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Of all the games I’ve played in my life, I dare say sim games account for almost 50% of them. I’ve modded them in the most ridiculous ways, created more characters than I can count, and even put myself in weird scenarios ranging from being an explorer to an underpaid detective. So, you can imagine my excitement when inZOI was announced. After playing it for a few hours ahead of its early access launch, I can firmly say that it is everything I was hoping for and more, albeit with a few things that still need ironing out. Yet, as first impressions go, I’m quite pleased.
Your City, Your Rules
In inZOI, you are given omnipotence as a Creator. Yet, it goes further than other sims that follow the same vein. First, you have two cities: Bliss Bay, which reminds me more of Los Angeles, and Dowon, a large modern city. As a Creator, you can modify basic things like decorations, put different plants, or the location of some objects in parks. Although I felt more empowered with the option to choose the wild animals in my city and their population, imagine the chaos of having an overpopulation of crocodiles.
You can also select commercials for the billboards in Dowon’s skyscrapers. Of course, if this sounds too ordinary, there is an option to choose the state of the environment, turn your universe into a very green one, or have your Zois live in post-apocalyptic ruins. The player agency applies not only to the mundane and superficial things but also to other aspects that drastically change your world.
If you go for maximum control of the lives you care for, there are different settings for their behavior. You can give your Zoi a better social conscience or make them worse. There are also more options about relationships, but the ones that interested me the most are precisely the ones that have to do with the Creator’s reports. You must be very attentive to them. For example, your reports show the number of accidents and how many Zoi died the previous day. If one Zoi leaves with an unfinished deal, it will not transcend and will remain as a ghost, wandering eternally, scaring everyone.
Surprisingly, there are options beyond managing the avatars and making our city to our liking. This aspect seems limited, but the KRAFTON team still has many projects up their sleeves, such as NPCs with improved AI. So, I am sure that our multiverse will be increasingly alive, realistic, and reactive, which is what we’ve been asking for years in this genre that has felt a bit stale now.
More Than a Normal Sim Game
The Sims 4 is the main game we can compare inZOI, so it will be my primary reference for the following sections. When creating your avatars, The Sims 4 has Aspirations, and you can choose between 10 categories, like sports or creativity. They are more similar to being wiser, creative, famous, etc. Regarding Traits, The Sims 4 has several particular ones with short descriptions to build the personality as a puzzle.
In inZOI, the Aspirations feel more like lifestyles rather than milestones, such as having a quiet life, a dedicated life, being creative, or having the option to forge your destiny. There are 18 options, each highlighting two main characteristics. Still, it is also accompanied by keywords, values, and a broader description of the personality and its characteristics. inZOI personalities feel like completing the 16 personalities test. My first attempt was to make me, so I felt much more identified with my Trait, with all its pros and cons, rather than adding unrelated ingredients.
In both games, you can choose the Preferences, which in The Sims 4 are similar to selecting parts. For inZOI, Preferences are derived from the Trait, so they are more like default options. But later in the game, there is a chart with points you can divide into activities that you like, don’t like, or leave blank. So even if you like art for your Trait, you can choose if you prefer reading about art but not painting or if you love cleaning and yoga. The Sims 4 gives much more freedom to create a personality because in inZOi, there will be characteristics and values of your Trait that you may not like, but it is a more cohesive personality.
The Ideal ‘You’
This is undoubtedly one of the sections that everyone looks forward to the most, and it does not disappoint. I spent at least two hours experimenting with as many options as possible, and every second was worth it.
To start with, you have “Name,” “Age Group,” “Gender,” and an Edit icon. The Edit allows you to choose your gender identity (including non-binary) and whether you are attracted to male, female, or non-binary Zoi. You can also decide whether you are interested in romantic relationships or not. Almost all the creation menus work very similarly to The Sims 4 but have their own perks. For example, nearly all the clothes choices have a few default options, or you can change the main and sub-color to make your own combination. In this process, there are two options that I would like to focus more on; one is the Pattern on the clothes since they are not the presets only. KRAFTON decided to skip the Custom Content part and allow players to create patterns with the inZOI AI.
The other menu is Craft, where you can upload an image of an object and replicate it, just like a 3D printer. Imagine making a replica of a soccer ball, your favorite cap, or a Gundam to use as an accessory or decoration for your home. Imagination and your rig will be the only limits when creating things. Yet, making items on the spot is an excellent option instead of searching, downloading, and praying for the object to work.
An Addictive New Life
Once you have your new little person to care for, you must check that their basic needs are at their best, which isn’t new if you’ve played sim games before. You should start improving some of your skills or get carried away by the random urgencies of your inZOI. You can also use the Schedule to watch an event in town and distract yourself. This is a useful system if you want to make your own event with your friends when you get them, which is not easy. It is also ideal to know when you have to go to work.
Regarding work, the good news is that you don’t need any DLC to go to your office. Just choose a new career and head to your office when the Schedule says it’s time to go. I was shocked that I could see all the way to my office following the Zoi, at least at my first job, which was close to home. When I got a new position, I could only see until I got on the subway, and then I got off and watched the rest of the ride to the office. You can also manually guide your Zoi through the streets for a scenic route. However, if you don’t want to see the city streets, you can use the map of your cell phone to move to any site.
Jobs work like many of The Sims DLCs for all available job listings. For example, I started as a marketing trainee in an idol company, and when I started my work day, a menu appeared with different tasks and deadlines for completing each one. Among my tasks were using the office computer to “Research Trends” to be completed in 4 hours and another one with “Congratulate a Colleague for their Hard Work” to be done in one hour. You can do the tasks right away or let your Zoi work for a while, then have a snack in the middle of the day or talk to her acquaintances.
After a while, other tasks with other deadlines will appear, and so on, until you complete your day, collect your daily salary, and go home. You can still use the facilities to do other activities. However, remember that your days can be as monotonous or unexpected as you want. You can follow an ordinary life, taking care of each Zoi, letting them use their free will, or doing fun things just to have fun.
Entangled Relationship Webs
This is one of the systems that caught my attention, and I found it a bit more complicated. For now, relationships don’t seem that deep yet. Even so, it caught my attention that even when we talk for the first time with a Zoi, we will have many more options, including emojis, and later, we will see how the interaction affects them.
As in The Sims 4, first, you will not have a preview of information about a Sim, but you will discover it when you talk to them. In inZOI, you can only see the name first, but the Zoi will react differently after your first interaction with them. I was surprised that even though I “Greet Politely” two Zoi, a different description appeared in their preview. One was interested in the chat and wanted to know me better. The other one walked away, and the description said we could get along better if I acted more formally. Not everyone will talk kindly to you when greeting them with a smiley emoji.
The relationships need a lot more work than in The Sims. Sure, it’s more realistic, but I didn’t even get a friend or a handshake. I also tried to speed up the process to see how it worked by making a married couple, and even then, I couldn’t even kiss my husband on the forehead because “it was too soon.” Once, I was working on this couple’s relationship, and it was cute to discover they sent random messages telling each other how much they love each other. However, they can also decide whether to respond positively, negatively, or not at all. Once the relationship improved, I could finally set up a date on the Schedule.
Unbound Potential
inZOI will soon be available for early access and is already brimming with content. Its character creator goes as deep as you want it to be, not only regarding looks but also in personalities and traits. The world feels alive, but most importantly, it lets you experience it like no other sim game before. Yes, there are a few things that need improvement, but the game has a long way to go, so I’m sure they’ll get better. Ultimately, it is great to finally see proper competition, especially in a genre dominated by a game that isn’t consumer-friendly. Hopefully, the early access period and beyond will make inZOI the second home we all deserve.
