Why Sims 4 fans should play 1 & 2 in 2025

The Sims feels like a series that has been around forever. The original title was released 25 years ago, with a sequel arriving four years down the line. Those two games are now older than some people playing Sims 4 in 2025. But is there any reason to go back to the original titles this year?The original Sims was a precursor to modern cozy gamesToday, the concept of "cozy games" is everywhere. It's safe to say that at this point, it's more than just a fad. With our current society filled with terrible news pretty much daily, sometimes the only escape is a comforting virtual environment. And it is my opinion that the original The Sims, today, is as great an escape as any.Image via MaxisSome feel like the original game was way harder than any of the sequels, and they would be correct. That's because players try to reach the top as fast as possible. Instead, The Sims is meant to be taken lightly and one step at a time, just like real life. Sure, you could rush your way by spamming the "rosebud" cheat as many times as you need to, but that approach lacks satisfaction.The first game was originally planned by Maxis and Will Wright to be a virtual doll house, a game focused more on designing houses and filling them with stuff, rather than managing lives. It also took almost ten years of development to arrive at its finished version, since Maxis had been doing quite badly financially before being taken over by Electronic Arts.Image via MaxisWright just wanted to be left alone to finish his original vision, but instead, he was asked to work on other games such as SimCopter (incidentally, this is where simlish, the language of the Sims, first debuted). Finally, after 1997, he was given the team and the resources he needed to finish the game, which evolved to a strict focus simulation, while incorporating satirical elements of US consumeristic culture, easily noticeable in the description of the items.The overall satire and light political discourse of the original The Sims was also lost in subsequent sequels, along with the franchise becoming a huge juggernaut that couldn't touch such topics with a ten-foot pole. So, if you are ready to embrace the original pungent and spicy flavor of The Sims, then you might be ready to spend hours in its mechanics and unique gameplay. Thanks to the relaxing piano music in the background, designing your favorite house almost feels like a light vaporwave dream. Then you could continue building your dream pool (don't forget the ladder!) or, well, strategically planning the furniture of your poor Sim house. Does he really need a bed?The Sims 2 brings a more focused kind of gameplayAfter many expansion packs for the original game, finally, in 2004 Maxis released the long-awaited sequel to The Sims. While Wright was long gone by this point and working on something else entirely, the team was still there and they delivered exactly what Sims 2 was supposed to be: a bigger and better kind of life sim.Image via MaxisAlong with using a fully 3D engine for easier control and management of your Sims, you have many new features right from the get-go, without the game being crushed by the weight of its new ideas and mechanics. You can even age up in the sequel, something that was missing from the original. It is definitely not an accident that the sequel sold one million copies in ten days, a feat never seen before 2004.It was also the first game to take the series into a new and quite strange direction since I am pretty sure there has never been a video game where a male character can get pregnant after being abducted by aliens. Your male sim then goes on to birth a half-alien child. Fun stuff.Image via MaxisNot only do genetics now play a part in the children of your Sims, but each Sim has aspirations in life. Babies do not simply take on genetic characteristics of their parents, but also personality traits where, in the first Sims, it would be a random throw of the dice.The game also offers a more varied experience. While you still can't follow your Sim to work, you can take them on a night out without having to buy more expansions. The new cutscenes also added a whole new narrative subtext which was missing in the original.The sequel lacks some of the political commentary and simplicity of the original. But it makes up for it with tons of new features that players of The Sims 4 will recognize and likely appreciate.Is it only about nostalgia?Overall, The Sims is one of the most successful gaming series of all time, and going back to play the original games can be considered an interesting dive into history.Image via EA GamesThe original games showcase a simplicity that any of the sequels, and especially the fourth entry, have left behind. The original title feels almost like a walk in the park in autumn. Everything is slow, relaxed, perhaps even frustratingly so at times, but that is the beauty of it. We can finally play both original games without much hassle on modern devices, so there is no reason not to go back and discover what the Goths and the Newbies were really up to. Who knows, they might even fill a hole in your heart you didn't know was there.The post Why Sims 4 fans should play 1 & 2 in 2025 appeared first on Destructoid.