Amazon priced this item just shy of the $25 mark to entice us cheapos to add another item and get free shipping. That is a good marketing strategy since this Seasons expansion is such a worthwhile title.

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.

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.

4.0 out of 5 stars
The best expansion pack so far!
Along with Sims 2 Pets, Sims 2 Seasons is easily the best Sims 2 Expansion pack that I own. Having seasons (beautiful graphics especially) is wonderful and gives a real feeling of…

4.0 out of 5 stars
fun
It’s fun to finally be able to have Simms go through all sorts of weather!! More activities too!

5.0 out of 5 stars
Smiley Face
This expansion pack is pretty good. I almost didn’t get it but am glad I did. The only downside is the game kinda implies there are holidays but there aren’t.

4.0 out of 5 stars
One of the best EPs!
I got Seasons a few weeks ago and haven’t had much time to play, but when I have played I’ve enjoyed every new aspect of the game.