keep in mind that this 5/5 rating is for for versions 2020 and before. also it's unrealistic and completely nostalgia blinded and i'm biased because 9-12 year old me spent TOO MUCH time playing whatever this is.
lol the current state of the game deserves 1*. it gives me the ick. awful. terrible. throwing up worthy.
there has been an in-game economic crisis for the last 2 years. crowns taking over as what seems to be the only currency for all new items was the worst idea ever, and for me it definitely was the last final straw that killed this game.
events became just terrible. houses aren't even pretty or innovative amymore, most fashion designs suck, brands barely have brought anything good to the store in a while, YOU GET FUCKING ADS WHEN YOU'RE PLAYING.

sometimes i download it again just to check my houses and decorate them a bit. it's therapeutic.

base game experience is lacking and vanilla experience is boring. a significative downgrade in various gameplay aspects of ts2 and ts3. soemtimes i feel it lacks detail and personality.
this game's lore is horrendous compared to all previous entry on the series and imo the writers got so lazy that they decided to make a new alternate universe for this.
what stands out is the brand new cas with an amazing character costumization, and of course the build mode. seriously this is a life sim but the building is what really goes hard, i love building and decorating in ts4.
i still have like 130 hours in this thing though. i love the sims 4 you could never make me hate her.