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So I got MySims Agents for the Wii, and have played it some. Bear in mind that I'm probably not far into the game, so who knows what I'll find. Also, as I don't have MSP, MSR, any non-Wii version of any entry in the MySims series, or any The Sims title, I'll be comparing it mostly to MS and MSK for the Wii.

First, the font is chosen to mimic the style of action comic books, and the movie that plays if you let it shows various scenes in the style of a comic book. In fact, Buddy is now a comic book artist, and in the intro, he claims that his comic book was based on your exploits!

Next, one thing I noticed right off is that you get to see what your character says. No more assuming based on what other characters say, you get a text box for your speech and thoughts.

Seemingly gone are Essences... or at least, I haven't run into them. Interests are back, but different, and they only really come into play when you recruit agents. You see, after you become a special agent, when you solve cases (among other triggers), you can recruit agents from the Sims involved in the case. Then you can send them on dispatch missions. The trick is that the likelihood of them successfully completing a mission is (at least partially) dependent on the combined strength of their Interests vs. the Interests the case is built around. And when agents are sent on these missions, they and the person who asked for help will check in with you, sometimes just updating you on their progress, and sometimes, asking for advice on how to proceed.

But of course, while this is going on, you (probably) won't be idle; you'll be out in the field yourself, digging up clues on various cases that all seem to have a common thread...

Characters from the other entries in the series make their reappearance here; in fact, I've run into exactly two human Sim characters that I've never seen before (though admittedly, as I said, this could be due to not having played MSP or MSR...).

Long-range movement of objects is now via advanced technology rather than magic.

There are some odd little minigames in there when you want to do certain things: repairing something is sort of a 2-D version of working with contraptions from MSK; hacking requires navigating a scrolling maze; forensic analysis has you putting together molecules; lockpicking is one of those get-the-2-way-sliding-thing-to-the-goal-by-moving-these-other-2-way-sliding-things-out-of-the-way puzzles...

Jumping returns, and there's even a bit of platforming... even some 2-D platforming! Though falling just means you have to get back up there and try to cross again. There are also places where you have to cross narrow paths, and you have to use the control stick to keep yourself from falling.

Seems interesting so far!

Oh, I should mention! One of the great things about this entry, like MSK before it (and to a lesser extent, the original MySims), is the references to things you wouldn't expect. A line of dialogue that comes from the original Legend of Zelda. A mission whose name is a reference to Lord of the Rings. Another mission that refers to The Prestige. Another that refers to a classic message from the video game Gauntlet. A reference to Detective Comics (the company that makes Superman, Batman, etc. comics). And so on.