That said, The Sims 2: Seasons is what I would call a legitimate expansion pack for The Sims series. Unlike the Stuff Packs or some other expansion packs, Seasons really rounds out the series in my opinion.
Being a cheapo, I like spending $15 on a DVD that is 123 minutes as opposed to 93 I feel I am getting my money's worth. Also, I like spending $25 for a Sims expansion pack where new career paths (and rewards) are added, lots of new items are included, and game concepts are added or upgraded.
The Sims 2 Seasons is legitimate in my opinion because it does just that: gives 6 more career paths (Adventure, Games, Law, Education, Music, and Journalism); new clothes (for each season, all ages) and items (like the Country decor theme); and new interactions, aspirations, and rewards.
Besides all the busy micromanagement that so many of us Simmers love, I mentioned that Seasons rounded out the series. What I meant was that now you don't have to focus so much on the careers just to make money. Nightlife and Open for Business are much like Seasons in that regard you can make money by being a DJ, bartender, lemonade salesman, or garage saler.
In Seasons, it really expands what you can do outside of the normal "grind for your boss" routine. And if you remember the first The Sims where you make magical potions and cast spells (Makin' Magic expansion pack), that also kind of ties in with Seasons.
Basically, you can now grow fruits and vegetables, catch fish, and other hobbies, then use them to make cash, health drinks, special potions, etc. Also, gifting is introduced (when you don't want stuff but think your neighbor might).
This slows down the game quite a bit because (A) now you're interacting within the frame of each season and (B) you can still be productive and working towards certain goals without the typical bustle of The Sims 2 that we know and love. Now you can just be a farmer and tell the rest to go to hell. I appreciate that.
The other thing I'd like to point out is the basis of the game: the four seasons. Living in San Diego, CA, we only have two seasons: Paradise and The Next City's Best. In The Sims 2 Seasons, you have more control over the weather than you might think.
First of all, you can determine which neighborhood(s) have seasons and which seasons you'd like to have occur (and when) for example, one neighborhood can only have spring and winter, if you want. Next, with the new neighborhood Maxis provided ("Riverblossom Hills"), they added some of their own content, but since the seasons can be applied to any neighborhood, I just ripped off what I liked and rarely played the new neighborhood.
Another thing I love in particular about Seasons is the expansion of Wants and Aspirations. I also love how this expansion pack ties into the other expansion packs (Maxis tries to keep them all interwoven to maximize their value so we all buy every expansion!). You can get a fishing badge (like the sales badge from Open for Business) or find new Wants for each Aspiration (like Romance where the wants change during Springtime).
A lot to build on if you love the series. Of course, as I always like to mention, if you wait another 5-10 years, all of these will be included on The Sims 2: Complete Edition for about 1/3 the total cost. :)
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One of the nagging problems of the Sims 2 series has been the lack of a strong feeling of time passing. While you could watch your sims age, the only real impression of time going by that I've ever gotten is my own frequent glances toward the age bars to see how much time each sim would have left in their current life phase.Separate from the many wonderful features that have been added to the game, the real golden improvement is the immense amount of atmosphere that the weather provides. It hadn't occurred to me before I started playing that something as simple as snow on the ground would change the feeling of the game so much. There's a distinct coziness in having your sims sit inside in front of the fire on a snowy winter day that was never present in the previous eternal summer. It also creates a feeling of time moving on for the entire lot as a whole, without depending on any kind of nagging need to check whether the teen is going to have to leave for college soon, or similar things.
There are also a lot of functional additions. The sims have new ways to die (heat stroke, struck by lightning, etc), their progress in different areas of their life varies by season (for example, it's easier to build family relationships during the winter), and the sims can garden and make juices that boost their abilities or moods.
One thing that you should certainly note is that it's an especially good idea to backup your existing houses with this pack. With an expansion like Nightlife, if you decided you didn't like the general feel of the new content (largely a matter of going downtown and going on dates) you could just not use those and your gameplay would be impacted very little. With seasons, however, the closest you can get to turning the features off would be to set up a neighborhood to be in summer permanently. In most ways this would be a very close match for the game prior to seasons, but you might find it aggravating to have to keep an eye out for your sims getting heat stroke if they spend too much time working outdoors, or get into an outdoor hottub on a warm day.
There's a new "country" decorating collection that can be a bit annoying in some ways (the roosters on the floor tiles I don't like a bit), but they also have some very charming pieces as well. Additionally, a few of the homes and families don't appear to have been QC'd very well. There's one included family in which the mother Sim is already pregnant, and once the babies aged enough that I looked at their family tree I found that another woman was listed as the second parent rather than the family's father. Sure, they do strange things with the family backstories sometimes, but I couldn't find any mention of something to explain this in any of the character descriptions. There are also homes where they simply left small gaps in the (indoor) walls rather than installing arches or doors as one would expect.
I'm extremely pleased with the changes that Maxis has made. While there are some remaining gameplay issues that could be addressed, overall I think that this expansion has more positive impact on the game than any of the ones that have come out previously.
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I waited for this expansion for months, so it's no surprise that I went out and bought it the same day it hit stores. It was really fun there is a whole new neighborhood and characters to play with. Your characters can now fish, garden, have snowball fights, etc. I managed to turn one of my characters into a Plant Sim (he got carried away with the gardening spray).The weather effects are pretty cool, except for the lightening, which usually manages to set something on fire. My favorite season was winter, though, when after a snowstorm, you could build a snowman, have snowball fights, make snow angels, etc.
When the sims catch fish and harvest their fruits and vegetables from their gardens, they can prepare really filling meals (which is great when you have a pregnant sim who is always hungry!) However, you have to watch out that they don't get fat. There are also some great new items, like a waterslide, and the ability to make your backyard pools with round corners.
Now for the downfall of the game... I have two computers one that is about a year old, and one that is brand new (purchased 2 weeks ago) with 1GB of memory and Core 2 Duo processors, which is a very powerful machine. Imagine my dismay when I discover the the Sims 2 Seasons expansion won't run correctly (for long) on either computer because of the video card requirements. I never bothered to check the requirements and installed the game on both computers. But the game would start crashing and freezing my computers after I saved a few games. I highly recommend checking if your video card is up to par before installing.
Overall this is a fun game, and I look forward to reinstalling it once they either get a patch out, or I upgrade my video cards.
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Got mine the day before yesterday and have played it at least 20 hours out of the past 48 and am going to play it again as soon as I'm done with this review. There's so much to do in it and so many new objects and stuff it gives the feeling of almost a whole new Sims 2 experience. This will keep me very busy until the next add-on, 'Celebration! Stuff', comes out and beyond.This expansion provides a brand new added neighborhood called "Riverblossom.." that is already pre-set with seasons, although any neighborhood can be custom set for whichever seasons you'd like for your Sims to have.
In addition to snow, rain, sun, etc, you get:
new pre-fabbed houses, lots of new build mode stuff (gardening, pool, etc), tons of 'country-style' decor (very feminine..the new kitchen and bathroom stuff is to die for..love it all), racing decor for the kids bedrooms, new 'outdoor' outfits (love 'em!), 3 new hairstyles (one of which is totally cute), so much that these alone will keep you busy for weeks.
And if that isn't enough, you also get ice-skating rinks, roller-skating rinks, and can even go fishing in your Sims' backyard pond, not to mention building snowmen, having snowball fights, making snow angels in the winter, and gardening in the spring. LOTS of new activities..too many to list. Gardening alone can keep your Sim busy for their entire life..apple, lemon, and orange trees...tomato, cucumber, eggplant, peppers, polebeans, and strawberry plants...earn a gardening talent badge, build your own greenhouse, join a Gardening Club (with prizes for best garden or yard), turn your homegrown fruits into power-packed juice or food..the list goes on. Fishing entails catching different species of fish using different baits as your Sim gains a fishing talent badge. The fish can be mounted or cooked up for dinner.
And if you accumulate too many fruits and veggies or fish, you can give them, or just about anything, as gifts to your Sims' friends or neighbors.
There are also some new job opportunities with some pretty cool new career rewards. Adventurer, Journalism, Law, and Education, to name a few.
This expansion is the perfect compliment to Pets and any or all of the other expansions. It's a must have! Heads up though guys, the decor in this one is mostly for the gals...lots of femininity going on in it...although the activities in it are geared for both genders.
When I first got this I thought for sure it would slow down my laptop, since I have all of the previous expansions and add-ons installed as well, but I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't at all. In fact, loading time was actually less than before as well as a speedier exit of the game. I think Maxis made some improvements in the software performance for this to be. Haven't experienced any bugs or glitches as of yet either, literally none at all.
Overall, I love this expansion..it's now my favorite out of all of them, with Pets second. Wouldn't trade this one for the world, it's that good! :)
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I have been waiting for this expansion pack to be out for ages. Being slightly disappointed with Pets, I was a little wary about it, but it turns out it is just awesome. The graphics are great and bring a whole new aspect to the Sims2. Each season has its own special twist, for example, you learn faster in the fall; and there are wonderful interactions associated with each season. I also enjoyed the option of being able to grow and harvest veggies. All around, this is the best that has come out of the Sims 2.
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