The Sims 3 celebrates the 15th anniversary of its initial release today, and, as someone who excitedly took a fresh copy of the base game with them when they moved into their university halls of residence, allow me to take a break from booking myself in for a hip replacement to look back on one of the most lauded – yet divisive – entries into The Sims franchise.
As someone who has genuinely enjoyed every Sims game, I was a staunch TS3 apologist for most of its run; which is why its reassessment by the fandom as a strong contender for the best entry in the franchise has always felt jarring to me — and, if we’re being honest, caused me to become something of a devil’s advocate on the subject.
If you think The Sims 4 is disliked, rest assured that its immediate predecessor received almost like-for-like criticism while it was the in thing. You could argue that the shortcomings of TS4 have caused TS3 to be vindicated in hindsight, but it’s just as easy to argue that rosy nostalgia kicks in once there’s a fresh new upstart to pick apart. Realistically, as in most things, the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.
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