the console version and the PC version of this game might as well be completely different IPs for how dissimilar they are.
tried revisiting this one and i appreciate the groundwork it laid for the series. that said, actually playing it is fairly tedious. to be frank this game runs like shit on console and it feels as though needs decay way too fast in this game compared to later entries. it's also hard to get money in the first third or so of the game, but trivially easy for the remainder. it's a shame getting to that point is so tedious and dull. maybe a commentary on capitalism and how escaping poverty is a meaningless and futile endeavor? sure, but it's done inelegantly and leaves me wanting to play another game.
eventually, i got to the second to last level, had so much money i could buy literally anything i wanted and maxed out my property value, but got stuck having to raise a kid. how the hell am i gonna raise a shitmachine when i've literally got no free time? doesn't help that this game has an "endearing" quirk where a baby in a cradle will just spawn periodically without any warning or prerequisite action. i cannot tell you how many infant sims i've had social services take away from me because i'd get one without wanting it and go "fuck it, take this thing away from me ASAP".
i just wasn't really having fun for most of my playthrough, but i don't hate this game? i definitely dislike it, but that feels more a product of EA telling maxis to make a console version of an ostensibly PC game and coming out with this. and for being a bastard child borne of greed rather than creativity, sure, it works. really, i have no one to blame but myself for playing the inferior version.
tried revisiting this one and i appreciate the groundwork it laid for the series. that said, actually playing it is fairly tedious. to be frank this game runs like shit on console and it feels as though needs decay way too fast in this game compared to later entries. it's also hard to get money in the first third or so of the game, but trivially easy for the remainder. it's a shame getting to that point is so tedious and dull. maybe a commentary on capitalism and how escaping poverty is a meaningless and futile endeavor? sure, but it's done inelegantly and leaves me wanting to play another game.
eventually, i got to the second to last level, had so much money i could buy literally anything i wanted and maxed out my property value, but got stuck having to raise a kid. how the hell am i gonna raise a shitmachine when i've literally got no free time? doesn't help that this game has an "endearing" quirk where a baby in a cradle will just spawn periodically without any warning or prerequisite action. i cannot tell you how many infant sims i've had social services take away from me because i'd get one without wanting it and go "fuck it, take this thing away from me ASAP".
i just wasn't really having fun for most of my playthrough, but i don't hate this game? i definitely dislike it, but that feels more a product of EA telling maxis to make a console version of an ostensibly PC game and coming out with this. and for being a bastard child borne of greed rather than creativity, sure, it works. really, i have no one to blame but myself for playing the inferior version.