The problem with The Sims 4 compared to previous games explained with a scene from FRIENDS.
The Sims 4 is trying to be this bland, pretty, limited and uncustomizable dollhouse. It seems that a lot of people like it that way because they don't want anything too crazy happening that is out of their control. This means a lot of the features like vampires, ghosts, getting fired etc. are made to not be intrusive meaning that they have to get watered-down.
On the other hand, there is the Sims 2, which is kind of the exact opposite. That game is build in a way that allows it to give you a "push" here and there with your kind of gameplay. Things happen unexpectedly and there is a lot of challenge, penalties and stuff that would be considered outright unrealistic by Sims 4 standards. It allows for so many weird stories.
I was watching Friends the other day and it was the episode where Monica gets a dollhouse and Phoebe brings stuff that Monica doesn't want to have. She even brings a ghost and Monica says she doesn't want a ghost to which Phoebe replies "nobody wants a ghost".
That reminds me of the ghost situation in the Sims 4. The ghosts are mostly friendly, cannot cause any harm or do anything significant. They are watered-down for the people who don't want them to exist.
This is the scene btw. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOeAThye5rQ
So while the Sims 4 comes with a lot of features we have seen before, it comes with almost none of the consequences and disadvantages of these features because it doesn't wanna offend, hurt or invade anyone and anyone's game.
To sum it all up, the Sims 4 is like "Okay, if people want aliens, just put them in there to look cute but let's make sure they don't really do anything". While the Sims 2 was always like "Let's make the game have both rewards and challenges cause that is what real-life is like, unexpected and surpising."
On the other hand, there is the Sims 2, which is kind of the exact opposite. That game is build in a way that allows it to give you a "push" here and there with your kind of gameplay. Things happen unexpectedly and there is a lot of challenge, penalties and stuff that would be considered outright unrealistic by Sims 4 standards. It allows for so many weird stories.
I was watching Friends the other day and it was the episode where Monica gets a dollhouse and Phoebe brings stuff that Monica doesn't want to have. She even brings a ghost and Monica says she doesn't want a ghost to which Phoebe replies "nobody wants a ghost".
That reminds me of the ghost situation in the Sims 4. The ghosts are mostly friendly, cannot cause any harm or do anything significant. They are watered-down for the people who don't want them to exist.
This is the scene btw. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOeAThye5rQ
So while the Sims 4 comes with a lot of features we have seen before, it comes with almost none of the consequences and disadvantages of these features because it doesn't wanna offend, hurt or invade anyone and anyone's game.
To sum it all up, the Sims 4 is like "Okay, if people want aliens, just put them in there to look cute but let's make sure they don't really do anything". While the Sims 2 was always like "Let's make the game have both rewards and challenges cause that is what real-life is like, unexpected and surpising."
