Paralives
so.... as someone who has been playing the sims since literally the birth of the series' existence.... i've been really miserable watching the slow demise of the series at the hands of EA being EA. and now that the buyout is pending, i really don't have any hope of the series recovering.
lately it's been so bad that i don't even want to open my EA account to play the digital copies that i own. but there aren't many workarounds to get many of the games running on my PC, shy of emulating windows xp on linux. i've been desperately craving the sims 2 for the past couple of years but a reasonably playable port doesn't really exist. and it's been making me extremely sad. because the sims series has always been my ultimate de-stress game. i probably have more hours in these games than any other game series. and it's sucked having diminishing access/quality of life with these games as time goes on. for no reason other than that EA is an evil company... which is now poised to get even more evil.
there have been a ton of "alternatives" to the sims that people have talked about or even directly approached me about. and all of them have significant issues, be that a lack of features or the presence of unwelcome features (AI). at the end of the day none of these "competitors" are really viable replacements for the quality and quantity that you get from the sims series, especially the golden era of 2 and 3.
now! with that said! my partner brought Paralives to my attention, and asked me to check it out and see if it holds any water. he bought it for me day 1 of early access, and!!!! i am pleased to tell you!!!!! there is HOPE!!!!! this company is STAUNCHLY opposed to AI, and have made it clear that all updates will be free, with no paid DLC in the future. i haven't done a deep dive yet, but just from how the game feels so far? i feel like these devs are die-hard Sims fans who wanted better for the series and decided to make it happen themselves. it's very promising so far!
i'm going to give you my first impressions of the game. i'm keeping this targeted to a few points of discussion, because to address ALL of my thoughts so far would take days. i'll just focus on the big things: things you expect, things you DIDN'T expect, and whether or not i think this is a viable competitor for the sims.
please forgive me if not all of my terminology is 100% accurate to the in-game terminology, since i'm still familiarizing myself with the game's mechanics and lore. also please forgive me if i mistakenly refer to a para as "a sim." (i'm not gonna reverse 26 years of conditioning in 3 days!)
also a quick disclaimer that i have not played the sims 4 in several years, because after the billionth expansion i lost all hope for the series and decided to stop giving them my money and energy. i have also not been following the paralives development journey until i heard about the game a few days ago, so forgive me if there is development lore that i don't know about.
(pictured: my para reading romantic fanfiction while feeling angry)
mind you, we're on like day 3 of early access. so at the moment it's more glitch than game. there are constant bugs in live mode and build mode, and i have an endless list of issues that need to be worked out. some of them are features that aren't panning out the way the devs intended, others are just inevitable technical issues that can be smoothed out over time. it's far from perfect, but i'm really happy to say that there's promise.
Overall Gameplay, Emotions, and Socializing
so far the overall gameplay loop feels almost identical to the sims 3 and 4 era. there are some things that remind me of the sims 2 (my favorite) which is encouraging, because that's the period i'd like us to return to in many respects.
this game does have some major differences in gameplay. one big change is the social interaction. instead of the sims series' traditional system of clicking on a sim and selecting from a wheel of social interactions to execute, paralives uses the together card system. this basically means that your paras have one default executable action when clicked on: "Talk to." after this, they will be in a conversation, and at predictable intervals of time, you will get prompted to select from a series of together cards. this means that each para will have 3-4 socialization options, which each have varying chances of success, and fall into different categories (neutral, romantic, humorous, rude, etc.) the kinds of cards you choose will impact the kind of relationship your paras have.
speaking of relationships. the sims usually had one or two relationship bars. in some sims games it was just longterm and short term, in others it was split between platonic and romantic. but in paralives, it's divided into multiple concurrent and separate relationship types based on context. for example, bos and ryza and housemates, friends, co-workers, and romantic interests. they gained "friends" by doing friendly interactions and leveling up their friendship over time. they gained "romantic interests" by flirting with each other enough to level up. they gained "co-workers" by getting a job at the same place. if i have them cook together, they will become cooking buddies. i assume that if they enter an official relationship, they will gain a relationship bar for that as well. each relationship level changes their chance of success in different areas of social interaction, and i'm assuming they come with boosts too. it's unclear whether or not relationships have decay, but i like this system quite a bit. it's a little more realistic, since two people can get along in some ways and struggle in others.
there is also a system in which your paras are "together." it works like Groups in the sims 4, or dates and outings in the sims 2. but it's much simpler, since you can simple click and drag around whichever paras you want in the group. they will automatically perform most actions together. or at least.... they're supposed to. lol. it has bugs, it's been a nightmare trying to get my paras to eat meals together, since usually only one will grab food (unless i manually execute the "grab portion" option for every para) and they always sit at different tables when they do it. it could use work! but overall it's not bad. it simplifies group activities, for sure. i've really been enjoying sending my otp on little adventures together when they both have a day off from work.
with all of that said, i do think a lot of people are exaggerating about this game's improvements from the sims. for example, people praising the emotion system's improvements from the sims 4 are way off. unfortunately the emotion system is extremely similar and has a lot of the same problems, if not more. i'm not completely opposed to the together card system, but i dislike that the prompts are all based on the paras' moods, which makes it difficult to direct their interactions without relying on the gimmicky mechanics. if you want them to flirt, you have to get one of them In A Flirty Mood first, usually by interacting with an object. in that way, it's even worse than the sims 4, which at least gave you a regular degree of social freedom despite the hindrances of the emotion system. it works in some ways, to be fair. i just think that the community treating it as somehow antithetical to the sims 4's emotion system issues is incredibly dishonest.
(pictured: bos feeling flirty on the couch after giving me and ryza a stomach virus)
sometimes your para will want a certain interaction, and you can't fulfill their want because even after HOURS of talking, you never get the together card for that interaction. it's kind of irritating, and limits the player's control over their own story, which kind of defeats the purpose of the mechanic. the together card system is interesting, and there are many things i like about it, don't get me wrong. but i do find myself missing the basic command wheel with interaction subtypes you'd find in almost every sims game.
i think the together card system can be broken down into one strength and one weakness:
its strength is that it makes social interactions a little more natural, kind of like the sims 3 denoting conversational flow and each sim's current evaluation of the other. since the together cards are based on the current flow of conversation it usually forces the player to navigate the interaction realistically, and build naturally to their desired outcome.
the weakness is..... that's not how everything works all the time in real life. that's not how all people work. that's not always how storytelling works. sometimes things happen abruptly, spontaneously, impulsively.
and emotion moodlets be damned! sometimes two people decide to flirt with each other because they get along well platonically and want to explore a different kind of relationship! sometimes they have sex because they feel emotionally vulnerable and safe with each other and want to comfort each other! not because they looked in the mirror and daydreamed about their love life before talking to each other, or watched a romantic TV show.
in conclusion: i think the together card system is interesting and has a lot of potential, but i think it takes a lot of narrative control away from the player. if the storyteller feature of this game interferes with my ability to control my own stories, then i don't think it's an improvement. i think the player should be the storyteller, not the anthropomorphized difficulty setting avatar. that's all i have to say.
(((with all those complaints out of the way... i do like the fact that two paras can continue chatting after intimacy, and to do so while cuddling in bed instead of standing up next to the bed. it's a very nice touch! super cute and real!)))
(pictured: bos and ryza chatting in bed after performing the "get intimate" action.)
Personality
one thing people are right about is that the personality system is a little more involved than the sims. in the sense that, rather than overlaying a gimmick (trait) over your gameplay for a particular person, you have a series of categorical traits that impact their needs and functions. mind you, some of these things manifest in the form of emotion moodlets, which is the same as the sims 4 and sucks in all the same ways. you also have the same sims 4-esque actions and interactions that are exclusive to certain traits. but what's different is how it impacts their needs.
there are three levels of personality for each para:
first is for their general aptitude, in which you can place 7 points into physique, mind, creativity, and charisma. one point is the baseline for each skill, and having zero points will make it harder for them to function in that area.
second are three categories for which you pick one perk. their vibe, which will impact their needs, moods, ability, and actions. their social perk, which will determine how they function in relationships, and how their relationships affect their moods, behaviors, and abilities. last is their talent, which determines their skill-building ability.
finally, a small lifestyle area in which you can make them a vegetarian, determine their sleep schedule, and decide how neat or sloppy they are.
every para has a personality level that will increase as you fulfill their wants (which you select from momentary whims based on their mood). as you level up you get options between different perks for each of their traits. it's a skill tree that's tailored to each para based on the personality you chose for them, and it radically changes individual gameplay for each para.
i'm still exploring this, but so far i've made three paras with totally different personalities.
myself:
vibe: jester
social perk: good at being alone
talent: art
- the jester vibe gives you periodic mood boosts for a random mood at different times. it also gives the para a fun need, which they have to regularly maintain by watching TV, playing games, etc or else they can't function. it also makes them much funnier, and gives them a boost in social interactions involving humor. - good at being alone is exactly what it sounds like. your para functions fine without social interaction, and functions much better in solitude. they get a boost from staying indoors and being alone for long periods of time. i mostly took advantage of this one for my own para because i was using her to explore the career system. definitely a good trait for a career-oriented para, since solitude can allow you to devote more of your storytelling cards to your career. - art talent is self explanatory and works the same as creative traits in the sims games: you get skill building boosts and mood boosts based on art. this is also aided by placing more aptitude points into creativity.
ryza:
vibe: energetic
social perk: good at making friends
talent: jack of all trades
- the energetic vibe makes your para more active, and gives them an energy surplus gauge. this meter can be filled by energizing actions like succeeding at something or building a skill, and can be drained by doing exhausting or boring tasks. it's an interesting way to boost activity. as you advance your personality levels, you get the option to add a movement need. i gave this to ryza, so now she has to maintain her movement need by walking, running, jogging, or dancing regularly. if she sits still for too long, her movement needs plummets and causes negative effects to her mood. she can become stressed, be unable to build skills, or become unable to perform basic actions until she moves around a bit. - good at making friends is self-explanatory. she gets boosts to social interaction, and optional perks that can make her instantly become friends with anyone she meets. - jack of all trades gives you normal levels of skill building in every skill, but also makes your para want to build skills in every field. this can be kind of relatable to those of us who like to jump around different hobbies and try new things. but it becomes a bit dicey when your para wants to try building a skill that you don't know how to access, or don't think they SHOULD access. tell me why ryza asked me to let her level up her surgery skill??? sweetie pie you are a clerk at a flower shop (jokes aside, it bugs me that some of the skills are impossible to build unless you google where to access that skill -- since the game guide makes no effort to tell you where that skill is buildable.)
bos:
vibe: serious
social perk: good at taking care of others
talent: good at nothing
- the serious vibe makes your para very focused and driven, but they take a hit to their humor and sociability. some of their together cards are party killers, but they're good at building skill and pursuing ambitions. they can be "in the zone" for a few hours at a time, which gives them a boost to skill building and ignores all of their physical needs for that period of time. - good at taking care of others makes the para nurturing, and gives them the ability to affect the mood and physical needs of other paras through together cards. for example, if ryza is sleepy, bos can give her one energy point by using "energize sleepy para." if ryza is hungry, bos can satisfy a hunger point by using the "give a snack" card. if ryza gets sick from someone at work, bos can help her heal faster by making her chicken soup. this is the most selfless of all the social perks, and in my opinion the most interesting. - the "good at nothing" talent is exactly what it sounds like. actually, it's even meaner than it sounds. because a para with this trait is not only extremely slow at building skills, with no advantage in any field, but they are also so bad that it embarrasses other paras to see them try. literally, if someone is in the same room while this para is attempting to paint, they will get an embarrassment moodlet from watching them. there is a personality level-up tier which affects the moods of onlookers in other ways, ranging from making them sad while they watch to making them happy when you stop. it's hilariously mean, but good if you're trying to make a para pathetic, or raise difficulty.
bos has probably my favorite build so far because it's very balanced in difficulty. the "good at nothing" trait is challenging, but periodically it is offset by the "serious" trait making him driven and focused. this felt very in character for bos, since he compensates for his lack of latent talent by overworking himself. what he lacks in targeted passion, he makes up for in work ethic and discipline. it's a great example of how this more complex and layered personality system is good for storytelling and developing your para.
there are some drawbacks. i don't like that basic needs like Fun are exclusive to certain personality types. that's not how human beings work lmao. i'd definitely fix that, along with some other quirks that make the system feel a little gimmicky and shorten the lifespan of player engagement.
i do like that vegetarianism, sleep schedules, and cleaning habits are just lifestyle options rather than wasting a trait/personality category. it's nice that the devs recognize which traits have meaningful impact on gameplay and which ones are just singular narrow-range behaviors. that's the thing i like most about this personality system: it divides personality traits into different tiers of importance and function. it doesn't restrict and overshadow personality the way traits do in the sims 3 and 4, or the way aspirations do in the sims 2. aspirations are changeable and dynamic (in the form of life goals) and every other personality element is integrated in a way that's appropriate and realistic, but still fun. it needs work, but there's a lot of promise here.
oh, and a quick note on needs. your para's needs can change radically depending on different factors. for example, a para with high physique will have more slots for hunger, meaning they can eat more without gaining weight. this was unexpected and interesting! conversely, if your para has an illness, their needs will change. if they have a stomach virus, their hunger need will be ignored for a time (bc tummyache) and their bladder and sleep needs will have their slots cut in half. this means you have a lower threshold for exhaustion, and will have to replenish these needs more frequently. this was a nice touch! very interesting way of expressing the impact that temporary illnesses have on the body.
there is potential here for exploring possible disability mechanics, but i understand that that can be complicated territory to tread in (since it could be seen as insensitive, or ruin the escapism for some people). at bare minimum, i think a lot of spoonies will have the ability to mod in custom traits that customize their physical needs to their real-life disabilities. and for some people, that can be cathartic. probably not what i'd want for myself, but everyone is different and i love the room for creativity in this system.
(pictured: the modified needs of a para with a temporary illness)
Careers
the career system oddly seems to work a little closer to real life than any sims game. in the sims, you would traditionally pick a career track and start at the lowest level (or whatever level you are qualified for). as you gain more skills and friends, you would advance in that career track one level at a time, maxing out at level 10 with a higher salary and fewer work days. in paralives it's a little different. you pick your job from some basic career fields, each with multiple positions available. some positions are available in more than one career field (PE teacher is available in both education and fitness). once you have the position, you increase rank to get a higher salary, and have upgrade points you can spend on different perks. i like the perk system, since it allows you to customize your difficulty and work-life balance, make your own career progression unique to each para. this means that doing the same career track multiple times will result in a unique experience every time. great feature! if you feel like your current position has run its course, you can change jobs. your experience, rank, and skill points that you gained in your first job will allow you to qualify for much better positions in future jobs. you can begin with a higher rank and salary based how far you progressed in your first job. this is actually true for the sims, but what makes paralives careers different is that you have various types of jobs within a single career track. there is much more lateral variety, rather than a single linear progression.
also, the job qualification system is based on a point system, in which each criterion of qualification will allot different amounts of points based on your skills, experience, personality, and other factors. so your para might not have 100% of the music points needed to become a professional pianist, but if they have higher points in another qualification criterion, it could make up the difference. this cumulative qualification system is interesting, and makes career choices a lot more flexible. it also has great room for storytelling potential.
i like that paras can have more than one job at a time, as long as their schedules don't conflict. i also like that you can customize your schedule for each job, so you can potentially sync up their work week with the rest of their household, or keep their weekends open, or tailor it to their sleep schedule. i also like that you can visit the workplace of your paras.
honestly, i'm really impressed with the career system, although it's still a little new and confusing to me. it's an underdiscussed element of the sims that seemed to stagnate through all four installments, even as they tried to add different sub-career job variants, or the forked system in the sims 4 (which sucked because you'd be locked to whichever path you chose for the sim, with no choice to pursue the other path later). the system in paralives is both more realistic and more engaging, and i think it seriously prolongs the playability lifespan of the game.
Storytelling
the storytelling feature is one of the biggest selling points of the game, and i'm still a little mixed on it. it manifests in different elements of gameplay (like together cards, relationship building, etc) but its main expression is through the page selection that happens each night. your storyteller (the personification of your difficulty level, which you can customize) will show up on the right side of your screen every night or morning, usually while your paras are asleep. and they'll give you a bunch of random pages to choose from. there are a few different books: one with 24-hour buffs, one with one-time bonuses like getting money or free items, one with relationship building buffs, one with career boosts, one with life goal changes, etc. each night you'll have three random options before you, usually a random page and two books with 3 pages each, and you get to choose which buff or bonus or story progression you want for that day. (i don't know if it's different for the high difficulty or low difficulty storytellers, since i've only tried the moderate one.) it feels like the game reminding you on a predictable schedule that your storyteller is watching, and you want to keep your paras moving forward with their lives. it's a way for the player to exert a bit of control over the random chance events that you'd get in the sims, but with a degree of randomness that keeps it from being too easy. i'm not sure if i'll get tired of it or if i'll come to like it more as time goes on. we'll just have to wait and see.
(pictured: ryza reading a book on repair, because she impulsively wanted to improve that skill.)
Para Creation
i'll keep this one brief, since it's already widely covered in tons of youtube videos and better experienced firsthand. but the para creation system is incredible. on the same level as the sims 4, but with a few more humanizing features like stretchmarks, body hair, scars, birthmarks, etc. you can also customize hair highlights and roots, clothing colors and styles, skin tone and eye color like the sims 3.
(pictured: para creator screen for customizing noses. like the sims 4, you select a preset for its mesh and texture, and then morph its dimensions. there is no direct morph like in the sims 4, unfortunately, but the sliders are easy to get used to.)
the body customization is built off the features of the sims 4, but with a few features that stand out. one is that you can customize things like waist height, which is small but makes a HUGE difference in depicting different body types and bone structures. i was very happy to be able to move my hips upward and expand my ribcage to depict a more accurate depiction of my own body. and since you can customize your chest and genital mass, neither of which are locked to gender or to each other, i think this system will allow a lot more people to create a more human and real version of themselves than they could make in other life simulators. i'd like to be able to customize a little further. i'd like to make my legs shorter and my arms longer. i also wish i could raise, lower, and rotate the ribcage and individual shoulders, to better depict my anatomical differences from scoliosis. but i understand the logistical complications therein, and can forgive it not being implemented day 1. if you have notes like this, tell the devs. i'm sure they'll be happy to add it to their list.
(pictured: my para watching TV with horrible posture. true to life.)
the biggest feature for me, which i have ALWAYS wanted from the sims and has even been falsely advertised as a feature in past sims games: HEIGHT CUSTOMIZATION!!!!!! in this game you get to customize your para's height on a slider (i think for adults it's from 4'10 to 6'4. which could be much wider, in my opinion, but it's an excellent start) and it displays their height in both global measurement (in-game slider scale) and in whatever measurement unit you selected in the settings. this was amazing because i could make my para my actual height, instead of seeing a 6-foot-tall version of myself running around. and i was able to give bos and ryza their canon heights, so i could enjoy their height difference while they interact. it's a huge game changer when it comes to humanizing your paras, and it's something i've always wanted from the sims but never imagined we'd ever get. the reason it's always seemed impossible is because of the number of physical interactions two sims can have. if you make your sims all have custom heights, that complicates the animations. because instead of having static animations that apply to all sims of any given age group, you would have to rig the animations to the point of contact, and make each model conform realistically around that point of contact. this adds a considerable complication to the character animation and interaction process, so i never imagined i'd see it done, or at least done well.
(pictured: the 5.5 inch difference between me and my blorbo. notice that the slight heel on his boot raises his height a little further. this is universal! heels are accounted for in height, meaning your para will be taller in shoes and shorter while barefoot!)
i'm happy to say that the paralives team took this plunge and did very well with it! now, i do acknoweldge that (as far as i can see) physical interactions between paras are EXTREMELY limited compared to the sims, so they aren't tackling nearly as much labor in this direction as the sims would have to. and i also acknowledge that the animations don't work perfectly (see below) but i'm really excited to see a complex life sim attempting this and making a good start. i love the height slider, it's one of my favorite features in this whole game so far. little things like this make a huge difference.
(pictured: an example of physical interaction between two paras of different heights. note that their lips are not actually touching and the hands are placed a little awkwardly, but the overall silhouette is sound.)
the para creator has quirks and bugs, of course. and i'd like to see more variety of eyebrow styles, nose presets, etc etc. but so far it's amazing. on par with the sims, and with many improvements and new ideas. 10/10 for features and usability, 9/10 for functionality in live mode.
(pictured: a glitch in which bos's eyelashes are detached from his eyes while he sleeps. honestly: me going to bed with falsies on bc i was too fuckin tired to take them off after a social event)
Community Evaluation Relative To The Sims Series
now to a hot point of discourse:
i think people are being a liiiiiiittle unfair to the sims when it comes to the inclusivity discussion. i'll start by saying that their praise of paralives' inclusivity is all justified! the devs really went out of their way to make room for all kinds of different people, with advanced gender mechanics, non-gendered body customization and clothing options, a variety of skin tones and hair types, hijab and turbans, medical devices and limb differences, body hair and pigmentation options, height sliders, etc etc etc. it's really amazing how much they included just on day 1, and i appreciate how much of a priority they made for inclusivity in para creation. but with that said, i think the criticism that "paralives did this on day 1 and the sims 4 took 10 years!" is remarkably disingenuous. you have to remember that paralives is built off of the sims series' precedent. while EA is evil as hell, i think that the sims series devs deserve credit for consistently updating the game to improve inclusivity and respond to players' criticisms and requests a decade from the original release. please remember that a lot of the inclusivity elements you see in paralives day 1 wouldn't be there if the sims series hadn't made these efforts over time and created many of those systems for paralives to model off of. i encourage people to praise paralives' inclusivity efforts and continue to criticize the sims' gaps in inclusivity, but i think we should maintain a bit of perspective here. many of you are too young to remember this, but the sims was one of the first mainstream video games to offer LGBT relationships as a base game feature, and allow gay marriage in any form from day 1. the original devs FOUGHT for these features. this was important to me growing up, as a closeted queer child discovering who i was, and i don't think we need to diminish that legacy in order to praise a new alternative.
try to approach this with nuance. 90%+ of the inclusivity measures in paralives were modeled off the sims implementing those features first. we should still praise the paralives teams for making this a priority up front. both things can be true.
i think that in general, people are being very unfair to both the sims and to paralives in their constant comparisons. some people are inflating paralives' inventiveness, saying "this isn't a sims clone, this is something completely new!" which is an outright lie. 90-ish % of this game is carbon copied from the sims 2, 3, and 4. and that's okay, because a more ethical and consumer-friendly alternative to the sims is what most of us are looking for. on the other hand, a lot of people are saying "this game isn't a viable alternative because it doesn't have HALF the features the sims has." and i think that's equally dishonest, since it's early access and already has most of the features that would ship with a base game copy of the sims, and lots of compelling new ones. the devs acknowledge what's missing and have a roadmap to implement those things over time. and best of all, the kind of content that the sims would lock behind expansion packs will be included in free updates for paralives. you will never have to pay for expansions and (pukes) stuff packs. once you buy paralives, you own the base game and all future content for life.
economically speaking, paralives is the winner for sure. this is the kind of pro-consumer and pro-community practice we like to see in a game. but as far as the game itself? i think people feel a weird need to take sides here, to either praise paralives as the pinnacle of innovation (giving undue and outright inaccurate praise for things that are almost 1:1 with the sims, or outright lying by saying such features are not included in the sims when they are) or to drag this game as a cheap, inadequate imitation with nothing new to offer (diminishing the dev's competence and originality, as well as their integrity, which is the main draw for many of us). i think you can be disappointed about the sims and hopeful about paralives without needing a black-and-white approach. again: nuance will not hurt you.
(pictured: ryza eating toast while bos paints on a balcony overlooking the street.)
Art Direction
now. the hottest topic of debate: the paralives art style. i think that just about everyone is exaggerating about this, whether they love it or hate it.
people who hate it are saying it looks horrible and hideous and uncanny, which just isn't true. it's fine. it's well executed, rather. the devs set out to achieve a certain stylized aesthetic, and they did a fantastic job of pulling off their goals. if it's not your style, that's fine. but to say it "looks bad" isn't quite fair.
on the other hand, people praising it are kind of off too. i keep hearing people say "it looks so painterly!" that is objectively not true, this is a soft-shaded style with hard lines. soft textures applied mainly through gradients and low-contrast cels, with dark outlines inspired by cartoons, is kind of the absolute opposite of painterly. use a different word. i also keep hearing "it's so unique and original, i've never seen a style like this." also not true. this style is far from unique, it's very similar to a lot of popular artists online. as far as video games, it looks almost like the later seasons of telltale walking dead games, blended together with other hard-lined styles with minimal textures. it's cool if you like the style, but praising it as unique and innovative is as overblown as critizing it as uncanny and hideous.
personally, i'm in the middle. in theory and description, it's actually not that different from my own art style (as far as shading and lines and color palette go). but in practice, i don't like the aesthetic all that much, because when paired with the trendy art direction it feels a liiiiittle too close to Episode - Choose Your Story, and cartoon covers of romance novels. it feels very bland and sanitized, a little too White Girl Instagram Soft Vibes for my taste. (full disclosure, i fucking DESPISE the way sims look in the sims 3, and i think that's a polarizing point when it comes to this art style.) but while it's not my aesthetic preference, i do think that it's very well executed. the devs chose this aesthetic and they pulled it off very well. you don't have to agree with their choice, but you have to give them credit for making it work. i'm already getting used to it, and i think if you spend more time with your own paras, you won't feel so much of an association with the trendy instagram aesthetic. i'm already starting to feel less Episode vibes and more rotoscoped animation vibes. it's genuinely not bad.
now. having stated that the artstyle itself is fine. i should throw in my main issue with the art direction: everything is too pretty.
i don't like that so far, almost every townie and rando NPC i've seen has been insanely hot and trendy. i call the repairman to fix my toilet and he looks like an instagram fitness model trying to sell me supplements. my para goes to work and comes back with 7 new coworker relationship cards, each bearing a hot young trendy face. this game needs more normal looking NPCs. they exist, but there need to be more. i think this is potentially one of the drawbacks of the art style, that even the relatively normal-looking paras come out looking too polished and perfect because of how the soft style smooths over their imperfections, and how they're dressed.
i also don't like that just about ALL of the hairstyles and outfits available are Trendy Young People In 2026 styles. granted, the sims has always leaned into dated fashion trends (go back to the sims 2 and look at the y2k fashion nightmares in CAS) so this isn't necessarily new. i also grant you that this is early access, so there's guaranteed to be more content moving forward. but that's just my note to the devs -- more aesthetic variety would be welcome in hair and clothing styles, as well as build mode. different aesthetics, different eras, different cultures, different degrees of flashiness, more neutral styles, more extreme styles. you get me. less instagram, more real world.
in the meantime, the game has full mod support and i've already taken advantage of it to give bos a better hairstyle closer to his model. i think this mesh was ripped from valorant, and integrated seamlessly into the game within 24 hours of release. i'm excited to see all the new mods to pop up, and hope that the simming community imports some of their mods into this game. i might even dust off blender and give it a try myself!
ryza's hair is vanilla, and the mesh looks great under a hat. again, there needs to be more style variety, but the technical execution and flexibility is great.
Conclusion
now. just so we're clear. i was not paid to give a review. these devs don't fucking know who i am, i am a random jackoff giving an unsolicited opinion. i just think this is a really cool project and want to bring it to more people's attention, especially if you're sour on the Sims like i am.
let me know if you have any curiosities or concerns in particular, and hopefully i can answer some of your questions. i'm still acquainting myself with different elements of gameplay, and this is just my general impression. i could go on and on about the live mode quirks and bugs, but i think that would be better directed at dev feedback forms. those things will improve over time, especially since the game has already made enough money to fund the devs for several years. i'm mostly coming on here to tell you about the things you might be looking for in a sims replacement, and how likely this game is to satisfy that niche.
speaking as one of the first people on earth to play the sims 1 (technically before its official release) when i was 5 years old, as someone who has loved the sims for 26 years and has never found another game that comes close to satisfying the same creative, narrative, and immersive needs that the sims fulfills? this is by far the most viable contender for a sims replacement i've ever seen. it needs lots of work, and i encourage people to give as many criticisms and suggestions as you want. these devs seem highly motivated to give us a version of the sims that fills in all of its gaps and shortcomings, and gives the community more control over the direction of the series. it's the most hope i've had for the life sim genre in many many years, and i encourage you to pick up an early access copy and take part in this project.
to wrap things up, here's me ambushing my otp after they decided to go mushroom foraging in their underwear at midnight.
