inZOI Review: Next Evolution in Life Simulation or an Unfinished Dream?
Simulation games have long been a staple of the gaming industry, offering players the chance to experience real-world activities in a controlled, interactive environment where they make the rules. These games span a wide range of genres, from farming to truck driving, and even give you the chance to live out your power-washing dreams. However, no part of the genre is as beloved as life simulation.
Developed by inZoi Studio and published by Krafton,inZOIis the newest addition to the genre. With its hyper-realistic graphics and customization, it’s clear that this ambitious game hopes to rival the reigning life simulation champions, The Sims. Currently in early access, players are finally getting the chance to play around with these new creations, and while some mechanics are enticingly new, others have left much to be desired.
Powered by Unreal Engine 5, inZOI truly delivers on stepping away from the cartoonish feel of character creation and allows you to make the photorealistic ‘Zoi’ of your dreams. With the amount of detail that has gone into the ability to edit even the most subtle of details, you can lose hours tweaking eyebrows or getting your Zoi’s jawline just right. The use of Hex Codes for outfit and make-up colors is just another example of how deep the customization of your Zoi can go.
It’s impossible not to compare any life simulation to The Sims, and it is clear from the beginning that a lot of energy has been put into surpassing EA when it comes to designing the aesthetics of your Zoi, but less so in designing them as a person. You only have one trait to choose from, unlike the several you get in The Sims, and as of yet, I have yet to see how you’re able to make a truly diverse world with only 18 to choose from. It should also be noted that with these intensely realistic graphics comes a heavy price for your hardware, and players have already found their PC’s not up to the task, so be sure to check the specifications before purchasing.
While it was a pleasure at first to see that you can alter your Zoi’s alignment and romantic preferences at creation, this doesn’t actually factor into the world around you. There are no same sex couples in any of the inZOI worlds, and players have already taken to Discord and Reddit to discuss how any attempt at affection with a premade, same sex Zoi is rebuked every time. This lack of representation will need a lot of work, and inZOI Studios risks alienating many players until this is resolved.
When it comes to the other major timesink of life sim games, InZOI lands somewhere in the middle. Home design is extensive – every piece of furniture can be extensively designed and changed in color, even your bedsheets. However, the lack of variety in the actual catalogue is uninspiring, especially when compared to character creation. With updates and sharing of creations, I do not doubt that this will grow over time. Right now, though, it can feel overwhelming in what you can do and underwhelming in premade content.
A tool allowing you to save color samples or apply your changes to the same items would go far in improving this part of the game. For players whose main joy is crafting their dream abode, they might find it a frustrating task right now. But they will no doubt have fun playing with the 3D Printer. The 3D Printer allows you to upload an image from your computer, and depending on the quality of the image, it’ll be recreated in-game for you to place as an item in your home.
As previously mentioned, the visuals in inZOI are exceptional and a true showcase of what Unreal Engine 5 is capable of. Each of the three worlds you can choose from has its own theme and feel, inspired by real-world locations. It’s very reminiscent of The Sims, but there isn’t much inZOI could do to change this; you can’t have every location be the same, and the real-life inspiration is a nice touch. However, unlike The Sims, each location has career-specific options. For example, you can’t become a firefighter in Bliss Bay; for that, you must start your journey in Dowon. This means you need to do your research before settling down. At the moment, there is no way to move between worlds, so your decision is, for now, final.
These locations are open-world, and it’s wonderful going out and about exploring your Zoi’s neighborhood. Truly a missed mechanic of The Sims 3, the ability to follow your character to and from places, interacting with other Zoi’s along the way and seeing a bustling world gives inZOI a big upper hand over the most recent entry in EA’s series. This doesn’t mean the open world doesn’t need work; there isn’t much difference between one journey and the next. However, the freedom you feel from looking around at your leisure is appealing enough in this early access state. Hopefully, this can be improved on as development continues.
Ultimately, the biggest letdown of inZOI is sadly the actual point of a life simulation game. Zoi’s are boring. There isn’t a lot of depth to the characters or their wants and needs, and turning off autonomy causes more problems than it solves. Moving in a husband and wife to find out that you have to start their relationship from scratch is frustrating, but after building up their friendship and romance, only to leave them alone for five minutes and find that they pick fights with each other (and people walking past the house) is just silly and unrealistic. While it’s easy to build relationships, it’s also easy to have them hate each other randomly and begin vacuuming the grass outside. The lack of depth can also be found in their ambitions and desires, leaving you feeling as though you aren’t working toward anything of merit. There isn’t enough to differentiate your Zoi from the random one you meet at the fairground.
Despite its visual prowess, inZOI currently falls short in delivering engaging gameplay. While the game is still in early access, the polish of the visuals proves to be skin deep. There just isn’t enough depth here to make for a truly compelling experience. Interactions with NPCs are limited, and the daily routines of the Zoi’s lack the complexity fans of the genre have come to expect after decades with The Sims. However, the game shows an abundance of promise. Its creators have already addressed a lot of the concerns online and promise updates in the future to fix content that has been found lacking in this early access iteration of the game. It’s certainly a game to follow and keep in mind if you want to lose a few hours in another world, but at the moment, put your energy into creation and not playthrough.
