Let’s get it out of the way now that The Sims 2 and The Sims 4 have quite a bit in common. The Sims 3, arguably the fan favorite, was a whole new milestone for the series. It introduced an open world that players could watch over like twisted gods. No longer would your sim disappear when leaving their house, you could follow them to work, the beach, a museum, anywhere. You didn’t have the loading screen reticulating its splines when walking across the street.
However, The Sims 4 decided to go back. Way back. To 2004. And they took heavy inspiration from its predecessor. Your sim wants to head across the street? Loading screen. Are you heading to your career? Your sim gets grayed out. It’s so similar to a game that came out 10 years prior, that it’s really quite incredible. It ends up feeling more like a sequel to 2 than 3 was.
Sure, there are some differences. Had EA not listened to fan complaints, The Sims 4 wouldn’t have pools or family trees, both of which were in The Sims 2 from the get go. The Sims 2 also featured body mass shifts depending on the diet of your sim, not just how much they work out.
What’s interesting to note is that The Sims 2 has been out for 12 years. Thus, it has all of the expansions behind it. So not only is The Sims 4 basically The Sims 2, it’s worse because it doesn’t have all of the expansions you could play right now. Let’s take a look at every expansion and how it changes the dynamics of the game.
