Geek Kingdom: The Sims 2 Legacy Collection

Ever since the first entry was released all the way back in 2000, The Sims has been an absolute juggernaut in the gaming landscape, generating huge profits for Maxis and EA while cultivating a dedicated community of players, storytellers, and modders. But this success for the franchise has begun to shift quite a bit in the past few years. Featureless expansion packs, predatory monetization practices, and increasing competition from other life sim games like Inzoi have all seen EA shaking in their boots, clutching to their piles of ill-gotten gains as they lament the loss of players to the competition. To combat this, EA has graciously released both The Sims 1 and The Sims 2 for the franchise’s 25th anniversary. Today, I’ll be taking a look at The Sims 2, as while the original is an amazing game, the second installment just has a lot more content to enjoy and is far more in line with modern entries.

Something that should be noted is that The Sims 2 Legacy Collection, like many recent releases in the franchise, has seen a huge number of glitches that can impact your experience. Some are minor graphical errors, while others disrupt the entire playthrough. For me, the one glitch I experienced saw my Sims’ food disappear after it was cooked unless the dish was burnt, meaning that they had to sustain themselves through face-stuffing at the fridge or scarfing down burnt garbage that made them unhappy. Fortunately several patches have come out, and at this point in time there appear to be no bugs that can cause major issues, but that may change from person to person.

Of course, with the game being released all the way back in 2003, the graphics aren’t as great as they could be, with blocky models and faces straight out of the uncanny valley, certain pieces of furniture don’t look right, and don’t get me started on those werewolves! The Sims 2 also is a far more difficult game for a variety of reasons. Jobs and hobbies don’t pay a lot in the early game, but there are some great money making schemes to invest in, like repairing cars and making bouquets. Needs also go down quicker than usual unless certain reward traits are taken, forcing you to constantly try to keep up while also suffering a lot more… accidents…