If you're impatiently waiting for The Sims 5 to be announced, you're not alone. There's not much information out there on what the next game in the series will be like exactly, but we can always speculate based on what we've had in the past.
While some features have always been a given in the franchise, others have come and gone. Looking at the first game, which will celebrate its 20-year anniversary in 2020, we can easily remember the elements that worked and did not about the game. Let's have a look at five features that The Sims 5 should bring back from The Sims 1 and five that are best left in the early 2000s.
10 Bring It Back: Random Calls & Events
One of the things that's sort of lacking in The Sims 4 and would make a great addition to its eventual sequel is the existence of random events and phone calls. At the time, players didn't know if these calls had any real effect on their game, but they were menacing enough to keep everyone on their toes.
In The Sims 3, quests and other small daily tasks were received to keep players busy. A big issue with The Sims 4 has been the lack of things to do on a daily basis, so the addition of random events that stick a wedge into your picture-perfect process would be amazing.
9 No Thank You: No Off Days
Work is one of the most interesting parts of The Sims franchise because it allows you to explore different career paths and challenge yourself. However, the risk with work as a game mechanic is that it can feel too real at times.
This was definitely the case with the first game, where your Sim would basically work every single day of their lives. There were no weekends, days off, or holidays, although you could call your workplace and fake a sickness. You could also go on vacation, but you'd be right back to the grind of work after coming home. Although a nice challenge, constant work is a nightmare and best left in The Sims 1.
8 Bring It Back: The Weirdness
No one can deny that The Sims 1 was a highly strange and quirky game. From how objects and the world looked, all the way to the different interactions and activities you could engage in, the game managed to capture a very unique and bizarre world. Close to ours, but simultaneously very different, there was just enough fantasy involved to surprise players.
In many ways, The Sims franchise has become less original and wacky, especially after The Sims 3, and that's a big shame. Maybe a change of game designers and the overall vision is in order to bring a more unique and interesting The Sims 5 experience.
7 No Thank You: Needs That Deplete Quickly
Although there are many other mechanics in The Sims games, the most important ones are your Sims' needs. Managing these essentials while also ensuring your household is earning money, developing skills, and keeping up a healthy set of relationships is the core of any Sims game; however, as years have gone by, the fast decay of needs has been toned down quite a bit.
No doubt this decision was made so that Simmers could get more time to do other fun things in-game, rather than spend hours cooking food and then eating it. We definitely won't miss the feeling of maxing out your needs in The Sims 1 and traveling somewhere only to have your needs decay after the loading screen.
6 Bring It Back: The Grind
Needs aside, there was something about The Sims 1 that just made it more challenging. While managing your time appropriately can get a bit tiring, the inherent difficulty in the game just made it so much more rewarding when you finally got all the things you set out to achieve. From buying an expensive house to becoming a five-star superstar, nothing was just handed to you in the first game (unless you used cheats, of course).
In the later games, this element of grinding for your achievements has died down, and most things are pretty easy to accomplish within the first 5-6 hours of gameplay. If The Sims 5 does come out soon, let's hope it brings back the grind, too!
5 No Thank You: Bad Graphics
The Sims definitely has a unique aesthetic look that inspires nostalgia in us. From its isometric point of view to the 3D rendered Sims themselves, as a hardcore fan, it is difficult to forget just how cool it felt at the time when the game first got out.
Mods also offered the chance to witness the game from a three-dimensional perspective, but ultimately The Sims 1's graphics will stay in the early 2000s and for good reason. If there's anything the franchise has constantly improved, it's the look of the game and the sheer detail of our Sims and their environments.
4 Bring It Back: Large Expansions
These days, most of The Sims content is divided into expansions, game packs, and stuff packs. These are ways EA uses to make customers pay just a little bit more for less content. It has been a truly infuriating experience for Simmers who expect more out of expansion packs.
For those who have been around since the original The Sims 1, it's even more insulting, considering each expansion was absolutely massive and introduced some serious changes to the base game. It's unlikely EA will quit its modern business practices, but one can hope they listen to fans a bit more when it comes to The Sims 5.
3 No Thank You: Loading Screens
Loading screens have been a massive topic of debate among Simmers for years. No one can forget just how long it would take to start up The Sims 1 on an old early 2000s PC and move between the different towns and areas of the game. This same theme was replicated in The Sims 2 and also exists in The Sims 4, although the loading time is greatly reduced in the latter.
The only game in the franchise that has actually been able to remove the dreaded loading screens is The Sims 3, and it did so at a massive performance cost. Hopefully, by the time The Sims 5 comes out, a good balance will be reached between performance and content, allowing the developers to fully remove loading screens.
2 Bring It Back: Large Neighborhoods
In the last four major additions to The Sims 4, the biggest complaint has been the neighborhoods. It's difficult not to be angered by the small size of most of them. The greatest example is Del Sol Valley, which has a large unused area simply used for decoration.
In The Sims 1, especially after the Unleashed expansion came out, this was never a problem. Sure, each neighborhood had the exact same model, but you had so many different lots and houses at your disposal to keep you entertained. This was further improved in The Sims 2, which allowed you to make your very own neighborhood from scratch, a feature that we all miss and wish to see in The Sims 5.
1 No Thank You: Lack Of Customization
As is often the case with the very first game in a series, The Sims 1 had very little customization. There were no recolors at the time, so every item only came in one default color option. It wasn't possible to put multiple decoration objects on a counter or even change the shape of the stairs. Not to mention, the height of walls was always standard for every single house.
The lack of customization is also very apparent in CAS mode, where you could only choose a head and a set body for your Sim. Personalities were confined to star signs, which are no longer even a mechanic in the game. No doubt all this progress will also be in The Sims 5.