This is one of the reasons Stardew Valley is so popular. Thanks to the solid writing (all by a single developer)*, its pixelated characters have way more depth to them than those in The Sims,** a way more expensive franchise.

* ConcernedApe now has the help of one or two other developers, but the original story, music, and dialogue remain his.

** The Sims 4 has now been out for nearly 12 years, with many expansion packs, and is still so bug-prone that I rarely play it anymore.