Recent reviews by Xalendaar

A fun life simulation and a great way to kick back --BUT, thanks to EA being notorious in its tendency for rushing things which invariably leads to problems and not patching their stuff, the game is VERY buggy at times, and lags like crazy even on high-end machines --and no, that is not due to mods. I had no mods until I installed NRAAS ErrorTrap and Overwatch mods just to make the gameplay smoother. It's sad that you need mods to do what the developer should have.

However, putting the lags and bugs aside, it's a great simulation/sandbox game and the dynamics work well. The AI occasionally resorts to Radiant AI kind of confusion, but that's why you're there to guide them little fools ;)

On a personal side note, I wish the Sims were less "perfect". I mean the way everyone looks pretty (i.e. flawless skin, smooth features etc.). Sure, you can adjust the sliders to give ridiculous proportions and there are mods for adding scars and whatnot, but I don't like the obvious bias nor how it affects realism --and even if you deliberately try to make a Sim that's as ugly as possible, they're still pretty -or look like something from a kids' game.
Also, people die but don't get injured (save for getting burned) in any visible way (what do they pay those doctors for anyway?). It would add a sense of depth to the game if it had a little "rough around the edges", and not just beautiful people starting a career, getting married, reproducing and dying.
But that's just my two cents.