Cities: Skylines 2’s Universities Feel Limited Without the…

Summary

Cities: Skylines 2 lacks much of the exciting DLC content from the original game, making it feel incomplete and lacking in certain areas.
The education system in Cities: Skylines 2 is a disappointment compared to the original game, as players no longer have the freedom to build custom universities and control all aspects of their city's education.
The prebuilt universities in Cities: Skylines 2 feel lifeless and restrictive, contradicting the game's emphasis on player freedom and customization. It's a feature that should have been included in the base game, as it was in the original.

Cities: Skylines 2 may be improving upon a lot of aspects of the original to deliver a deeper simulation, but it has also left a few things behind. Specifically, much of Cities: Skylines' DLC content seems to have not made the jump over, which is a shame. There was so much exciting content that Cities: Skylines 2 could have benefited from, especially because many of its systems feel lacking without it. While there is a chance that Colossal Order is planning to re-release that content as DLC again, right now Cities: Skylines 2 needs some work.

One area that Cities: Skylines 2 could use a bit of content is with its education system. Players could build massive freeform universities in the original, yet the sequel has taken that feature away. No longer do players have immense control over their city's education system, which makes the entire feature feel a bit bland. So, those looking for that same type of experience may have no reason to take the sequel for a spin just yet.

Cities: Skylines 2's Universities Are Rather Bland

While Cities: Skylines did not always have an interesting education system, its Campus DLC pack expanded the concept greatly. The pack took the popular area tool that was introduced in the Parklife DLC and adapted it for a college campus so that players could have control over what type of schools their city had. They could now construct a Trade School, a Liberal Arts College, and a classic University. Once zoned, they had creative freedom to design it however they wanted, and as the colleges grew, they would also unlock new buildings for them to use.

This DLC really helped make Cities: Skylines more fun and freeform. Now, players could fill in empty areas with their own custom colleges. They not only had control over its layout but could also micromanage various aspects of it including its sports teams, policies, and aesthetic. Additionally, they could fund research projects that could help give these schools even more prestige, and they had control over how many staff members actually worked there. Even though it may not have been the most advanced feature in the world, it was a great addition to the gameplay loop.

For some reason, Colossal Order seems to have removed that feature for Cities: Skylines 2. Instead of letting players create the colleges of their dreams, they are now stuck using three different prebuilt universities alongside the other types of education buildings. They can place down a standard university, a technical university, or a medical university. Each one provides different bonuses for the city that can be useful and can be upgraded with various modular pieces to give them more functionality, but they all pale in comparison to the original's version. They feel lifeless, bland, and the lack of freedom hurts the entire experience immensely.

Cities: Skylines 2 prides itself on the freedom players have, which makes it even stranger that the studio would remove the campus building tool. That tool truly gave players the freedom to construct whatever type of school they wanted, but now players are stuck working within the confines of pre-built schools instead. This feels like it goes completely against what the game is being sold as, so hopefully it gets fixed at some point. While there is a very strong chance that Colossal Order is planning to release the content as a DLC pack, it deserves to be in the base game, especially since the first one already has it.