have my complaints, but after getting used to it, none of them are about gameworld size. I enjoy the gameplay more than I expected and the more I play, the fewer complaints that I have.
Strict budgets are fascinating to me. I appreciate the work of people that must maneuver under strict budgets. I like to watch van-living and tiny-house videos. I don't want my game to be more resource intensive. I'm good with small worlds.
