Thank you for making this! A lot of new-gen players see us playing The Sims 2 and probably think we are weird for playing such an old game. But the things you pointed out here are some really compelling gameplay aspects, and the fact that it isn't even all of them is even better! There is so much to explore and love about this game.
Sims 2 is still the best of the series. I still build with Sims 2 and surprisingly you can do a lot without custom content! Gameplay is so fun and immersive. The Sims react to things, the mechanics are cohesive and all the Sims are unique to each other.
First off, I want to comment on how much I agree with your stance that players should continue to play Sims 2 (a nearld 20 year old game)❣ With that said, I wanted to expand on your first reason: World Creation: a)While the basegame does ship with 3 Neighborhoods, as well as 3 additional Neighborhoods can be found in later EPs (for a total of 6, as you stated), there are also 8 subhoods that can be utilized no matter which Neighborhood you choose to play in (also shipped with future EPs): University (3 Campuses): 1) Sim State University 2) La Fiesta Tech 3) Académie Le Tour NightLife (a Downtown): 4) Downtown Open for Business (a Shopping District): 5) Bluewater Village Bon Voyage (3 Vacation Destinations): 6) Takemizu Village 7) Three Lakes 8) Twikkii Island Note: Any and All of these Subhoods can be added to your Save file, additional Subhoods can be created, add in the other Neighborhoods as Subhoods (for Uberhoods), or download Custom Hoods from the Exchange (or other trusted sites). * This brings the Premade World Count up to 14 (without counting any Custom Hoods). b) With many EPs came Secret (Hidden) Lots, only accessible if certain criteria is met. University (Each of the 3 Campuses have Hidden Secret Society Lots - can be accessed after befriending 3 SS Members): 1) Landgraab Society (Sims State) 2) LFT Society (La Fiesta Tech) 3) Volauvent Society (Académie Le Tour) Bon Voyage (All 3 Vacation Destinations have Hidden Lots - they can be accessed by obtaining their treasure maps, by digging for treasure): 4) Pagoda of the Shadows (Takemizu Village: Home of the Wise Old Man) 5) Hidden Burrow (Three Lakes: Home of Bigfoot) 6) Mysterious Hut (Twikkii Island: Home of the Witch Doctor) FreeTime (While FreeTime Ships with the Neighborhood "Desiderata Valley," it also ships with 10 Hidden Hobby Lots, that can be accessed from any Neighborhood/Subhood/Uberhood, by reaching level 5 Enthusiasm of its corresponding Hobby): 7) Aspirational Laboratories: Science 8) Desirable Discourse: Film and Literature 9) Dreamy Fields: Sports 10) Games of Glory: Games 11) My Muse - Music & Dance Studio: Music and Dance 12) My Muse II - Arts & Crafts Studio: Arts and Crafts 13) Peerless Park: Nature 14) Platinum Gym: Fitness 15) Sue's Secret Kitchen: Cuisine 16) Will's Garage: Tinkering Apartment Life (Again this EP shipped with its own Neighborhood, "Belladonna Cove," but its Subhood "Magic," which has 2 Hidden Lots, can be accessed from any Hood, by becoming a Witch/Warlock): 17) Palace of Neverending Light (Home of the Infallibly Good Witch/Warlock) 18) Fortress of Eternal Darkness (Home of the Atrociously Evil Witch/Warlock) Note: While these are a bit trickier to create (change), with mods and cheats they can be done, just remember once finished to give it its proper lot type, as well as ensure you have every aspect to your liking (prior to saving and exiting), because once you leave the lot, it will disappear. Honestly, I normally Download Clean (Empty: Creating my own Hoods or Populated: Custom Hoods), Templates that have fixed/modified versions of the Secret Lots. You also can use cheats to temporarily add to Secret lots (Secret Society Lots can be modified once you become a member as funds allow), just remember any additions/modifications will be lost, upon leaving the Lot. c) Apartments, Dorms, Hotels, Businesses: Unlike the Sims 3 Apartments: there are no need for Shells, and Apartments can be built with multiple rooms/apartments for rent. Unlike Sims 4 Apartments: Sims 2 Apartments can be Built in any Neighborhood and most Subhoods. Unlike Sims 3 & 4, there are no 8-10 room limitations to deal with in Sims 2, and you can also have 8 playable active Dormies, along with additional NPC Dormies (i.e. a 15 room Dorm can have up to 8 active Playables, the remaining 7 rooms will be filled by NPC Dormies). Custom Dorms can be made to include many aspects from other DLC (i.e. Greenhouses, complete with Plantable plots/pots, Composts, Fruit Trees, Ladybug Lofts, etc. can all be placed in common areas). Hotels (Motels/Inns/etc.) are not limited to just Vacation Destinations, ergo you can add them to most Subhoods, and Check in as if you are on a Vacation. Lastly, Since there are no Rabit Hole Community Lots, Sims 2 offers the most Comprehensive ways to build any Business Lot (I do suggest using a modded object, i.e. the "Visitor Controller" if you want to ban/allow certain Sims from any lot). While in Sims 2, you can also own and operate a Business at Home, I do suggest, placing a Business next Door (due to household funds being combined with Business Funds), or get a Mod Fix for that. There are several other aspects to add in to World Building (i.e. Beach Lots, Parks, etc., but I mainly wanted to focus on the those I find top tiered over Sims 3 & 4).
My Top 10 Aspects of Sims 2 that keep me Playing: #10) Genetics: a) Dominant/Recessive Features (passed on from parents, grandparents, etc.). b) Inherited Personalities. c) Some Inherited Interests. d) No Inherited Plastic Surgeries, Hair Dyes, Personality Point changes (i.e. parents were encouraged, occult changes, etc.), any temporary fluxes. #9) Apartments: a) Semi-Open World (no loading screens visiting neighbors). b) 4 Playable households can reside at complex. c) Can place or build (or download from the Exchange), in every Neighborhood, and most Sub hoods. d) Can make Flop Houses, Penthouse Apartments, Rental Row Houses, Single Family Rental Homes, any type of Rental Housing is available. e) Can have 8 in household, plus a roommate (ergo, you can have 36 sims living at each Complex). #8) World Building: See above for a bit more detail. #7) Rotational Gameplay: a) Never missing Milestones or Events (i.e. Birthdays, Weddings, Deaths, Births, etc.). b) Aging can easily be synchronized. c) No friends/foes/strangers/family members are autonomously Progressed out of Town. d) Scripted Events can be done in the order I choose (lots of replayability, to get different outcomes). #6) Consequences (The Good, the Bad the Ugly): a) Evolving sims have varied consequences. b) Fufilling too many Fears trigger Aspiration Failures, which result in Meldowns, which trigger Therapists, and continuing in the red, will result in unique to Aspiration meltdowns. Also fears takes away Aspiration Points. c) Fulfilling Wants, will raise Aspiration Level, give Aspiration Points, and if elevated high enough (gold/platinum), can result in growing up well, work promotions/raises, etc. d) Keep eating with a full hunger bar, your sim could get fat, or work out enough, your sim could get fit. Some needs going too low can result in passing out, death, a visit from the Social Bunny, etc. e) Whereas Sims 3 & 4 both have consequences, Negative ones can get buffed with Positive Moodlets (and or Emotion objects in Sims 4). #5) Cinematic Cutscenes: Truly the best way to show off "Firsts," and while to me, they never grow old, they can be toggled on and off at anytime. #4) Open for Business: a) Nearly any type of Business can be created, or owned and Operated. b) Family-Owned and Operated Businesses are completely feasible. c) Awesome Perks. d) Not limited to Community Lots, Home Owned Businesses work as Well. #3) Memories: a) The best Memory System of the Sims Series. b) From Cradle to Grave, Milestones are all seamlessly kept. c) Even Premades tell their Backstories when we first play them. d) Contrary to formerly believed, Memories do not corrupt Save Files. Albeit, Memories can become very bloated. Sim PE and mods can cut out the bloat, while keeping the most important Milestones intact. e) Memories can be erased, if that is where you want your Story to go, from an Evil Witch/Warlock's spell. #2) Unique Personalities: a) Personality Sliders: 10 double sided, with Over 5k variations. b) Interests: 18 for Sims (with 5 subcategories), 9 for Pets (also with 5 subcategories), unquantifiable variations; change throughout gameplay. c) Hobbies: 10 different Hobbies, multiple variations, continually evolving through gameplay. d) Skills: Impact Interests, Hobbies, Aspiration, etc., which in turn, impacts Personalities. e) Wants/Fears: Fulfilling either Wants or Fears has distinct consequences, which can enhance or decimate a Sims Personality. f) Reputation: Reputation can range anywhere between -100 to +100. The further towards either extreme, the worst/best consequences (i.e. rent is increased or random Sims will fight you/rent is decreased or random Sims will autonomously worship you, asking for your autograph), for Sims. This is the lense in which other Sims view your sim. g) Primary/Secondary Aspirations: Here is the heart of the Personality System. All the other aspect pump the blood through. #1) Lore: a) Scripted Events. b) Bios, Backstories. c) Memories. d) Drama/Chaos. e) Consequences. f) Iconic Characters.
this is the best sims game, and although i'm biased because i grew up with sims 3 i can still admit that! if youre a mod user, you can make the game look extremely modern and beautiful, while being unmatched in the story and gameplay aspects too, totally unchanged!
The colors and lighting is much better than sims 3. You can tell they tried to return to those aspects when they made the sims 4, where again you can see the clarity in color and lighting returned.
Love the video! You should talk a little louder or turn the volume up in a program cuz without headphones is hard (for me at least) to hear you. Thank you for the video, can wait to see more, much love!
Very cool video, I agree 100%. I just download Sims 2 again after more than 10 years and I'm in love. I just sorth of fixed the graphics because it looked terrible but my sims customization is so limited and I screwed my loading screens, it would be amazing if you do one video explaining how your game looks so beautiful 🥹
