For years we life sim players have stood ’round the summoning circle, chanting the ritual words: “The Sims really deserves some legitimate competition, you know?” Despite our efforts to manifest, likely competitors just kept getting delayed or outright canned. Now that Paralives has launched—and is, in fact, good—I think maybe the variety life simmers have been yearning for is finally here.
Late last year I lamented that the life sim revolution never came because what was supposed to be a boom year for the genre became a litany of insults upon injuries. The delays (Paralives) and cancellations (Life By You) were one thing, but then The Sims series just kept punching itself in the face between the EA buyout and consistent Project Rene leaks. The beginning of this year didn’t get much better with the final confirmation that yeah, Project Rene is just a mobile game now. Oh, and Jake Solomon’s life sim got cancelled too.
Inzoi launched last year, it’s true, but unfortunately I just didn’t click with it at all. A lot of life simmers did, but regardless of whether it scratched your itch or not, one legitimate competitor to The Sims does not a healthy genre make. Even just a month ago I’d started looking ahead to the early access launch for Paralives with mounting dread. Much as it had an art style that felt more my vibe, I was fully prepared to be let down again.
Well, Paralives has launched. And… I’m loving it? I think Paralives is totally worth it for life sim fans in general, but as a Build Mode girl I am ecstatic. Customizing furniture swatches and dynamically resizing everything from couches to curtains is everything I’d been hoping for. Even the Live Mode, bare as it is right now, has brought back the strategy roots in the genre that I’d been missing. Heck, I lost an entire night just messing with the animation sliders in photo mode.
Folks, I think life sims are flourishing.
Am I changing my tune because now there’s something for me on the table? Yes, I absolutely am—but that’s the point! There really is something for every flavor of life sim fan to get excited about now. The Sims 4 is an old reliable with a free base game that, despite the expensive DLC menu, has benefited from years of free updates. Inzoi’s hyper-glossy realism has been perfect for the simmers who like cooking up drama for their digital dollies. And Paralives is a heaven for builders like me who yearn for the return of The Sims 3’s Create-A-Style tool.
After being Stockholmed by The Sims for—well essentially forever—having two strong alternatives is incredible. Three’s a structurally sound number. Enough to prop up a genre by? It may just be.
All three life sims have earned their defenders and detractors. My complaints about Inzoi don’t make it any less loved by quite a lot of players. Anyone (correctly) saying that Paralives’ Live Mode needs a lot of work can’t stop me from having a whole lot of fun with it. If you’re determined to dig on The Sims for its backlog of bugs, you too are correct, and yet so many people who’ve been with the series for decades are still clocking thousands of hours. If none of the above are working for you, please let me tell you about Tiny Life too.
At last, The Sims series has the competition that we deserve.
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