This game is utterly bizarre. It's totally narrative based, and there are a lot of straight up weird sequences, events, or characters that make the game feel totally alien all the way up to the end. I remember being immensely creeped out playing it but not hating the experience. It's a very contained game with very little to do overall, and its age really shows compared to some of the other shining DS titles of the same time.
The Sims 2 for Nintendo DS was a huge nostalgia trip I wanted to jump onto as I remember fondly sinking a lot of time into this back when it released.
However... it has not aged well at all. It's weird how lifeless the entire game is - and just how 'Small' it all is - even for a DS game.
I found the 'based on real time' system to, while it was popular when the DS was released, be annoying and making money was also irritating.
You essentially are made owner of a hotel in the middle of the desert and have to build rooms, check in guests (who stay for real world days and your main income comes from them checking out) and essentially micromanage it all. Vacuuming the hotel, cleaning up puddles, putting out fires, saving up money to expand and get that 100% hotel score.
All while you have a 'main storyline' that's split into three, very small, acts. I'd have preferred they ditch the three main 'levels' and focused more in on the hotel management because both parts feel incredibly underwhelming.
Replaying it definitely was a bad move as my love for this game is ... gone.
However... it has not aged well at all. It's weird how lifeless the entire game is - and just how 'Small' it all is - even for a DS game.
I found the 'based on real time' system to, while it was popular when the DS was released, be annoying and making money was also irritating.
You essentially are made owner of a hotel in the middle of the desert and have to build rooms, check in guests (who stay for real world days and your main income comes from them checking out) and essentially micromanage it all. Vacuuming the hotel, cleaning up puddles, putting out fires, saving up money to expand and get that 100% hotel score.
All while you have a 'main storyline' that's split into three, very small, acts. I'd have preferred they ditch the three main 'levels' and focused more in on the hotel management because both parts feel incredibly underwhelming.
Replaying it definitely was a bad move as my love for this game is ... gone.