The Sims 2 Playstyle vs. The Sims 3 Playstyle

"Sallycutecat;c-17763875" wrote:
Sims 4 is similar to 3 in this case and I prefer the way it is in those games. The wants and fears, the apiration meter, and needing to see a therapist when that meter got low made the game quite hard for me. I'm the kind of Simmer who likes to do my own thing rather than be driven by the game. In Sims 2 my Sims aspiration meters were often in the red cause I didn't pay attention to their wants and fears (they probably realised a fear without me knowing). It took the fun out of the game for me, but I can see why people who like this system will prefer Sims 2.

Cindy @ PleasantSims is a big The Sims 2 player, though she mainly plays Pleasantview and her own custom neighborhoods and The Sims 3 Pleasantview, then loves to complain about The Sims 4 for not having TS2-like gameplay. She plays by the wants most of the time.

In my own gameplay, playing by wants feels too easy for me, because the wants are easy to fulfill and the aspiration rewards are relatively cheap compared to TS3's locked rewards. I usually make TS2 game more challenging/fun to play by focusing on wants (sometimes even fears) and LifeTime Wants and Careers, and while doing so, I take advantage of all the aspiration rewards and career rewards to help my Sims fulfill their goals. TS2 also adds the additional challenge of needs/motives maintenance. Sims have relatively low autonomy compared to TS3, so I really have to micromanage to make sure that everyone's needs are up so they can perform the activities.

Personally, I think TS2 and TS3 are both quite challenging games in their own unique ways, and TS4 misses the mark. However, I can definitely see why some TS4 fans really love TS4. They just want to do their own thing or play house.